Best baby monitors to buy in 2022

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The Nanit Pro is well known in the field of baby monitors, and for good reason. If you’re looking for high-quality audio and video, lots of bells and whistles, add-on accessories and an overall high-end experience, the Nanit is a good place to start. With a sleek design and several mounting options (sold separately), the Nanit Pro is a great choice for style-conscious parents. The Nanit Pro is a premium product, with a price tag to match. Many of its features are more nice-to-have than must-have, but if money is no object, it’s a solid baby monitor.

Features: Nanit’s features range from the familiar (two-way audio, built-in nightlight and white noise) to the gimmicky (“smart sheets” — sold separately — whose sole purpose is to measure your baby’s length as they grow). The Nanit Pro also provides a few “peace of mind” features, like push notifications when movement or sound is detected, or if the temperature or humidity slips outside the desired range. The app saves video clips that correspond to each alert so you can go back and review any activity. You can also save photos and video clips to your phone. 

Sleep tracking data is available with a Nanit Insights subscription, the basic level of which is free for the first year. Every morning, you’ll receive a sleep report that breaks down stats about the baby’s night, much like many fitness trackers do, and some cool (but potentially useless) reports like a heat map of the baby’s position in the crib and a time-lapse video of their night.

One of the coolest features unique to the Nanit Pro is its Breathing Wear (sold separately as pajamas, swaddle, sleep sack or a simple band of fabric to wrap around the baby’s torso) that monitors the baby’s heart rate. The camera uses an ingenious sensor-free method that instead measures the movement of the fabric’s geometric print down to the pixel. 

Setup and mounting: No Wi-Fi monitor is going to be as easy to set up as an analog video monitor, but the Nanit makes the process as smooth as possible. Of the Wi-Fi cameras I tested, the Nanit had the least trouble connecting, even when I moved it to different outlets or networks. The monitor comes with a wall mount, or you can upgrade to a floor stand for $80. You can also purchase a table mount for another $49, which will be necessary if you want to take the Nanit on the go. Both mounting options take a fair amount of effort, but I found them easier to construct than other models I tried. 

Audio and video quality: Nanit’s video and sound quality are also a leg above the competition, though most people don’t need iPhone-quality videos or Bose-level sound from a baby monitor anyway.

Mikucare

The best thing about the Miku Pro is its real-time breathing monitoring, which appears as a waveform atop the live video feed, alongside a live respirations-per-minute readout. Unlike its competitors, the Miku Pro measures your baby’s vitals without any wearables, using a technology the company calls SensorFusion. No wearables means no laundry, no charging and no worrying about middle-of-the-night dislocation. And you don’t have to buy any peripherals either. Miku’s approach adds convenience to peace of mind, making it a truly premium experience — with a premium price tag to match.

Features: Like other smart baby monitors, the Miku Pro offers a number of nice-to-haves: A selection of lullabies and white noise options, two-way audio, sleep tracking metrics and pinch-to-zoom. There’s even a section in the app’s analytics menu for tracking nursery conditions — temperature, humidity, light — throughout the night.

It differentiates itself from the Nanit Pro by offering cloud storage free, no annual subscription fees required. This is a big deal, and a major consideration if you’re looking at smart monitors and plan to use one for more than the first year. (Nanit’s most basic subscription is free for a year but then costs $50 annually.) The Miku will record events (sound, movement and so forth), and clips are saved for seven days, or you can download them to your device for posterity.

Setup and mounting: The Miku Pro packaging is as premium as its array of features, and each monitor includes everything you need for wall-mounting. Yep, even the screwdriver. But the floor stand is $99 extra, which is a pretty hefty upcharge for a product that already retails for $399. (Then again, you do save money on wearables and cloud subscriptions.)

Audio and video quality: The Miku’s 1080p HD video is as clear as its competitors’, and you can toggle between low, standard and high video quality in the app. But despite its many competitive advantages, the Miku Pro stumbles when it comes to the app itself. I found the alerts and recorded video snippets a little inconsistent, and on my Android phone, I experienced issues with a spotty, laggy feed and had to reset the connection. Even once it was fixed, the app takes a few seconds to load the feed every time I open it, and the audio cuts in and out, which is impossible to sleep through. All the features in the world can’t compete with a reliable video feed.

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As its name suggests, the Cubo Ai monitors your baby with more than just a video feed: It uses artificial intelligence to alert you when your baby rolls over or has their face covered. The camera is bird-shaped, with various cheeps and chirps when the device boots up or pairs with your Wi-Fi, and the whole aesthetic gives the product a bespoke feel. This monitor would blend right into a well-designed nursery, nixing the whole surveillance vibe that most cameras bring. Where the Cubo Ai really stands out is in its photo and video capture. The app will automatically save photos to your “Moments Wall” every once in a while, and you can manually save your own photos or videos, too. And with 18-hour video playback, you can scroll back in time to see what happened at any point in the night. Creepy or cute, you be the judge.

Features: The Cubo Ai Plus is absolutely packed with extra features. There’s the standard temperature and humidity monitoring and two-way audio. There’s the built-in nightlight, lullabies and white noise. Then there’s the aforementioned Moments Wall and easy navigation of previously captured footage, and the ubiquitous sleep-tracking charts and graphs. The Cubo Ai will even let you set up “danger zones” in your home (more useful when employed as a nanny cam) that alert you when your child wanders into, say, the kitchen. Some features are available only with a Cubo Ai Care premium subscription, which is free for the first year.

Setup and mounting: Of all the Wi-Fi monitors I tested, I had the most trouble setting up the Cubo Ai. It was really tricky to connect, and I had to go through the setup process multiple times before it took. Even once it was connected, the camera would lose signal halfway through the night and shut off without alerting me. Outside my apartment, I still experienced issues connecting to Wi-Fi, but the camera stayed connected once it was paired. The base package comes with a wall mount that requires a moderate amount of effort (and a drill) to install. For $60 more, Cubo Ai sells a three-pack of mounts: one for the crib, a floor stand and a tabletop mount for traveling.

Audio and video quality: Cubo’s video and audio quality are both decent, compared to other Wi-Fi monitors I tested, but the feed is laggy at times and it lacks the noise-canceling feature of other models, making background noise a small irritation.

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For Wi-Fi monitoring on a (slight) budget, check out the Lollipop, which stands out with its unique design and three fun color options. Though I found the app to also be less intuitive than its competitors, it’s still chock full of cool features. For a Wi-Fi monitor with lots of bells and whistles, you can’t beat the price. The Lollipop is the Goldilocks Wi-Fi baby monitor, and a great value for the budget-conscious who still want a few extras.

Features: One of the Lollipop’s most intriguing features is its true crying detection, which differentiates the cry of a baby from other noises and alerts you accordingly. This means you could turn the volume off (though you could alternatively choose to let it run in the background when you turn your display off) and hear only alerts — not every breath, cough and whimper from your child’s crib. The Lollipop also notifies for what it calls “crossing,” when it senses movement across a predefined border, such as a baby attempting to Houdini out of their crib. 

Crying, crossing and other “events” are recorded in 30-second clips that can be reviewed from the app. A host of other features is unlocked with a subscription to one of the Lollipop Care tiers (only the first month is free), including sleep tracking data and continuous video recording. 

The Lollipop’s built-in sound machine includes a selection of classical lullabies and white noise options. Weirdly, temperature and humidity tracking is not included with the Lollipop camera, but you can get a separate sensor for an additional $55. This would bring the total cost of the Lollipop closer to its competitors.

Setup and mounting: Unfortunately, I also experienced Wi-Fi issues with the Lollipop at more than one location and had to delete the app from my phone entirely one night to get the alarm to stop ringing. But mounting was a breeze. Shaped like its namesake, the Lollipop camera comes on a bendable silicone stick, which can be attached to a crib railing, molded into a table stand or wrapped around… pretty much anything. This makes it ideal for traveling because you can get creative about placement without sacrificing view (or breaking out a drill).

Audio and video quality: The Lollipop’s picture and sound were as expected for the price — not the best, but could be worse. The picture was a bit too washed out, with a short delay in the feed, and the camera had some trouble switching between night mode and color. The audio was fuzzier than other models, but certainly not a deal-breaker.

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Active Noise Reduction is the feature of note for the Infant Optics baby monitor, which is largely considered the gold standard of non-Wi-Fi baby monitors. ANR filters out background noise from fans, humidifiers and so on without silencing your baby’s cries. This feature is especially welcome on the Infant Optics, which seemed to have the most trouble with interference of any of the analog monitors I tested. After one night of staccato secondhand white noise from an intermittent signal, I was eager to switch to ANR mode. (Notably, Infant Optics doesn’t actually recommend ANR mode for use with white noise machines. The result is a bit of an alien-like warble, but I still found that more tolerable.) As with Wi-Fi monitors, interference with an analog monitor will largely depend on your particular home, the position of the monitor, and how many competing signals are nearby.

Features: Unlike smart baby monitors with sleep tracking apps, the Infant Optics DXR-8 Pro is more barebones, with features that focus on improving its core video and audio monitoring. Besides ANR, Infant Optics’ best feature is its remote pan and tilt, which allowed me to adjust the camera position and view any part of my son’s room without waking him. There’s also a 3x digital zoom function, and a wide angle lens you can swap in (sold separately). The parent unit also features an LED sound indicator, which lights up when it detects noise, even when the parent unit volume is off. This is especially useful for outdoor use, when wearing headphones, or for the deaf or hard of hearing. And like many competitors, the Infant Optics DXR-8 Pro includes a temperature sensor and two-way audio.

Setup and mounting: The Infant Optics DXR-8 Pro monitor is plug-and-play: Plug the camera into a wall outlet, plug the parent unit into a wall outlet (at least until the battery charges), and you’re good to go. Infant Optics also has one of the simplest mounting solutions, a single screw that connects to the base of the camera unit. 

Battery life: The parent unit has 6 to 10 hours of battery, depending on how often the screen is turned on. I found that it’s a bit risky to leave it unplugged overnight (it’ll wake you with an annoying, but welcome, beep when the battery is low), but it’s sufficient for evening use.

Audio and video quality: The Infant Optics has a dedicated volume control button on the top of the parent unit, and its loudest setting was much louder than the other units I tested. Audio was a bit more distorted than the Wi-Fi models but the clearest of all non-Wi-Fi monitors. Video is displayed in 720p resolution, which is more than sufficient, but not quite the best quality I’ve seen.

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Better known for its security cameras and robot vacuums, Eufy offers a flagship baby monitor that lives up to the brand’s standards and delivers a high-quality monitoring experience that will accommodate most parents’ needs. But it lacks the upgrades and special features of some of its competitors, which keeps it from standing out from the crowd. The camera itself has a standard orb-like design, and the parent unit is surprisingly hefty, by far the heaviest of any I tried. Instead of a flip-out kickstand, the Eufy SpaceView Pro is wedge-shaped and freestanding, like an Echo Show. Its heft makes it less ideal for traveling, but it does lend the device a premium feel. The menu options on the parent unit are well organized and easy to navigate. Overall the Eufy SpaceView Pro is a great video baby monitor, but it’s a bit pricey for what it is.

Features: In addition to VOX mode (more on that below), Eufy offers a noise detection alert that’s reminiscent of a smart monitor feature. This is a good backup if you don’t want to use VOX mode or if you have trouble hearing the monitor even on its loudest setting like I did. The parent unit will beep and activate the display when noise is detected, with an adjustable threshold that’s separate from VOX mode. The Eufy also includes a temperature sensor (with attendant sound alert), two-way audio, five lullaby options that run for 30 minutes, and, for some reason, an alarm clock.

Setup and mounting: Eufy includes a wall mount kit that can be placed in the corner for monitoring a whole room, or flat against the wall for a view of the crib. Either way, setup requires only two screws. Pairing the camera with the parent unit took only about a minute.

Battery life: Eufy promises the longest battery life of any unit I tested: 30 hours total, or 12 hours with continuous monitoring. I had no trouble keeping it unplugged through the night.

Audio and video quality: Where the Eufy SpaceView Pro stands out is in video quality. Its 720p resolution is crisp and noticeably more detailed than even the Infant Optics’, especially in daylight. One small annoyance, though, is the lag between switching the display on and starting the feed. It’s only a few seconds long, but that makes a difference when your baby’s crying. What the Eufy gains in video, it loses in audio. The SpaceView Pro’s audio output was surprisingly quiet and fuzzy. Its VOX mode works like a hybrid of the Infant Optics ANR and the Wi-Fi models’ push notifications: Turn on VOX and the monitor will go completely silent when the display is off, until a sound (with adjustable threshold) wakes it back up. This is a great solution for parents with noisy babies, but I found I became mildly anxious when I didn’t have any audio at all.

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The truth is, you don’t need to break the bank for a baby monitor. The Hellobaby Video Baby Monitor will do what a monitor is supposed to do, and it’s significantly cheaper than most other models. Its no-frills approach means you’re not paying extra for features you won’t use. Small, lightweight and a little outdated-looking, the Hellobaby monitor is a cinch to set up and would make a good non-Wi-Fi travel monitor. Compared to its competitors, the Hellobaby has a tiny screen — only 3.2 inches, compared with the average 5-inch display. And unlike the other non-Wi-Fi video monitors I tested, Hellobaby doesn’t have remote pan or tilt, so what you see is what you get. 

Features: The Hellobaby Video Baby Monitor HB32 features a temperature reading, eight lullabies, two-way audio, an alarm, 2x digital zoom and a VOX mode with two levels. Extra features are basic, but Hellobaby punches above its weight for the price.

Setup and mounting: Hellobaby is plug-and-play at its finest, and mounting only requires a single screw that attaches to the base of the camera. It doesn’t get any simpler than that. Because there’s no remote pan or tilt, however, you’ll have to get the camera in a good position when you mount it, not after your baby hits the hay. This was the Hellobaby’s biggest drawback for me.

Battery life: Hellobaby doesn’t specify a battery life, but the parent unit lasted overnight with power to spare. 

Audio and video quality: Of the monitors I tested, Hellobaby’s had the lowest-quality picture — especially in the dark, which is probably how you’ll use it most. Similarly, the audio output is quieter than I’d like, though Hellobaby is by no means alone in this. Still, both the audio and video quality were good enough for the price, in my experience.

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When you only need audio, VTech DM211 is the monitor of choice. VTech hits all the marks here: Easy setup, low price, portability and, most importantly, decent audio output. While the lack of a camera is an instant deal breaker for a lot of parents, team audio-only will love the few features that VTech’s monitor does include. This monitor is basically foolproof, which makes it a good choice for traveling or backup.

Features: VTech is another brand that obviates the need for a dedicated nightlight, because the baby unit has one built into its handle. And, like the Infant Optics, VTech’s parent unit lights up when it detects sound, even when you have the audio deactivated. The monitor offers a few other options for parents who want to hear the important stuff and nothing else: noise detection alerts that also work when the device is muted (you can even set a vibrate alert) and a VOX mode that gives Eufy a run for its money.

Setup and mounting: Since there’s no video component, there’s no need to mount the VTech DM221. And since there’s no Wi-Fi and no apps to download, setup is as easy as plugging in the baby unit and the parent unit and placing them near enough to link, which they do automatically.

Battery life: VTech says this audio monitor will last up to 16 hours on a charge, and I had no trouble keeping it unplugged all night.

Audio quality: I wouldn’t want to listen to music through the VTech speaker, but as a baby monitor, it accomplishes its purpose. The audio was a little quieter than I’d prefer at max volume, but the unexpected audio features more than make up for that.

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There’s not too much to recommend about the Motorola MBP50-G over its competitors. Its video and audio quality are subpar, the remote pan and tilt function is laggy, the design is nothing to write home about and the price is surprisingly high. That said, Motorola’s video baby monitor brought the longest range of any monitor I tested (not including the Wi-Fi models, of course), and it passed my makeshift “backyard test” with flying colors: My apartment’s courtyard is right outside my baby’s window and down one story; the Motorola monitor made it all the way to the opposite end of the courtyard before cutting out, while its competitors faded in and out sooner. I’m not saying I’m going to kick it poolside while my son naps upstairs, but technically… I could.

Features: This monitor features remote pan and tilt, a selection of five lullabies, two-way audio, a temperature sensor with audio alerts (and adjustable ranges) and a split-screen mode for families with more than one child or more than one camera.

Setup and mounting: Motorola doesn’t include any mounting hardware or instructions with this monitor, though third-party options abound on Amazon. I was able to MacGyver this one into place a bit more easily than most of the other models, however, due to its unique shape, which can sort of hook precariously around an object and balance in a pinch. Other than placement, setup was a breeze.

Battery life: I was able to keep the parent monitor unplugged for 10-plus hours without losing power. Motorola doesn’t specify an average battery life, but this unit seemed in line with its competitors.

Audio quality: The video feed was surprisingly washed out in night mode, and fuzzy in daylight. In both modes, the feed was extremely laggy, like early video monitors from decades ago. The remote pan and tilt was also laggy, so much that it was tricky to even use. 

Owlet Cam and Smart Sock (Update: No longer available)

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Update, Dec. 10: After receiving an FDA warning, Owlet stopped selling its Smart Sock in November. You can read more here. For now, we are removing the Owlet from our list of recommended baby monitors. In January, however, Owlet released the Dream Sock, which also pairs with the Owlet Cam. 

Original review of the Cam and Smart Sock follows.

Part video baby monitor, part wearable device, the Owlet takes peace of mind to the next level. The camera itself is small and unassuming (with the longest power cord of any I tried, a plus if you’re always on the go). A separate sock-like contraption tracks baby’s vitals with a built-in pulse oximeter, which communicates wirelessly with a base station and alerts you if heart rate or oxygen levels deviate from normal. The socks come in various colors and sizes (up to 55 pounds) and can fit easily inside footed pajamas — my son barely seemed to notice when he was wearing it. Like other smart monitors, the Owlet app provides you with historical data for your child’s vitals. It doesn’t record video though, so if you miss something, you won’t be able to hit rewind.

Features: The Owlet’s heart rate and oxygen tracking is a godsend for a lot of anxious new parents, and even though the Owlet Smart Sock is not a medical device — nor does it prevent SIDS — it really does help you relax when you can watch the graph of your newborn’s heartbeat right on your phone. (That is, if you don’t experience false alarms. For the record, I didn’t.) Push notifications for movement and noise can be turned on or off, with sensitivity calibrated to your needs. The peace of mind alone will be worth the steep price for many parents, but there aren’t a whole lot of other features to report, even though this is by far the most expensive baby monitor on this list. However, the Owlet doesn’t charge extra for a subscription to its app features like many of its competitors do — it’s all included.

Setup and mounting: The camera comes on a magnetic base, allowing you to rotate and swivel it to get just the right angle. That said, you’ll probably still want to wall-mount it for the best view. The camera comes with a pretty standard wall mount kit that should only take a few minutes to install. Pairing the Owlet with my Wi-Fi was a bit trickier, and the ease of setup will probably depend on your Wi-Fi signal, proximity to your router and how many competing signals are nearby. In my apartment, I consistently experienced issues with the Owlet’s initial pairing (and you have to do the process separately for the sock!), but it worked like a charm when I tried it in a large house and a condo. And once paired, it stayed connected. If you have trouble pairing like I did, you might have better luck pairing it close to your router, then relocating it to your child’s room once paired.

Battery life: The Smart Sock must be charged approximately every 16 hours of use. I found it was easiest to just charge it every morning on the base station, which doubles as a handy wireless charger.

Audio and video quality: The Owlet’s audio is clear with little background noise. The camera’s field of view is nice and wide, and you can toggle between 360p, 480p and 1080p definition.