Below are a few of the most important questions that you need to review, as these will drive the type of doorbell and can help with what doorbells are the most appropriate for your specific needs. I will update the site in the future with possible recommendations, further explanations and guidance.
If you received this link from me, or from one of the Neighbourhood Associations, please record your answers and send them back via email.
Having a smartphone is a requirement for most video doorbells. There are versions on the market that don't need smartphones, but these are very basic and out of scope for this site.
Your phone should generally also be less than five years old. So Android (Samsung, Huawei, OnePlus or similar) or Apple. Having older devices could mean that the apps cannot be loaded and used, or could lose functionality during ownership.
Although you don't need to have massive amounts of data; when you are outside the house, and the doorbell rings, it will stream video to your phone. If you don't have sufficient included data, this could increase the costs as you may break out of your contract.
Most Doorbells require an internet connection with WiFi (in the UK BT, Virgin, Sky etc.) - again really important, as the doorbell generally uses the WiFi connection to connect to the internet. The connection speed is also essential as it needs to upload the video to the internet; this needs to be at least 2Mbps upload speed.
To test this go to the location where you want the doorbell installed and using your smartphone (or take a laptop/tablet) and go to www.speedtest.net, hit GO and see what the "upload Mbps number is" - anything higher than 2Mbps, should be fine. Even better - 4Mbps.
Similar to the mobile phone data bundle, if you have limits on upload/download bandwidth with your service provider, you may need to check this ongoing as the doorbell (depending on choice) will upload data to the internet/cloud. If this is a possible issue, then I would suggest using a device that stores data locally.
Although power is not essential, it provides extra options, and this will enable us to consider additional manufacturers plus different models. Power also means there is less reliance on batteries and can allow for the video to record all the time, which can capture extra information that battery versions don't.
The downside is that powered devices can drive installation complexity, and many people will be less inclined to do a DIY home install, so this can increase costs.
If you don't have power, look for doorbells that have batteries, and be aware that these will sometimes have a delay in capturing the video.
This is more a privacy question, as many doorbells use the internet (aka the "cloud") to store the videos that they capture. Some people object to this, which will limit the choices of doorbells.
This is a personal choice, and how you use the internet today will generally determine the answer. Do you use iCloud, Google Photos or Google Docs?
Although there are lots of stories about privacy issues, many of these have been or are fixed quickly and security in the cloud, depending on the company involved, can be better than what you have at home. The added benefit is that having the video offsite can help when local storage is stolen.
If you object, look for doorbells that store the video locally on SDCard or other storage means.
Most (not all) will come with a monthly subscription for the internet/cloud storage ranging from £25-50 per year. If this is an issue, then we need to discount those options - look for an option with local storage and clear statements about not having ongoing fees.
Facing a busy street means there is a danger that you could capture movement that's not within the property's boundary.
This would require a video camera that reduces this chance and provides the facility only to capture when these are breached - essentially setting up a "capture area". This is important as if it captures only images within the boundary of your private domestic property (including your garden), then the data protection laws will not apply to you.
If it captures images outside this boundary, then General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA18) will apply and you will need to ensure that you comply with these "data protection laws".