$199.00
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Pros
Easy to install. HD video. Cloud recording. Motion detection notifications.
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Cons
Pricey. No on-demand video. Audio could be better. Short battery life.
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Bottom Line
The Ring Video Doorbell lets you use your smartphone to see who is at your door before you open it. It offers motion detection, push notifications, and video recording, but audio quality is inconsistent and battery life could be better.
I do a lot of product testing at home and receive package deliveries almost every day. Occasionally I'll miss a delivery that must be signed for because I've left the house for a few minutes to drop my son off at school, or run down to the basement for something. Thanks to the Ring Video Doorbell ($199), I haven't missed a delivery in months. This pricey digital home doorbell uses an HD (720p) camera and your home's Wi-Fi network to sound a chime and send real-time video to your smartphone when someone presses the Ring button. It installs in minutes and delivers high-quality video, though audio quality could be better and the internal battery doesn't last very long between charges.
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Design and Features
Measuring 4.9 by 2.4 by 0.8 inches (HWD), the Ring doesn't look like a typical doorbell. The upper part of the device is made of black plastic and houses a 1,280-by-720-pixel camera with a 180-degree field of view. It also holds a motion sensor. The metallic lower part of the doorbell (available in Satin Nickel, Antique Brass, Polished Brass, and Venetian Bronze) contains an LED-backlit Ring button that glows blue when you press it and sounds a loud chime that can be heard from the speaker at the bottom of the device, as well from the speaker of any connected mobile devices.
The doorbell comes with a 4.9-by-2.4-inch mounting plate that attaches to any surface including wood, cement, brick, vinyl, and stucco. The folks at Ring give you a small toolkit containing everything you'll need to mount the device, including a level, a screwdriver, a masonry drill bit, weather sealant, and mounting hardware. The doorbell is certified for outdoor use and has an operating range of -5 to +120 degrees Fahrenheit. It connects to your home Wi-Fi network and supports 802.11b/g/n wireless connectivity on the 2.4GHz band.
View All The Ring has an internal rechargeable battery. To recharge it you have to remove the doorbell (it slides easily off the mounting plate) and connect it to a USB charger using the included cable and the mini USB port on the back of the device. It takes around 10 hours for a complete charge, which is supposed to give you a full year of battery life (more on this later).
App Connectivity
The Ring doorbell works with iOS and Android mobile devices, but lacks PC Web browser support. The app isn't very flashy, but it's easy to use. When the Ring button is pressed, your smartphone will ring and notify you that someone is at the door. Tapping the notification opens a live feed that lets you see who is there and gives you the option of accepting or denying the call. If you accept the call you can use the microphone icon to initiate a two-way conversation with the caller. Denying the call ends it.
The main page of the app displays a list of installed doorbells and their location (street address). This page also has a section for viewing and changing your account settings. Tapping the My Devices icon takes you to a page with a map showing the doorbell's location and links to Device and Motion Settings, Recent Activity, and Shared Users pages. The Recent Activity page lists the date and time of all accepted and missed calls as well as motion-triggered events. Tapping the arrow to the right of an event launches a video clip of the event, complete with audio. Recorded video is stored in the cloud, but you'll have to pay a yearly $30 subscription fee to use this feature. Once the video is captured you can play it back using the app and download it to your smartphone (the cloud will hold up to six months of video).
The Device Settings page is where you go to turn on call and motion alerts, check the battery level, and change your location. The Motion Setting page contains a video tutorial on how to set motion sensitivity using the Zones and Range settings. It also has three Smart Alert sensitivity settings that identify repeated or continuous motion to avoid too many (or too few) notifications. The Shared User setting lets you invite additional users, such as family members, so that they can receive call and motion alerts. Missing is an on-demand video feature that lets you use the Ring's camera to take a peek outside without waiting for a call, but there are plans to add this feature at a later date.
Installation and Performance
Installation was easy. First I downloaded the app and created an account with my name, email address, and a password. I gave the doorbell a name and confirmed my address and location. Following the instructions on the app, I pressed the button on the back of device, went to my smartphone's Wi-Fi settings, and connected to the Ring's SSID. I then reconnected to my home Wi-Fi and entered my password, and the Ring was connected.
I mounted the doorbell to the wood siding to left of my front door using the included wood screws. It's recommended that you use the existing wiring from your traditional doorbell (if it exists), which supplies power to the Ring and uses your existing door chime, but I bypassed this step in order to test the doorbell's internal battery. The entire setup and installation process took around 10 minutes.
The Ring doorbell never failed to emit a loud chime or send a notification to my smartphone when the button was pressed. Daytime live video quality was crystal clear with sharp, well-defined colors. Black-and-white night vision video was equally as sharp out to around 20 feet, and recorded video looked every bit as good as the live feed. The Ring's two-way audio worked reasonably well, but every now and then communications would become garbled, and on two occasions there was no audio at all.
The rechargeable batteries in my doorbell lasted around 2.5 months before requiring a charge, well short of the 12-month target. The Ring is supposed to send a low-battery alert when the level dips below five percent, but that never happened. I noticed the doorbell wasn't chiming and checked the battery level to find that it was at 3 percent. To be fair, the device was subject to extremely cold temperatures for most of the month of February and I was testing it constantly, so you can expect longer battery life under more favorable conditions.
Conclusions
With the Ring Video Doorbell, you can see who is at your door from the safety and comfort of your couch. It lets you accept or deny visitor calls, and uses motion detection to alert you of activity on your doorstep even when the bell hasn't been rung. The 720p camera delivers sharp video with good color, but audio quality is hit or miss. You don't get on-demand video like you do with the SkyBell Wi-Fi Video Doorbell, but it does automatically record events and stores video of them in the cloud, a key feature currently lacking in the SkyBell device. The Ring's battery life could be better, but if you're using existing doorbell wire this won't be an issue. For a similar price, you might also want to consider a home surveillance camera like the Nest Dropcam Pro or the Icontrol Networks Piper nv. They don't work as doorbells, but you can set them up near your front door to see who is coming and going.
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