The Next Generation Doorbell
I recently bought and installed a Ring Video Doorbell and Ring Chime for my relatives at their new house. The setup was straightforward and the experience was very user-friendly.
An Interactive Doorbell
The Ring doorbell combines a button with a camera to instantly be able to see and talk to visitors. The doorbell also activates and notifies you when it senses motion in its field of view.
The New Community Watchdog
Connecting a Ring doorbell connects you to a new community. Share and view videos and reports of suspicious events in your neighborhood.
I recently visited some relatives on a short day trip. Their house was on a busy road and their front porch was visible from the street. I walked up to the door and pressed the doorbell a few times only to get no answer. I also knocked, but also got no response. Only after calling them, did they realize I was at the front door and let me in. I had asked them if their doorbell had been having problems and I suggested getting them a new doorbell. At that time, one of my relatives had suggested that I install the Ring doorbell for them.
I had heard about Ring before, but never thought about getting it for myself as I’ve been living in an apartment. I also didn’t know if Ring would work without being hard-wired as is the case for most doorbells. Luckily, the Ring Video Doorbell can be hardwired or powered by the on-board battery. This is not the case for some of the higher-end Ring models. The Ring Video Doorbell is designed primarily to be used with smartphones and smart devices. As there were no smart devices within the house, they may not know someone is at the door ff the paired phones are out of the home or out of earshot. Luckily, Ring also makes the Chime which acts as a speaker paired with the Ring. I picked up both the doorbell and the chime for about $140 from local stores.
The Ring Chime
The setup of the Ring doorbell was relatively easy. The box comes with the doorbell, the mounting bracket, a micro USB cable, screws, plastic masonry anchors, a screwdriver, and a level. As there were no wires to hard-wire the doorbell, the Ring needed to be charged prior to installing. The manual claims a battery life of 6-12 months. The doorbell took about 5 hours to fully charge which can be determined by the ring on the front or by checking device health on the app.
Mounting of the bracket was simple. The included level can be attached to the bracket which is attached to the wall using four screws. I used a power drill for this step to speeds things up. While the doorbell was charging, I installed the Ring app on an iPhone. The app asks the user to set up an account with Ring and provide an address. With the app installed, the orange button on the back of the door is pressed and proceeds to connect with a Wifi network following the on-screen prompts. The app appears to save the password to make setup of additional devices easier. The device then prompts a wizard to fine tune the sensitivity of the motion sensor and define how often the user would like to receive alerts. After these steps, the app suggests testing the device out by pressing the button and checking the video quality. It’s a good idea to do this step with the doorbell near its intended location. The location of the router may need to be adjusted if the signal isn’t strong enough. Ring does sell the Chime Pro (different from the Chime) which acts as a Wifi range extender.
The installation of the Ring Chime was also straightforward. When The Chime is plugged in, it starts blinking blue. The Chime is setup using Wifi on your phone. The app then sets up the Chime on the network identified for setting up the doorbell. In the app you can pair the Chime with the doorbell. Note that if the house has multiple doorbells and Chimes, the user can choose which Chimes are paired with which doorbells. The sounds for alerts can be selected from a list within the app.
The doorbell functioned as well as could be imagined once the setup was completed. If motion is detected or the button is pressed, the Chime plays an alert and a notification is sent through the app. Tapping on the notification on the phone opens a video stream from the doorbell. As this as the cheapest model, the video resolution was 720P which was more than good enough to make out faces. The camera even has night vision for being able to see in the dark. Once the video stream is started, the user can choose to talk with the visitor or hang up.
The most surprising feature was the ability to connect with the community of Ring users. As I mentioned, the app asks for an address during setup, and this is to connect with others in the community. When a suspicious visitor comes to the door, the video clip can be shared with the community to serve as a warning to others. Text can be added to reports to let others know what to be on the look out for. As a paid service, Ring will also retain the video clips for up to 60 days.
My setup experience with the Ring Video Doorbell and the Ring Chime has been great and the functionality will no doubt help out my relatives. Ring makes another of other products such as security cameras which I am sure are also as equally easy to set up.
The design of the doorbell is simple yet functional and blends in with more home fronts. A bronze color doorbell is also available.
Installation was easy for the doorbell, Chime, and the app. Everything oyu need except for the power drill is included in the box.
For the price, you get the ability to monitor and talk to visitors to your front door as well as connect to a new community.
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