Ring Video Doorbell Wired – Convenient, essential features in a compact design, pair with Ring Chime to hear audio alerts in your home (existing doorbell wiring required) – 2021 release

This is my review for:

ring video doorbell wired

i tried to keep my review short but there was a lot of information here so i added headers for easier reading.

Background:

when the first ring doorbell came out, i really wanted one, but it was a bit too expensive for my taste, so i went with a cheap knock-off. I have been using that knock-off since then and i hate it. The image quality wasn’t awful, but it had a lot of bugs and it didn’t play well with “alexa”. I kept automating my home adding echo’s, lights, switches, cameras, you name it and every time i circled back to the doorbell i would think: “i already have a video doorbell and the ring doorbell is still pricey; maybe i should buy some other automation toys”. Well, this new ring came out, and it was less than 100$ thus i said, let’s try it…

Appearance:

dimensions wise, this one is pretty small (5.1”x2.4”x 1.1”). The button is very noticeably a button; to me this is important as with my old knock off doorbell, people would constantly push the camera lenses thinking that they rang the doorbell.

Differences between this ring doorbell and previous versions:

i did some internet research prior to deciding for it, and i could only find a few things: (1) it supports only 2.4 ghz networks instead of being dual band, (2) it only works as a fully wired setup (3) it has a single faceplate and (4)it is way cheaper than previous models.

To me, it wasn’t a big deal the doorbell not being dual band, i planned on using the 2.4 ghz band anyway as i have been with my knockoff brand doorbell. There are several obstructions along the way (two thick walls and some furniture between the door and my repeater, and my router is in the basement), and the 2.4 ghz network is usually better for that albeit a bit slower.
This doorbell requires to have an existing wired doorbell setup, unlike previous iterations that you could have fully battery powered doorbell. Yet the setup is only needed for power. You will be bypassing the existing doorbell chime, thus, you will either need to purchase the model that include the ring chime (+20$), purchase a separate ring chime (30-50$) or use a compatible alexa device as the speaker(s). I am using a few of my echoes and i like the setup a whole bunch.
The ring video doorbell has a single face plate (black) vs 4 different color ones for the pro. I did search online for other faceplates and i found a pearl white one going for about 15$ but i am sticking with the black one.
The newer model is about 70% cheaper. About 60$ vs the 200$ msrp for the pro.
Issues so far:

i haven’t had a lot of issues, but i already had one. I had some connectivity issues right of the bat. The fact that this doorbell bypasses the hardwired chime exacerbates this. No connectivity means no doorbell whether you have power or not. A few resets, i moved my repeater closer and it appear the problem was corrected. However, i point it out because when compared to my old 2.4 ghz knock-off video doorbell, i never had an issue. I am considering this as a one off but i will update my review if this issue persists.

Bottom line

what i liked:

compatibility with alexa. When amazon acquired ring a while back, i just knew that integration with echo devices would probably only improve but even knowing that, i was impressed. You can define specific devices you want them to work with. It allows for tons of customization including ringtones.
I currently have two echo dots and an echo spot serving as my alerts and this setup works great. The video playback on the echo spot is smooth as silk with minimal lag. I will be linking it up to my new echo show when it gets here, next week. I don’t envision any issues linking it up, but i will update my review if needed.
It features an advanced motion detection system that allows for customizable alert motion zones. It is extremely intuitive to setup. Thumbs up, all the way.
It was very easy to install
it looks elegant yet sleek.
It is cheaper than any previous ring model.

What i dislike so far.

It supports only 2.4 ghz networks. This is not a major negative as 2.4 ghz networks usually allow for a better range, especially if there are obstructions along the way. Still, it is worth mentioning.
I have a hardwired doorbell chime that is useless now. If my wifi fails at any point, my doorbell is dead in the water.
I already had connectivity issues. They might have been a one off so i am not necessarily overreacting to them but i will update my review if needed.
The first two negatives were design choices that allowed lowering the price point and they were something i knew coming in. However, they are still significant enough that i called them out.

Overall, for the price, this is actually a very good device. If you already have a ring doorbell, this item is not for you. If you don’t, and you are ok with a fully wifi driven, hard wired power doorbell camera, i strongly recommend it.

So i had the older satin nickel ring doorbell. That things was a piece of crap. I got it, charged it and once i hooked it up within 6 weeks the charge got down to 13%. Who wants to take this down every time and charge it? Plus it takes over 24 hours to charge. I called ring customer service and they told me the doorbell receives a ‘ trickle charge’. Well i never got a trickle charge. The doorbell just continued to lose battery so i got rid of it and got this one. Best thing i ever did! Once i watched the youtube video on how to install this , it tooks minutes to hook up and i havent had a issue since and it been over a month. Video is clear, i hear the voices well and i haven’t had a charge/electric issues.

Love my ring door camera , esp. At work , ‘ someone’s at your door ‘ ( caution : don’t buy this if you want to bring your girlfriend home while wife is out ) great for keeping an eye out for mail thieves & porch pirates. Went thru hurricane ida , for 2 days blowing , pouring rain here in fl. , no problem for ring . Hurricane approved ! Great price , i plan on using the $3.00/mth basic plan for recordings & alerts , free replacement if stolen . Will buy more for rear of house & garage

I’ve been a ring customer since it’s inception several years ago, now owning a variety of cameras, lights, and alarms. I had been hanging on to two 1st generation doorbells because they did their job and had never let me down. I decided to replace one simply for a more streamline look. For such a low cost i can’t believe how much better the motion detection is and most of all how much better the night vision is. Very satisfied customer.

I have zero experience or knowledge with anything electrical, and this was super easy to install! A great addition to our home. Being able to set up where i wanted the motion detection to be was great so it doesn’t go off every time a car drives by. Setting it up to connect to my alexa was relatively easy, and the cute holiday chimes are great!! My family members found the process of connecting their account to the doorbell to be super easy.

The doorbell cam gives a clear picture and detects all motion. You can edit how much you want to detect but this control could be improved . I pick up every car that gos by my house and it saved the motion as an event , every time , even with reduced detection . I’m not a fan of paying a subscription but it does keep a thorough record of motion. If you have to review the times youll be busy for awhile , unless you know the time of the event you need. I think this could be improved to isolate what kind of motion was detected. But overall an excellent product .

I love this ring doorbell. I know somebody’s coming to the door before they ever get there. It’s also nice when you’re away from home to see that you had something delivered. Nice security feature. Price is right. And it only cost me $80 to have an electrician install it for me.

I recently moved in with a relative as the primary care giver. This gives me peace of mind of knowing who might be visiting (home health care workers) or if an expected package is delivered if i am not at home. Good investment.

All i needed was decent doorbell with video alerts and chime loud enough for everyone in my two-story, four bedroom house to hear. This device also delivers the ability to remotely communicate with the person ringing the doorbell which is an added bonus. The installation was very easy. Since i am not an electrician, i did turn off the master breaker which cut down the electricity for the whole house which was also in the instructions set. I am satisfied with my purchase – 5 stars.

I bought this to replace my 1st gen ring doorbell which still worked fine but was always slow to connect and had grainy night vision. This is a vast improvement with faster response, better image quality, and much clearer night vision.

Like that it’s relatively inexpensive

dislike that despite being only 24 feet from my spectrum supplied wifi wireless router, it often seems to have trouble connecting. Even thought it was replacing one that died, (after about 4 years), it took several hours with their help desk folks to get it working. It was not easy to replace an old one with another new one. I think it was easier to set up the very first one the first time.

It’s response time renders it useless for seeing and talking to visitors and delivery people unless you have it set to automatically interrupt you with video every time someone shows up. When it only alerts you, it takes so long to get an alert that often they are long gone before you can even activate the live view. I often leave my house and get a block and a half away from my house before i get the alert. Sure you can wait a few minutes and see who was there in the history, but by then it’s too late to talk to them or say something like get away from my car, or i’ll call the police.

It’s camera is much much wider angle view than my previous one, (i should have checked that out before buying), and i can’t read a license plate from 10 feet away. With the previous one i could. This one is only good for identifying people i know and can already recognize easily. Rather useless for showing the police a picture of who is breaking into my care 15 feet away, even if they look at the camera.

Even so, at that price i think i’m getting what i paid for.

Simple to install and the step by step instructions are great. But for some reason even after following the instructions the indoor chime doesn’t work. Went back and triple checked everything and still nothing. We have an alexa show in our kitchen and that one notifies us. Every once in a while it’ll lose signal but it’s rare.

I had another ring doorbell pro that would not connect to network, this one found it and connected right away. It is a little too sensitive to motion and will pick up the motion of the flag mounted nearby and start recording. Camera quality is good provides a clean picture. It connects to the alexia and displays the live picture on the screen when activated you can communicate to the people out front through it also.

The ring works well but installing it may be a problem because at least for the nutone unit that i have as a doorbell device it uses dc current coming from a central nutone unit in the house that has a combination radio, intercom and doorbell. The ring device needs up to 20 volts ac power source. My installer was able to connect the wire that goes to the front door to an ac source within the new nutone unit, but i doubt that most do it yourself home installers would be able to solve the same problem as my installer did.

Easy to set up. Works fine. Center of picture is clear and focused. Edges of the picture are blurry.

Slightly disappointed that the picture quality is not as good as that of the ‘pro’ version. But then, this doorbell is about $100 less, too.

Even with a strong wifi signal (-42 dbm), the delivery person is 25 ft and walking away when the app alerts that someone is at the door. However, the camera captures video of the person coming and going.

Very important
before buying this (or any other wifi camera), use an app like apple’s airport utility to verify that the location where you plan into install the device has a strong wifi signal. Don’t rely on the number of ‘bars’.

The reason why you want a strong signal is that the heavy lifting is done in the cloud by ring’s ai product. For example, while motion is detected by the device, analysis of that motion is done in the cloud: person, vehicle, small animal, wind, etc. This in turn affects how quickly you get your notifications. Nearly all of the cameras within ring’s price ranges follow this division of processing scheme. (google nest camera performs video analysis on the device resulting in faster recordings and quicker notifications but the trade-off is higher battery drain.)

other systems in use
i use both a wired, non-ring system (blue iris) and ring cameras on my properties. The wired systems record locally to an nvr and are not internet connected. The ring cameras are a backup in the event that the nvr goes missing.

As for the paid subscription, the price of $100 per year for each property is acceptable. It is less than the total cost of ownership of my wired system: hardware, software, electrical power.

I’ve used other wifi cams but, without a paid subscription, every motion triggered an alert (cats, rabbits, blowing debris). And their apps were slow and not very intuitive.

I love the ring pro doorbell at my front door. Really have nothing negative to say about it. Also have 3 ring cam’s to complement my home security system. I decided my side door should have a ring doorbell too, but didn’t wanna spend another $190+. Enter the plain old ring doorbell wired for $65 bucks. My expectations were not high, but were exceeded. Install was very easy. Already did the ring pro at front door so everything was setup jumper-wise and app-wise. Easy peasy.

Once installed i expected poor response and poor video quality. Wrong on both counts. Yes my ring pro is better and has more features like night color, but honestly not worth the price diff. At least not for me.

Almost everything about this doorbell is better than my prior skybell. The app is better. It has a faster response time. The window of recording is better. The motion detection is better. The one thing that isn’t as good is that the physical doorbell chime in the house does not work with this doorbell.

Would be perfect if it had a fish eye lens. As it is, we can’t see someone’s face if they are right at the doorbell. You get a view of their torso unless they step back. Otherwise it works really well and was not too hard to install.

The camera is good during the day, nighttime, not so much. I would recommend for the price, if it weren’t for the speaker. It’s terrible. Can only hear every other word from outside, and they can’t hear me at all.

Update: ring promptly contacted me regarding the issue. Worked with tech support, then was sent a new ring. Works much better.

Good: high resolution videos. The chime also works fine.
Not so good: both doorbell and chime went through a lot of software updates before they were ready. Just walk away while this is happening. Finish the setup after the updates are done.