Smart doorbells are a popular solution to keep you aware of who’s at your home whether you’re there or not. Their importance is clear, so you don’t want anything low-quality that damages your home security system.
Rather than settle for inferior products, we researched three high-end, industry-leading smart doorbells: Arlo, Nest, and Ring. Our video doorbell comparison tested each feature, camera and audio qualities, and more to help you find the video doorbell for your home.
Arlo Essential Wired Video Doorbell
More compact than traditional video doorbells, the Video Doorbell is designed to capture anyone standing in front of your door from head to toe. Setup is simple and takes minutes as it connects with your existing doorbell wiring so you don’t have to use a secondary power source.
You can stay aware even at night or in low-light conditions thanks to the night vision built into the camera.
Comes with the Arlo Smart Service app. This sends you notifications when someone trips the motion detection or rings the doorbell. It offers live streaming from your Smartphone or tablet. You’ll initially receive three months free, and this grants you video cloud recordings for 30 days.
Features
- 180° viewing angle
- Weather protection
- Pre-recorded quick reply messages
- Built-in siren
With full HD and HDR, you receive clear images in daylight and nighttime. This also appears to hold up well as it’s designed weather-resistant to cold, heat, and rain.
You can trigger the built-in siren remotely via the app, or you can set it for automatic instead in case something happens. Furthermore, there’s an e911 call service so you can send help directly to your home rather than your phone’s location.
The app features advanced detection to register packages, people, cars, and animals. Alternatively, you can customize specific activity zones so the camera only monitors what you want it to.
You can even speak with whoever’s at the door or send them a pre-recorded message with the app.
Also, with the update to the Arlo system, you no longer have to rely on the subscription to view recordings. You can review local recordings with the SmartHub. Simply attach an external drive to the SmartHub USB port to access recordings through the app.
Arlo’s doorbell camera doesn’t appear to have a large motion detection range. It may only trigger around 10ft or so.
As for what you can see, although it does have a 180° viewing angle, there’s still a blind spot that extends around 2ft or so on the ground below the camera.
The Video Doorbell offers everything you need in a compact package. You get a wide viewing angle compared to some other similar cameras, and there are plenty of helpful security features like night vision, e911, and a built-in emergency siren.
Setup and use are straightforward, and you can keep watch on recorded videos or just check out your live stream anytime you want from anywhere you are.
Ring Video Doorbell Pro
Along with the accompanying app, the Video Doorbell Pro gives you a live view of activities in front of your door through 1080p HD video. You can speak to and hear people via your Smartphone, tablet, or Echo device.
It sets up through your WiFi and the app once you mount the doorbell where you need it. This gets constant power since it connects to your home’s doorbell wiring system.
With the Protection Plan app, you can record videos, share photos and videos, and review history for up to 60 days. This is a paid monthly subscription, but you get a free 30-day trial first.
Features
- 160° horizontal and 90° vertical viewing angles
- Noise-cancellation two-way talk
- Infrared night vision
The Pro features sharp HD video quality with a two-way talk function that cancels out any unnecessary noise. It even uses infrared night vision for continued clearness when the sun goes down, and this extends around 20ft or so.
With built-in motion sensors, you’re alerted when someone is at the door even before they ring the doorbell. There’s pre-buffering so your video captures things that occurred before the motion sensor was tripped.
You can set customizable motion zones as well. If you don’t want motion alerts, you can set it to snooze for as short as 15 minutes to as long as two hours.
For cosmetic purposes, the faceplate of the Pro is interchangeable in four ways so you can match more with your taste.
Although the Ring Pro appears to have good night vision, there may be some obvious barrel distortion around the edges of the camera.
When you set it up, it may be angled wrong depending on your doorbell wiring. This doesn’t come with mounting wedges, so you have to purchase them separately.
The Video Doorbell Pro is a sleek and stylish security camera that offers seamless and clear videos both recorded and live-streamed. There’s ideal video quality even at night, and the ability to easily customize motion detection zones gives you a personalized experience.
Nest Hello Video Doorbell
The Nest Hello Video Doorbell offers 24/7 streaming and continuous video recording that’s all viewable through an app. Its HD camera offers HDR video quality so that you have bright, clear images day and night.
To set this up, your home needs to have a wired doorbell, chime, and a compatible transformer.
You can keep up-to-date with a subscription to Nest Aware. This sends out alerts when motion detection is triggered, and you can also check a 3-hour snapshot history. The 24/7 recordings last for 30 days.
Features
- 160° diagonal viewing angle
- Package and person detection
- Facial recognition
- Pre-recorded quick responses
As a competitor to Ring Doorbell Pro, the Nest Hello Video Doorbell features a slim design that’s generally smaller than Ring. It also features a 4:3 HD video that captures people head-to-toe much like the Arlo. Also similar is the pre-recorded quick response system that allows you to leave messages to visitors.
Its facial recognition stands out as it can tell you specifics about who stands at your door, corresponding with the ID you set up for them in the app.
There’s a good night vision setup that’s built into this doorbell camera. It’s infrared with an LED ring so you maintain good HDR quality under low-light conditions.
Beyond checking on your Smartphone, this is compatible with Google Assistant speakers
The installation process can become inconvenient as you must install the chime connector, and even though the slim size can make it easier, that’s only true if you already have a wired setup in your home.
Also, you can’t store any clips without subscribing to the app service.
The Nest Hello Video Doorbell appears simple, yet modern all at once to blend effortlessly with your home. It recognizes faces tracked in the ID on the app, and it readily detects packages and anyone else that triggers the motion sensor.
You can view exactly what you need, day and night, and easily leave behind messages for anyone you miss.
Insights and Takeaways
The Arlo, Ring, and Nest are all high-rated, popular smart doorbell videos that can help you keep track of all visitors or anyone who passes by. To choose the smart home doorbell, you must break down what you need.
If affordability is important, consider the Arlo Video Doorbell. It’s effective with a wide viewing angle, and it has good safety features such as the e911 and the siren.
To compare Nest and Ring video doorbells, they both have similar video viewing angles and infrared night vision for great clarity throughout the day.
Ring connects with Echo devices if you have them. Even the Arlo is compatible with Alexa. Meanwhile, the Nest is ideal for homes with Google Assistant.
As long as you know what features you want to take advantage of, any of these smart video doorbells can give you peace of mind.
