Ring’s new Battery Video Doorbell Pro brings most of the Pro wired features to a battery powered doorbell for the first time.
It brings their new Audio+ for enhanced sounds and voice and removal of wind noise, low-light sight with colour night vision, colour pre-roll and 3D Motion Detection and Bird’s Eye View.
Of course, the doorbell comes with a battery, an angled mount and all the screws required to mount said doorbell and mount to the wall and a Ring sticker to deter would-be robbers.
What’s new?
- 1536p (2K) resolution
- 3D motion detection
- Bird’s eye view
Installation and setup
The installation of the new Ring Battery Video Doorbell Pro onto the wall of your doorway etc is made easy by step-by-step instructions within the app and the inclusion of all the screws required – there are multiple types to use whatever the surface you are screwing it into.
There is also an angled mount so that you can angle the doorbell camera towards the centre of your walkway better. I didn’t need it but I can see where it could come in handy.
Ring has been at this for a while, so it is no surprise that their app setup is extremely “follow the bouncing ball” easy. Just perform each of the steps as the app gives them to you.
The sheer number of settings available for the camera can be a bit daunting but if you try and set them all up when you initially set up the doorbell it will be a hell of a lot easier.
If you are worried about someone stealing the battery out of the doorbell you need not be because the battery cover is screwed in using a special star screwdriver (included in box).
The screwdriver is also thus required to open the cover to take the battery out to charge it so if you don’t have a set of all sorts of sockets and screwdrivers make sure you don’t lose this one.
Regarding charging Ring is still stuck in 2010 and will only charge the battery using the microUSB port in the battery so charging is not very quick. If you need the doorbell functional at all times, I would purchase a spare battery (~$50) when you buy the camera.
Features
In the past Ring has gimped their battery-powered video doorbells because of the hit to the battery life that some of the features give.
This time Ring has included 3D motion detection, Bird’s-eye view/zones and has upped the resolution to 1536p (2K) while still including all the usual features such as rich and smart notifications, motion zones and so much more.
Ring tell us that the Bird’s Eye Zones help with motion detection accuracy by giving you an aerial map view of where the motion was detected and the path it took to get to your door. Personally, I’m not convinced this is all that useful because I can see approximately where the motion is coming from anyway. I just found that the birds eye satellite images of my area in Melbourne were incredibly pixelated without much (if any) usable detail.
I do leave the Bird’s Eye View on though just in case there is a time where I might need it – but that has yet to occur.
Ring state that:
Powered by radar, the 3D Motion Detection feature detects movement on your property more accurately and works with Bird’s Eye View to give you an aerial map view of your home, showing when visitors arrived and where they went.
The Bird’s Eye Zones feature lets you set specific areas for your motion detection, so you can make sure you’re only getting alerts from around your home, not from the footpath outside or a neighbour’s driveway.
3D motion detection sounds amazing and works in conjunction with Bird’s Eye View giving you an effective 3-dimensional view of the motion detected. Not convinced of this either but the doorbell is a pro version so we expect all the features on it anyway.
One feature that is missing is the Motion Warning where the doorbell, when it detects motion, will sound a warning to the person it has detected, telling them they are being recorded. I like that deterrent feature on my Ring Doorbell Elite so it is disappointing it is not included but I dare say it is because it is battery powered.
I like the parcel detected smart notification although the doorbell did pick up my doormat, thinking it was a parcel – you can adjust the zone for this parcel detection so that it won’t detect the mat so that was a simple fix but something to keep in mind while setting up the doorbell. The video doorbell will detect a parcel in the delivery person’s arms, as well as on the ground.
Is the upgraded 2K video good enough?
As mentioned above the new 2K resolution of the Battery Video Doorbell Pro is fantastic. While it’s still not the 4K that some may offer, in my opinion, 2K is easily enough. I don’t need to be able to zoom in that much.
I compared it to the 1080P resolution of my Video Doorbell Elite – which is getting a bit old in the tooth now (come on Ring, I’m ready to lay down more money for an upgrade!) – and the resolution makes a huge difference. (If Ring end up upgrading the rest of their cameras to 2K – which is well overdue – I will be up for a lot of money to upgrade so bit by bit please Ring.)
Up close the video and stills were much clearer as you would expect but do you really need that extra resolution? Maybe to get an extra clear view of a person’s face? While 1080P can show a pretty damn good face profile, 2K is even better.
But in the end it is about more than just the resolution. My main issue with the doorbell came with the bright background behind whoever is ringing the doorbell, causing the background to be bright and the fireground — the person — to be darker. It should be able to adjust to this better than what it does do keep that in mind when considering the placement of your video doorbell.
My favourite thing with the Ring cameras is the entire ecosystem. I pay for the Ring Protect Plus, with well over 10 cameras around and in my house the price is well worth it and it is super simple to set them to do various things whether I’m home, not or somewhere in between (overnight).
The ease of viewing images and videos online either via the app or the web interface from any PC or phone anywhere in the World is great. I’m sure a lot of people though would prefer to not have the associated ongoing costs of the Ring Protect Plus or Basic but unfortunately there is no way to store videos locally on device or on a server.
I’m sure this is deliberate by Ring but how many people actually have the knowledge or time to set up a local server themselves so you would think including local storage wouldn’t cannibalise their subscriptions that much.
Who buys the Ring Battery Video Doorbell Pro?
The Ring Battery Video Doorbell Pro is a nice upgrade over its predecessor with improved video and audio (thanks to Audio+) and although I feel that some of the features are gimmicky for me at least, others may not feel the same.
The resolution of Birds Eye view is not good at all and just gives a general overview of the path the “intruder” took. In the end the battery survived well these upgrades but it still misses some automated features wired versions of their security products include.
A big plus is the removeable, rechargeable battery but I’d get yourself a second battery or wired the doorbell in so you have coverage 24/7.
I was a bit disappointed with some of the video during the day when the background was bright, making the foreground (and the intruder) to dark to disscern any features.
In the end it is the same old design and I actually like it — how many different ways can you design a doorbell anyway? If you are looking for a near-fully featured video doorbell then this is one you should consider but at the same time you need to take into account the lack of local storage and the fact you will need to pay for a subscription to get video playback. If you already have Ring cameras and a subscription, then this is no barrier to ownership.
The Ring Battery Video Doorbell Pro is not cheap, but no quality smart security device is. It is available now at Ring.com, Bunnings and most tech stores for $349.
