The 7 Best Baby Monitors of 2023 - Hubei Bright Sky Co.,Ltd

As of early March, Nanit is selling a redesigned version of the Nanit Pro Smart Baby Monitor and Floor Stand. We’ve updated links and added a discussion of the differences between the new and old stands in the Nanit Pro Smart Baby Monitor section of this guide.

Whether you’re a first-time parent or you’re welcoming another baby into your family, a baby monitor can offer peace of mind.

The best baby monitors are easy to set up and use, and they stay reliably connected. They also offer clear picture and sound quality, have batteries that last through the night, and are sturdy enough to survive through toddlerhood.

The Eufy SpaceView and Eufy SpaceView Pro meet those criteria better than any other local-video monitors we’ve tested.

Our video monitor picks have cameras that let you see your baby well even in the dark, and they offer clear audio even at the lowest volumes.

We chose local-video monitors with rechargeable batteries, and we tested them to confirm that they would last through the whole night unplugged.

A local-video monitor should keep a signal across the house and even outside. A Wi-Fi video monitor should be reliable and secure.

We selected monitors that are simple and intuitive to use, no matter how tired or tech-savvy you are.

Local-video monitors like the Eufy SpaceView require the camera and the display unit to remain in close proximity. If you want to be able to keep an eye on your child from afar, you need a Wi-Fi–enabled monitor, which links a camera's feed to an app on your smartphone. Our favorite is the Nanit Pro Smart Baby Monitor and Wall Mount or Nanit Pro Smart Baby Monitor and Floor Stand (same monitor, different mount). We also have a local-video/Wi-Fi hybrid option, the VTech RM7868HD or VTech RM7766HD (same monitor, different name and packaging), as well as an ultra-simple audio-only monitor, the VTech DM221.

A highly adjustable camera, easy-to-use controls, great video and audio quality, good range, all-night battery life, and a decent price make the SpaceView the best local-video baby monitor you can buy.

The SpaceView Pro uses the same camera and has all the same features as the regular SpaceView, but the Pro's display unit has a bigger battery, which lasts four hours longer. The display is bulkier and harder to fit in a pocket. Also, the Pro usually costs slightly more than the regular SpaceView, and it lacks an optional wide-angle camera lens.

The star feature of the Eufy SpaceView is its 720p camera, which you can pan from side to side and tilt up and down remotely from the display unit—so you don't need to tiptoe into the baby's room to make camera adjustments. The monitor's 5-inch screen is big enough to see comfortably and has easy-to-use controls for adjusting temperature and sound alerts. And it recharges on a standard Micro-USB plug. The Eufy SpaceView Pro has all the same features as the SpaceView but adds a bigger battery, which makes the display unit bulkier but lasts over 13 hours per charge with the screen on versus the SpaceView's 8-plus hours. Unfortunately, we’ve heard more complaints than we’d like about issues with Eufy-device batteries failing to hold a charge as they age, but so far we haven't found another model that works as well and doesn't have this problem.

Baby monitors that rely on a local-video feed, such as these Eufy models and our runner-up from Infant Optics, may be a better fit for some people than Wi-Fi monitors because they’re generally simpler and easier to deal with, as there's no internet connection to worry about, and they come with fewer security considerations. But you can't check this type of monitor when you’re away from home. If you want to be able to look in on your little one while you’re out, you need a Wi-Fi–enabled monitor.

The DXR-8 Pro offers great picture quality and range, as well as a battery that you can replace if the one that came with your monitor starts to wear out. But its nightly battery life isn't quite as good as the Eufy SpaceView's, and its camera isn't as adjustable.

The Infant Optics DXR-8 Pro local-video monitor, an upgraded version of the older DXR-8 (our former runner-up pick), has a 720p camera with a sharper picture than the older model's. Its display unit offers a 5-inch screen, improved range, a louder speaker, and background-noise reduction to filter out sounds from fans and humidifiers. The DXR-8 Pro also has an owner-replaceable battery. Most rechargeable batteries lose a noticeable amount of their capacity after a year or two, so the DXR-8 Pro might be worth the extra money in comparison with the Eufy SpaceView if you plan to use your monitor for multiple years or pass it down. However, its tested battery life with the screen left on—7 hours 9 minutes—was over an hour less than the SpaceView's and over 6 hours less than what we got from the SpaceView Pro.

Low-cost local-video monitors make a lot of compromises, but the VM5254 has a decent 5-inch screen, good-enough battery life, a reliable signal, and a manually adjustable camera with a built-in night-light. It can't show you as much of your baby's room as our other picks can, though.

*At the time of publishing, the price was $72.

You can find local-video baby monitors that cost less than $100, but not many good ones. Although the VTech VM5254 cuts some corners, it still offers a 5-inch screen, reasonable battery life (in our tests, 6 hours 14 minutes per charge with the screen left on), and a reliable signal for half the price of the Eufy SpaceView. The camera even has a handy built-in night-light—with seven color options—that automatically adjusts its brightness sensor. However, though the VM5254's video quality is good for the price, its camera doesn't pan or tilt like that of the SpaceView or the Infant Optics DXR-8 Pro. And the VM5254 produces a considerably smaller field of view than our other picks—you can't see as much of your baby's room, and you’re more limited in where you can place the device. The monitor is also chunkier and cheaper-feeling than our other local-video picks.

If you don't want to accept the compromises that come with a cheap video monitor—or you prefer a simpler, audio-only system—this well-made audio-only baby monitor is a good value.

If you don't need or want a video monitor, the VTech DM221 is a great audio-only baby monitor that costs half as much as our budget video monitor pick. The DM221 is a well-reviewed best seller in the audio-only category, and it offers crisp sound and better talk-back functionality (which lets you talk to your child or another person in the room, instead of just listening) than the best video monitors we found. It offers a great range (1,000 feet), too, and at 19 hours it has longer battery life than any of our local-video picks. This model easily beats out its audio-only competitors for various basic reasons, as it's cordless, rechargeable, and less expensive.

This Wi-Fi–dependent monitor connects to a well-designed app that allows you to check in on your baby when you’re away from home. It also stores video, tracks your baby's sleep, and—crucially—keeps playing the camera's audio feed while you’re using other features on your phone.

*At the time of publishing, the price was $276.

This package is just like the wall-mounted version of the Nanit monitor—with the exact same high-quality camera and app—except it comes with a pricier floor-stand mounting system, giving you the option to move the camera around to different locations.

*At the time of publishing, the price was $305.

The Nanit Pro Smart Baby Monitor and Wall Mount and Nanit Pro Smart Baby Monitor and Floor Stand (same monitor, different mounting systems) is a Wi-Fi video monitor, so unlike our local-video picks, it allows you to monitor your baby remotely—when you’re at work, traveling, or anywhere else you can get a Wi-Fi connection. The 1080p video stream, captured through a wide-angle lens, looks and sounds ultra-crisp on a smartphone, which serves as the screen—there's no additional display unit. The monitor is equipped with the basic security measures we like to see on smart devices of this nature (that is, the video is encrypted in transit, and the app requires two-factor authentication). In addition, the Nanit Pro app has an important, but shockingly rare, feature: an always-on audio feed, which allows you to hear the audio from your baby's room even if you leave the app. You can also use the app to track your baby's sleep patterns, play and save video clips, and far more. But the Nanit monitor is expensive, you have to pay for a subscription to access most of the app's features after the first year, and the whole package may be too much monitor for some families.

The RM7868HD (same monitor as the VTech RM7766HD, different name, depending on the retailer) can work as either a Wi-Fi monitor or a local-video monitor, with a separate display unit included. It offers the best video quality of any of our picks and great battery life. The app is easy to navigate, too, though it doesn't have a ton of features.

The RM7766HD (same monitor as the VTech RM7868HD, different name, depending on the retailer) can work as either a Wi-Fi monitor or a local-video monitor, with a separate display unit included. It offers the best video quality of any of our picks and great battery life. The app is easy to navigate, too, though it doesn't have a ton of features.

May be out of stock

*At the time of publishing, the price was $131.

If you’re debating between a local-video monitor and a Wi-Fi monitor, the VTech RM7868HD (also known as the VTech RM7766HD) could be for you, because it's both. The display unit offers an extra-large, 7-inch 720p LCD screen and excellent battery life, as it lasted 12 hours 14 minutes with the screen on in our tests. You can switch the RM7868HD/RM7766HD to Wi-Fi mode for remote check-ins and access a 1080p video stream on your phone via a simple app. (The display unit also works for Wi-Fi mode.) The video quality is especially detailed, and the camera can pan horizontally 360 degrees—it's our only pick with that capability, useful if you have multiple children in the same room. It also has an optional night-light and sound effects. But VTech's security and privacy measures for the RM7868HD/RM7766HD are more opaque than those that Nanit implemented for its monitors—we had to work to understand them—and not quite as advanced, and the VTech app doesn't offer nearly as many features. Also, unlike the Nanit Pro app, the VTech app doesn't allow you to keep the audio feed playing when you navigate to another screen on your smartphone, though we didn't consider that a dealbreaker since you have the display unit as a second option. Beyond that, some people have reported severe frustration with VTech's app (which is intended for use with all VTech Wi-Fi monitors). The app worked smoothly during our testing, and the company's customer service is generally responsive, but be aware that app bugginess could be a risk.

*At the time of publishing, the price was $72.

If you don't want to accept the compromises that come with a cheap video monitor—or you prefer a simpler, audio-only system—this well-made audio-only baby monitor is a good value.

*At the time of publishing, the price was $276.

*At the time of publishing, the price was $305.

May be out of stock

*At the time of publishing, the price was $131.

Wirecutter has been testing baby monitors since 2017, and the writers of this guide have collectively logged more than eight years of daily baby monitor use as parents. Senior editor Harry Sawyers was the longtime previous author of this guide, and he was a devoted baby monitor user when his three sons were babies and toddlers.

In 2020 and 2021, Andrew Cunningham—whose regular beats at Wirecutter included PCs and Macs, smartphones and tablets, computer monitors, and other gadgets—did a major revision of this guide. He used a baby monitor nearly every night for two years with his own child, and he spent months researching and testing new models.

Kerry Davis took over as the writer of this guide in June 2022; she began the assignment by spending two months researching and testing Wi-Fi video monitors with her 2-year-old son. She has written for tech publications including Engadget and IDG News Service, reporting on AI chatbots, self-driving cars (video), and data centers, and she has tested a range of tech gadgets.

We also collaborated with other Wirecutter staffers who are well-versed in smart-home devices to establish our security and privacy criteria for our Wi-Fi baby monitor picks. We then communicated with representatives of the manufacturers of our picks, asking questions and seeking clarification until we arrived at an understanding of their security and privacy measures and practices.

Not everyone needs a baby monitor. If you live in a smaller house or apartment, if you keep your child in close proximity, or if you generally don't feel compelled to monitor your baby as they’re sleeping (an infant's cry is hard to miss!), you may find a monitor to be unnecessary. Other people may want a monitor only for occasional use, such as when they’re trying to do some yard work while the baby is napping.

For many parents, however, a baby monitor is a part of daily life. If, in order to relax, you want visual confirmation that your child is safely asleep for the night in another room, a monitor can be essential. A baby monitor provides you with a camera and/or microphone, to put near the crib or bed, that connects wirelessly either to a separate rechargeable receiver unit that can travel with you throughout the house (for local-video and audio-only monitors) or to your smartphone via an app (for Wi-Fi video monitors).

People most commonly use monitors with new babies. But even once your household is past the infant stage, you may appreciate having an easy way to check whether your kid is still asleep, still in their bed, or still in their room at all. It's nice to see a child tucked in, dreaming happily, curled up in adorable new positions, cuddling with stuffed animals, and generally doing okay. A baby monitor can make that possible.

Depending on your needs and tastes, you have a few different types of monitors to choose from; some are impressively simple, while others are far more complex and loaded with features that promise to do practically everything short of burping your baby for you. The three main types are audio-only, local-video, and Wi-Fi–enabled. (You’ll also encounter some video monitors that can work in either local-video or Wi-Fi mode.)

At the most basic end of the spectrum are audio-only monitors, namely the old-school kind that look like walkie-talkies. Audio-only monitors work on a local-audio network (no internet or Wi-Fi required) and provide a sound feed, no video. An audio-only monitor costs a fraction of the price of the video monitors that we recommend, and it can be a great backup monitor for travel—or a primary monitor, if you prefer a less-is-more approach. Audio-only models also tend to have better battery life, as well as a longer range, than local-video monitors, so if you need to keep your monitor's microphone and receiver unit far apart, an audio-only model may be a good option.

When people think of baby monitors, what likely comes to mind are local-video, or non–Wi-Fi, baby monitors. These monitors have two components—a camera pointed at the baby and a display unit for the caregiver—and those two components must stay within a certain range of each other to maintain a clear feed. (The typical range of our picks is 1,000 feet, but factors such as going down to the basement or through an especially thick wall can have an effect on the reception.)

This type of monitor makes a lot of sense for many situations. Local-video baby monitors require little technical know-how to set up and use; typically you can take them out of the box and plug them in, and you’re up and running. They’re easy to hand off to a babysitter or family member with minimal explanation or training. Because local-video monitors don't connect to the internet, you don't need to worry about software updates or security and privacy breaches. And they work just as seamlessly when you’re traveling (provided you’re in a country that has the right outlets) as they do when you’re at home.

Local-video baby monitors require little technical know-how to set up and use; typically you can take them out of the box and plug them in, and you’re up and running.

But it's crucial to understand that you can use a local-video monitor's camera and display unit only within range of each other—remote check-ins aren't possible—and you always need to keep the display either plugged in or charged up. Also, these monitors let you know what your child is up to, through sight and sound, and they do their job very well—but that's about it. If you are craving more advanced tools and tech such as video recording or sleep tracking, you might want to explore Wi-Fi monitors as an alternative.

When Wirecutter first published this guide in 2017, we recommended local-video monitors as the best option for most people. But Wi-Fi–enabled baby monitors have continued to evolve—as has many parents’ appetite for integrating smart gadgets and technology into different facets of everyday life. Wi-Fi baby monitors offer some undeniably appealing advantages, most notably the ability to access the camera feed remotely via your smartphone from wherever you are. When you’re thousands of miles away—or even just across town—it can be both reassuring and bittersweet to tap a button on your phone and find yourself suddenly transported to your baby's nursery.

And since your smartphone can function as the monitor display, you don't need to worry about keeping a dedicated display unit charged at all times, though you do need to keep your phone juiced up or have a charging cable nearby. (Note: If your Wi-Fi monitor doesn't come with its own display unit, and you don't want to rely on just your phone, you can pair the camera with some other external device, such as an iPad or an old smartphone, that then serves as an additional display.)

Wi-Fi baby monitors offer some undeniably appealing advantages, most notably the ability to access the camera feed remotely via your smartphone from wherever you are.

Beyond remote check-ins, many Wi-Fi monitors allow you to view or download short video clips of your baby; some offer sped-up video montages of your baby's night, or the ability to snap and save photos to your phone. The most advanced Wi-Fi monitors’ apps kick the action up several notches further, with features that can alert you if your child moves out of a designated area and can track your child's sleep patterns.

Wi-Fi monitors do have some drawbacks. As with any smart-home device, there are real security and privacy concerns, which we cover in detail later in this guide. Compared with a local-video baby monitor, a Wi-Fi monitor is slightly more complex to set up, since you have to link it to your Wi-Fi network. And because you’re dealing with the internet, it can be less reliable. You’re at the mercy of whatever Wi-Fi network you’re on; if your Wi-Fi service is spotty, your monitor coverage will be spotty. So if your Zoom calls freeze regularly, you’re likely better off with a local-video monitor, unless you’re ready to dive into a true fix. (Our Wi-Fi router and networking guides can help.)

If you travel frequently to destinations with bad Wi-Fi—or Wi-Fi of unknown quality—you should have a backup monitor, such as our inexpensive audio-only pick, the VTech DM221. That's because you should never connect a Wi-Fi baby monitor to the unsecured Wi-Fi at a hotel or other public place; you should use a Wi-Fi monitor only on networks that you know and trust.

With a Wi-Fi monitor, you’re beholden to its app. An intuitive, well-designed app can be a pleasure to navigate, but a clunky, confusing app can be quite the opposite. Some Wi-Fi monitors have an app that's totally free, while others require pricey membership plans. A monitor's app may allow you to download and save your videos—or not. Certain apps pester you with sleep-training advice and offer (optional) coaching services, which isn't always welcome input.

We were particularly stunned to discover that only a few of the Wi-Fi monitors we tested had an app with an always-on audio stream feature, which makes it possible for you to keep the sound from your baby's room playing when you navigate away from the app to use other functions of your phone. This is not a huge deal if your Wi-Fi monitor comes with a separate display unit (some do, many don't). But in the cases where your phone is the only receiver, we think it's a big problem if you have to actually be on the app's screen in order to hear the audio, considering how likely you’ll want to use your phone to—you know—do anything else over the course of an afternoon or evening.

Sharing a Wi-Fi monitor with a babysitter is less effortless than just handing over a local-video monitor's display unit. If your Wi-Fi monitor doesn't come with its own display unit, you either need to provide the sitter with a tablet or old smartphone that you’ve paired with the camera or have them log in to the app on their own device. (Most Wi-Fi monitors allow multiple users in the app, though each person has to be set up on the app and then, if you don't want them to have ongoing access, removed afterward.)

Another complaint is the price. Wi-Fi monitors, at least the good ones, tend to be more expensive than their local-video counterparts. According to Silicon Valley tech analyst Bob O’Donnell, president and chief analyst at TECHnalysis Research, this is partly because the internal components—such as a high-quality Wi-Fi chip—simply cost more. And Wi-Fi monitors are susceptible to the same supply-chain problems as other smart tech devices these days. "If component costs go up, these are low-margin devices, so the price has to go up as well," said O’Donnell. Also, Wi-Fi monitor manufacturers have to pay for expensive ongoing maintenance such as performing regular app and software/firmware updates, keeping cloud-stored data secure, and providing customer tech support (such as staffing a team that responds to messages within 24 hours).

In 2017, we began research for this guide by shopping for baby monitors like anyone else would—if they had dozens of hours to do it. Our process started with a long list of best sellers at Amazon, BuyBuy Baby, Costco, Target, and Walmart. We looked at monitors recommended in editorial reviews, such as those from PCMag, Reviewed, and Tom's Guide. We also read discussions among parents in Amazon customer reviews, noting the features they found especially useful and the problems that tended to occur. Over the next several years we updated this guide regularly, testing new models as they became available and incorporating long-term testing notes on our picks.

In 2022 we decided to take a fresh look at Wi-Fi monitors, which have grown in number and popularity. Writer Kerry Davis interviewed baby and toddler sleep expert Rachael Shepard-Ohta of the website Hey, Sleepy Baby, who plans to switch to a Wi-Fi monitor with her third child to make use of remote check-ins; pediatrician and child-health researcher Christopher Bonafide, MD, research director of general pediatric hospital medicine at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia; and Bob O’Donnell, president and chief analyst of TECHnalysis Research, a Silicon Valley smart-device analyst who explained why Wi-Fi baby monitors tend to be more expensive than their non–Wi-Fi counterparts.

Upon reviewing all of the information and drawing on experience from our own previous monitor use, we came up with the following list of considerations to focus our search for video monitors:

Since 2017, we’ve researched and tested some 45 baby monitors, trying them in homes with different layouts and construction, including a two-story suburban home with stucco walls and a three-story Philadelphia row house with a finished basement—a challenging test environment for any wireless device. We’ve continued to long-term test our picks over several years, as well as to solicit input from Wirecutter staffers, incorporating our findings in small updates.

In 2020 and 2021, we reviewed the criteria above, along with owner reviews, comments, and feedback we’d received since our last update. Of the dozens of monitors we researched, writer Andrew Cunningham ended up testing or retesting eight local-video monitors and two hybrid monitors that could each work as either a local-video monitor or a Wi-Fi monitor. We tested these monitors daily over a period of several months in a three-story Philadelphia row house.

We took general notes about each display unit's battery life while using it, but we also wanted a more regimented test to directly compare the battery life. To do this for the local-video monitors, we turned each monitor's screen on and set it to roughly 50% brightness, turning off any energy-saving screen-dimming or sleep features. We then filmed a time-lapse video of the monitors next to a stopwatch in order to see exactly when each monitor's battery ran out. Any monitor that could last for more than six or seven hours during this test, we concluded, would have no problem surviving a full night of typical usage—usually the screen is off for the majority of the night unless you turn it on yourself, or it turns on because it's been activated by the baby making noise.

To test each camera's night vision, we used each model in a darkened bedroom with blackout curtains, with and without night-lights. To compare the level of detail in the video, we placed each camera the same distance away from a book and a pile of toys, and then we looked to see how many details we could pick out with the lights on and off.

In 2022, writer Kerry Davis researched Wi-Fi monitors to find a replacement for Wirecutter's previous Wi-Fi pick, the Arlo Baby, which the company had discontinued. From an initial field of 18, we cut the list down to six based on owner reviews, features and specs, and our set of internal guidelines and criteria.

We started by taking detailed notes on the ease of setup. For the Wi-Fi monitors that came with a separate display unit, we tested the monitors with both their display unit and their smartphone app; both options had to function well. If a particular monitor's app had a feature we loved or loathed, we checked whether the other apps had that feature, too.

We quickly realized that we wanted a monitor's app to provide continuous audio so that you could always hear the video feed on your phone even if you needed to navigate away from the app to send texts, read emails, or otherwise be a normal smartphone user. But surprisingly few of them offered that. We were less stringent about this criterion for the Wi-Fi monitors that came with a separate display unit, since theoretically the display would always be available as a backup when you’re at home.

In the great-to-have category, we discovered that we enjoyed apps that allowed us to watch nighttime summaries, since they could help answer the question of whether it took minutes or hours, for example, for a dose of Tylenol to calm a child's post-operative pain. (Turns out, it was hours.) Because many monitors begin recording only when they detect movement or sound, you can view only brief snippets of noteworthy events.

A number of Wi-Fi monitors offer features that we chose not to assess for our testing purposes, although some people may find them useful or merely entertaining. These features include growth tracking, morning-pickup compilation videos, all-day scrolls, vital-signs tracking, bedtime-routine prompts, sleep-training tips, and—bizarrely—auto-triggered video clips documenting what happens (or doesn't) when the temperature changes in the room. We’re telling you, it's still the Wild West out there when it comes to certain Wi-Fi monitors.

Wi-Fi monitors that perform some form of breathing or other vital-signs monitoring—often using a bootie or wrap worn by the baby to track the child's breathing or pulse rate—have become increasingly common. However, as demonstrated by a 2018 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, at-home pulse oximeter breath tracking can be inaccurate. Furthermore, the American Academy of Pediatrics issued an updated set of safe-sleep guidelines in June 2022, stating that caregivers should "avoid the use of commercial devices that claim to reduce the risk of SIDS or other sleep-related deaths." The guidelines continue: "There is no evidence that any of these devices reduce the risk of these deaths. Importantly, the use of products claiming to increase sleep safety may provide a false sense of security and complacency for caregivers. Do not use home cardiorespiratory monitors as a strategy to reduce the risk of SIDS."

Finally, although this is certainly an individual choice, before beginning any vital-signs monitoring of a child, it's worth pausing to consider how comfortable you are with the idea of having that data collected and stored online.

The arrival of the Eufy SpaceView in 2018—with its improved video image quality, better battery life on the display unit (the screen you keep with you), easy-to-use controls, better signal range, and broad panning and tilting radius, greater than on any other local-video option available at the time—set a new standard for baby monitors. A few years later, many monitors have caught up to the SpaceView in a few respects, matching its 5-inch screen size and 720p camera resolution. But it's still the best option for anyone who doesn't need remote access via a smartphone or the option to review or save video. If you do need those things, check out our top Wi-Fi monitor pick, the Nanit Pro Smart Baby Monitor (available with a wall mount or floor stand), and the VTech RM7868HD/RM7766HD, a Wi-Fi and local-video hybrid.

One glaring drawback to the SpaceView is its display unit's flimsy kickstand, which leaves the display off-balance. (The antenna is equally flimsy but may not be subject to as much wear and tear.) If that bothers you, and you don't mind a chunkier display unit that is harder to fit into a pocket, get the slightly more expensive SpaceView Pro, which Eufy introduced in 2020. The Pro model includes the same camera and all the same features but has a much larger battery, and its display unit balances stably without a kickstand.

Both the SpaceView and the SpaceView Pro have excellent range; in our tests, the camera had no problem sending a signal from the bottom to the top of a three-story row house. The monitor's audio never lagged behind by more than a second or two, and the controls were easy to use and responsive, though as with all the local-video monitors we tested, panning and tilting the camera could get more sluggish when we were at the outer limits of the monitor's range.

Both the SpaceView and the SpaceView Pro landed at the top of our test group in battery life, too. When we tested each parent unit (the display unit) running with the screen on, the SpaceView lasted for 8 hours 17 minutes, and the SpaceView Pro lasted for 13 hours 32 minutes. During normal use, with the screen off most of the time, neither monitor will have trouble making it through the night, with battery to spare. Nearly two years later, the same SpaceView we had been using when the baby was born could still survive the night on a charge. However, its battery capacity had decreased by then, and its battery indicator was less reliable (these are issues that affect all devices with rechargeable lithium ion batteries). We have heard complaints from SpaceView owners who found that their monitor stopped holding a charge at all and had to be disassembled and reattached to work again. We’re keeping an eye on how widespread this experience is. If your SpaceView suffers from significant battery issues, we recommend contacting Eufy customer service.

The SpaceView and the SpaceView Pro charge via a regular Micro-USB charger, which means you probably have at least one other charger that will work with it, somewhere in your house, if you ever need a replacement or a spare; our runner-up pick and our budget pick both use their own unique charging cables.

Other local-video baby monitors have caught up to the SpaceView and the SpaceView Pro in their 720p camera and screen, offering comparable detail and color. But the SpaceView is still one of the best monitors we’ve tested, offering clear picture quality and a reasonably good night-vision mode. Though we did prefer the camera quality on the Infant Optics DXR-8 Pro, our runner-up pick, when the lights were out, the difference wasn't big enough to justify the DXR-8 Pro's additional cost.

Whether you need a camera to pan and tilt depends on how you plan to use it within the room. The SpaceView and the SpaceView Pro surpass the DXR-8 Pro again in this regard, with cameras that can pan 330 degrees, in contrast to only 270 degrees for the DXR-8 Pro. (Both the SpaceView and the SpaceView Pro can tilt 110 degrees.) That extra flexibility allows you to scan a room being shared by two sleeping kids, for example, or to correct an out-of-position camera after a child is in bed. (Many Wi-Fi cameras cannot pan or tilt at all; instead, they offer a view of the bed and part of the room, and if you want to change the angle, you must do so manually.)

The user interface of both the SpaceView and the SpaceView Pro is clear and easy to use. Older and lower-resolution baby monitors often use blocky, ugly text or hard-to-discern images that make it less than clear what settings you’re changing. By contrast, the SpaceView's 720p screen allows for readable, descriptive text and detailed icons. Unlike the DXR-8 Pro, the SpaceView and SpaceView Pro don't have dedicated buttons for adjusting the screen brightness; you have to adjust that setting via the on-screen menu. But they do provide volume and power buttons, and all the buttons on the front are clearly labeled. The monitor displays the time of day, the signal strength, the battery life, which camera you’re looking at, and the temperature in the baby's room (which in our tests seemed more or less accurate within a couple of degrees when we compared it with the readout from an Ecobee thermostat sensor).

If you want to use the same display unit with multiple cameras so that you can keep an eye on multiple kids in multiple rooms, Eufy sells extra SpaceView cameras for around $100 apiece; Eufy also offers a two-camera monitor bundle. But a Wirecutter staff member who recently purchased a second SpaceView camera found that adding it to her existing setup was far from seamless. The firmware on her new 2022 camera wasn't compatible with the firmware on her original 2019 monitor, so she had to physically plug everything into a computer to update it—a process that failed on two Macs and a PC. She called Eufy customer service and was told that help for her issue could be given only in the form of email support (not ideal). Those troubleshooting exchanges proved unsuccessful, so Eufy recommended that she exchange the new camera for a replacement. (She didn't, suspecting that she’d be likely to encounter the same problem again.) At one point in the saga, both the new and old cameras were out of commission; eventually she managed to get them up and running through a combination of trial and error and luck.

Eufy offers a 30-day money-back guarantee and a limited one-year warranty on the SpaceView and SpaceView Pro.

Since we first made the Eufy SpaceView our top pick, in 2018, we’ve received a number of reader complaints about its durability, screen, battery life, and wireless signal. These concerns are also reflected in the SpaceView's Amazon reviews, which are broadly positive (4.3 out of five stars across nearly 5,450 ratings at this writing) but not uniformly so.

We contacted Anker Innovations, the company that makes all Eufy products, to ask about these problems, and a representative told us that the company had made several changes to the SpaceView's manufacturing processes to address the issues in late 2019. These changes made the fit of the monitor's Micro-USB charging port better so that cables wouldn't fall out as much. The company also said that it had improved the manufacturing processes for the screen and made it more resistant to dust. And the company is now using power meters to ensure that each SpaceView monitor is able to deliver the promised signal strength and range. Based on these reassurances and our generally good experiences with our own SpaceView monitors, we’re comfortable with continuing to recommend the SpaceView. But if you have any of these issues, you should contact Eufy customer support.

The flimsiness of the SpaceView's plastic kickstand remains a sticking point—even our budget video-monitor pick has a better kickstand, and that model costs half of what the SpaceView does. The SpaceView's kickstand is about as tough as a plastic Popsicle stick, and it's positioned off-center, so you can very easily knock the display unit over when you set it down, press a button, or basically touch it at all. Durability is an issue because, well, kids inevitably get their hands on these things occasionally, so ideally a monitor should be able to survive the encounter. The SpaceView Pro doesn't have this problem because its thicker base allows it to stand on its own, but you sacrifice some portability in that trade-off. Our runner-up, the Infant Optics DXR-8 Pro, has a far superior kickstand—it's tough, it runs the entire width of the monitor, and it has a convenient, loop-like design that makes the unit easy to carry when your hands are full.

In other durability news, a SpaceView buyer on Amazon says that their monitor's antenna broke off after a few months, but the reviewer also says that after they contacted Eufy's customer service, Eufy shipped out a new monitor. A Wirecutter editor experienced the same issue, but since her unit's antenna broke after the one-year warranty period had ended, Eufy's customer service was only able to offer her a 15% discount toward the purchase of an all-new monitor. And since the broken antenna didn't actually affect the functionality of the monitor—which, according to customer service, is normal—she opted to duct-tape the antenna back on and keep using the monitor.

We have heard multiple parents (including a Wirecutter editor) complain about charging issues with their SpaceView monitors: Their monitors either stopped charging as efficiently after about a year and a half or stopped holding a charge as reliably over time. Since their monitors were already out of the warranty period, and—unlike with our runner-up local-video pick, the Infant Optics DXR-8 Pro—it isn't possible to purchase a replacement battery for the SpaceView, they were left with little choice but to buy a brand-new monitor.

Also, one Wirecutter staffer volunteered that the clock on her Eufy monitor screen runs slow. And though it's nice that a second camera is available for purchase separately, as one Wirecutter staffer learned, actually connecting that second camera to your setup may be easier said than done.

A final small objection: Unlike with the DXR-8 Pro, when the SpaceView's display is off, you have no visual indicator of volume or noise in the room. Obviously, if the volume is turned up, you’ll hear noise. But here's an example of what this means: With the DXR-8 Pro, if you have the display's volume set to low but keep an eye on the screen, and there's a sudden noise in the room, indicator lights on the screen will appear to alert you visually about the noise. Those indicators are useful if, say, you’re working with headphones on while a kid is napping, or if you have hearing loss, as you can spot them out of the corner of your eye. It's a nice feature when you need it, and it's one that the SpaceView would benefit from having.

For years, the original Infant Optics DXR-8 was the best baby monitor in a sea of mediocre models—until its small screen and low-resolution camera began to look inadequate next to bigger, newer monitors like the Eufy SpaceView. Enter the upgraded Infant Optics DXR-8 Pro, introduced in 2020. It offers sturdy construction and an easy-to-use interface, and it improves on the SpaceView by providing a wider and stronger kickstand, clearer night vision, and an audio indicator that notifies you when a baby is crying, even if you have the screen off and the sound turned down. If you want to use your baby monitor for more than a couple of years, you can easily pop out and replace the DXR-8 Pro's rechargeable battery, should it begin to wear out (something the SpaceView does not allow you to do). The SpaceView is still the better overall buy because of its superior overnight battery life, lower price, and USB charging, as well as its camera's wider panning range (a total of 330 degrees, compared with the DXR-8 Pro's 270 degrees). But if the SpaceView is not available, or if any of its shortcomings are dealbreakers for you, the DXR-8 Pro is the monitor to get.

The DXR-8 Pro is a bigger, more expensive version of the DXR-8, our top pick for many years. Compared with the older version, the updated DXR-8 Pro has a larger screen, better battery life, and a higher-resolution camera. In our testing, the DXR-8 Pro's range was comparable to the SpaceView's: With the camera unit placed in the basement, we were able to send a signal all the way to the third floor of a tall, narrow row house, despite plenty of competing wireless signals coming from neighboring houses. The camera controls got a bit more sluggish as we moved farther away, but they continued to work just fine.

In our screen-on battery-life test, the DXR-8 Pro lasted for just over 7 hours; that performance isn't as good as the results we got from the SpaceView (8 hours 17 minutes) or the SpaceView Pro (13 hours 32 minutes). But this model still surpasses other monitors we tested in that regard. And in normal use, with the screen mostly off, the DXR-8 Pro's battery life is more than long enough to last through the night. Another downside: Unlike the SpaceView, the DXR-8 Pro uses its own special charging port rather than a USB port, so if you want a replacement or spare, you need to buy it directly from Infant Optics, rather than simply using a USB charger you may already have at home.

This monitor's 5-inch 720p display is the same size and resolution as the SpaceView's, and overall the two monitors offer similar video quality. The DXR-8 Pro's picture looks more detailed and less noisy in night-vision mode, but it's not so much better that it's worth paying more for. The sharper screen also fixes one of our main gripes about the old DXR-8: It replaces the previous model's blocky fonts and indecipherable glyphs with improved graphics and more-readable text that clearly explains what all of the monitor's settings do, so you can configure it without looking at the manual. Dedicated buttons for adjusting the volume and screen brightness are handy additions, and using the built-in controls to move the camera or make other changes is quick and easy. Like the SpaceView, the DXR-8 Pro displays the signal strength, the battery life, which camera you’re using, and the time and temperature across the top of the screen.

The audio quality is good, too. The DXR-8 Pro includes a noise-reduction feature, something that the SpaceView doesn't offer. The feature promises to screen out background noise, such as from a fan or humidifier, so that you don't hear the noise and it doesn't register on the noise-detection light. In our testing, though, this feature didn't work as well with louder sounds, such as from a white noise machine.

For monitoring multiple rooms, you can add up to three more Infant Optics DXR-8 Pro add-on cameras, which are separate purchases, about $100 each. Make sure you’re buying a DXR-8 Pro camera rather than a regular DXR-8 camera—they look similar, but they’re incompatible. You can easily mount the DXR-8 Pro camera on a wall, pan and tilt it 270 and 120 degrees, respectively, and set the display unit to scan across multiple cameras to keep an eye or ear on everybody at once.

The DXR-8 Pro comes with two interchangeable optical lenses (a standard lens and a zoom lens), and you can also buy a wide-angle lens. Having three different lens options is nice, but in practice, during our tests, the zoom on the standard lens was sufficient. And most people, we expect, would probably not bother to change the lenses frequently, if ever.

Because the DXR-8 Pro launched in 2020, it is still a relatively new baby monitor, and as such it doesn't have many years’ worth of owner reviews attesting to its quality and staying power. But its Amazon reviews as of November 2022 are overwhelmingly positive, with a rating of 4.7 out of five stars across more than 4,500 reviews.

Like our top local-video pick, the DXR-8 Pro is covered by a limited one-year warranty.

*At the time of publishing, the price was $72.

More often than not, budget (under-$100) local-video baby monitors feel flimsy and poorly made, with tiny screens, poor cameras, and mediocre battery life. And many of them come from companies lacking an established track record for customer support or warranty claims. However, the VTech VM5254, which came out in 2020, has proven to be the rare exception. It's a step down from our top local-video pick, the Eufy SpaceView, and our runner-up pick, the Infant Optics DXR-8 Pro, but it offers decent video and audio quality, a 5-inch screen, good range, and reasonable battery life. It's the cheapest monitor we’ve tested—half the price of the SpaceView—that handles all the basics well.

That said, the VM5254 has noticeably worse camera resolution, screen quality, and battery life than the SpaceView. And it uses a nonstandard power connector, rather than USB, for charging the camera and display unit. Yet its most noticeable drawbacks are the camera's narrow field of view and the fact that the camera doesn't let you pan or tilt it remotely using the controls on the display unit (something the SpaceView, the SpaceView Pro, and the DXR-8 Pro all allow you to do). Whereas the SpaceView's camera is flexible enough that you can get a good look at just about anything in your baby's room no matter where you place it, with the VM5254, you have to be more particular about where you install it, and it doesn't show you much more than your baby's crib.

Both the camera and the display unit are plasticky-feeling. But even though they’re not as streamlined and nice-looking as the SpaceView's components, they’re not hideous, either. The display unit is bigger and bulkier than the SpaceView's, but it feels sturdy and should be able to withstand a few crash landings without breaking. The VM5254's kickstand is actually quite a bit better than the SpaceView's off-center, flimsy stand: VTech put a solid-feeling kickstand right in the middle of this display unit, and the kickstand can angle the display in a few different positions. (On both the SpaceView and the DXR-8 Pro, the kickstand has to be either fully open or closed.)

The VM5254's display unit was able to maintain a solid connection to the camera everywhere in a three-story row house, even with the camera in the basement and the display on the third floor. Its range wasn't quite as good as that of the SpaceView or the DXR-8 Pro, though: When we left the house with the monitor, its signal began to cut out and get choppy 50 or 60 feet earlier than the signals of the others we tested. As with all local-video baby monitors, the connection between this VTech camera and display unit can blip occasionally if you have the screen right next to Wi-Fi or Bluetooth devices. However, the VM5254 doesn't seem any more prone to this kind of interference than the SpaceView.

The battery life of the VM5254 isn't as good as that of the regular SpaceView, let alone the SpaceView Pro's 13-hours-plus. In our screen-on battery test, the VM5254 lasted 6 hours 14 minutes, in contrast to 8 hours 17 minutes for the SpaceView and 7 hours 9 minutes for the DXR-8 Pro. But in real-world use, with the display unit mostly running in audio mode—since the monitor turns off the screen to conserve energy when things are quiet—the VM5254's battery life was more than good enough to last through a full night without being plugged in.

You need to remember to press and hold the monitor's View button to turn off the screen if you want to use the monitor in audio-only mode. It does have a setting that turns off the screen automatically and turns the image back on when it detects noise, but that setting also turns off the audio. In our testing, the screen turned on reliably when the monitor detected noise, but for our own peace of mind, we preferred to have the audio always playing in the background.

The VM5254's range, sturdy build, and battery life are all points in its favor, particularly considering its lower price. You’ll notice its shortcomings when it comes to image quality, though. Whereas the SpaceView and the DXR-8 Pro both have 720p cameras and screens, the VM5254 supports only 480p video, which means you can make out fewer details on screen, and its color is more washed-out and less true to life. The difference is most obvious when the lights are on; once night vision kicks in, all monitors display a fuzzy-looking black-and-white image that blows out most details. The VM5254's image is worse at night than that of either of our more expensive picks, but it's still good enough for you to pick out your baby's facial features.

More limiting is the camera's narrow field of view—that is, the amount of your baby's room that the camera can show you. The VM5254's camera is much more zoomed-in than the SpaceView's, and it offers no wide-angle-lens option to help the camera show more at once. (This restriction may also be because of the camera and screen's low resolution; if the camera were capturing more of a room at once, the picture would be even blurrier and less detailed.) Because the field of view is so narrow, and because the camera doesn't allow you to adjust it remotely via the monitor, you need to be more careful about where you place the camera so that you can see everything you need to see. VTech includes a basic wall-mounting kit for the camera, which helps a bit.

The display's interface isn't as nice as the SpaceView's. At the top of the screen are indicators for the signal strength, which camera you’re viewing and whether it's using night vision, the approximate temperature, and the remaining battery life. That's all good stuff, and it's easy to read from a few feet away. The interface gets less good when you’re looking at the monitor's menus, which present a series of textless glyphs that don't always do a great job of communicating exactly what you’re configuring. If you have VTech's manual on hand, its instructions are clear and helpful. But Eufy's text menus on the SpaceView make that monitor easier to navigate without a manual.

If you need a monitor with multiple cameras, VTech doesn't give you the option to buy an additional one after your initial purchase of the VM5254, as you can with the Eufy and Infant Optics monitors. Instead, if you decide that you need more cameras, you have to buy a whole separate model with two cameras, the VM5254-2. At around $120, it still costs less than the SpaceView, especially once you factor in the $100 that a second SpaceView camera costs. But we do wish we could buy just a second camera, rather than an entirely separate monitor. And if you need more than two cameras, you have to look elsewhere—the SpaceView and the DXR-8 Pro support up to four cameras, but the VM5254 tops out at two.

VTech offers a limited one-year warranty on all of its products. Make sure to hang on to the VM5254's packaging for the first year, because VTech (unlike the manufacturers of our other picks) requires that you return the monitor with all of its original packaging in order to be eligible for the warranty claim.

If you don't want to accept the compromises that come with a cheap video monitor—or you prefer a simpler, audio-only system—this well-made audio-only baby monitor is a good value.

The VTech DM221 audio monitor is the best choice in the audio-only category. It's consistently a best seller at multiple retailers, with strong reviews on Amazon (4.7 out of five stars across more than 19,400 reviews, as of December 2022) and similarly high ratings from Walmart and BuyBuy Baby customers. If you don't care about video—or if you just want a good monitor at the lowest possible price—this higher-end audio-only monitor offers great value on a limited budget.

As you might expect, this model's walkie-talkie–style talk-back functionality and audio quality are great overall—and easily better than the crude talk-back features on many video monitors. In our testing, the battery lasted about 19 hours on a full charge. (Great battery life is one benefit of not having a screen to power.) Rated for a range of up to 1,000 feet, the DM221 exceeded the range of our other picks, both as advertised and in practice during our tests.

At roughly a third of the price of a good video monitor (and half the price of our budget video-monitor pick), the DM221 is a far cheaper option than our other picks. For most people, however, forgoing video is a major sacrifice, and we think the majority of parents looking for a first monitor will prefer being able to do a visual check-in on their baby.

But we could see this model being the best choice for parents of toddlers, especially those who are considering replacing a failing video monitor and know they will likely use a monitor only at night—or if they’re switching their existing video monitor to a new baby and still want a way to hear their older child, who doesn't need as much nighttime support. Or, if you’re getting a Wi-Fi video monitor as your primary monitor, you may want a less expensive monitor that's not reliant on the internet to have as a backup for travel or in case the Wi-Fi goes out. Many reviewers have also found the DM221 useful as a means for adults to communicate, especially for caretakers who need to be able to hear when adults with mobility or medical issues require help in another room.

Among the negative owner reviews, the most consistent complaint about the DM221 relates to connectivity issues—either it has difficulty linking up initially, or it randomly drops the connection while in use. These complaints represent a slim minority among mostly positive reviews, and we did not encounter similar issues during our testing. One consequence of losing the connection (whether that happens via a dropped link or your manually unplugging the unit) is that it causes the parent unit to emit a sharp, loud, repetitive beep. The sound is annoying—especially in the middle of the night—but a lost connection wouldn't happen under normal circumstances.

A Wirecutter reader wrote to tell us that they were getting only four to five hours of battery life on the DM221, not the 19 hours we experienced in testing. We followed up with VTech and found that the battery life can range widely: In the monitor's "standby" mode, in which the unit isn't detecting sound, the manufacturer has measured the batteries as lasting up to eight days. In contrast, VTech claims that in what it calls "normal" use—when the unit is detecting sound, when you’re using the talk-back feature, and when the monitor is engaging in other battery-draining functions—the battery lasts about seven hours on a full charge. VTech points out that the age of the battery and the user-set sensitivity levels also affect the battery's stamina. So although the 19-hour battery life in our test is higher than average, and the Wirecutter reader's four- to five-hour battery life is lower, neither result is unrealistic.

VTech offers a limited one-year warranty on all of its products. Be sure to keep the packaging that the DM221 came in for the first year, because VTech (unlike the manufacturers of our other picks) requires that you return the monitor with all of its original packaging in order to be eligible for the warranty claim.

*At the time of publishing, the price was $276.

*At the time of publishing, the price was $305.

We didn't set out to find a super-high-tech Wi-Fi baby monitor. But it just so happens that the one we ended up liking the best, the Nanit Pro Smart Baby Monitor and Wall Mount and Nanit Pro Smart Baby Monitor and Floor Stand (same monitor, different mounting system), comes with a ton of extras. The Nanit Pro, a monitor that hooks up to the internet and sends the feed from its camera to an app on your smartphone, delivers the essentials we want in a Wi-Fi monitor, plus some things we didn't know we would like until we actually tried them. It allows you to easily check in on your baby from anywhere, whether you’re down the hall or halfway around the world. It offers great video quality. The company that manufactures it takes reasonable privacy and security measures. Its app is a pleasure to use and—most important—lets you continue playing the audio from your baby's room even if you leave the home screen to do something else on your smartphone. Be aware, though, that if your internet connection is unreliable, you’re likely better off with a traditional local-video baby monitor.

Beyond the must-haves, the Nanit Pro has features that range from handy and fun (such as allowing you to record and download video clips and photos and watch nighttime recaps) to arguably superfluous (such as a movement map that plots your baby's sleepy-time journey throughout the crib). But it's easy enough to ignore what you aren't interested in.

These bells and whistles come at a premium. The Nanit Pro is expensive to purchase, and after the first year you have to start paying for a subscription—the cheapest plan is $50 a year—if you want to continue accessing the vast majority of the app's offerings.

The Nanit Pro consists of a futuristic-looking camera head that attaches easily to three different styles of mounts: a wall mount, a floor stand, or the portable Flex Stand. (Note: Nanit unveiled a redesign of its floor stand in March 2023; we’ve updated the guide to describe the newest version throughout.) For more information on the mounting systems, see Which Nanit Pro mounting system to choose below.

Part of the Nanit Pro's functionality is actually embedded in the mount—it's not merely a stand. The wall-mount and floor-stand kits both come with cord covers to help reduce the risk of strangulation; no other monitor we tested includes this thoughtful accessory, though other companies do warn that monitors should be kept out of a child's reach.

The Nanit Pro's camera is roughly the length of a passport, and it feels reassuringly solid. (We found that it held up well to being dropped and chucked into overnight bags for weekend trips to see the grandparents.) If you’re using the wall mount or the floor stand, the camera is positioned high enough to capture the crib plus about a third of the baby's room. The Flex Stand gives you more of a lateral fish-eye view, since it typically isn't perched as high. You cannot adjust the angle of the camera from the app—that limitation is not unusual for a Wi-Fi monitor, but if you’re used to having that common feature on a local-video monitor, you might miss it. All of the Nanit Pro stands do offer some degree of swivel, so you can manually angle the camera slightly toward the action.

Nanit recently added the option of a split-screen feature, which allows you to access two Nanit camera feeds at once in the app. Caregivers can see and hear two babies in different locations simultaneously and control the cameras (including sounds, night-lights, and other functions) without leaving the app's home screen.

Connecting the Nanit Pro camera to Wi-Fi takes about five minutes; you download the app to your smartphone, create an account, and then follow the prompts to pair the camera. The Nanit Pro is one of the few Wi-Fi monitors that are optimized to work no matter what type of Wi-Fi network you have, so it's equally compatible with a 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, or dual-band router. (Many Wi-Fi monitors are still designed to work optimally only on 2.4 GHz, even though that's not the type of Wi-Fi that everyone has these days.)

Any smart device can be hacked. But Nanit has taken more precautions than the majority of its competitors in this regard. It updates its app constantly (which you can verify by checking the version history on its app description, something you should do for any app on any smart device), it uses strong encryption, and it requires two-factor authentication so that other people can't gain access to your video stream with just your username and password. (For more details, see the section on Wi-Fi baby monitor security and privacy concerns.)

Once you’re in the app, the home screen is deceptively simple, considering everything it harbors. Along with a live video feed of the baby's room and temperature and humidity readings, the app offers menu options that allow you to snap a picture, speak to your baby (it actually sounds like your voice), or change the volume settings for the all-important "background audio on" feature, should you navigate away from the app. You can play nature sounds (birds, waves, white noise, wind) or remotely control a soothing night-light on the camera in timed increments.

The app also has a feature that sends an alert if any action occurs inside the designated area, such as a baby standing up, or a caregiver putting a baby down for a nap. Note: You must set up the camera on the long side of the crib for that feature to work, a restriction that remains despite customers’ pleading and lobbying for different layouts and orientations on Nanit's forum pages.

In addition to keeping you posted on real-time activities, the app allows you to browse through moments in your video history—it automatically saves short video clips (ranging from seven to 30 seconds) every time it detects sound or motion, which you can then manually download to your device's camera roll, if you choose. You can also tap on a particular date and watch summaries from that day. (How far back you can go depends on your subscription level.)

The Nanit Pro app is further loaded with tools to summarize and sift through the information it collects—for example, it can graph the time your baby spends asleep and then identify patterns. In theory, this feature could help steer you and your child toward more successful routines (or identify trouble spots). In our case, it typically confirmed what we already knew: For example, the baby wouldn't sleep if he was congested or didn't get enough time with his parents during the day.

Nanit periodically sends messages through the app to share milestones for your child's age, to nudge you to find a more consistent bedtime routine, or to congratulate you if you’ve already done so. The company even offers to connect you with sleep-training experts within the app, for an additional fee. Those messages can feel a little overbearing—or at least they did to us. (In our experience, this type of guidance is rarely one-size-fits-all.) So if getting repeated reminders to set your child down "drowsy but awake" isn't your thing, keep in mind that you can opt out of those missives, either by specific topic or altogether.

The app has several other features that could be categorized as "extra." The mounting kits come with a breathing band for use with the app's optional breathing-tracking feature. (As previously explained, we did not test that function for the purposes of this guide.) In what might be the app's most over-the-top gimmick, the company sells Nanit Smart Sheets—$35 sheets, sold separately, that you can use with the app to measure your child's growth. Kinda cute, sure, but pretty much the definition of gratuitous.

After your first year of using the Nanit Pro, you hit a paywall. When you initially set up the camera, the clock starts on what the company calls its basic Insights membership. (So try not to do that far in advance of your baby's arrival.) Once the first year has passed, you have to pay $50 annually for the lowest membership tier; the most expensive plan is $300 a year, and in our opinion it's totally unnecessary. (Among the top tier's features: the option to invite up to 50 caregivers to join your Nanit app, as well as "unlimited sleep analysis.") The basic level of membership seems to be enough for most people; at that tier, though, watching or downloading most events is limited to a two-day window, so you have to remember to stay on top of saving clips and photos.

You can also forgo the paid membership completely and continue using your Nanit Pro camera free after the first year. But in that case, all you get is the most barebones version of the app: a livestream of the camera feed, use of the night-light, and access for one other person on the account. You can't save photos or video, watch nighttime recaps, or see graphed trends of your child's changing sleep habits; for many people, those limitations would defeat the purpose of having such a sophisticated Wi-Fi baby monitor. And unless you’ve previously downloaded and saved something from the app to your device, you’re no longer able to access your data from the first year.

If you’re new to Wi-Fi monitors, you’ll likely want to experiment with how you use the Nanit Pro. We initially used our regular smartphone as the camera's main display before getting wise and installing the app on an old Android smartphone, which we have used as our primary display (when we’re at home) ever since. Even with the Nanit Pro's always-on audio feature, relying on your everyday smartphone as the display gets tricky, because any phone calls or videos you receive or view can supersede the audio. In November 2022, Nanit launched an update that allows picture-in-picture functionality, so the camera's video stream can remain as a tiny pop-up overlay on your screen as you navigate elsewhere; this feature should be helpful for caregivers who use their everyday smartphone as the only display.

Finally, there's the connectivity question, which always comes up in discussions of Wi-Fi baby monitors. As long as you set up the Nanit Pro on your Wi-Fi network, it can maintain the video stream even if the internet goes down, provided that your Wi-Fi router still has power. So, no internet, no problem—but no power, no baby monitor. If your internet connection is generally stable, the Nanit Pro should keep you well covered.

We never experienced any full-on internet outages while testing the Nanit Pro, but we did encounter occasional dips. When that happened, the feed typically had a slight pause and a one- or two-second audio drop, after which a small "local view only" banner would appear, indicating that the monitor was still connected to Wi-Fi even though we had temporarily lost internet service.

If your internet goes out frequently, that's a different story. When the Nanit Pro is in local view only, some of the app's standout features (such as the nighttime recaps) may not be able to work normally—preventing you from taking full advantage of the monitor's offerings. In that case, you may be better off going with a simpler and less expensive monitor, such as our also-great pick, the VTech RM7868HD/RM7766HD, which can work in Wi-Fi or local-video mode.

The Nanit Pro is covered by a limited one-year warranty.

A few different mounting options are available for the Nanit Pro camera. (Note that the camera must be used with a mount and is not sold on its own.)

Floor-stand kit: This tall, movable mounting stand for the camera could appeal to people who don't want to make holes in their walls (such as renters) or to parents who have their baby sleep in the same room with them for the first months and aren't ready to commit to a permanent camera location yet.

In March 2023 Nanit released an updated floor stand with one major redesign and some tweaks. The nicest of these updates might be the lower-profile base, which replaces the previous design's angular legs and can more snugly fit under cribs or other low furniture. It has a similar adjustable-angle top that allows you to pivot and turn your Nanit camera slightly.

You can position the floor stand over a portable bassinet for naps, or really anywhere in the home, when your baby is still small, since the updated base is stable enough on its own with just adults and a non-crawling infant at home. It's too rickety, though, if you already have a younger child in the house or live in an earthquake-prone area; in those cases, we recommend placing it along the wall and behind a low piece of furniture (such as a nightstand) if you intend to keep moving it around for a while.

Once you’ve determined where the stand will be for the longer term, you can station it more securely using the included wall bracket. Among wall brackets, this one involves the lowest stakes, since it attaches to a wall with sticky tabs, no drills or screws needed. It would be nice if Nanit included extra stickers in each kit, though a representative for Nanit told us that the company will send new stickers if asked. Eventually Nanit plans to make the replacement tabs available for purchase on its website.

The floor stand takes less than five minutes to assemble, and Nanit gives you 8 feet of cord length (from the base out) on the updated stand, the same amount as on the previous stand. Nearly all of it is covered by the included safety cord covers.

In a break from its usual bundle offerings, the company is selling the new stand alone for customers who might want to upgrade their stand version. Nanit intends to sell the previous version of the stand plus the camera at a discount until those bundles are sold out. That version of the stand offered multiple configurations including a wall-leaning mode, and it also came with a screw- and/or tape-based wall bracket to help secure it to a wall.

Wall-mount kit: If drilling holes in the wall or choosing a permanent location for the Nanit Pro camera is not an issue for you, the wall mount, which typically costs about $80 less than the floor stand, is a good option. It positions the Nanit Pro camera above the crib, providing a perfect view of the entire sleep area and a good portion of the rest of the room. Installing the wall mount takes a bit longer than the five minutes required to assemble the floor stand—the exact time depends on how good you are at drilling holes, as well as on how far the mount is located from the nearest electrical outlet (since you have to cover the cord, as well). The cord on the wall mount is 14 feet long, and it comes with enough cord covers for 10 feet.

Flex Stand: This is a travel stand that you can either purchase in a bundle with the Nanit Pro camera and use as a primary mount—which we do not recommend—or buy separately as an accessory and use as an alternative to the wall mount or floor stand when you need something smaller and more portable. Since the Flex Stand can't sit directly above your baby's crib like the other two mounting options can, it provides a different view—it produces a broad (130-degree) angle rather than a direct overhead shot. Because of that, it can't collect much of the sleep data that makes the Nanit Pro app so cool and fun to use, such as overnight sleep summaries.

The Nanit Pro is subject to the drawbacks of any Wi-Fi monitor. Inconsistent Wi-Fi could result in an inconsistent experience with this monitor. And you’ll have to think of a Plan B if you travel frequently, because using a Wi-Fi monitor can get iffy when you’re on the road—either because of spotty service or due to unsecured networks that could leave you and your data vulnerable. (Our audio-only pick, the VTech DM221, could be a good inexpensive backup option if you don't mind going without video.)

If you haven't installed the Nanit Pro app on a secondary display such as an old smartphone or tablet, sharing with a babysitter requires taking some extra steps before you can dash out the door. The app offers a few options for setting up additional caregivers with varying levels of privileges (which you can revoke or change at any time); they can all access the same feed by clicking their email invitation and downloading the app and then going through the security steps in person with the camera.

Although we did find ourselves using and enjoying the majority of the Nanit Pro's features, some of them are superfluous to the point of being silly (hello, Nanit Smart Sheets), and the app's less-than-subtle sleep-training agenda, though simple enough to shut down, was irksome.

Lastly, the Nanit Pro is the costliest monitor of all our picks, and the ongoing subscription required to access most of its features after the first year, while not unusual among Wi-Fi monitors, keeps you on the hook financially, so if you’re not planning to take advantage of its many offerings, it may not be worth the expense.

May be out of stock

*At the time of publishing, the price was $131.

If you want a Wi-Fi monitor and a local-video monitor rolled into one—or if you just want to be able to check in remotely and don't care about having a lot of bells and whistles—the VTech RM7868HD / VTech RM7766HD (same monitor, different name and packaging) could be your answer. The RM7868HD/RM7766HD, manufactured by the same company that makes our budget local-video pick and our audio-only pick in this guide, is likely to appeal to caregivers who are drawn to the ease, familiarity, and price of local-video monitors—it's around $100 cheaper than the least expensive version of our main Wi-Fi–only pick, the Nanit Pro—but would still like the option of having remote camera access via a simple app. Plus, the video quality ranks among the best of any model we’ve tested for this guide, capable of capturing the tiniest details, even in night-vision mode or heavily zoomed in, when other monitors tend to look their worst.

This monitor has a few downsides, though: Both versions of this VTech monitor were introduced in 2022, and the company still seems to be working out the kinks, as it was fine-tuning some features throughout our testing period. And though overall reviews are solid, some owners have reported connectivity issues in local-video mode, while others are unhappy with VTech's app.

The greatest selling point of the RM7868HD/RM7766HD is its versatility; its hybrid nature gives you options. It comes with an extra-large, 7-inch color display that shows video in 720p definition. The camera is also capable of 1080p in Wi-Fi mode when you’re using the app, just like that of our top Wi-Fi monitor pick, the Nanit Pro—but unlike Nanit's app, which charges you a subscription fee to access most of the features after the first year, VTech's app is always free (though basic). If you’re at home and using this VTech model as a Wi-Fi monitor, you can choose between the display unit and your smartphone as the screen. You can bring it along for a weekend trip to a relative's house, say, as a local-video monitor and never have to bother with Wi-Fi at all. Or you could use it primarily as a local-video monitor, until you’re called away on a business trip and suddenly feel a hankering to pop into the nursery. See? Options.

We found ourselves reaching for this monitor over many others in our test group time and again; it's particularly appealing to have a Wi-Fi monitor with its own display unit, keeping your smartphone from being tied up. And while its other features may seem inconsequential at first, the RM7868HD/RM7766HD's included night-light (in the base of the camera unit) and white noise function make it a potential one-stop baby travel kit; a monitor, a night-light, and a sound machine are all items that we’ve separately packed and hauled on trips in the past, but with the RM7868HD/RM7766HD, that trifecta is squeezed into a significantly smaller and lighter single package.

The RM7868HD/RM7766HD gives off traditional local-video baby monitor vibes, and you may feel like you’ve seen it before—especially if you’re already familiar with other VTech baby monitors. Like its relatives, it (annoyingly) requires its own power jack for charging, rather than using a Micro-USB or USB-C port.

Setting up the camera is easy, with instructions on the screen that walk you through the steps. Eventually it prompts you to scan a QR code with your smartphone that downloads an app where you create your account. The RM7868HD/RM7766HD is optimized for a 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi network, but we tried it first on a dual-band network, and it functioned just fine.

In security measures, this VTech monitor is not on the same level as our top Wi-Fi pick, the Nanit Pro. Before you can access the live feed, you have to scan a QR code on the camera with the app, which requires both devices (that is, the camera and your phone) to be physically present, and that's good. Its data stream is encrypted in transit; unlike the Nanit Pro, it uses "peer-to-peer" communication, which means the video never touches VTech's servers. This type of communication was problematic in the past when it came to security cameras with default passwords, but the RM7868HD/RM7766HD forces you to create a new password during setup, so default passwords should not be an issue here.

In 2018, VTech suffered a data breach caused by poor security that exposed data its smart toys collected. In that case, the data was not secured in transit or at rest, in contradiction to the company's privacy policy, which led to a fine by the FTC. In a conference call with VTech, a company spokesperson told us that it subjects its baby monitors to third-party penetration testing to ensure their security, and that it issues updates as needed throughout the year. (For more details, see the section on Wi-Fi baby monitor security and privacy concerns.)

The camera seems best suited for sitting on a shelf, and that's how we set it up. (We just made sure to bury the exposed cord behind the table that the camera sat on.) The camera comes with a wall mount, which you can attach with two screw holes, but the mount has a thin, plasticky feel, and there's only one possible configuration for mounting (often you get at least two). Wall anchors are provided with the kit (for drywall); otherwise you can screw the mount directly into a stud. The swiveling base of the mount can help you angle the camera down or over slightly.

Whereas our top Wi-Fi monitor pick, the Nanit Pro, has an 8-foot cord for the floor-stand model and a 14-foot cord for the wall-mount model, the RM7868HD/RM7766HD comes with a cord that's only 6 feet 6 inches long. Depending on where your outlets are located, this could be a tough reach.

Despite the fact that we had to place the camera in a less-than-optimal spot across the room from the baby's crib, the picture was still crystal clear. And since the camera has the handy ability to rotate 360 degrees, it could capture any corner.

The camera sits atop a lighted, narrow base and is 5.5 inches tall. The night-light is optional, and you can control it via the app, on the display unit, or with a tap on the camera itself. The camera feels sturdy, not at all like the chintzy mount that comes with it, and in our tests it survived months of being jostled by a curious toddler just fine.

To check the RM7868HD/RM7766HD's local-video range, we walked down the block in a residential, heavily treed neighborhood, and we got about four houses down before the signal gave out and the screen froze on the sleeping child. When we walked around inside the entire house, up and down three levels, the signal stayed strong; the same happened when we wandered around the average-size yard. When the monitor was connected to the Wi-Fi, it did not have any freezing or network problems. If you do lose your Wi-Fi or internet connection while using the RM7868HD/RM7766HD in Wi-Fi mode (we turned off the Wi-Fi to check), the monitor automatically recalibrates—it took about a minute or so in our tests—and resumes the feed in local-video mode. (Obviously, you need to be at home and have access to the display unit for this to be possible.)

Engaging with the display unit felt intuitive and low-stakes—exactly what you want when you’re sleep-deprived. (The navigation basics on the unit, such as the menu and arrows, are the same as on our local-video budget pick, the VTech VM5254, but a few of the other buttons vary slightly.) The kickstand is somewhat lightweight in comparison with the heft of the unit itself, giving you just one possible angle for standing it up. We tested the display's battery life using the same method as for the other local-video monitors in this guide, by charging it fully and then letting it run with the screen on the whole time. It lasted 12 hours 14 minutes, which is an excellent showing considering that most displays go into a darkened, energy-saving sleep mode overnight.

In our tests, the RM7868HD/RM7766HD's video quality was top-notch—better than what we saw from almost any other local-video or Wi-Fi monitor we tested. (The only one that edged it out was the Lollipop Wi-Fi monitor, which disappointed us in a number of other ways.) The feed looked impressively sharp, showing details we had never seen before on a baby monitor—such as the baby's chest rising and falling—when we used the 24x optical zoom, even though extreme close-ups are typically where details blow out on monitors. Zoomed-in details looked better on this monitor's display unit than they did on the app, though that may have to do with the fact that it's a 7-inch display versus a smaller smartphone screen. We didn't notice a difference in picture quality between the local-video and Wi-Fi modes when using the display unit.

Repositioning the camera through the display unit or the app (including making it do its impressive 360-degree horizontal spin) is easy. The camera can also adjust as much as 100 degrees vertically. Being able to control this camera view remotely—as opposed to being locked into one view, as on the Nanit Pro—is a plus.

The sound quality on this monitor was less impressive than the video, at least when we were using the display unit. It was unsettling to hear how quiet the audio feed was, even when we had the volume turned all the way up; in our tests, crying and talking sounded somewhat less clear on this model than on other monitors. A publicist for VTech confirmed that the display unit has an ambient noise-cancellation function, which you cannot deactivate; that's something to keep in mind, if you like hearing every little sound from your monitor. (The audio when we used the app was normal, with no noise cancellation.)

In stark contrast to the app for the Nanit Pro, the RM7868HD/RM7766HD's app—called MyVTech Baby Pro—is pretty basic. From the home screen, you can do things like talk to your baby, play music or sounds (white noise, crickets, a stream, birds, or shushing), or control the night-light in the camera unit. You can also activate the small arsenal of app-only features, such as taking a video or photo or reviewing previously recorded moments.

We appreciate how closely the app echoes the interface of the display unit—if you know how to use one, you can navigate the other. The functions that differ in the app include access to motion-triggered videos (recordings that are automatically captured in response to some kind of movement in the camera's line of sight) and the option to manually record or download a video or photo. At this point, you can download only the videos or photos you’ve started recording and saved yourself; the motion-triggered clips are not downloadable, although a spokesperson for VTech told us that it may be an option in the future.

Motion-triggered videos are automatically recorded in brief (seven-second) clips, which you can review if you choose. (You can also turn off this feature entirely.) According to the VTech spokesperson we talked with, sound-triggered videos may be added in the future. Our top Wi-Fi monitor pick, the Nanit Pro, has this feature, and sometimes being able to review how long a baby was crying—such as when they weren't moving much, so they didn't trigger the motion alert—can be useful.

You can also opt to receive notifications from the app if the monitor detects noise or motion in the room, or if the temperature changes beyond a certain designated range; the app alerts you with a chime and a pop-up banner for those sorts of events. Unlike Nanit's app, VTech's app does not offer nighttime sleep summaries, though if a night were particularly action-packed, in a sense the motion-triggered recordings would allow you to piece together the chain of events on your own—just not in a particularly seamless or user-friendly way.

The app does not allow you to keep the audio feed playing in the background when you navigate away from the home screen to use other functions of your phone, one of our favorite features of the Nanit Pro app. However, we didn't consider that omission to be a dealbreaker in this case, since the RM7868HD/RM7766HD includes an external display unit for use when you’re home, making it unlikely that you’d need to rely on your smartphone as the sole view of your camera feed.

We noticed that the very limited number of reviews of the MyVTech Baby Pro app in the iOS store—nearly 70 at this writing—were fairly negative. (The average was 2.2 stars out of five.) Among the complaints: reports of the app crashing, server outages that prevented people from logging in, and misleading alerts about the camera being disconnected when it wasn't. (Note: You use the same app for all VTech Wi-Fi monitors, so those reviews may not have been specific to use with the RM7868HD and RM7766HD models.)

Another gripe: In some ways, the RM7868HD and RM7766HD, which were launched in July 2022 and March 2022, respectively, appear to be a work in progress. Over the course of our testing—and then subsequently rechecking and confirming the monitors’ exact features while writing this review—things continued to evolve. For example, when we first began testing, we couldn't access any motion-triggered videos, a feature that VTech said should have been automatic. A later reboot of the camera made the feature suddenly appear. Even though the RM7868HD/RM7766HD is supposed to be able to store only about 30 motion-triggered videos on the camera itself—a fact that we learned in a conference call with the VTech spokesperson—we noticed that 67 videos were stored on ours. And for a period of time, we weren't able to delete the extra videos using the Delete All command, though deleting them individually worked.

Confusingly, this monitor is sold under different names at different retailers. The VTech RM7868HD is carried exclusively at Walmart, and that's the model we tested for this guide. The VTech RM7766HD—regularly available at Best Buy, BuyBuy Baby, and Target—is the same monitor in different packaging. If you need two cameras to monitor multiple children, the VTech RM7766-2HD, for around $200, is your best bet, because neither the RM7868HD nor the RM7766HD allows you to add a camera to your setup after the fact, should you need another one down the road.

VTech offers a limited one-year warranty on all of its devices. Be sure to keep the packaging for the first year, because (unlike the manufacturers of our other picks) VTech requires that you return the monitor with all of its original packaging in order to be eligible for the warranty claim.

Understandably, one of the primary concerns that people have about getting a Wi-Fi baby monitor involves privacy. No matter which Wi-Fi baby monitor you buy, that device must connect to the internet. And anything you connect to the internet should be secured to prevent people from accessing your data or, worse, invading your privacy by looking through your camera feeds without your noticing. Wi-Fi baby monitors (and indoor Wi-Fi cameras in general) have a long history of horror stories, typically involving an outside person gaining unwanted access to the camera.

No smart device is completely secure, and although our Wi-Fi monitor picks meet our basic security requirements—the video is encrypted in transit, any data stored online is encrypted, and the companies use some type of third-party security testing—if you’re uncomfortable with the possibility of having to do some troubleshooting or extra maintenance, you should stick with a local-video option.

Looking into the security practices of the companies behind Wi-Fi baby monitors was far harder than it should be for this type of product. We emailed a detailed questionnaire to both Nanit and VTech, the manufacturers of our Wi-Fi picks, to get a better understanding of each company's protocols. And in the case of VTech, we sought further clarification through a follow-up conference call. But this information should be readily available on such companies’ websites to any shopper considering these devices, and we were disappointed that we didn't find a single monitor that offered end-to-end encryption to ensure that not even the monitor's maker could access a video feed. We are not able to test Wi-Fi baby monitors for their security on a technical level, and we haven't seen in-depth third-party research on multiple baby monitors since Rapid 7's report back in 2015. We will keep an eye out for any security issues with our picks and update this guide as necessary.

When you’re connecting your Wi-Fi monitor, take a few steps to ensure it's set up properly:

We sent Nanit and VTech, the makers of our top and also-great Wi-Fi monitor picks, a questionnaire to better understand each company's security and privacy practices. (Their direct responses are in quotation marks below; otherwise we have paraphrased or summarized for clarity.) Their questionnaire answers are especially pertinent since neither company has a landing page that clearly explains how it handles security or privacy in relation to its Wi-Fi monitors, and both companies have incomprehensible privacy policies that cover all their products.

Note: In both cases, we had to take the manufacturers’ word for it that they don't share any data from their apps, even though their policies state that they can.

If you want a local-video monitor, and a large display screen is your top priority: The VTech VM919HD is VTech's nicest local-video-only baby monitor, with a 720p camera that you can pan and tilt remotely and spin 270 degrees (to achieve a 360-degree panoramic view). Its generous, 7-inch display lets you easily see what's going on from across a room and is easier to use than many monitors if you have vision loss. (It won't fit in an average-size pocket, though, if that's a concern.) We like that it has an indicator light to let you know if your baby is making noise, even if you have the screen and the audio off. It's often cheaper than our top-pick local-video monitor, the Eufy SpaceView, and it's a good option if you want the biggest screen you can get. But the VM919HD's battery lasted about two hours less than the SpaceView's in our screen-on battery test. As with other VTech monitors in this guide, you can't purchase a second camera separately and add it to your setup, though you can buy the monitor with two cameras in a package. Note that the VM919HD is very similar to the also-great VTech RM7868HD/RM7766HD, which has a 7-inch display plus the added versatility of being both a local-video and Wi-Fi monitor.

If you like the idea of a Wi-Fi monitor but have concerns about such models’ privacy and security practices: An indoor security camera might be more to your liking than a Wi-Fi baby monitor if you want more transparency about how the company behind the camera deals with your private data. We wish that the makers of our Wi-Fi baby monitor picks published as much information on their sites as those of our indoor security camera picks. The Eufy Security Solo IndoorCam C24 (our top indoor security camera pick) could be a versatile and inexpensive alternative to a dedicated Wi-Fi baby monitor because it can send alerts to your phone when it detects crying, something that not all security cameras can do. It also offers clear video quality, a few pet-centric features (for people who want to check in on their animals while they’re away), and multiple options for recording and storing video clips. But unlike the app for our top Wi-Fi baby monitor pick, the Nanit Pro, the app for the Eufy Security Solo IndoorCam C24 doesn't let you hear a continuous stream of audio on your smartphone when the app is closed or when the screen is off. As a result, if your camera loses Wi-Fi connectivity, or if Eufy's server is having a problem, you might not notice that there's an issue until you think to open the app.

At around $60, the Babysense Video Baby Monitor is the cheapest video baby monitor we tested in 2021, but we wouldn't recommend it for most people. Its 2.4-inch screen is tiny, and the picture quality was mediocre in our tests. It lasted less than 5 hours in our screen-on battery-life test—1.5 hours less than our budget pick, the VTech VM5254. It also felt cheap and fragile compared with the VM5254's display unit and camera.

The Eufy 720p Video Baby Monitor pairs the big monitor from the Eufy SpaceView Pro with a less-capable camera that you can't pan or tilt remotely. If you don't care about those features, but you do want a monitor with great battery life, this monitor saves you about $60 compared with the regular SpaceView. But we think most people are likely to be happier with the SpaceView's more-adjustable camera. The 720p Video Baby Monitor also had fewer owner reviews than the SpaceView at the time of our testing, and several reviewers mentioned hearing a constant humming or buzzing noise—we didn't notice this problem with the unit we tested, but it's worth watching out for.

The Infant Optics DXR-8 was our runner-up pick in a previous version of this guide, and it was our main pick in a version before that. These days its image quality, battery life, and range remain okay, and we do appreciate that it comes with a rechargeable battery that you can easily replace if yours starts wearing out. But it costs about the same as our top local-video pick, the Eufy SpaceView, and for that price, its smaller, 3.5-inch screen and relatively low-resolution camera become harder to justify. Buy the SpaceView or SpaceView Pro instead, or step up to the Infant Optics DXR-8 Pro if you want the same features with a bigger, nicer screen and camera.

We researched but did not test a long list of local-video baby monitors because they were too expensive, had too few (or too negative) owner reviews, weren't well reviewed by other experts, came from manufacturers we’ve had bad experiences with in the past, or just didn't meet enough of the criteria we look for in a great baby monitor. That list includes the MoonyBaby Trust 30; the Motorola Connect40, MBP33S, MBP36S, MBP33XL, MBP36XL, and MPB854Connect; the Panasonic KX-HN4001W; and the Summer Infant In View 2.0, Pixel Zoom HD, and Wide View 2.0.

We researched but opted not to test the Bebcare iQ Smart HD Baby Monitor, confident that its low number of owner reviews—many of which were negative—made this model safe to skip until it had developed more of a good track record.

We didn't test the Cubo Ai Plus Smart Baby Monitor, as it has a separate humidity and temperature dongle that attaches to its main unit and just begs to be lost, and half of its iOS app reviews are one star, with complaints about trouble connecting to the app or frequent crashes. However, this model is often mentioned in roundups with our top Wi-Fi baby monitor pick, the Nanit Pro, along with the Miku (see below), so we may decide to review it in the future, especially if the company launches a second-generation device with notable improvements.

We tested the Eufy Baby Monitor 2 and were disappointed that the app—like the majority of Wi-Fi baby monitor apps—lacks an always-on audio feature to keep streaming the audio feed on your phone once you’ve left the app's home screen. And bafflingly, although the Eufy Baby Monitor 2 records sound-triggered clips and captures short "temperature change" clips, it does not record (or pick up on) motion clips. We suspect that most people would rather see their child rolling or standing rather than a video of what the baby looks like should the temperature in the room happen to go above 75 degrees—we certainly would. This model does offer a clear video stream, and the app is generally easy to use, allowing you to adjust the camera remotely and track sleep events on an easy-to-use calendar view.

We researched but didn't test the iBaby Care M7 and iBaby Care M7 Lite. Unlike most Wi-Fi monitors that we tested, both allow you to pan and tilt their cameras remotely. But we read multiple complaints in app reviews about the app crashing or being generally unreliable, and we were concerned about the company's potentially lackadaisical approach to security.

The cute Lollipop Baby Monitor has an unusual bendable stand that can support the camera on a flat surface or wrap around furniture. We were impressed by its amazingly clear video quality, and it was one of only three Wi-Fi monitors we tested in 2022 that offer the smart and handy always-on audio function, which allows you to continue playing the camera's audio feed in the background while you use other features on your phone. But the Lollipop monitor's app is difficult to navigate for all but the simplest functions, and it has a pricey tiered-subscription model; we also had bad experiences with the app's customer support. Beyond that, the app doesn't support two-factor authentication, raising security and privacy concerns.

We didn't test the costly Miku Pro Smart Baby Monitor because it puts a heavy emphasis on tracking breathing, which is not one of our criteria for the models in this guide. We also saw many owner comments complaining about connectivity issues with its app.

Testing the Owlet Cam 2 was a real headache. Every Wi-Fi monitor we tested, except for this one, that listed 2.4 GHz as its required internet connection was still able to work on a dual-band internet connection. Because the Owlet Cam 2 couldn't connect to dual-band, we had to relink every smart device in our home just to set up this one camera. Aside from that major pain, we’ve seen multiple reviewer comments noting regular app glitches and video-loading issues, although we didn't experience those problems personally. And the video quality was only okay; it wasn't nearly as crisp as what we saw from many of the other monitors we tested and recommend.

We tested but don't recommend the Leapfrog LF930HD, because it is so similar to the VTech RM7868HD/RM7766HD, our also-great Wi-Fi and local-video hybrid pick. (VTech is Leapfrog's parent company.) Although the Leapfrog and VTech monitors are about the same price, the LF930HD lacks some of the key qualities that prompted us to make the RM7868HD/RM7766HD a pick, including a user-friendly interface. For example, operating the display unit is so unintuitive that we repeatedly turned the camera's night-light (in the child's room) on and off by accident while trying to use it. However, the video quality was beautifully clear.

The VTech RM5764HD has a nice-looking 5-inch screen and a 1080p camera that can pan and tilt remotely. But in our testing, this model was prone to disconnections and wireless interference problems when working in local-only mode. You can connect the display unit to Wi-Fi to improve its connectivity, but that defeats the purpose of having a local-video monitor, if that's how you’re choosing to use it. We didn't test the RM7764HD, the 7-inch version of this monitor, so we’re not sure if it has the same problems. The VTech RM7868HD/RM7766HD is a newer Wi-Fi and local-video model from the same company, and it's the better choice.

The audio-only VTech DM111 monitor offers basic functionality. But you would end up spending much more money for batteries, or spending time recharging batteries, if you wanted to move the parent unit around; dozens of owner reviews say that this model drains batteries in just a few hours.

This article was edited by Ingela Ratledge Amundson and Kalee Thompson.

Kerry Davis

Kerry Davis is a freelance writer based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Tech reporting has been her main beat for 10 years, but she has branched out into covering baby gear since becoming a parent, which has also made her obsessed with trying every packaged toddler snack she can find.

Andrew Cunningham

Andrew Cunningham is a former senior staff writer on Wirecutter's tech team. He has been writing about laptops, phones, routers, and other tech since 2011. Before that he spent five years in IT fixing computers and helping people buy the best tech for their needs. He also co-hosts the book podcast Overdue and the TV podcast Appointment Television.

Harry Sawyers

Harry Sawyers is the senior editor covering home improving, HVAC, and gardening at Wirecutter. He previously worked at This Old House and Popular Mechanics magazines; before that, he restored historic houses and mowed lawns for a living. He lives in a house in LA with his wife, three boys, a dog, and a lot of Wirecutter recommendations.

by Winnie Yang

We compared dozens of cribs, mattresses, and monitors and talked to doctors Harvey Karp and Bill Sears to find the best bets for a good night's sleep.

by Kalee Thompson

We’ve tested dozens of car seats, strollers, and diapers to narrow down the list of things you really need before you bring your baby home.

by Wirecutter Staff

These useful baby and kid items were among the most-purchased Wirecutter picks in 2022.

by Winnie Yang

We talked to six babywearing experts and had 10 parents test 16 carriers before concluding that the Beco Gemini is the best baby carrier for most parents.

Range: Battery life: Image and audio quality: Settings and navigation: Durability: Camera options: Security: Price: Expandability: And, please, nothing annoying: Model Battery life (screen on) Flex Stand: Use a unique password for the account you create when using the app. Enable two-factor authentication on the account, if it isn't already mandatory. Confirm that automatic updates are enabled on the camera and the apps. Follow best practices to secure your home Wi-Fi network. Nanit Pro: VTech RM7868HD/RM7766HD: Nanit Pro: VTech RM7868HD/RM7766HD: Nanit Pro: VTech RM7868HD/RM7766HD: Nanit Pro: VTech RM7868HD/RM7766HD: Nanit Pro: VTech RM7868HD/RM7766HD: Nanit Pro: VTech RM7868HD/RM7766HD: Nanit Pro: VTech RM7868HD/RM7766HD: If you want a local-video monitor, and a large display screen is your top priority: If you like the idea of a Wi-Fi monitor but have concerns about such models’ privacy and security practices: