Conclusion

 

Having the Ring outside your door is an attention grabber. Friends immediately commented about it when they first saw it. While other visitors now know they are under surveillance; the salesman from Optimum doesn’t stand a chance of me opening the door to hear his pitch with the Ring in play.

If I were implementing a Connected Home system from scratch then the Ring Video Doorbell would be one of my first additions. Installation is fairly simple by following the video guide within the app. I did not hardwire the Ring, which probably is more technically challenging, but it does not seem much more complicated from what I researched.

Once installed the setup takes less than five minutes and then the Ring is ready to for use. The beauty of the Ring besides the video and motion detection is the appearance of being home even when not physically available, which can help deter most would be burglars.

For the first 30 days, Ring offers a trial of the Cloud Recording, afterwards it costs $3 per month or $30 for the year, which is rather affordable for a cloud subscription and seems well worth the investment. Adding this plus the initial $200 for the Ring itself and possibly an additional purchase of the Chime for $30 makes it an expensive investment, but for those who are security conscious the piece of mind is worth it.

Pros:
+Relatively simple setup (non hard-wired)
+Compatible with wired, mechanical doorbell chimes.
+Proprietary screws for secure mounting.
+Weatherproof for rain, sleet, snow or heat
+Compatible with iOS and Android devices
+Rechargeable lithium battery designed to last 6-12 months on a charge

Cons:
-Require subscription for video recording
-No customizable ring tones
-Fishbowl video
-Requires additional chime for inside ring
-Expensive

 

  

Grading	Scores Out of 10
Overall
Design / Aesthetic
Value / Price
Performance / Usage

 

 

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