- great value
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Acting like a digital concierge, a smart doorbell is a fantastic gadget to help you more conveniently manage visitors to your home.
These internet-connected doorbells will alert you if a parcel has arrived, but also if there is a suspicious looking character taking a keen interest in your car. Ahead we showcase what you should watch out for when buying a cheaper doorbell under £200, and what spending a bit more gets you. Also, see the Best Buy and high scoring models that have aced our in-depth tests.
Smart video doorbell reviews - see our tests of all the big brands, including Ring, Nest, Arlo, Eufy and more.
You might baulk at the concept of spending hundreds of pounds on a smart doorbell. The models in the table below are slightly more friendly on your wallet, but without sacrificing on quality.
Another factor of video doorbells, including lower-priced models, is whether you'll need to sign up to a subscription in order to record video to watch remotely. This can add to your costs.
Full Access first month £5, then £10.99 per month, cancel at any time
Full Access first month £5, then £10.99 per month, cancel at any time
Full Access first month £5, then £10.99 per month, cancel at any time
Full Access first month £5, then £10.99 per month, cancel at any time
Full Access first month £5, then £10.99 per month, cancel at any time
If you're willing to spend a bit more on your smart doorbell, you'll typically get a model that is wired into mains power and an existing doorbell chime. More expensive doorbells also tend to be slimmer and more compact, meaning they can blend seamlessly into the exterior of your home.
Full Access first month £5, then £10.99 per month, cancel at any time
Full Access first month £5, then £10.99 per month, cancel at any time
Full Access first month £5, then £10.99 per month, cancel at any time
A smart doorbell, also known as a video doorbell, is akin to a digital receptionist for your home. Alongside ringing like a normal doorbell, these internet-connected doorbells let you see who’s on your doorstep via a built-in camera, and talk directly to them from your smartphone.
As well as letting you greet visitors, smart doorbells can help increase security at your home. They detect motion in front of your house, from wandering pets to possible burglars, and alert you to take action if required.
Could your smart doorbell be breaking the law? Read more about the laws around privacy and recording footage with video doorbells at the home.
While it might seem like a fancy tech gadget, and therefore an expensive one, prices of video doorbells have dropped dramatically. You could pay as little as £30 – but be wary, models this cheap can be poor quality. You should also be careful shopping for video doorbells on online marketplaces like Amazon and eBay, especially if it's a model from a brand you haven't heard of.
We tested 11 different smart doorbells found on eBay and Amazon that all failed our security tests.
Well known brands are a safer bet with video doorbells, or in fact any other smart device. Best Buy video doorbells are relatively expensive – expect to pay around £200, though there are well scoring and importantly, secure models in our smart doorbell reviews for under £100.
Ring doorbells: Amazon's Ring is the most popular and well-known smart doorbell brand. It offers a wide range of doorbells, from the Ring Doorbell Wired at around £50, right up to the top-end Elite that costs more than £400. Another cost to consider with a Ring doorbell is video storage, as this requires an additional monthly subscription. Find out more in our Ring doorbells guide.
Nest doorbells: Google's smart home brand Nest used to have just one smart doorbell, the Nest Hello, but now it has two models: the Nest Doorbell (wired), which uses mains power, and the Nest Doorbell (battery). As with Ring, some functionality on the doorbell requires a subscription plan.
Arlo doorbells: Alongside wireless security cameras, Arlo makes two smart doorbells: a wired version that uses mains power and a battery-powered version. Video storage requires a subscription just as with Ring and Nest, but an Arlo doorbell could still appeal if it fares well in our testing.
Eufy doorbells: Eufy makes a range of smart products, including the Eufy Video Doorbell. Unlike the Ring, Arlo and Nest models, an advantage is that you can store video clips for free via a local storage device. That means you won't necessarily have to pay for video storage.
Netatmo doorbells: French smart home company Netatmo's smart doorbell is one of the more expensive models we've tested. With a stylish look, though, it should appeal to anyone with an eye for design. Head over to our smart doorbell reviews to see how it fared under in-depth testing.
Any product that can connect to the internet is potentially at risk of being targeted by malicious hackers. However, companies can make life hard for the attackers by building their products with good security protections.
We use our testing to expose any insecure products or concerning vulnerabilities that you need to know about.
All smart doorbells and their associated apps go through an in-depth security assessment, covering aspects such as password policies, data encryption and more.
If we find anything concerning, we will contact the manufacturer to sort it out. If they ignore us or refuse to do this, we can even automatically make a doorbell a Don't Buy to warn you not to buy it.
Software updates are vital for keeping products secure against hacking threats that emerge over time. However, all smart products have an update support life, meaning that a day will come when they are no longer supported.
We want to ensure that you are fully aware of how long your smart doorbell will be supported with updates when you buy it. So, we contact manufacturers asking them about their update policies.
As you can see below, some brands are ahead of the game on this, but many still aren't being transparent, leaving you in the dark as to how long your doorbell will be supported.
Other smart doorbell brands, including Arlo, Ubiquiti and ieGeek did not provide us with information on minimum update support periods.
While you may not be at immediate risk if you're using a device that's unsupported, it's obviously desirable to buy and use a device that you know will receive update support for a good period of time. For more information, read our guide to smart devices and security.
You can pay more than £200 for a smart doorbell, but you also often have to sign up to a subscription to get the most out of it.
As well as being able to record and store video clips to access online, subscription services also often unlock extra features in the doorbell, such as customisable motion detection zones and more detailed notifications.
Ahead, we explain what you get when you sign up to Ring Protect, available on all Ring doorbells, and with Nest Aware for the Nest Hello.
With every Ring doorbell, the basic functionality lets you see the live video and respond to motion alerts. To record and store video clips of events if you need them later, you’ll need a Ring Protect subscription. It breaks down into two options, with most Ring doorbells offering a 30-day free trial to try it out.
With the Nest Hello, featured overleaf, you can store up to three hours of ‘event history’ video clips online for free to access remotely. That’s pretty meagre, so most people will feel the need to sign up to Nest Aware. There are two tiers and both cover unlimited Nest devices. They also enable more sophisticated controls to alerts and activity zones.
You can usually get smart doorbells from online marketplaces and tech retailers, but to help narrow down your search, we've highlighted retailers that have a wide stock and are among the most searched-for:
All smart doorbells will need to be installed either on your door, or next to it. With a wired doorbell, such as the Ring Pro or Nest Hello, we’d advise you hire an electrician to do the installation.
Wired doorbells require existing doorbell wiring, along with a standard 18-volt AC supply to power the camera. Installation requires turning all power off at the fuse board, wiring in the door-chime unit adaptor and then connecting everything up.
While you do get all the kit included in the box, it’s complicated and also dangerous for the novice. Plus, the instructions can often be rather hard to follow. An electrician should be able to install a smart doorbell for between £50-£80.If you’re fairly comfortable at DIY, you can install a battery powered doorbell yourself. Below is typically what you’ll need to do - the approach might different slightly for each doorbell brand or type. For example, the Ring Door View Cam fits into an existing door peephole.
Some battery-powered doorbells have removable batteries, and it’s advisable to have a fully charged spare battery ready to go if you need it. Others, such as the Ring Doorbell (2nd gen), have built-in batteries, so you’ll need to remove the entire doorbell to charge it. You can connect battery doorbells to the mains so that the battery is ‘trickle charged’ to keep it topped up. Again, we’d advise you get a professional in instead of attempting this yourself.