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The original smart doorbell manufacturer, Ring is the biggest name in this market for a reason: its products are great. The wired Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2 is the pinnacle of the company’s technology, packing more features than anywhere else, including 3D Motion Detection.

Using radar, 3D Motion Detection lets you set the detection limit of the doorbell. Used in combination with standard activity zones it means that you won’t get troubled by alerts taking place outside of your front door.

As this model doesn’t have a battery, it’s slim enough to fit onto most door frames. You get a compatible transformer in the box, which may require professional installation. The downside of this model is that it can’t sound an internal chime.

However, you can buy plug-in chimes and you can also make Amazon Echo speakers sound when someone presses the doorbell, answering directly from Echo Show devices.

Image quality is excellent thanks to the high 1536 x 1536 resolution and lens that captures people head-to-toe. That’s great for talking to callers, but also increases this doorbell’s use as a security camera.

Video clips are saved to the cloud via a subscription (you can use this as a doorbell without recording for free), and you can pay one subscription to cover all of your Ring cameras. A subscription also lets the doorbell answer automatically with a message of your choice, recording the answer.

Full review: Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2
Reviewer: David Ludlow

Ring might have the widest selection of doorbells but none support the Google Assistant. If you have Nest Home smart speakers, then the best option is the Nest Doorbell (wired), previously known as the Nest Hello.

Although this is an older product than the newer Nest Doorbell (battery), it remains the better product even though it has to be wired in place and may need professional installation.

What sets this model apart from the newer one is higher resolution video, with the 1600 x 1200 footage looking good, both at night and during the day. This doorbell has some very smart features via a Nest Aware subscription, including facial recognition, so that you know who’s at the front door.

With a Nest Subscription, this doorbell can record video to the cloud, and it even supports 24/7 recording if you opt for the more expensive monthly payment. You also get quick replies for when you don’t want to answer the door, such as “you can leave it” or “we can’t get to the door right now”.

Made by Google, this doorbell fully integrates with Google Assistant smart speakers, and you can answer the door from a Nest Home Hub without having to touch your phone.

Full review: Nest Doorbell (wired) review
Reviewer: David Ludlow

For the longest time, there’s been a fair few caveats to concede when siding with a battery powered Ring camera, but those days are almost long gone with the stellar Ring Battery Video Doorbell Plus.

This is a seriously capable battery powered doorbell, with the ability to now capture video at 1536p resolution. That’s a marked improvement over the Doorbell Plus’ predecessors, and well worth the upgrade if you’ve been dismayed by the previous caps on video quality.

You can now also set activity zones within the Doorbell Plus’ field of view so that you aren’t constantly bombarded with notifications of nearby movement. You don’t get the 3D Motion Detection found on some of Ring’s wired video doorbells, but there is package detection so you can know exactly when an item has reached your doorstep.

Ring claims that you can get up to six months of use out of a single battery before needing to recharge or swap out for a different one, but our testing found that three months is more likely if you have a decent amount of activity being picked up by the doorbell. Even so, Ring’s quick-swap system makes it incredibly easy to pop in a new battery when needed, so you won’t have to worry about any major downtime.

Full review: Ring Battery Video Doorbell Plus review
Reviewer: David Ludlow

Anyone who’s solely interested in smart features and smartphone alerts can probably get away with enduring a few caveats where video quality is concerned, but if you’re the complete opposite and visual fidelity needs to be considered before all else then the SimpliSafe Video Doorbell Pro is for you.

This doorbell can capture impressive HDR video, which goes a long way towards separating elements in the camera’s field of view for a much clearer look at what’s going on in front of your humble abode. The People Detection mode also means that you’re very unlikely to miss anything important, although the feature only works during the daytime.

Working against the SimpliSafe doorbell is the fact that it’s a wired unit and so a dedicated power supply is required, and there’s a hefty £8.99 monthly subscription fee if you want to enable cloud services. That cost makes more sense if you invest in multiple SimpliSafe devices, but isn’t really worth it for the doorbell alone.

Full review: Simplisafe Video Doorbell Pro
Reviewer: David Ludlow

For an accessible video doorbell that also rings in with an affordable price tag, the Abode Wireless Video Doorbell is well worth your attention. This battery powered pick is incredibly easy to set-up, so if you’re put off by the idea of getting too entrenched in any DIY work then you’ll appreciate the design here.

As mentioned, Abode’s Video Doorbell has a budget-friendly RRP of just £99.99, but to sweeten the deal even further, it includes a dedicated Chime at no extra cost. This accessory usually requires a separate purchase elsewhere, so to have it included here from the jump is great value for money.

Abode’s feature-set isn’t groundbreaking by any degree, but it definitely gets the job done. There’s crisp 1080p recording, but no ability to set activity zones so you may get pinged more often here than with other picks on this list. Luckily, there is an object detection mode that helps to alleviate this somewhat.

It’s also worth mentioning that to make the most of this device, there’s a £7.99 a month subscription service which throws in advanced motion detection and 10-days of cloud video back-up. This is a bit stingy compared to the usual minimum offering of 30-days of storage from other companies like Ring, so it’s definitely something to keep in mind.

Full review: Abode Wireless Video Doorbell
Reviewer: David Ludlow

Thanks to its second camera, the Eufy Video Doorbell Dual can spot and keep an eye on your packages in a way that other video doorbells can’t. With its high-resolution main camera, quick response times and no subscription fees, the Eufy Video Doorbell Dual is a fine alternative to the bigger names in video doorbells.

With two cameras inside it, plus a battery, the Eufy Video Doorbell Dual is a little bigger than other doorbells, but will still fit on most door frames. The doorbell can be wired to a transformer, which will keep the internal battery topped up.

Rather than connecting to Wi-Fi, the Eufy Video Doorbell Dual connects to the Eufy Homebase wirelessly. The Homebase connects to your home network via Ethernet, and setup is straightforward and quick.

The main camera shoots video at 2K, while the bottom camera shoots at 1080p. During the day, the video is well exposed and detailed, and you can see what’s going on right into the back of the frame. At night, the camera can shoot in colour if there’s enough ambient light, but it usually switches to black and white with IR. Close-up with people approaching your door, the camera maintained a good degree of sharpness and detail.

That second camera is a lot more useful than it may initially sound, particularly when used with the more advanced package detection options. High-quality video and no subscription charges make this a great video doorbell for those that don’t want ongoing costs.

Full review: Eufy Video Doorbell Dual review
Reviewer: David Ludlow

While most video doorbells require you to have a subscription, the Eufy Video Doorbell 2K is different. This battery-powered doorbell connects wirelessly to the provided base station, which has its own 16GB of storage onboard. There’s no way to upgrade this storage, but even so, you should get at least two weeks’ footage before it’s full and older clips start to get overridden.

There are two advantages to this system. First, you don’t pay for cloud storage. Secondly, if the doorbell is stolen, the footage is safe and sound inside your home. The base station also acts as an internal chime, although you can have your Echo speakers sound, too.

As the camera can record when there’s motion, it’s good to see options that restrict the number of recordings. First, there are activity zones, so you can focus on the areas you want to monitor; secondly, there’s a human-only detection mode, so you’ll only get pop-up messages about people. Both together worked well and we mostly got relevant notifications only.

Incoming calls are quickly routed to a phone, and the two-way chat is clear on both sides. The camera shoots with a 2K resolution (2560 x 1920) with Wide Dynamic Range. During the day, footage is exceptionally sharp, with lots of detail. At night, the IR lights turn on and the image gets quite soft: you can still see who you’re talking to, but events happening away from the door are harder to spot.

Considering the range of features and quality of video, the Eufy Video Doorbell 2K is a great alternative to the big names, and ideal for anyone that doesn’t want to pay for cloud storage.

Full Review: Eufy Video Doorbell 2K review

Reviewer: David Ludlow