The Flex Stand gives you more of a lateral fish-eye view and can’t collect much of the sleep data that makes the Nanit Pro app fun to use, as a top-down view is required to collect that info. Made from child-friendly polycarbonate, the Cubo Ai Plus is designed to look like a bird and comes complete with bird-chirping alert sounds—a sweet touch. We tested the Babysense HDS2 Video Baby Monitor in late 2023, and we found plenty to like, including a range of nearly 1,000 feet, optional noise cancellation, lullabies, and white noise. Eufy says the camera and monitor unit have 460 feet of range, but WIRED editor Adrienne So got around 250 feet from the camera before it lost connection. We like the fact that it comes packed with lots of useful sleep data—possibly more than you’ll ever need, but it’s a bonus.

VOX stands for Voice Activated Exchange, which means that the display doesn’t send audio signals unless a louder noise, such as a cry, is detected. Ideally, the monitor should also have a setting to conserve the battery with an idle display and recharge efficiently. However, during our testing we were let down by a charge of just three hours on the baby unit, as well as poor-quality zoom and an unintuitive, clunky display. If such a delay makes you nervous, your other option is to pick which room to hear regularly and then manually check the sound in the second room. We wanted to maintain a signal up and down a flight of stairs, across the house, and on a backyard patio or in a driveway.

The VTech RM5764HD has a nice-looking 5-inch screen and a 1080p camera that can pan and tilt remotely. When you go on holiday with your baby or young child, you often want to be able to visit the hotel restaurant after the kids are in bed, but still have the piece of mind that comes with knowing that you will hear them if they awake or cry.

But you cannot download motion- or sound-triggered clips or get sleep summaries, as you can with the Nanit Pro. The entry-level wearable sock is designed to suit babies up to 18 months old, but you can opt for a larger design that works up to 5 years. But 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. If you prefer a simple audio monitor to the complications of video, or you don’t want to spend much, the VTech DM1411 may meet your baby-monitoring needs. However, in a direct comparison with newer options that we tested in fall 2023, the DM221’s shortcomings were obvious.The viewing control is particularly impressive, as the compact camera allows you to pan, tilt, and zoom around the crib as much as you need to. With crystal-clear 1080p video, easy-to-hear sound, and a larger-size screen to capture every expression, the Babysense MaxView Baby Monitor is superior to any other local-video monitor we’ve tested. We tested sound quality and range by observing how quickly sound turned crackly as we moved farther and farther away from the baby’s room.