Best Video Doorbell Cameras of 2023

CR’s take: The Eufy Video Doorbell 2K Dual (Wired) is one of a few video doorbells with two cameras, one pointed straight out to spot visitors (or intruders) and one pointed down to keep an eye on package deliveries. In our lab tests, it receives strong scores for video quality, data security, and response time for alerts and loading live feeds. It offers a decent amount of smart features and its data privacy is middling, which is actually better than many competing doorbells.

In addition to its two cameras, this Eufy features high dynamic range (HDR) for more vivid video, monitoring zones, three-second video previews (to show what happened before the camera detected motion), facial recognition, person detection, and package detection. Notably, the last three features don’t require a subscription, which is common for other doorbells.

The Eufy doorbell features 8 gigabytes of built-in memory to store footage, but the company also offers cloud video storage subscriptions. You can get 30 days of cloud storage for one camera for $3 per month (or $30 per year), or 30 days for up to 10 cameras for $10 per month (or $100 per year). As its name suggests, the Eufy Video Doorbell 2K Dual (Wired) requires low-voltage doorbell wiring for power, but can’t ring your home’s existing chime. Instead, it comes with a wireless, plug-in chime in the box.

If you’re interested in this doorbell, but need a battery-powered model, check out the Eufy Video Doorbell 2K Dual (Battery). It does well overall in our tests, but its video quality and response time aren’t as good when compared with the wired version.

A word about Eufy’s digital privacy and security: In November 2022, Eufy had a security issue where camera feeds could be accessed with a media player. The company claims to have fixed it, but our test engineers are looking into the issue. We’ll update this story if we learn more. This follows a May 2021 security problem where Eufy users were accidentally able to access cameras owned by other users. The company said at the time that it was working to put additional safeguards in place to prevent such issues from happening again.

CR’s take: The Logitech Circle View Doorbell is unusual in that it works only with a special feature of Apple’s HomeKit smart home system called HomeKit Secure Video. Through this software, it uses end-to-end encryption to keep your video secure. As a result of this tight-knit integration, the Logitech doorbell works only with iPhones (sorry, Android users), stores your videos only in Apple iCloud (if you pay for a storage plan), and requires an Apple home hub (either a HomePod smart speaker or an Apple TV streaming box) to process motion alerts for people, animals, and vehicles. In fact, there’s no Logitech app for the doorbell; instead, it uses the Apple Home app.

But if you’re a big fan of Apple products, this doorbell will work quite well for you. In our tests, it receives a strong rating for video quality and offers great data security and speedy response time for alerts and loading live feeds. Its only flaws are that its data privacy isn’t very good and it doesn’t offer as many smart features as other top-rated options. Its other features include monitoring zones, facial recognition, a night light for color night vision, and high dynamic range (HDR) video for more vivid video.

For 10 days of cloud video storage for one camera, you’ll need to subscribe to a 50GB iCloud storage plan at $1 per month. For up to five cameras, you’ll need a 200GB iCloud plan at $3 per month. For an unlimited number of cameras, you’ll need a 2TB iCloud plan at $10 per month. The Logitech Circle View Doorbell requires low-voltage doorbell wiring for power and can ring your home’s existing doorbell chime.

CR’s take: The Lorex LNWDB1 1080P WiFi Video Doorbell is one of the more affordable options on this list, and it offers performance on a par with some doorbells that cost significantly more. In our tests, this Lorex doorbell earns a solid rating for data security and a middle-of-the-road score for data privacy. It also offers impressive video quality and response time, as well as a decent array of smart features, which include monitoring zones, geofencing (this feature uses your phone’s location to receive alerts when you’re not home), and voice control via Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.

This Lorex model stores footage locally on a 16GB microSD card that comes with the doorbell. If you want to store even more footage, the doorbell supports up to a 64GB microSD card. It also requires low-voltage doorbell wiring for power and can ring your home’s existing doorbell chime.

If you’re willing to spend a bit more, you might also want to consider the Lorex 2K QHD B451AJD-E. It performs identically to this Lorex 1080p model in our tests, but adds color night vision and high dynamic range to the mix.

CR’s take: The Netatmo Smart Video Doorbell is the most expensive model in our ratings, but it’s worth considering if you want to keep your footage as secure as possible. All footage is stored locally on an 8GB microSD card that comes with the doorbell. Netatmo claims that only one screenshot per video—not the video itself—is uploaded to its servers, so some information is available to you in case the doorbell gets disconnected.

In our tests, the Netatmo doorbell rates near top-level for data security and receives a middle-of-the-road score for data privacy. It also offers great video quality and a decent array of smart features, but its response time is on the slow side compared with the competition. Features include person detection, high dynamic range (HDR) for more vivid videos, and voice control via Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit/Siri, and Google Assistant.

In addition to local storage, the Netatmo video doorbell can store videos on a Dropbox account or personal web server. It also requires doorbell wiring for power and can ring your home’s existing doorbell chime. It works with both low-voltage and high-voltage (230-volt) systems.

CR’s take: For a battery-powered video doorbell with terrific video quality, consider the Ring Video Doorbell 3. It receives an Excellent rating for video quality and offers great data security. It also falls in the middle of the pack for data privacy, but it could offer more smart features and faster response times for alerts and loading live feeds.

Its feature set includes a removable rechargeable battery, voice control via Amazon Alexa, monitoring zones, alert schedules, and privacy zones that let you black out areas you don’t want to film (such as a neighbor’s house). With an optional subscription to a Ring Protect Plan, you’ll get a rolling six months (180 days, to be precise) of motion-triggered video clips and photo snapshots between recordings.

If you have concerns about Ring’s police partnerships, see our FAQ article on law enforcement footage requests.

Note: On July 1, 2022, Ring increased the price of its Ring Protect Basic plan for one camera to $4 per month or $40 per year. In exchange for the increase, users of this plan will receive 180 days of rolling video storage (instead of 60 days), a 10 percent discount on new Ring products, and the ability to bulk download up to 50 recordings at once. In the future, Ring says it will bring its package detection feature to more doorbell models and release new smart alert features for cars, animals, and more. The company will also add a sound detection feature (for sounds like glass breaking) and "custom event alerts" (where you "train" the camera to detect things like a garage door or gate being left open) to its subscription plans.

CR’s take: If you’re concerned about privacy, then the SimpliSafe Doorbell Pro SS3 is the doorbell to buy because it’s the only highly rated model in our ratings that earns an above-par score for data privacy. It also rates well for video quality and data security. The downsides? It lacks many smart features and is slow to send alerts and then load live video feeds. Its few features include monitoring zones, person detection, and HDR (high dynamic range) video, but there’s no support for voice control via digital assistants.

If you’d like cloud storage for video clips, you can get unlimited storage for up to five cameras for $10 per month. The SimpliSafe video doorbell requires doorbell wiring for power and can ring your home’s existing doorbell chime.