Vivint Doorbell Camera Pro review: Sophisticated front-door security--for a price

The Vivint Doorbell Camera Pro isn't cheap at $249, but it's prettier and more sophisticated than the similarly priced Ring Video Doorbell Pro ($249) and the Nest Hello ($229). Vivint offers one of the best professionally installed and monitored smart home/home security solutions on the market, but you don't necessarily need to buy the entire system to deploy this doorbell. You will, however, want to sign up for the ostensibly optional cloud storage plan, which costs $4.99 per month. Without that plan, you only see a live view from the camera (Ring's doorbells and security cameras have the same limitation.) But Vivint will install this doorbell for you at no additional cost, even if your home doesn't already have the low-voltage wiring in place that it depends on for power.