8 Best Video Doorbell Cams (2025): Smart, Battery, AI, Budget and No Subscription

Other video doorbells need to be considered

I’ve tested several other video doorbells. These are almost missed in the above places.

Doro Hemma Doorbell costs £150: A simplified smart doorbell for seniors is a solid idea, and Swedish manufacturer Doro has gotten a lot on Hemma. This is an easy-to-install and use battery-powered doorbell that offers 1440 x 1440 pixel resolution, with a decent frame rate (30 fps), local recording via microSD card, and plug-in ringtones, the plug-in is loud enough to be heard throughout the home. It works reliably during testing, and the mobile app is intentionally direct and provides a convenient option to pass calls to trusted friends or family members (who also need the app). The two-way audio works well, with a convenient zoom feature during live broadcasts, and a sirens scare people away. It’s simplified so there’s no privacy area or packaging alerts, and it might be too sensitive for busy front doors, although you can set it to “Warning only doorbell ring”. Battery life is good, although the battery is not removable, so you need to remove the doorbell to charge or use a portable charger. Sadly, it is only available in the UK and Europe.

Simplisafe Video Doorbell Pro is priced at $170: If you are looking for a solid safety system, a simple radar might be on your radar, and the video doorbell pro is perfect for people with a simple setup. Former cable critic Medea Giordano initially found it sensitive, but after the update, she said it almost worked well, issued a Swift alert and provided a good clear view of her porch. The lens is maximized at 1080p, but the camera supports HDR to spread glare and has a 162-degree field of view. It does have to be wired, and you need a $5 monthly subscription to record videos, but Simplisafe also offers the option of professional monitoring ($32 per month), which is rare for doorbells and may make sense if you have a full security system.

Ring Battery Video Doorbell Pro

Photo: Simon Hill

Ring Battery Video Doorbell Pro Price $230: Amazon Ring Brand’s top battery doorbells approach to getting full advice. This ring doorbell offers high-quality, clear video with HDR support and color night vision. The notifications are quick and accurate, and the two-way audio quality is relatively high. I appreciate the option of setting multiple sports areas, including a potentially convenient bird eye area that allows you to define scopes. The PREROLL feature captures a few seconds before each clip (although at a lower resolution), which may help. Since there is no local recording option, you have to subscribe to RING Protect for a single camera for $5 ($50/year), but this also gives you generous 180-day video storage, rich notifications, and personnel and packaging inspections. But all these bells and whistles were premium, and battery life commanded people to be disappointed (three weeks). You can mitigate this by buying a second battery for swap, as it is removable, or choose a wired doorbell pro (although I haven’t tested it yet).

TP-Link Tapo (D230S1) Smart Battery Video Doorbell, priced at $90: For those looking for local storage options that don’t cost a month, Tapo’s smart video doorbell is worth a look. Notifications pass quickly, including still images; video quality is great, even at night, the indoor hub features a microSD card and doubles as well. The downside is chunky, and the onboard AI (which should be identified with pets, pets, vehicles and packages) is flaky.

It’s hard to recommend

We don’t like every video doorbell we’ve tested. These are not recommended.

Photo: Simon Hill

Imou Doorbell 2S Kit: In addition to being big and ugly, Imou Doorbell offers clear video recording with 166-degree field of view, which has a unique trick: the lens can be rotated 30 degrees to track the subject. Large sizes offer large batteries, but this doorbell can also be hardwired. The kit includes a plug-in bell with a MicroSD card slot for local storage. Unfortunately, along with Arlo, it failed to do some events. Although I retained the same network name and password, I also had major connection issues after changing the router. I had to reset Confucius, who temporarily deleted the doorbell. It is only available in the UK.

Relink the video doorbell (battery): We love Reolink’s wired doorbell, listed above, so I’m happy to try the first battery-powered model, but it was a disappointment. It offers up to 2K of footage with a 1:1 aspect ratio, giving you a full view of the porch, but you have to turn on HDR in the settings and the frame rate is relatively low (15 fps). I like the option without subscription, but that means putting the microSD card in the doorbell itself, which is a relatively easy doorbell to remove. Reolink recommends up to five months of battery life, but my first review unit died after less than two and refused to charge. Reolink sent me a replacement that performed better, but when it ran out, the internal rechargeable battery couldn’t be removed, so you had to remove the doorbell to charge. In slightly messy applications, relatively slow loading times and connection failures, which are not possible to recommend.

EZVIZ EP3X Pro

Photo: Simon Hill

EZVIZ EP3X Pro: This is a better doorbell than the Ezviz previous models, and it’s nice to see that solar panels are the doorbell option, although you need a porch that can grab some rays. The video quality is great and you get a split view (like Eufy above) that includes a package or waiting cat. The distortion correction works well and has optional color night vision with built-in lights, although it only works in very close range. I thank 2FA, fingerprint login and 32 GB of onboard storage (cloud storage is optional). Sadly, if you use solar panels, you cannot connect to a wired ringtone. The lack of HDR is disappointing, human discoveries are a bit out of place (which often says I am a cat), and my alarm fails to get into problems with some Android phones. (They never worked reliably on my Xiaomi 14 Ultra even after following the instructions from EZVIZ.) In the US, this model is not available yet.

Botslab Video Doorbell 2 Pro: The sheet setup process requires a few reboots and the physical installation is not better because the screws provided are so cheap that one of the heads cracked. The camera has the effect of a fisheye, but you can correct it with different views. I love VR mode, which provides 180 degrees of view to your front porch. It comes with handy plugin ringtones, alarms look reliable, and there is an HDR option that you can record locally (including 32 GB) or in the cloud. You can also set up a detection range, which may be convenient for street-facing cameras. But the app is confusing, and the AI tag lists a variety of skills available for purchase. There are login history and restrictions on both devices, but no 2FA, which makes it impossible to recommend. It is universal, but it is also relatively expensive.

Wyze Video Doorbell Pro: Wyze Video Doorbell Pro (7/10, wired review) is our budget suggestion, but be aware. It reliably reminds, provides clear videos, and has accurate AI for people to detect, but you need a CAM Plus subscription ($3 per month). This camera model is not one of the people who are subject to security flaws that Wyze fails to address or report to customers, but after repeated security breaches at Wyze, it has been difficult to recommend its camera again.

Swann Swannbuddy Video Doorbell: This doorbell comes with wireless battery-powered ringtones and local storage options, but the positive location ends. The video quality is poor, the application is loading very slowly, and the doorbell often fails to register for motion. I found battery life commanders disappointed. I also have to question the decision to provide local storage by inserting the microSD card inserted into the doorbell (the ringtone would be more meaningful and safer).

EZVIZ DB2 video doorbell: The EZVIZ DB2 Affordable Video Doorbell with Plug-in bell works great, but it’s very chunky and a little ugly. The video is detailed, but when the sun shines, I encounter bright areas of explosions. The app is solid and loaded quickly, the doorbell press triggers the phone, and you can insert the microSD card into the local record in the ringtone. Sadly, it only offers a very limited option to define a sports area, which is a big problem if you live on a busy street. I also found that battery life is below average and deleting is tricky.

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