Ring Video Doorbell Pro Review - Review 2022

When nosotros reviewed the original Ring Video Doorbell three years agone, it earned loftier marks for its like shooting fish in a barrel installation, sharp video quality, and motion detection, but was dinged for its middling audio quality, lack of on-demand video, and brusque battery life. With the new Video Doorbell Pro ($249), Ring has addressed all of these gripes and added some handy features including 1080p video, custom motion zones, pre-buffering to capture what was going on before the motion sensor was triggered, back up for Alexa voice commands, and interoperability with other smart devices via IFTTT. All this earns it our Editors' Choice for video doorbells.

Design and Features

At 4.five by 1.8 by 0.8 inches (HWD), the Band Pro is slimmer and looks more similar a traditional doorbell than the Baronial Doorbell Cam Pro, the RemoBell, and the original Band. It comes with four interchangeable faceplates (black, bronze, nickel, and white) to match the exterior of your home, a screwdriver, mounting screws and anchors, a Pro Power Kit for connecting to an existing chime box in example your existing doorbell wiring does not provide enough power, extension wires, and illustrated instructions. Band also sells a bombardment-powered model, the Video Doorbell 2.

The Ring Pro captures video at 1080p and has a 160-degree field of view. It uses iii infrared LEDs to provide up to thirty anxiety of night vision and has a built-in movement sensor, a microphone, a speaker, and an interior chime. The camera uses 802.11n circuitry (2.4GHz and 5GHz) to connect to your home Wi-Fi, and requires a two-wire xvi-24 volt ability source (the same power source used for traditional doorbells). In addition to the photographic camera, there'due south a doorbell button on the face of the device surrounded by an LED ring that glows blue when the button is pressed. There are two terminals on the back, and a setup button on the right side that you tin can go to by removing the faceplate.

When you lot press the doorbell button a chime sounds, the camera begins recording, and a push alert is sent to your telephone. As with the Ring Floodlight Cam, yous have to subscribe to a service plan to view, share, and download recorded video. The Protect Basic Plan is $iii per month or $30 per yr and gives you lot 60 days of cloud storage per camera and full access to all of your videos. For $10 per month or $100 per year, the Protect Plus Plan gives you everything from the Basic Plan for an unlimited number of cameras, and you lot get a lifetime warranty (the warranty period is ordinarily one year). By way of comparison, the Baronial Doorbell Cam Pro subscription costs $4.99 per month or $49.99 per year for access to 30 days worth of video.

Ring Video Doorbell Pro The Ring Pro uses the same Android and iOS mobile app as other Ring devices. It opens to a My Devices screen that has a push button for each installed Ring device at the elevation, besides as a Neighborhood push button. Like the Floodlight Cam, the Ring Pro offers a Neighborhood characteristic that lets you share recorded events with neighbors who have downloaded the Band app and joined the Neighborhood. Y'all'll receive an alarm when a neighbour posts a video, every bit well as for activities such as fire and police activeness in your neighborhood.

The bottom half of the screen contains a historical list of all events (rings, motion triggers, and live view requests). Tap any outcome to view the associated video clip, share information technology, delete information technology, or save information technology. Tapping the Ring Pro button takes you to a screen where you tin enable and disable ring alerts and movement alerts, view live video, and admission the doorbell settings. When you tap the Live View button information technology launches a live stream presented in full-screen mural manner and has buttons for two-manner audio, speaker mute, and neighborhood sharing.

Below the Live View push is a series of characteristic buttons. Consequence History takes you to the same events list that you lot'll see in the My Devices screen; Device Health lets y'all check voltage, Wi-Fi point strength, and system status; Linked Chimes is where you go to pair the doorbell with an external plug-in Ring Chinkle ($29) or Chime Pro ($49); and Motion Settings lets you conform motion sensitivity, fix motion zones, and create a motion schedule that determines when move alerts are agile.

At that place'due south also a Move Snooze push that lets yous temporarily disable motion alerts for xv or xxx minutes or for i or 2 hours. The App Alert Tones button lets you select one of 20 sounds to play when the doorbell is pressed, or one of 16 sounds to play when motility is detected, and the Shared Users push lets yous add together users who can view video and receive alerts. Use the Ring+ button to link the Ring app to one of Band'southward partners such equally Wink, Kevo, LockState, and Wemo. Once linked, you can access a partner app from within the Ring app.

Installation and Performance

Installing the Ring Doorbell Pro is very easy thanks to the illustrated printed instructions and equally detailed instructional videos that are available in the app. Every bit e'er, if you are uncomfortable dealing with low-voltage wiring, hire a pro.

To get-go I shut off the breaker that powers my existing doorbell before removing information technology and detaching the two wires. I slid off the Band Pro's detachable faceplate and fastened the two wires to the terminals. I and then fastened the doorbell to the outside of my house using the included mounting screws. I already had a Ring account from previous reviews but if you haven't created one, now'due south the fourth dimension to download the app and do so.

I opened the app, tapped Gear up Device, selected Doorbells, and selected the Pro from the list of choices. I named the device, entered my address (optional), and hit Continue. At this you lot can play an instructional video if you're having difficulty. Next I was asked what blazon of bell my existing doorbell uses (mechanical, digital, none) and was prompted to press and release the button on the side of the Pro, at which point a voice informed me that I was entering setup style. I hit Continue and was prompted to navigate to my phone's Wi-Fi settings and connect to the Ring network. I returned to the app and selected my dwelling Wi-Fi SSID, entered my password, and waited effectually 20 seconds before the doorbell was connected. I fastened the faceplate and was finished.

Ring Video Doorbell Pro

The Band Pro delivered very sharp 1080p video in testing. Daytime video was clean with rich colors, and night vision video was well lit with good contrast and remained abrupt out to around 20 feet. There was noticeable barrel distortion around the edges, simply people and objects appeared normal. Two-way audio was loud and clean, unlike the original Ring Doorbell which would go garbled on occasion.

The camera'southward motility sensor worked without a hitch, every bit did the pre-buffer feature. I always received a push notification, and the camera never failed to tape a clip when the sensor was triggered or when the doorbell button was pressed. I created an IFTTT applet to have a D-Link Smart Switch plough on a lamp whenever the doorbell button was pressed, and it worked without fail, equally did my Alexa voice command to brandish the Ring Pro's live stream on my Idiot box using an Amazon Burn down TV Stick and Amazon Echo.

Conclusions

The Ring Video Doorbell Pro offers almost everything you'd desire in a smart doorbell. It'southward adequately easy to install, sports a slender design with interchangeable faceplates, and delivers sharp 1080p video twenty-four hours and night. As with the August Doorbell Cam Pro, the Band Pro uses pre-buffering applied science to show you what transpired prior to a move trigger, and lets you view live video on an Amazon Echo Evidence device using Alexa voice commands.

While the August doorbell offers a more symmetrical pic with no barrel distortion, information technology doesn't support IFTTT integration like the Ring Pro does, and Ring'due south monthly cloud fees are a bit more than affordable. As such, the Ring Video Doorbell Pro is an Editors' Option for smart doorbells. The SkyBell HD is another top pick, and offers features that Ring doesn't, such as colour nighttime video, free cloud recording, and compatibility with Nest smart home devices.

Ring Video Doorbell Pro Specs

Connectivity	Wi-Fi
Integration	Amazon Alexa, IFTTT
Notifications	Push
Field of View	160 degrees
Resolution	1080p
Storage	Cloud
Two-Way Audio	Yeah
Nighttime Vision	Yes
Alarm	No