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Entrepreneur Jamie Siminoff got the idea for Ring when he Googled doorbells that could connect to a smartphone, found none, and decided to build his own.
After Amazon bought the Ring for a billion dollars in 2018, the Ring has become the most recognizable smartwatch. Video doorbell Brand in the world, with more than 50 products on sale today.
The Ring Battery Doorbell sits near the top of the Pro range: it’s the company’s second most advanced wireless doorbell, with a lot of attention paid to making sure it’s extremely easy to install (many of these devices require an electrician), including a separate no-drill mount and lots of high-tech features. With an RRP of Rs £179.99, (Currently reduced to £75.99 as an early Prime Day deal on Amazon) It’s not cheap, but the head-to-toe look with a crisp camera is as good as this gizmo gets.
Features of Ring Battery Doorbell Pro
The Ring Battery Video Doorbell Pro offers top-end features like enhanced HD video and color night vision, all with typical Ring ease of use and customizability.
It’s not the cheapest out there, but if you want the best performance, reliability and your Home securityIt’s a good choice, with a great head-to-toe camera providing a view so you can see what the postman has delivered.
It delivers alerts instantly to your phone with two-way talk, letting you keep in touch with couriers before they turn on their heels and take your package back to the depot.
Everything works through Amazon’s simple, clear Ring app, and the barrier to use here is pretty low, so it won’t be a problem for less techies. There’s an HD camera (1536p resolution, to be exact) and a new radar scanner that makes for more precise alerts, including package-drop alerts (subscription only), even if the courier isn’t pressing the alarm bell.
You’ll get real-time notifications whenever someone presses your doorbell or detects motion. Live View puts you ‘in’ the doorbell in real time, and phone-style buttons let you use two-way talk to communicate with whoever’s at the door. There are also easy-to-use privacy controls (for example, you can set areas where your camera won’t monitor, so you Spying on neighbors). There’s also Alexa integration so you can say, ‘Alexa, answer the front door’ or use Alexa to send recorded messages.
The camera is bright and accurate, with new low-light settings, offering color images even at dusk, with adjustments for glare and when the camera is used through glass. The app is no-nonsense and easy to navigate, and responding to an alert takes you directly to a live view where you can interact with couriers, postmen and family members.
Setting up Ring Battery Doorbell Pro
This is where the ring really comes into its own. I was replacing an old Nest doorbell that had been installed by an electrician when a builder accidentally broke the cable, leaving it useless, so I was very much in the market for something easy to deal with, and required no wiring or expensive tradesmen to go around. This fits the bill.
Accessible via QR code, and New ring no-drill mount (which comes separately, price £17.99 on Amazon). I’m no DIY expert (so much so that my wife has very strong feelings about it), but I did Installed a ring doorbell And working within 30 minutes (and most of that was eliminating the previous model).
Pairing it with the app is easy and near instant, and if you have other Amazon devices (I tested it with a doorbell ringer), it quickly finds and connects to them, too. You need a separate Ring account, not just your Amazon account, but once that’s set up, it’s plain sailing.
How I Tested the Ring Battery Doorbell Pro
I’ve used the Ring for several months in my terraced house in London – it’s a fairly busy area, so lots of people passing by, especially in the mornings and evenings. As a freelancer I also have a fair number of deliveries, so being able to act quickly to prevent couriers from disappearing is extremely useful.
I’ve tested it over the course of several months, recharging when necessary and noting how much time has passed, and used it day and night with visitors to my home (as well as keeping an eye on passers-by during the night).
I’ve also tested it with and without a subscription, to see if it’s really optional, or if the device is worthless without paying a monthly fee.
Is the subscription worth it?
The most basic Ring Solo Home Subscription (covering one device and purchased from Ring) is £4.99 A month or £49.99 per year, which provides video recording (you can save, review and share from the app) and archived history (up to 180 days). If you have more than one device (such as multiple cameras) you will need a multi subscription which is £7.99 One month If you’re a new Ring customer, Ring Battery Pro comes with a 30-day free trial.
If you’re nervous about security, the subscription is worth it, offering rewindable video of every door interaction during the night. But you can easily live without it, with the camera showing who’s at your door through notifications, just reducing the ability to actually check people.
Subscription-only ‘package’ alerts (which detect packages posted even without a ring) are likewise a nice-to-have rather than a must.
Using the Ring Battery Doorbell Pro I found out how
Positives First: In terms of audio and video, this is a fantastic product. Pictures are clear, the video feed doesn’t stutter, and even at night you can clearly see who’s at your door, in color. Amazon’s ‘head to toe’ view is great: you can clearly see not only who’s there, but what they’ve put through your letterbox (you can’t read the words, but you can see if it’s a letter, package or HMRC brown envelope, for example).
Even with the clumsiest of couriers, it always offers me enough time to communicate that I’d prefer if they left the package in the recycle bin instead of disappearing with it: the speaker is loud and clear and the app never ‘hangs’ at inopportune moments. If there’s ever a Wi-Fi problem, it silently reconnects automatically.
One of the selling points of the subscription is receiving package alerts, which detect packages arriving in zones you set and keep track of deliveries. Quick replies let you send a message (including ant and dec sounds for some reason), but I found canned replies less useful than the traditional approach of actually talking to people.
Battery life is pretty decent – but it’s dropped a bit in the eight months I’ve been using it, to where it now requires charging about every three weeks (it comes with an old USB-B cable to charge, and it takes about eight hours to do so each time).
I personally found the ‘motion detected’ alerts a bit over the top, but I realize not everyone has as many people walking through their doors as I do. It’s so clever that I rarely get warnings for passing cars, for example, and it can’t even pick up the children’s playground next to my house. You can control this by muting motion alerts. When someone actually rings your doorbell, it stands out, so you’ll never miss a visitor.
For a device you have to take apart and recharge regularly, the one downside is that the casing is held in place by a small screw – essentially, it’s missing, and now the outer plastic casing regularly comes off every time my kids slam the door (which, if you know teenagers, is every time they use it).
Do I rate it? Yes, it did exactly what it said it would and it suited our household needs well.
