Imagine this: you’re sitting on your couch finally enjoying your favorite television program. And then you hear it… someone’s at the door. You groan in frustration. An unexpected guest. We’ve all been there, and it’s never pleasant.
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What if it’s your relatives? Or worse, what if it’s a complete stranger? Sure, hospitality is an admirable trait, but there’s a time and place for that. That is where Ring’s Video Doorbell Pro comes in to save the day! You’ll be able to see who’s at the door without ever leaving the comfort of your favorite chair. Doesn’t that sound like a dream?
Those that own this device can have more control over who comes to their door and who’s allowed in the house. It’s a brilliant addition to any security system with the added bonus of being able to communicate with deliverymen when you’re expecting packages but aren’t at home.
You’ll have all these benefits at your fingertips for the normal Amazon price of only $250! Wait, $250 for a doorbell? That does not seem right. This doorbell is in the same price range as twenty monthly subscriptions to Netflix! Why?
To start, the Ring company has been in their industry for the past eight years, making all kinds of home security and smart home security products, including the Video Doorbell Pro.
The company is also owned by Amazon, which maybe makes it more reliable. If that does not persuade you enough to buy it, then perhaps knowing that the company makes an annual sales revenue of $165 million will convince you. Yes, there are possibly 660,000 homeowners that have a Ring device installed somewhere in their homes, and just over 23,000 Amazon customers that take the time to leave heartfelt thoughts, love this ringer.
Seriously though, all that money from doorbells? These things must bump a home’s market value up. There has to be a good reason. So, let us press a few buttons and see what makes this doorbell ring.
Table of Contents
Advantages and Disadvantages
This doorbell is a step up from the one before it. The last edition (Ring Video Doorbell) had a few unimpressive issues. The audio quality of the old one sat at the lower end of the midway line, it slacked in giving on demand video, and the battery life had way too little endurance.
The Ring company has since then countered all these issues and even went on to add a few extra features.
Coming up with a pros and cons list had its difficulties, since Ring covered their tracks from their last device, but there was a list, nonetheless.
Slender design
Sharp 1080p video
Supports IFTTT and Alexa voice commands
Motion detection with pre-buffering
On-demand streaming
Easy to install
Pricey
Access to recorded video costs extra
Some barrel distortion, making everyone look as though they were part of an early 2000’ rap video
Hardwired
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These are the pros and Cons of Ring Video Doorbell Pro. Let’s look deeper into what this smart doorbell has to offer.
Design
The Video Pro comes in a slimmer upgrade with height, width, and depth dimensions of 4.5, 1.8, and 0.8 inches making it appear more like a doorbell and less like an ugly smartphone.
The device has four different colored faceplates (Satin Nickel, Pearl, Venetian, and Black) that are included in the package, so that it can better camouflage with your exterior wall paint, just in case you wanted people to get fed up looking for it and leave, or maybe you wanted to have the privilege of being able to ask your guests, “Notice anything different?” every time they came for a visit.
Along with its fragile like beauty the device is also weather resistant, just like your wall paint should be. It can withstand cold temperatures all the way down at negative five and all the way up at 120 degrees Fahrenheit, so even if your house burns down or undergoes a blizzard, you will at least have a functioning doorbell.
This cool part of the design should be appealing to most of America’s homeowners. In other words, this is the most popular, coolest, and hottest doorbell to ever exist.
When the button is pressed a futuristic ring of light runs along the button’s edge and is accompanied with a little chime. This works as a nice way to tell the person that pressed the bell, “Yeah, they heard you.” hopefully stopping them from knocking, and getting the idea of you not being interested in their company across, when you decide not to answer.
The doorbell does need to be hard wired, so make sure your breakers are down. You do not want your neighbors to get the idea that you have decided to audition for the bad guy part in the reboot of Home Alone. If you have an existing hardwired doorbell this doorbell will work on your house, you can rip out the old and put in the new.
The Video Pro can be hardwired by the already existing wiring that a conventional doorbell would have. It does take a lengthy amount of time, Amazon averages installation time to about 15 minutes. Just follow the instructions. After all of that you will never have to worry about buying the wrong size battery and having your wife moan about how you never listen to her.
Answer the door from anywhere and watch over your home in 1080HD video with Ring Video Doorbell Pro. You’ll get mobile alerts when anyone comes to your door, so you can see, hear and speak to visitors from your phone, tablet and PC.
Features
There are brains behind the doorbell’s beauty. The device can be connected to your Wi-Fi, and then, when it detects any movement, the doorbell will send an alert message to your phone via the Ring app, because everything has an app these days.
Almost thought that was cool? All that means is having one more app wanting to take up space on a mobile device and asking for permission to tap into your speaker. The doorbell is also activated, you guessed it, when it gets pressed. It has been known to take a lengthy amount of time to be able to interact with the person ringing the doorbell, that being if you are not at the house and are using the app.
There are many and varied features, so we will just categorize them for easier reading.
Video
With a 1080p video quality you can almost see the sweat dripping down the postman’s forehead. The device also has a viewing area of 160 degrees, it is almost capable of seeing into the neighbor’s yard. If your eyesight is deteriorating you can also zoom in on your visitors from your mobile device, so if your grandma has one then she will never again confuse you with her favorite grandchild.
Just like racoons, the Doorbell Pro is active in the evenings too. By using infrared vision, the device can detect all the caped crusaders that might pass by in the “dark night”, get it?
Audio
There was no point for Ring to just give the option of video playback, if they added the word Pro at the end of the product’s name. So, they gave you the added benefit of hearing your visitors dish out their last bits of gossip they had on you, before they entered your home. Not only that it has two-way audio allowing you to join in on the conversation, even if you are not at home.
Storing Recordings
We all know how important first kisses at the front door are and we all have wanted to play back the moment when the nervous kid came to take your daughter to prom. These and many other memories, such as the ones where the thief broke in through the front door, need to be kept. Ring has made it possible to store them both locally and, in the cloud, at a monthly subscription.
That is most definitely where their earnings come from!
Ring provides a Protect Basic and a Protect Plus plan and also provides two terms to pay on. The Basic plan comes at a monthly fee of $3 and an annual fee of $30. The Plus plan has a monthly installment of $10 and an annual one of $100. All their plans can be canceled at any time, with no fine print catch. The only catch is that you are only able to record a total of 60 full days, so choose your favorite child to record. These prices are also way cheaper than the competition.
These Protect plans also cover different amounts of Ring devices. The Basic plan basically covers only one Ring doorbell or one security camera. The Plus covers all Ring devices, but only at one address, so don’t get any thrifty ideas from Bob next door.
While on the subject of the Plus plan. It gets you a 10% discount on all Ring devices bought on their website, constant monitoring, which is suggested if you have a Ring Alarm kit, and an extended warranty is also a really nice added bonus.
With all that said, you might not want to pay a fee of any kind especially if you’ve paid $250 for a stylish doorbell. So, it can be used for free, you will still get notifications, and will still be able to see what is happening. You just will not be able to store any of it, unless you have perfect recall.
Answer the door from anywhere and watch over your home in 1080HD video with Ring Video Doorbell Pro. You’ll get mobile alerts when anyone comes to your door, so you can see, hear and speak to visitors from your phone, tablet and PC.
Connecting to Smart Platforms
Amazon owns everything, so the Doorbell Pro can be connected to Alexa, which is also owned by Amazon (if you did not already know that), and recently to Google Assistant. This gives you the ability to voice activate your doorbell.
If the device can connect to these highly complex, artificially intelligent assistants, then surely it is intelligent as well? No, the Doorbell Pro cannot differentiate between the movements of cars, animals, swaying trees, and people. It can, however, be set to focus on specific zones in its view, so you will not always be bombarded with a million notifications. This is a headache saving feature for people living in areas like Metropolitan Boston.
So, with the features covered. Let’s move on to the estimated 15 minutes set up.
Setting up the Video Doorbell Pro
It is quite a simple procedure, and as mentioned before can be done easily if you have an existing hardwired doorbell. If you do not have the existing wiring, then the doorbell can be installed using a power adapter as well.
The device does come with a manual, just in case, and all the needed equipment to install it, including a screwdriver with the two needed bits, the right size drill bit for drilling into your wall, and all the necessary hardware (wires and stuff). It also comes with stickers that you can stick on the front door to inform people that you have a doorbell.
The instructions will first want you to install the Ring app, so there is no avoiding the sacrifice of phone storage. After the app is installed it will prompt you to open an account if you do not already have one. On the app you can watch tutorial videos if you are one of those visual learners. The backplate of the Doorbell Pro has two holes on it (top and bottom center) this is where it needs to be mounted from
It does come with a small spirit level allowing you to be able to mount it straight. The wiring system at the back of the doorbell is not complicated and the connection points can be connected to either wire. The Doorbell Pro can then be fastened to the backplate using the same screws that mount the backplate. After it is secure you can then connect it to your Wi-Fi.
Then choose which faceplate you wish to display and fasten that over your doorbell with the two screw slots at the bottom, having the freedom to put on and take off the faceplates makes setting up and resetting a breeze. There you have it, as promised a simple set up.
Who Should Get This?
The device is practical for all homeowners and can come in handy when you are not at home. It is most useful to people that have already existing doorbell wiring, keep in mind that it does need a 16-volt power source.
If you are not one for the bulky type doorbell and are interested in a sleek and stylish doorbell then this is the one for you. If you stay in an area with quite a bit of street activity or you have a tree being blown by the wind in your already existing security doorbell’s view, then the customizable motion detection focus feature will come in handy.
If you stay in a close-knit neighborhood then the Neighbors app will come in handy when informing the community of any suspicious activity.
Expecting deliveries but are not at the house to collect it? Instruct the delivery guy to put it somewhere safe. If you live a busy life and are not always available at home to attend to unexpected guests, then you have the opportunity to attend to them from wherever you may be.
The doorbell works in all areas, so if you experience extreme weather conditions where you live, the Doorbell Pro can handle it.
There are many reasons why one would want this. In the time we live in we need to have security, or at least a sense of it. Ring provides that to individuals and communities with their app and their high-quality doorbells.
Conclusion
The Ring Video Doorbell Pro has many nifty features. The company seems to have spent a lot of funds in marketing, client support, and bettering the mobile app. On the other hand, the doorbell has slacked in giving good long-term performance to a few of its users.
The delay in remotely connecting to the doorbell, after receiving a notification, could be a result of not-so-well funded servers on Ring’s side. The device’s ability to send notifications is relatively fast, with just a second or two delay.
What might be an issue to some is the need to be fully dedicated to the brand’s other home security devices, if you are planning to have a fully functioning security set up around your entire house. Also, the installing process is a bit tedious, but after it is installed there will not be any installment issues after that. The product is relatively cheap when it is compared to the other devices in its category, so that is a plus.
The audio and video quality are clear, even in the evenings, it can be a bit jittery if the Wi-Fi signal that it works on is not strong. The app is user friendly, providing many features and settings without being complicated.
The Doorbell Pro does add character to the front porch and is pleasing to the eye. Getting this device will not change your life but it definitely will prevent your house from turning into a comedy show.
Answer the door from anywhere and watch over your home in 1080HD video with Ring Video Doorbell Pro. You’ll get mobile alerts when anyone comes to your door, so you can see, hear and speak to visitors from your phone, tablet and PC.
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