4. If you’re on a budget: Ring Video Doorbell
The original may not be the best, but for £89 you can’t go too far wrong with the Ring Video Doorbell. A basic buzzer that doesn’t require wires (but can use them if you have them), this does the job you need, but you’ll have to take it down and charge it every couple of months – depending on whether or not your front door is as busy as Heathrow at Christmas.
There are fewer features at this price, but if you pay for the subscription it can alert you only when a person approaches, not every tree branch. We found this wasn’t always reliable – sometimes it thought a rocking chair was a person and other times it entirely missed actual people – but it did help cut down on alert fatigue.
All of Ring’s doorbells work with Alexa speakers and smart screens, and connect automatically to announce “someone is at the door” or show a live view. They also all have a wide, 16:9 aspect ratio – this is good for seeing the action as it approaches from either side, but not so great for keeping an eye on packages under the camera.
Ring is the only doorbell with privacy zones, which you can draw in so you’re not watching your neighbour’s house – but there’s no depth of field so everything in that space is blacked out. If you just want to know when someone is ringing your door and get to chat with them, and you use Alexa, then this is a great, entry-level option.