What You Need to Know About The Ring Doorbell?
Among the latest inventions that help in creating a ‘smart home’ is the Ring Doorbell. After the ability to remotely control the temperature inside your homes before you arrive and ensuring that the lights are off even after you’ve left home, now you can also see who is at your door without having to walk up to the door. You can even check who is at your door while you are out at restaurant or away from home. In a nutshell, the Ring Doorbell Camera is the newest way to arm your house, protect yourself and your belongings, and reduce the need for inconveniently getting up from your comfortable spot on the couch. However, there is a lot more to this invention than meets the eye.
What do You Get From a Ring Doorbell?
HD Camera:
Since one of the primary functions of this doorbell is to show you who is at the door, the provision of a high quality image is a given. This HD camera lets you see the visitors on your door on your smartphone screen through a related app. Another interesting fact is that this camera comes with a night vision. So even if your light is out, the door light is broken – or someone breaks it on purpose – you can still clearly see the late-night visitors’ face.
Motion Detection:
Gone are the days when you needed to install a security camera and motion sensor lights. Ring Doorbell comes with in-built motion sensors so even if someone doesn’t actually ring the bell but only meanders around your house, you will get an alert. Along with a tool for your actual guests, Ring Doorbell also acts as a protective tool against burglars.
Two-way Communication:
In addition to seeing the faces of your guests, you can also hear their voice and can talk to them too. For instance if it’s someone who is only ringing your bell to ask for directions, you don’t have to get to the door, rather you can answer them through the two-way audio in the Ring Doorbell. Likewise, if you are not at home and someone arrives, you can tell them how long it would take you to reach home or if they should meet you somewhere else. With Ring Doorbell you are virtually always home, irrespective of your actual physical location.
Ring Chime:
This one accessory does not come in-built with the Ring Doorbell but you can simply add it to the installation. A Ring Chime is a separate bell that also allows the doorbell to chime in other rooms of your house so when you are home you don’t have to be dependent on your smartphone anymore. In other words, this addition makes the Ring Doorbell also function like a regular doorbell. But you don’t need to buy it if you already have a wired doorbell. You can simply link that with the Ring Doorbell.
Types of Ring Doorbell and How to Know Which is Best For You
There are two main types of Ring Doorbells. While the above features come with both of them, one of them comes with some additional features. Depending on your needs and the level of technological sophistication you want, you can choose from these two:
Ring Video Doorbell:
This type of Ring Doorbell is the standard unit and costs approximately $200. It works for all sorts of homes and buildings and connects to the regular Wi-Fi connection of your house. You can increase the sensitivity of the motion zones present in the doorbell and can increase the level of security, not just through the 720 pixel resolution but also any sort of movement around the area where this bell is installed. This model also comes with a rechargeable battery.
Ring Video Doorbell Pro:
This Ring Doorbell is not only an improvement in design – it is sleeker and slightly smaller than the standard version – but it also brings additional features. For starters the resolution is better with 1080 pixels. It also needs to be hardwired so there is no need for recharging the battery. It also comes in different colors and you can simply change the face of the bell, much like changing a mobile phone cover, to personalize the look. Motion detection zones can also be customized here and the Wi-Fi connection is also better in this version. All these extra features, however, also come with a little extra cost. Ring Video Doorbell Pro costs around $250.
Additional Tips and Tricks
Since the Ring Doorbell works with a Wi-Fi connection it is advisable to have a the doorbell on a separate network from your other devices. It is a basic home security measure but it will keep the information of your network secure in case you lose your phone or there is any other type of security breach through the smart home device.
If you want to store the audio and video from the Ring Doorbell for future viewing or simply for security reasons, you can also get a Ring Video Recording Plan. There are monthly or yearly subscription fees, depending on the package you take. The live audio and video features don’t need any additional subscriptions, and neither do any other feature explained above. But if you want to store the video for reviewing, you will need a subscription. Ring Video Recording saves all of your recordings for up to 60 days, and also enables downloading them to local storage and sharing them via social media, text and email. Basic subscription costs $3 per month or $30 per year for every device, while Protect package costs $10 per month or $100 per year, and it covers an unlimited amount of Ring Doorbell devices.