Best Baby Monitors Review

Five incredible devices for every kind of parent and child

Best Overall Monitor
Eufy Spaceview Pro
$169.99*
  • pro
    Comes with dedicated monitor
  • con
    No sleep or breath tracking
Best Wi-Fi Monitor
Nanit Pro Camera
$299.99*
  • pro
    Wi-Fi connected
  • pro
    Touch-free breath and sleep tracking
Best Budget Pick
Lollipop Smart Baby Monitor
$169.00*
  • pro
    Handy display screen
  • con
    Sleep tracking costs extra
Best for Noise Reduction
Infant Optics DXR-8 Pro Baby Monitor
$199.99*
  • pro
    Comes with dedicated
  • con
    No sleep or breath tracking
Best High End Device
Miku Pro Smart Baby Monitor
$388.00*
  • pro
    Wi-Fi connected
  • pro
    Touch-free breath and sleep tracking
Easton Smith
Jun 22, 2023
Icon Time To Read12 min read

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Being a parent in 2023 isn’t easy, but there are some pretty great devices out there that can make it easier. The technology behind baby monitors has made huge strides in recent years, and you can get a high-quality device for under $200.

Baby monitors are as much about taking care of yourself as they are taking care of your baby. You can have peace of mind when you’re at work, out at dinner, or just sleeping in the other room. Advanced features like breathing monitoring and movement alerts make it easier than ever to track your baby’s safety, health, and development.

We’ll break down everything you need to know about the five best baby monitors on the market, from price and performance to set up and maintenance.

Eufy Spaceview Pro: Best Overall Monitor

The best all around baby monitor has tons of features, a dedicated monitor, and a great price

Eufy has already a reputable name for itself in the home security scene with its powerful, reliable, and affordable cameras. But now it’s made a dive into the baby monitor market and it’s made a big splash.

The Eufy Spaceview Pro boasts all of the essential features you want in a baby monitor and it has its own dedicated screen so you don’t have to fuss around with your smartphone or computer. It also has an incredibly fair price tag below $200.

Here’s everything you need to know.

pro
Pros
pro Dedicated HD monitor
pro Audio alerts
pro Long battery life
con
Cons
con Not Wi-Fi enabled
con No movement alerts

Features

One of the key features that sets the Eufy Spaceview Pro apart from most of its competitors is that it doesn’t need to connect to your phone or any other device with Wi-Fi. Instead, the Eufy Spaceview Pro is ready to rock with a pre-paired portable monitor.

This monitor is lightweight and has a five inch, 720p HD screen that gives a clear, crisp picture. It is equipped with night-vision technology so you can see what your little tot is up to at all hours. It shows the temperature in the room, too. There’s a wide-angle lens that comes with the device that you can install if you want a wider field of view.

The dedicated FHSS transmission feed on the monitor has a range of up to 1,000 feet, which should easily cover even a larger home. It will send you audio monitoring alerts when your baby is crying or making other noises. You can push a button to talk to your baby and can choose from five different pre-recorded lullabies to help lull your child to sleep.

The system has a long battery life of 12 active hours, or 30 hours of standby. But most people will probably just leave it plugged in while they are sleeping.

Setup

The Eufy Spaceview Pro is one of the easiest, if not the easiest, baby monitors to set up. 

You just have to fully charge the monitor and the camera itself using the included charger.

Turn them on. That’s it. You don’t have to create an account, log-in, or pair any devices together. In a world of overly-complicated electronics, the simplicity of the Eufy Spaceview Pro feels like a real gift to busy parents with newborns.

You can install the camera on your wall, if you want, using the included mount. You can also add additional cameras to your Eufy system. This can be done easily by just following the on-screen instructions on the monitor.

Using the Eufy Spaceview Pro

Using the Eufy baby monitor is about as easy as setting it up. Just press and hold the power button to start it up, and then use the “menu,” “ok,” and navigation buttons to get where you need to go. You can easily adjust the settings, like the brightness, zoom, and alarm.

The monitor will display the signal strength, battery level, time, temperature, and other alerts, like a moon icon when night-mode is enabled.

You can push a single button to talk to your baby in the other room, and you can easily turn on a white-noise option or one of the built-in lullabies. In short, this baby monitor is smart enough for tech-savvy millennials to appreciate, but simple enough for boomer grandparents to operate.

Nanit Pro Camera: Best Wi-Fi Monitor

The Nanit Pro sets a high bar for Wi-Fi baby monitors that hook up to your phone, computer, and other devices

Baby monitors are getting more and more advanced every year. One of the products that’s at the cutting edge is the Nanit Pro. It was named one of the best inventions by Time Magazine in 2018 and has continued to improve since then.

You can track your baby’s sleep, breathing, and much more with this device. With Wi-Fi connectivity, you can stream the video feed to any device, nearly anywhere. Now, let’s dive into the details.

pro
Pros
pro 1080p HD camera
pro Wi-Fi enabled
pro Wearables, sleep metrics, and other great features
con
Cons
con Pricier than some other monitors
con No dedicated monitor

Features

On the surface, the Nanit Pro looks like a lot of other top-tier baby monitors. It has a sleek design, a high-quality 1080p HD camera, and a highly functional mobile app that connects your phone to the monitor camera via Wi-Fi. All of this is great, but what really separates the Nanit Pro apart from other devices are the special monitoring features.

The Nanit Pro uses “computer-vision technology” to track your baby’s movement, sleep, and breathing. It can tell if your baby is acting fussy and send you an alert. All of the data that the Nanit Pro collects is then synthesized into sleep reports and scores that can help you have a broader understanding of your child’s patterns.

If you want an even more detailed picture of your baby’s patterns, you can use the breathing band that comes included with the Nanit Pro camera. This band tracks your baby’s breathing in real time for that extra peace of mind.

Besides these in-depth tracking features, the Nanit Pro comes with a host of other standard features, like a nightlight, a two-way audio channel, temperature and humidity trackers, and a white noise feature.

Setup

The Nanit Pro isn’t as easy to set up as the Eufy Spaceview Pro, but it shouldn’t present any particular difficulties for most parents.

You will need a smartphone or other smart device to download and use the Nanit app. First, download the app. Then create an account and log in. Once you’re logged into the app, you can use it to help place the camera in a good spot and calibrate the “computer-vision technology” to your specific baby and crib.

You can mount the Nanit Pro to the wall or set it up on a wall-leaning stand. At the end of the day, it doesn’t look all that different from most other baby monitors.

Using the Nanit Pro

We’ve already talked about the Nanit Pro’s fantastic tracking functions and overall high-performance specs. But how does it feel to actually use the device?

Parents have found the app to be intuitive, simple, and highly functional. You can, of course, get a live feed of the camera at any time, anywhere (as long as you have internet access). But you can also scroll through a calendar and look at the metrics from past nights, such as your baby’s “Time Asleep” and “Sleep Score”. The app will even keep track of your baby’s growth over time!

Nanit can send you alerts when there’s movement or noise coming from the crib. You can put on white noise or nature sounds to help your baby get some Zs, and you can even dim the light on the camera.

It might be more than many parents need, but there’s no doubt that the Nanit lives up to its claim of being the “World's Most Advanced Baby Monitor”.

Lollipop Smart Baby Monitor: Best for Budget Buyers

A stylish and functional baby monitor that costs less than $150

The Lollipop Smart Baby Monitor is our budget pick, but it doesn’t feel like a cheap device. It has a sleek and fun design, a high-quality picture, and some pretty advanced features (like true cry detection).

Keep reading to learn more about what we love (and where the Lollipop falls a bit short).

pro
Pros
pro Affordable price
pro True cry detection and playback
pro Cool design
con
Cons
con No dedicated monitor
con Requires monthly subscription to get more advanced features

Features

The Lollipop’s most distinctive feature is its design. It looks kind of like a tadpole version of a Teletubby. The bright color choices are actually a welcome change for a product that is too often a drab and boring white. These are children’s products, after all.

But the Lollipop’s features are more than skin deep. This baby monitor comes with breathing detection, sleep tracking, true-crying detection, built-in white-noise/lullabies, two-way audio, night vision, and an auto recording feature that lets you playback thirty-second clips, called “events,” that show when your baby has been crying or moving around.

If you want to invest a little more, you can buy the Lollipop Smart Air Quality Sensor, which detects temperature, humidity, and air quality in your baby’s room.

In all, the Lollipop sports most of the features that more expensive baby monitors have. But—and this is a sizable but—many of the most advanced features require a monthly subscription.

Here’s a look at a screenshot from Lollipop’s website, which shows the different tiers and the features they come with.

Paying an extra $80–240 a year is a tough sell for many new parents, who are already on a shoestring budget. Still, even on the free “Basic” tier, the Lollipop is a perfectly good baby monitor that costs less than others, like the Nanit Pro.

If you want a first-person review from a honest-to-gosh parent, our writer and reviewer Brianne Sandorf recently wrote about why she chose the Lollipop for her baby monitor.

Setup

Setting up the Lollipop camera is very easy. The camera has a unique design that allows you to bend the “leg” of the device to wrap about the bars of your baby’s crib (or pretty much anything else). It makes it very easy to move the camera to a new part of your house or take it with you when you’re traveling.

However, unlike many other baby monitors, the Lollipop doesn’t come with its own freestanding post.

The Lollipop monitor does require you to download an app on your smart device to access the camera feed. The app is free to download (there are paid subscriptions for other features, as we mentioned above) and relatively easy to navigate. But you will have to sign up for an account, which is always a bit of a drag.

Using the Lollipop Smart Baby Monitor

The Lollipop camera offers a smooth, sleek picture that’s clear in both daylight and nighttime settings. Users like the good audio quality, useful alerts, sleep tracking, and video playback features.

There is one notable problem that some parents have experienced with the Lollipop baby monitor: disconnections and freezes. There are some customer reviews that talk about needing to reset the device multiple times in a day to maintain a consistent video feed. While most parents don’t seem to have this issue, it’s worth double checking your video feed if you decide to opt for the Lollipop.

Infant Optics DXR-8 Pro Baby Monitor: Best for noise reduction

Get a better night’s sleep without losing any peace of mind

Background noise from fans, A/C units, and other technology can easily interfere with your baby monitor feed. That’s why most advanced baby monitors have a white noise feature. But none have gone quite so far as the DXR-8 Pro from Infant Optics.

But, to be honest, that’s not the only reason to love this powerful baby monitor. Check out everything it has to offer below.

pro
Pros
pro Dedicated monitor
pro Powerful noise reduction technology
pro Clear picture on five-inch monitor
con
Cons
con Not Wi-FI compatible
con Requires monthly subscription to get more advanced features

Features

The Infant Optics DXR-8 Pro is an all around powerhouse of a device, even if it lacks some of the more advanced features that some Wi-Fi monitors have.

This baby monitor comes with its own screen and a dedicated video/audio link. That means you don’t need to use your smartphone or computer to display video, you don’t have to download an app, and you don’t have to worry about Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connection.

The dedicated monitor comes with a clear 720p HD screen, 1000mW speakers, and standard array of menu and control buttons. It’s simple, but gets the job done. Meanwhile, the camera itself has a wide-angle and standard angle lens and 6x optical zoom.

But what really makes the Infant Optics DXR-8 Pro standout is its active noise reduction. While most monitors come with some version of this, the DXR-8 Pro has taken it to the next level with patent-pending technology that takes in ambient noises (from air conditioners, fans, air purifiers, and other devices) and adjusts the audio output so that all you hear is your baby.

Setup

The DXR-8 Pro looks more like a security camera than the other baby monitors on this list. Rather than coming with an adjustable band or a pole-mount, it simply sits on a flat surface and can be pointed in nearly any direction. That makes it easier to set up in some ways, but it also means you might lose some of the functionality of an overhead view (you can always buy a separate stand to attach the camera directly to your baby’s crib).

Once your camera is in place, you just need to turn on the monitor and you’re good to go. No need to download an app, sign into an account, or use a separate smart device.

Using the Infant Optics DXR-8 Pro Baby Monitor

Using the DXR-8 Pro is about as easy as setting it up. With a dedicated monitor, all of the hardware and software that you need are already in the box.

You can change out the lens for a wide-angle version (included) if you want a wider field of view. You can zoom in and out using the monitor controls. You can also change other settings, like volume and brightness.

One thing to note is that the device’s monitor doesn’t have the best battery life. And since you’re not using your smartphone or computer to stream the video feed, you’ll need to remember to charge the monitor (or keep it plugged in all the time).

Miku Pro Smart Baby Monitor: Best high end device

If you’ve got the money to spend, this is the very best baby monitor available

In most cases, there’s no need to shell out a small fortune for a cool new gadget. But if you’ve got the cash to spend, there’s one standout baby monitor that has it all: the Miku Pro Smart Baby Monitor.

pro
Pros
pro Real time breathing and sleep monitoring
pro 1080P HD video
pro Beautiful design and easy to use
con
Cons
con Expensive
con No dedicated monitor

Features

The Miku Pro Smart Baby Monitor outperforms pretty much every other device on the market with its 1080p HD video, touch-free sleep and breath tracking, night vision, two-way audio, high-end speakers, built-in lullabies, temperature tracking, and so much more.

While those features may not be significantly different from the ones that the Eufy Spaceview and the Nanit Pro have, they are all packaged in a sleek, highly-functional, and downright luxurious package. It’s kind of like comparing an Apple computer to a standard PC. The specs might be similar, but one tends to feel a little more high end.

So, if you’re down to spend about $400 on a baby monitor, this is the way to go.

Setup

The Miku Pro comes with several mounts. You can attach it to your wall or set it up with a stand to sit on a desk or side table. Set up is relatively easy, although it takes more work than the Lollipop or Eufy Spaceview.

You will need to download an app and use a smart device to actually use the Miku Pro. But unlike the Lollipop and some other monitors, you won’t need to pay for a subscription to get the full functionality of your monitor.

Using the Miku Pro Smart Baby Monitor

This is when you’ll really see your money at work. The Miku Pro has a smooth design, an intuitive app, and a seamless streaming experience that makes it easy to see your baby and understand what is happening in the room, even when you’re at work (or just working in your bedroom).

Parents who use the Miku Pro talk a lot about how it just works better than other monitors. There are fewer connection failures, blurry camera moments, and app bugs.

Recap: What’s the best baby monitor?

We all know parents are busy. So we’ve made this nice little recap of all the most important stuff in this article for your reference.

  • Best overall baby monitor: The Eufy Spaceview Pro is the perfect mix of price and performance for most parents with newborns. You get a dedicated HD monitor, sound alerts, two-way audio, and plenty of other amazing features for under $200.
  • Best Wi-Fi baby monitor: Those who want a baby monitor that connects to their smartphone and other devices should check out the Nanit Pro. It has advanced features, like sleep and breath tracking, that are ideal for data-driven parents who want extra peace of mind.
  • Best budget monitor: You can pick up the Lollipop Smart Baby Monitor for under $170. But that cheap price tag shouldn’t fool you. It comes with plenty of high-quality features, like true-cry detection, and a stylish, easy-to-use design.
  • Best monitor for noise reduction: If you have a lot of other gadgets in your house, like fans, air purifiers, and air conditioners, you should check out the Infant Optics DXR-8 Pro Baby Monitor. It has the most advanced noise-reduction technology around, plus your standard set of advanced smart baby monitor features.
  • Best high end device: The Miku Pro costs around $400, which will be a dealbreaker for many customers. But if you can afford it, it's $400 well spent. This baby monitor sports all the best features, like sleep and breath tracking, and it does it with a highly-functional and reliable design.

We hope we’ve helped you find the perfect monitor for your nursery. Let us know we missed anything in the comments, and check out the FAQ section below for some more useful info and tips!

Methodology

We take our reviews very seriously, which is why we rigorously research everything we write and give it to you as clearly as we can.

For this particular baby monitor review, we started by looking at dozens of devices on the market. We narrowed down our picks by considering at price, special features, style (dedicated monitor vs. Wi-Fi), performance, and, of course, customer reviews. We also consulted with a few friends with newborns to see what features they cared about most (turns out its reliability, picture quality, and price) in a baby monitor, and made sure to give extra weight to those.

In the end, we picked these five monitors because they stood out for their trustworthiness, value, and utility.

FAQ

Unfortunately, the answer is yes. Baby monitors that operate over shortwave radio can be hacked by someone else who uses the same channel. Wi-Fi monitors are generally only as secure as the devices they are connected to and the network itself.

Baby monitors with dedicated monitors can be the most secure, because they aren’t connected to a Wi-Fi network or third party devices, but it’s 2023, which means hardly anything is 100% unhackable.

Most parents will stop using a baby monitor around the same time that their child moves from a crib to a bed. But that’s a subjective measure, and each parent will have to decide what is right for their child. Many sources say that between two and four years of age is a good time to transition away from a baby monitor.

Everyone. Ok, not everyone, necessarily. But baby monitors have become essential tools for most parents of newborns and toddlers. They make it much easier to live your life (work, relax, eat, sleep, watch TV) without having to have your baby right next to you all the time.

Most big box stores, like Target and Walmart, carry baby monitors. But, to be honest, we usually shop around for products online. You can easily compare prices between major retail giants, like Amazon, the product’s own company store, and other retailers.

The type of baby monitor that is going to work best for you is going to depend on the features you are looking for. Audio baby monitors are a good choice if you want an inexpensive option and aren’t looking for features outside of being able to listen for your baby. A video baby monitor will be a better choice if you want more features including a video screen, night vision, and zoom ability to watch your baby while they are sleeping.

Disclaimer

Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon.com at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product. Reviews.org utilizes paid Amazon links.

CERTAIN CONTENT THAT APPEARS ON THIS SITE COMES FROM AMAZON. THIS CONTENT IS PROVIDED ‘AS IS’ AND IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE OR REMOVAL AT ANY TIME.

Easton Smith
Written by
Easton Smith
Easton has worked as a freelance writer and researcher for several years, reviewing health, lifestyle, and technology products. He has probably read more Terms of Use contracts than any human alive. When he’s not sitting in front of a computer, Easton spends his time camping, climbing, and volunteering with humanitarian aid organizations.

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