If you’re shopping for a cheap video doorbell, you might be tempted to choose the most affordable one from a big brand like Ring or Blink, but doing so might end up costing you more in the long term.
Ring does offer some very affordable video doorbells, with prices starting at $99.99 / £99.99 / AU$149 for a battery-operated model, but that’s only half the story. If you only buy the doorbell you’ll be able to see and speak to visitors live via the Ring app or a compatible smart device, but recordings won’t be stored anywhere, and you won’t have access to features like person recognition and package alerts.
Dual-lens
Eufy Video Doorbell Dual
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Eufy is one of my favorite home security brands, for three reasons: its cameras and doorbells are reasonably priced, they don’t require a subscription plan to store your recordings, and they’re solidly made. The Eufy Video Doorbell Dual is a great example, and an excellent choice if you’re in the market for a budget-friendly way to keep tabs on visitors.
As the name implies, the Eufy Video Doorbell Dual has two cameras: a 2K camera to focus on visitors’ faces, and an HD camera that lets you keep an eye on packages on your doorstep.
Our tester Carrie-Ann Skinner reported that “The Eufy Video Doorbell Dual’s 2K camera records clear, super-detailed video in daylight, with its 160-degree field of view capturing a generous area. While footage from the package detection camera isn’t as detailed, it’s still clear. There’s a slight fish-eye effect on footage captured by the main camera, but the HD camera doesn’t display a hint of a curve in the video.”
There’s no need to pay for cloud storage because the Video Doorbell Dual saves your videos to the Eufy BaseStation included in the package, which provides 16GB local storage. It connects to your router and links to the doorbell via Eufy’s proprietary wireless protocol.
If you’re adamant that you want cloud storage, Eufy offers a basic plan for $39.99 / £39.99 a year that will save footage from your doorbell for 30 days before it’s overwritten, but it’s barely mentioned in the company’s marketing material, and it’s very much assumed that you’re going to stick with the base station. We did, and it worked brilliantly.
Read our full Eufy Video Doorbell Dual review
Smart features
EZVIZ EP3x Pro
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The budget-friendly EZVIZ EPX3 Pro is one of the biggest video doorbells we’ve tested here at TechRadar, but for good reason: it comes bundled with a solar charging unit that dramatically extends its battery life, it offers 32GB on-board storage, and it’s packed with smart features that other brands put in the cloud at extra expense.
These include both person and package detection (neither of which comes free with a Ring doorbell), the ability to set privacy zones so the camera only monitors your property, and even a voice-changer if you don’t like the look of a caller and want to protect your identity.
Like the Eufy Video Doorbell Dual, it has two cameras: a 2K front-facing cam for recording visitors, and a 1080p one for packages. It’s a system that works well, and our reviewer Daryl Baxter was effusive in his praise, concluding that “once you try this dual-lens doorbell, it’s hard to use any other.”
The EZVIZ EP3x Pro also has powerful LEDs on the bottom, which allow it to record in color at night. By contrast, the Eufy Video Doorbell Dual uses infra-red for recording after dark, which is more discrete, but means you only get black-and-white images.
The only potential hurdle is the app, which is packed with so many features that first-time users might find themselves overwhelmed. You will get used to it (and the video recording list is particularly useful), but if you’d rather keep things as simple as possible, take a look at the Doro Hemma below.
Read our full EZVIZ EP3x Pro review
Easy to use
Doro Hemma
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Doro makes tech with senior users in mind, but the Hemma doorbell is a great pick for anyone who wants an affordable doorbell that lets them see who’s calling and talk to them remotely, and doesn’t want extra frills like multiple cameras, person-detection, or package alerts. It just provides the basics, and does so very well.
It has a list price of £149 (about $200 / AU$300), but is regularly on sale for a third off, making it one of the most affordable battery-powered video doorbells around.
You get a generous 32GB internal storage, which will be enough to store months of recordings, and you can easily scroll through and view those in Doro’s mobile app. There’s also a plug-in chime bundled with the doorbell, which is one of the loudest we’ve ever tested; we’d be amazed if you manage to miss it.
If you don’t like the look of the person at your door, you can sound an alarm, or use the Hemma’s app to reach an emergency contact. It’s a feature intended to help keep older people safe, but could be useful for anyone who’s vulnerable, or bothered by nuisance visitors.
You can’t link the Hemma to any other smart home devices, such as smart displays and speakers, but that’s a feature rather than a bug. This is smart home tech for folks who don’t do smart home tech.
The only real downside is that Doro products are currently only available in the UK. If you live somewhere else, take a look at the two options above instead – particularly the Eufy Video Doorbell Dual, which has a simpler app.
Read our full Doro Hemma review
The best video doorbells
