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The best video baby monitors: Keep eyes—and ears—on your bundle of joy

Baby monitors with cameras are distinctly different from home security cameras. We'll help you find the best one for your family.

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Table of Contents
  • Best video baby monitor
  • What to look when buying a video baby monitor
  • Our latest video baby monitor reviews

Show More

Baby monitors have a singular purpose: to bring parents, particularly nervous new ones, peace of mind. Each of the models reviewed here transmit both audio and video, allowing moms and dads to keep eyes and ears on their snoozing little ones, so they can get things done or just get a good night's sleep.

But these nursery essentials can be as fussy as the babies they keep tabs on. And like virtually every other household appliance, they are growing increasingly more capable and complex. In addition to conventional video baby monitors that use a camera and a handheld LCD display, often called a "parent unit," there are now also Wi-Fi-enabled systems that connect to your home network and use your smartphone as both the display and the controller, much like DIY home security cameras. These latter models offer high-definition video, intelligent alerts, and the ability to check on your child from anywhere you have an internet connection.

To help you find the best video baby monitor for your family's needs, we've outlined some key features to look for, and we will continue to share the results of our testing. Here are our current top picks, followed by a buyers' guide that will help you identify your wants and needs if our picks don't match what you're looking for. And if you scroll down to the bottom of the page, you'll find links to all of our latest video baby monitor reviews.

Updated February 18, 2021 to name the Cubo AI as our top baby monitor pick in light of Arlo's decision to discontinue its Arlo Baby. We're also elevating the Eufy Security SpaceView Baby Monitor to runner-up status in this category.

Best video baby monitor

Artifiicial intelligence enables this camera to detect and warn parents when babies are in potentially dangerous sleeping situations, such as having their face covered or sleeping on their stomach. It also has the unique ability to recognize when a baby is sitting up in their crib or smiling, and it will snap a photo that can you save in a memory book. The cute industrial design is just the icing on the cake.

Runner up

Eufy Security's SpaceView Baby monitor doesn't have all the gee-whiz features of our top pick, but many sleep-deprived parents might prefer a simpler but still very capable system for monitoring their baby when they can't be in the same room. This camera can also pan and tilt to deliver a view of the entire nursery.

What to look when buying a video baby monitor

If our top picks don't match your budget or your needs, this guide will help you understand all the features you'll encounter in your search for the perfect video baby monitor, so you narrow the field to find exactly what you're looking for.

Motion and audio sensors: In the old days, parents were forced to endure a consistent ambient hiss from their audio monitors while they listened for their child's stirrings or cries. Mercifully, many modern baby monitors will stay in "quiet mode" until they detect motion and/or sound, which will trigger an alert, such as activating the handheld video display or pushing a notification to your smartphone.

wisenet babyview eco Hanwha Techwin Wisenet

The Wisenet BabyView Echo's display can operate on battery power, waking only when the camera detects sound.

Rechargeable batteries: Since the camera will most likely stay trained on your bundle of joy, it can remain plugged into AC power. But parent unit displays are designed to be always on and carried with you as you move from room to room. That can drain batteries quickly. Look for a parent unit that runs on rechargeable batteries, so you're not constantly swapping them out.

Night vision: Because much of the time you'll be checking on your child after dark, most video baby monitors include infrared LEDs that automatically turn on in low light. The trick is to make sure they illuminate just enough that you can see your child without the light waking him or her.

Two-way talk: If your child does start prematurely stirring from their sleep, the last thing you want to do is risk waking them fully by walking into the room to settle them. Baby monitors often include a push-to-talk microphone you can activate from the parent unit or your smartphone to remotely soothe your child with your voice.

1 vm3251 hero lifestyle min VTech

Many baby video monitors, including the VTech VM3251 shown here, can play lullabies to soothe your child to sleep.

Environmental sensors: Many monitors include the ability to set thresholds and upper limits for room temperature and/or humidity, and they'll alert you when these ranges are exceeded. While they can't control the temperature or the amount of moisture in the room's air, this feature can help you improve your child's comfort, which will help them get more restful sleep.

Lullabies: Monitors often include a selection of soothing sounds to help your baby drift off to slumberland. These can be traditional nursery rhymes of the rock-a-bye-baby variety, nature sounds, white noise, or some combination of all of them. It's a good idea to check them out before you play them to your sleeping child to determine whether they might help or hinder their sleep.

Our latest video baby monitor reviews

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  • The Cubo AI Plus is an excellent AI-powered baby monitor with smart alerts that should help both child and parents sleep better.

    Pros

    • Excellent image quality
    • Detects a baby's risky sleep activity alerts caregivers
    • Automatically takes photos of momentous moments like smiling or sitting up

    Cons

    • Premium subscription required to download video
    • Might require considerable assembly

  • The Angelcare Baby Breathing Monitor is an easy-to-use and dependable aid for parents to monitor their child's sleep safety.

    Pros

    • Tracks movement produced by your child's breathing
    • Alerts you when no motion is detected for 20 seconds
    • Real-time video with digital pan and tilt

    Cons

    • Buttons on monitor often require multiple presses to respond
    • More expensive than some smart baby monitors
    • Average video quality

  • The Eufy SpaceView Baby monitor provides parents of newborns and toddlers an easy path to peace of mind without a lot of complicated tech.

    Pros

    • Can switch from standard to wide-angle view
    • Configurable sound-detection alerts
    • Large HD (720p) video monitor

    Cons

    • Can only be used in-house, there is no broadband connection

  • The Safety 1st HD WiFi Baby Monitor is a great option for parents who want to stay connected to their child from wherever they are.

    Pros

    • Excellent HD (720p) video quality
    • Alerts you to a child's movements and sounds
    • Smart audio unit allows hands-free use

    Cons

    • Doesn't playback lullabies or ambient sounds
    • Doesn't monitor room temperature and humidity

  • The Motorola Halo+ is a powerful, but pricey, baby monitoring and soothing system.

    Pros

    • Provides an unrestricted overhead view of your baby
    • Includes a built-in playlist of lullabies, nature sounds, and children's audio books
    • Can capture event-triggered video and provide sleep data when paired with cloud subscription

    Cons

    • Expensive
    • Requires additional cloud-subscription costs to enable advanced features

  • The Lux65 Connect-2 is a great starter kit for new parents, but be aware you have to purchase a cloud subscription to unlock its best features.

    Pros

    • Full HD video
    • Motion and sound detection and alerts
    • Provides data insights on baby's activity

    Cons

    • Expensive
    • Requires subscription to unlock advanced features

  • The Nanit Plus is a top end model baby monitor that provides premium features and breath tracking relief for anxious parents.

    Pros

    • Clear and accurate video stream
    • Breathing monitoring provides peace of mind
    • Quck and and easy to set up

    Cons

    • Expensive
    • No dedicated video monitor
    • No option to run the camera on battery power

  • The Panasonic baby monitor pairs sharp video with an array of smart features to ensure the whole family sleeps easier.

    Pros

    • Smooth pan and tilt movement
    • Smart motion, sound, and temperature detection
    • Sharp image quality

    Cons

    • Add-on cameras are relatively expensive
    • Can only monitor baby from inside your home

  • The VM3251 is an affordable, easy-to-use baby monitor with a smart selection of features.

    Pros

    • Allows you to monitor your baby and nursery environment
    • Includes a selection of lullabies and soothing sounds
    • Supports up to four cameras

    Cons

    • Image quality has a purprle color cast
    • Single-band Wi-Fi adapter (2.4GHz only)

  • The VM2251 is a capable baby monitor with some advanced features that will likely delight new parents.

    Pros

    • Monitor screen switches on when camera detects sound
    • Alerts you when temperature falls out of desired range
    • Automatic night vision

    Cons

    • Video quality is noisy
    • Does not support mobile viewing

  • The VTech VM5271 Expandable Digital Video Baby Monitor is an easy-to-use extra set of eyes on your little one.

    Pros

    • Allows you to monitor your baby and nursery environment
    • Supports customizable alerts
    • Includes a selection of lullabies and soothing sounds

    Cons

    • Image quality is noisy with a purprle color cast

  • The BabyView Eco is a sold baby monitor, but there are others as good with less complex interfaces.

    Pros

    • Includes voice activated and energy conserving monitoring modes
    • Seven built-in lullabies
    • Monitors temperature in child's room

    Cons

    • 19 informational icons can be overwhelming

  • The Miku has the makings of a great baby monitor, but we expected a bit more polish for the asking price.

    Pros

    • Excellent video quality
    • Tracks sleeping and breathing patterns
    • Produces easy-to-understand sleep analysis reports

    Cons

    • In testing, Miku did not sound alarm when non-movement was detected
    • Can't adjust motion detection sensitivity
    • Can't set temperature and humidity thresholds

  • The VTech VM981 Safe & Sound Expandable HD is a step up from conventional baby monitors but it still lacks some key features. Best to keep exploring your options in this growing category.

    Pros

    • HD camera with a separate monitor is a big improvement over audio-only baby monitors
    • Detects and alerts you to your child's movements

    Cons

    • Doesn't support two-way audio, so you can't speak to and soothe your child
    • Image displays faded and inaccurate colors
    • Currently doesn't support motion-detected video recording

Michael Ansaldo is a veteran consumer and small-business technology journalist. He contributes regularly to TechHive and writes the Max Productivity column for PCWorld.