Deliver peace of mind and a good night’s sleep for you and your baby, that’s the high bar we set when testing the best baby monitors on the market this year.
Can a baby monitor really do that?
Actually, yes! At least in part.
With so many options available online, we focus on the baby monitors that are safe, practical, and can really help you and your baby sleep better.
Some monitors use advanced AI to analyze your baby’s sleeping patterns and give you insights to improve your baby’s nighttime sleep over time. Others are much simpler and just focus on letting you see and hear what’s going on in your baby’s bedroom.
We reviewed every single monitor in our ranking ourselves and used them for a few months with our kids before sharing our thoughts. This takes time and effort, but we want to make sure that you get the best advice possible so you can buy with confidence.
In a rush? Here are the absolute best baby monitors available right now:
- Nanit Plus: If you’re looking for a smart monitor controlled by an app, the Nanit Plus is the absolute best monitor of the year.
- VAVA: If you prefer a simple, reliable, and budget-friendly monitor, the VAVA is the best value monitor of the year.
The Best Baby Monitors of 2021
| Model | Rating | Category |
|---|---|---|
| Nanit Plus | 9.8 | Best Overall |
| VAVA | 9.7 | Best Value |
| Miku | 9.7 | Best Premium |
| Lollipop | 9.5 | Best WiFi |
| Owlet Smart Sock + Cam | 9.4 | Best Health Tracker |
| Eufy SpaceView | 9.4 | Best Radio |
| Nest | 9.2 | Most Flexible |
| ANMEATE | 9.0 | Best Budget |
| VTech DM111 | 9.0 | Best Audio |
We’re on a mission to find the absolute best baby monitor for your home. Check below our ranking to see exactly how we test each monitor. We also share 3 essentials tips to help you choose the monitor that’s best for you.
P.S. We sometimes receive free baby monitors from manufacturers. We are, however, not paid or compensated for our reviews. To remain impartial in our tests, we use objective ranking factors and put each product in the hands of unbiased parents.
We only recommend products that we use ourselves. To support our website, we may receive a small commission if you buy something through our links. These commissions come at no extra costs for you. Read our earnings disclaimer to learn more.
Nanit Plus: Overall Best Baby Monitor
The Nanit Plus smart camera is expensive. But it’s worth it if you want to see daily insights to help your child sleep better. The picture quality is great, clearly surpassing all the other baby monitors on the market at the moment. The camera is easy and safe to install. The Nanit mobile app is intuitive to use. And it comes with tons of helpful little features, such as room temperature and humidity tracker. No wonder it’s the top-rated monitor on the market today.
The Nanit Plus is, without a doubt, the best baby monitor with WiFi connection.
Read our in-depth Nanit Plus review.
We Like
- Best overall video quality in our testing
- Nanit mobile app is beautiful and easy to use
- Daily insights are a game-changer and will help you improve your baby’ sleep
- Intuitive navigation when using multiple cameras
- VOX, room temperature, humidity sensor, lullabies, white noise, moonlight soother, and more
We Don’t Like
- It’s the most expensive model in our tests
Where To Buy It
Technical Specs
| Type of Monitor | WiFi, smart monitor |
| Range | Unlimited |
| Mounting | Wall, floor stand, or table |
| Mobile App | Yes |
VAVA: Best Value Baby Monitor
The VAVA works as soon as you plug in the camera and turn on the parent monitor. There is no complicated setup to do. The picture quality is excellent for a radio monitor at 720p and the 5” display is clear and sharp. It’s also the best long-range baby monitor of the year.
If you were looking at the Infant Optics DXR-8 video baby monitor, you should get the VAVA instead. It’s an upgrade on every front.
If I didn’t know its price, I would have thought that this was a more expensive baby monitor.
Read our in-depth VAVA Baby Monitor review.
We Like
- Excellent Plug & Play video quality in our testing
- Comes with all the essential features
- Signal range is great
- Best value for money
We Don’t Like
- No lullabies available
- Volume buttons on the parent monitor would be helpful
Where To Buy It
Technical Specs
| Type of Monitor | Radio |
| Range | 950ft |
| Mounting | Wall or table |
| Mobile App | No |
Miku: Best Premium Baby Monitor
I love the Miku smart baby monitor. It’s the only WiFi monitor that can track your baby’s breathing pattern without the need to wear additional electronics on their body. It also offers excellent audio and video quality, a beautiful minimalist design, and tons of other features. It’s quite simply the best digital baby monitor of 2021.
It’s also the most expensive. But, you don’t have to pay any monthly subscription fee, which will make the total price cheaper if you use it for more than a year.
Read our in-depth Miku review.
We Like
- Contact-free live breathing
- No-subscription required
- High-quality dual Ole Wolff speakers for the audio
- Processes data locally, not over the internet, which makes it much faster and more private
- Eligible for HSA and FSA account
We Don’t Like
- It’s one of the most expensive models in our tests (but there is no monthly subscription fees)
Where To Buy It
Technical Specs
| Type of Monitor | WiFi, smart monitor |
| Range | Unlimited |
| Mounting | Wall, floor stand, or table |
| Mobile App | Yes |
Lollipop: Best WiFi Baby Monitor
The Lollipop Baby Monitor is a great looking Wifi baby monitor that is well built and comes with tons of handy features. If you liked the design and features of the Arlo baby monitor, the Lollipop is even better.
The accompanying mobile app is easy to use and subscription-free. The video quality is excellent and you have the option to keep it on your local Wifi network for extra security. The local Wifi option is great to give you the best of both worlds: you have an excellent reach throughout your entire house (assuming that your Wifi network is good), while also keeping your connection with your baby secure and private.
Read our in-depth Lollipop camera review.
We Like
- Option to keep the Wifi connection private
- The mobile app is easy to use with plenty of features
- Intuitive navigation when using multiple cameras
- Audio and video quality is excellent
- Excellent value for money
We Don’t Like
- Lacks some of the extra features of the more expensive iBaby monitor, such as the pan and tilt
Where To Buy It
Technical Specs
| Type of Monitor | WiFi, smart monitor |
| Range | Unlimited |
| Mounting | Wall or table |
| Mobile App | Yes |
Owlet Smart Sock + Cam: Best Health Tracker
The Owlet Sock + Cam bundle is a neat package to keep an eye on your baby’s health more accurately than with just a video monitor. It is very helpful if you have reasons to be worried about your baby’s heartbeat or oxygen level. We found that the Owlet Sock as a standalone product lacked the advantages of a video monitor, but the updated package with a camera is much more practical.
Read our in-depth Owlet Smart Sock + Cam review.
We Like
- Piece of mind with advanced health monitoring
- The innovative approach
- The sock is comfortable, accurate, and well-executed
We Don’t Like
- The user experience of the Owlet app isn’t as good as the competition, making it difficult to use on a day-to-day basis
Where To Buy It
Technical Specs
| Type of Monitor | WiF and Bluetooth, smart monitor |
| Range | Unlimited |
| Mounting | Wall or table |
| Mobile App | Yes |
Eufy SpaceView: Best Radio Baby Monitor
The Eufy SpaceView is one of our favorite Plug & Play baby monitors on the market at the moment. It uses a radio frequency to transmit sound and video from the camera in your baby’s bedroom to a portable monitor. It’s very simple to use, offers excellent sound and video quality, and has ample signal range to work in a house or an apartment.
Read our in-depth Eufy SpaceView review.
We Like
- Best Plug & Play video quality in our testing
- Comes with all the essential features and a few extras
- The additional wide-angle lens helps you adjust the picture to any situation
- The sound quality when playing lullabies on the camera is excellent
- The interface of the parent unit is clear and easy to use
We Don’t Like
- The parent monitor lacks a dedicated zoom button
- The volume of the lullabies is a bit too high, even at its lowest setting
Where To Buy It
Technical Specs
| Type of Monitor | Radio |
| Range | 460ft |
| Mounting | Wall or table |
| Mobile App | No |
Nest: Most Flexible Baby Monitor
The Nest Indoor camera wasn’t built as a baby monitor, but using it to keep an eye on your baby isn’t such a bad idea. While it lacks some of the basic options that dedicated baby monitors provide (think lullabies and diaper alerts for example), the Nest camera does come with a broader connected home package from a brand that is known for reliability and product excellence. It also guarantees that you’ll be able to repurpose the camera once your baby won’t require a dedicated monitor.
Read our in-depth Nest Indoor camera review.
We Like
- Very sturdy and reliable package at a good price
- Can be repurposed for other things when you don’t need a baby monitor
We Don’t Like
- It lacks features that dedicated baby monitors usually offer
Where To Buy It
Technical Specs
| Type of Monitor | WiFi |
| Range | Unlimited |
| Mounting | Wall or table |
| Mobile App | Yes |
ANMEATE: Best Budget Baby Monitor
The ANMEATE is the perfect budget baby monitor if you want to stay under $100. It comes with all the most important features that you would expect from a WiFi video monitor, but in a more affordable package. It’s also very small and lightweight, which makes it the most portable baby monitors of the year. Perfect for your next vacation.
Read our preliminary ANMEATE Baby Monitor review.
We Like
- Great value for money
- Simple but effective with an excellent range
We Don’t Like
- The screen is very small compared to everything else on our list
Where To Buy It
Technical Specs
| Type of Monitor | Radio |
| Range | 960ft |
| Mounting | Wall or table |
| Mobile App | No |
VTech DM111: Best Audio Baby Monitor
If you’re looking for a simple and affordable audio baby monitor, the VTech DM111 is your best option. It doesn’t have all the bells and whistles that some of the more premium monitors offer. But it delivers with excellence on what it’s set up to do.
For less than $20, this is a very attractive package. There are a few cheaper models available, but we wouldn’t recommend them.
Read our in-depth VTech DM111 review.
We Like
- Best overall audio baby monitor in our testing
- Very easy to use
- Reliable and consistent
- Great product for less than $20
We Don’t Like
- Not much really considering the price
Where To Buy It
Technical Specs
| Type of Monitor | Radio |
| Range | 960ft |
| Mounting | Wall or table |
| Mobile App | No |
3 Essentials Tips To Choose A Baby Monitor
Baby monitors come in different shapes and forms. Some will use your phone to show the video of your baby, while others will come with a dedicated display monitor. Some use your Wifi network while others have their own radiofrequency. To help you understand the pros and cons of each, we’ve written an in-depth guide to choose the best baby monitor for your needs.
To summarize, here are a few questions that are important for you to answer before deciding what the right option for you is.
1. What baby monitor category do you need?
There are 3 categories of baby monitor that you can choose from:
- Audio only baby monitors
- Audio and video baby monitors
- Health tracking baby monitors
Audio and video are the most popular models on our list. They offer plenty of useful extra features (see below) and are mature devices that benefit from several years of product improvements.
But with IoT devices gaining momentum, new health-tracking baby monitors are becoming increasingly popular. Especially with parents worried that their child might be at risk of a Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). These new tracking devices can constantly monitor your baby’s heartbeat, movement, and oxygen level. They are not always accurate, however, so you need to make sure that the model you choose isn’t going to send you a false alarm through the night.
2. What baby monitor connection is best for your home?
There are 2 types of baby monitor connections available:
- Radio Frequency (RF)
- Wifi
Radio Frequency monitors have limited range and can potentially increase exposure to unhealthy electromagnetic exposure for your child (read our article on the health and safety considerations). But RF monitors also greatly reduce the risks of baby monitor hacking (read our article on privacy concerns) and come with a dedicated parent unit that makes them much more convenient to use. They can also function independently from your Wifi connection.
Wifi monitors, on the other hand, will use your internet connection to stream your baby’s video to your phone. This opens the door to a lot more functionalities and monitoring options but also exposes you to potential privacy issues. It also means that you’ll need to keep your phone or tablet always on if you want to hear and see your baby. And it won’t work if your Wifi network goes down.
3. What features are most useful in a baby monitor?
You’ll see below that the top baby monitors of 2021 come with an impressive list of features. Depending on your lifestyle and the configuration of your house, you might not need a monitor that does everything, however.
Here are the features that we consider to be the most useful for a video baby monitor:
- Night vision: Infrared night vision is an essential really. And all the baby monitors that made it to our top 10 list have it. Night vision will allow you to see your baby in the dark. Just having a dim bedside table light source in your child’s room will usually be enough for the night vision feature to give you a crystal clear picture of your baby.
- Voice activation (VOX): Voice activation will alert you whenever your child is awake. Some baby monitor manufacturers call this VOX, others have their own marketing jargon, but really it’s just a way for you to know that your child is awake without having to look at the video constantly.
- Multiple camera support: This is great if you have more than one child in your house. With one monitor you can see the entire family. All Wifi monitors offer this option, but only the most high-end RF monitors have it.
- Talk-back: This is very helpful when you want to soothe your baby or just let them know that you’re on your way to their bedroom.
- Lullabies: The option to play Lullabies is another great feature to soothe your baby to sleep. The camera will play a range of songs and lullabies that you can select from your phone or parent unit.
- Room temperature: This is important to make sure that your baby is comfortable, especially if temperatures can vary widely through the night where you live.
How We Test and Compare Baby Monitors
Baby Gear Essentials started off as a group of parents looking for honest recommendations from friends and family to pick products that are safe, long-lasting, and fairly priced. We apply the same principles to everything that we publish on our website to help you find what’s right for your family.
You’ll find here reviews of baby products that can have a positive and meaningful impact on your children and yourself. We purchase each product that we review, run them through our tests, and then write in-depth reviews to help you find what’s best for your family. Our tests are mostly hands-on experience. We bring the baby monitor back home with us and live with it for at least four months before sharing our thoughts.
Because we want to stay impartial, we don’t accept advertising or sponsorship from manufacturers of baby products. So you can trust our objectivity. Instead, we receive a small commission from Amazon if you decide to buy something via one of the links on our site. This comes at no extra cost for you. The price that you pay is the exact same if you go directly to Amazon. But it does help us continue to review more great baby products.
We purchase most products that we test ourselves, however, we do sometimes accept free products from manufacturers. When accepting a free product from a manufacturer, we explicitly say so in our review. We also make it clear with manufacturers that giving us free products guarantees in no way that they will be reviewed more positively or rank better. In addition, we do not accept payment from companies to review their products. We only review products that we think are worthwhile for you.
If we feature a certain product more prominently on our site, it is because we genuinely like that product more. You can learn more about us here.
Baby Monitors: Frequently Asked Questions
The Nanit Plus is overall the best baby monitor of 2021. It delivers superb image quality and packs a long list of helpful features. The VAVA is the best value video monitor of the year, and the Miku is the best premium smart monitor of 2021.
We found in our tests that the Owlet Smart Sock + Cam is the safest baby monitor for health tracking. If you have reasons to be worried about your baby’s heartbeat or oxygen level, the Owlet will keep an eye on your baby through the night.
Yes, baby monitors can be hacked. This is particularly the case with WiFi monitors that transmit video and sound over the Internet. But no need to panic, we have a solution. Check our guide on how to protect your baby and yourself from hackers.
The VAVA Baby Monitor has the most reliable video signal range in our tests of radio monitors. Any WiFi monitor will also have a great range as long as your WiFi network is strong.
