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Uses your existing wiring. Which wiring, though?
Video doorbell listings say they use your existing doorbell wiring. They rarely point out that the lowest voltage they accept changes from model to model. On the 7 listings here it is 8, 10 or 16 volts AC. A transformer marked 10 V and 10 VA can wire 5 of the 7. One marked 16 V and 10 VA can wire all 7. Some doorbells also stop your wall chime from ringing. Read the label on your transformer and look at your chime before you pick.
Check your wiring See the 7 picks
Doorbell wiring checker
A general check against the voltage, VA and chime notes on each listing and maker support page we read. It is not a promise of fit and not electrical advice. Turn off the breaker before touching wires. A transformer swap is a job for a licensed electrician.
Guides
Start here
- The 7 best video doorbells, sorted by the wiring they need
Seven video doorbells from Ring, Blink, Tapo, Arlo, eufy and Google Nest, compared by wiring voltage, VA, chime support, view shape and storage.
- Will a video doorbell work with your wiring?
Answer five questions about your doorbell wires, transformer label, chime and lease. See which video doorbells fit and what extra part each needs.
Wiring and chimes
- Doorbell transformer voltage and VA, in plain words
What the volts and VA on a doorbell transformer mean, where to find the label, and which video doorbells accept 8, 10 or 16 VAC.
- Will your wall chime still ring?
Some video doorbells ring your wall chime, some bypass it with a jumper cable, and one does both depending on a setting. Here is each pick.
Living with one
- Doorbell battery claims, and what cold weather does to them
Battery claims on video doorbell listings run from 8 months to two years. What the claims mean, what cold does, and how wiring changes it.
- Can the doorbell see a package on the step?
A wide doorbell view can still miss a package at your feet. How vertical field of view, 1:1 aspect ratio and wedge kits change what you see.
- Where does a video doorbell keep its clips?
Three of the seven doorbells here can record with no plan. Where each one saves clips, what that means if the doorbell is stolen, and how to lock it down.
- A video doorbell for renters, with no drilling
Renting? Pick a battery video doorbell and a no-drill mount, leave the landlord's button alone, and know which models need wiring you cannot change.