Best Motion Sensor Doorbells – Track the Motion That Matters

Motion sensor doorbells can sense motion events and notify you either via “Ding-dong” sound to the indoor receiver, or sending push notifications to your smartphone.

You can check out who and what is approaching at your front door before the visitor presses your doorbell.

In this complete guide, you’ll get the best motion sensor doorbell picks, including non-smart and smart types, quick buying tips, learn how it works, and how to reduce the false alarms.

Content:

Part 1. How Motion Sensor Doorbells Work

Part 2. Pro Tips for Motion Activated Doorbells

Part 3. Quick Solutions to Reduce False Alarms

Part 4. Motion Sensor Doorbell Best Picks

Part 1. Motion Sensing Doorbells 101: How They Work + Main Types

Most doorbells with motion sensors nowadays use PIR sensors to detect the motion events.

PIR sensors, the abbreviation of passive infrared sensors, sense motion events via the change of the temperature of the detecting area.

For example, the current temperature in your doorbell’s detecting area is 36°C. When someone passes the area, the temperature will increase.

The sensitive PIR sensor can detect the difference, and then send you the real-time notifications.

Motion activated doorbells currently have 2 main types: traditional and smart types.

Traditional outdoor motion sensor doorbells, such as the plug-in doorbells, are only able to sense the motion via the add-on motion sensors, and activate the receiver inside your home to let you know someone is approaching.

Smart motion activated videos doorbells also come with a camera so that you can access the camera for live streaming.

When your motion sensor doorbell camera senses the motions, it will send you the app push notifications to your mobile phone, and then it will also save the motion-triggered videos to the local SD card or the cloud.

After you’ve received the notifications, you can access the doorbell at once to see who is hanging out at your front porch.

Part 2. How to Pick the Best Motion Sensor Doorbells for Your Home or Business

You may have a lot of features to consider when picking the best PIR motion sensor doorbells for your home or office, such as the types, connection ways, the video storage, etc.

So we have listed the main points for you so that you can buy the best motion detection doorbells ASAP.

You can also jump to the last part here to check some recommendations.

#1. Decide Your Motion Sensing Doorbell Type First

First you’ll need to check what type of doorbells you want, smart or non-smart type.

If you just want a basic doorbell that can tell you when someone is approaching, and have a limited budget, you can opt to the traditional motion detector doorbells.

If you prefer smart features like live streaming, app push notifications, or video storage, etc. smart video doorbells would be a better option.

Both of them have wired and wireless types. For the easiest installation, wireless motion sensor doorbells would be a better choice.

You check this post to get the comparison details of wired VS wireless doorbells.

#2. Wireless Range

If you opt to wireless motion sensor doorbells, make sure it can supports long-range wireless connection.

For example, if you install a long-range wireless plug-in doorbell, the motion sensor outside and the receiver inside can communicate with each other even in a distance of 500ft or 1,000ft!

For the smart wireless PIR motion activated doorbell, it relies on WiFi to send you the push notifications, and uploads the motion-triggered videos to the cloud.

Thus, it’s necessary to make sure that your doorbell can link to your router in a long distance so that you can get smooth live streaming when your doorbell is installed a little bit far away from your router.

#3. Battery Life

Most smart wireless motion sensor video doorbells are battery powered, so that you can install the doorbell without running any wires.

So battery life would be one of your biggest concerns when you opt to battery operated doorbells.

Pick a motion sensor doorbell with long battery life so that you don’t need to charge the doorbell frequently.

Take Ring Video Doorbell 2 as an example. A fully charged battery can last between 6 to 12 months.

The battery life would vary based on installation environments, personal use, etc.

#4. Sensitivity of Motion Sensor

Smart motion sensor doorbell cameras with adjustable sensitivity or customized detecting zones can provide much more accurate motion detection alerts so you won’t be waken up at night by false alarms.

You can adjust the sensitivity to a higher or lower level in daytime and night time respectively. Or you can turn of the PIR motion detection alerts when you are at home.

#5. Weatherproof for Outdoor Use

Waterproof motion sensor doorbells can sense the motions and send you alerts without worrying about the rain or shine.

You can check the specifications of the wireless motion sensor alarm doorbell to see if it’s rated as weatherproof.

IP is used to measure the protection of your doorbells. There are 2 digits in the IP rating. The first digit is the measure of protection against solid objects, while the second digit is for rating the protection against the water.

You can check the below chart to learn the details of the 2 numbers in IP rating.

You can read this post to learn more details about wireless waterproof doorbells.

Part 3. How to Reduce False Alarms: Effective Solutions

When wandering forums, many OPs complaint about the efficiency of motion sensor doorbells, like:

• Ring Doorbell 2 motion sensor not working
• Ring doorbell motion sensor stopped working
• Ring doorbell motion sensor keeps going off or doesn’t work
• Ring doorbell motion sensor not working at night
• Motion alerts delayed in Nest Hello doorbell
• My doorbell keeps sending false motion alerts
…

You can try the below effective solutions to fix motion sensor doorbells issues.

Bump: You can also read this post to get top 8 solutions to troubleshoot doorbell issues.

1. Motion Detection of Your Motion Sensor Doorbells Not Working

Solution 1. Check if you’ve enabled the PIR sensor motion detection.

Solution 2. Install your motion sensor doorbell to an ideal position. Avoid putting it to a position facing the sunlight directly.

2. Motion Sensor Doorbells Keep Sending False Alarms or Delay

Solution 1. Change the installation place for your doorbells. Some naught wild life animals, your pets would trigger the alarms.

Solution 2. Adjust the sensitivity level. Lower the sensitivity if you don’t want to get false alarms from moving cars, naught cats/dogs.

You can adjust the sensitivity to a higher level so that the PIR sensor can be much more sensitive, so it won’t miss the motion events.

Solution 3. Some advanced motion sensor doorbells supports customizing the detecting zones. You will only receive notifications when the visitors steps into the customized zones.

Part 4. Best Motion Sensor Doorbells for Your Consideration (with Videos)

You can check the below 4 motion sensing doorbells for a quick purchase trip.

We will list the main features of them so you can get an overall impression on the following wireless doorbells with motion sensor.

1. SadoTech Doorbell with Add-on Sensor

SadoTech wireless doorbell, and its add-on motion sensor, can communicate with each other even at a distance over 500 feet.

When the sensor detects the motion events, it will send the signal to your doorbell receiver inside your home, so you can hear the “Ding-Dong” sound even you are in the kitchen.

2. Arlo Motion Detection Audio Doorbell

When some one presses the Arlo audio doorbell, or there are motion events, you will get calls on your smartphones or tablets.

You can talk to the visitor via your smartphone where you are.

When paired with Arlo security camera, you can see who and what outside your doorstep before opening the door.

You can watch the video below to learn more details about this motion sensing doorbell.

3. Ring Video Doorbell 2 with Motion Sensor and Camera

Ring Video Doorbell 2 can sense the motions even 30 feet away, so you can get install notifications before the visitor shows up on your doorstep to press the doorbell.

With the two-way audio function, you can talk to the visitor with your smartphone.

Advanced versions of Ring doorbells, such as Ring Video Doorbell Pro, and Elite can even let you set up the specific areas for the motion detection function, which can provide much accurate motion alerts.

4. Zmodo PIR Motion Sensor Doorbell

Zmodo smart video doorbell comes with a wide-angle PIR sensor, and it can cover a wide-range area. When someone enters the area, it will send you install push notifications, so you can access the doorbell to see who triggered alerts.

With the high-quality and sensitive motion sensor in this video doorbell, you won’t be bothered by false alarms like swaying tress or branches.

For more details about this motion activated doorbell, you can watch the video below.