Does it work with smart home platforms? If so, do the smart features work well together?
Nowadays a smart home device is expected to work with at least one major smart home platform. Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple HomeKit are the main ones you need to look for. Apple support is harder to find but if the rumors are right Apple is due to release its own security camera before long and support should become more common.
Note that the Matter home standard, which enables cross-platform functionality and other tricks, isn’t really available for video doorbells. The Matter standard has been very slow to add video functionality and it’s just not ready for home cams of any kind yet.
Privacy and security
Video doorbells capture a lot of everyday moments and many of them store that footage in the cloud. One of my priorities is checking a brand’s track record with privacy practices, digital storage and overall security.
You’ll see I discuss topics such as how readily a doorbell maker hands over video to the authorities or how they have responded to data vulnerabilities in the past. This is also the reason why some doorbells didn’t appear on my list: Wyze, with repeated security flaws as recent as the September 2023 video-caching issue that let others look through strangers’ doorbells, didn’t make the cut.
Video storage and subscriptions
Video storage is integral to the video doorbell experience. With so much video automatically captured, I focus on how that video is uploaded, its storage limitations and how easy video is to access or share. Saving video footage is especially important if you want to report a porch pirate to the police or save a similar unpleasant event to take later action. (But sometimes you just catch animals being cute.)
Video storage varies greatly across doorbell devices. Some allow a certain amount of free online video storage but many require monthly subscriptions to store video in the cloud or greatly increase storage options with a subscription. That’s best for people who want a history of video events to access and don’t want to micro-manage video. It’s also the only option that works with conversation video search like what Google Gemini provides.
Other doorbells have the option to use local storage with a microSD card, a less expensive option that requires significantly more manual video management. I like to see as many free and user-friendly options as possible in video doorbells, with the assumption that you have enough home tech subscriptions as it is.
AI recognition and alerts
AI and video doorbells are a useful — and increasingly common — combo. I look for AI software that can correctly identify packages, pets or even the faces of people in your contact lists and send you more accurate alerts about what’s happening (and if a package unexpectedly vanishes). On the other hand, I also like to see smart motion detection that can easily ignore passing cars or falling leaves to cut down on unnecessary alerts.
Wired vs. wireless
Wired versus wireless is largely a matter of preference but it’s an important preference. Wired doorbells always have power and can often be wired into an existing door chime. Wireless models are far more flexible in terms of placement but you’ll need to recharge them every several months or so and they won’t connect to a hardware chime. One isn’t necessarily better than the other and many doorbells offer both options but it’s important to think about how you’d prefer to use one.
Latency
If your smart doorbell camera takes a long time to send a push notification after someone rings your doorbell, then you risk missing your visitor completely. You also need to be sure you’re getting notifications when something sets off the motion detector, as you can set the motion sensor of most video doorbells to notify you of activity happening near your door, even if no one rings the buzzer. If you have latency problems, start with your Wi-Fi connection. If it isn’t strong where the doorbell is installed, you might consider moving it (or, more easily, getting a Wi-Fi range extender). Sometimes it’s a software issue instead, which is why app quality is an important part to review.
Live view quality
Doorbells are often exposed to direct sunlight but many others are installed under porches, near shady trees and in all sorts of other settings. It’s important that the camera has night vision and can handle any of these scenarios so you don’t get stuck with a nonfunctioning product that can’t see faces under a porch.
Audio quality
If the doorbell’s microphone and speaker don’t work well, you’re going to have a tough time communicating with whomever’s there. I tested this out multiple times to see how the doorbell’s audio sounds over our phones, narrowing down the best video doorbell camera options for conversation.
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