News Beat
Best video doorbells
Reviewed by Kulwinder Rai
Arlo’s latest doorbell introduced some significant improvements over the company’s original video doorbell, including easier installation that means setup now takes minutes.
Like Ring, the Arlo lens is a 180-degree, fish-eye type. Objects at the centre of the image don’t suffer from too much distortion and night vision (black and white only) shows plenty of detail in the shadows, so long as there’s a bit of external illumination in the vicinity.
The latest 2K HDR-enabled resolution is finer detailed than on the old Full HD resolution doorbell too, setting a high standard in terms of video quality.
Insofar as functionality is concerned, my advice is to consider the Arlo Secure subscription as mandatory here, not optional. Without it, Live View (with Video Call alerts to your phone when the doorbell button is pushed), general motion notifications and, an admittedly effective, ‘Real-Time Talk’ feature are pretty much all you get.
Paying the subscription enables you to receive custom detection alerts (person, vehicle, animal and package,) plus the ability to set activity zones and save clips in the cloud (for up to 60 days.) Keep in mind there’s no onboard storage, so you don’t get any saved recorded video without a subscription.
If you already have a home full of Alexa-enabled devices, the Ring Battery Video Doorbell Plus will be a better buy, in my view. If not, Arlo’s video doorbell ranks as the next best alternative in the subscription-based doorbell category.
Key specifications
- Field of view: 180 degrees
- Resolution: 1,944 x 1,944 pixels
- Battery life: Four to six months
- Colour night vision: No
- Subscription cost: From £5.49 a month
- Smart integrations: Alexa, Google, SmartThings, Apple HomeKit, IFTTT
