Ring Video Doorbell 2 Vs 1 Quality Review
Ring's latest smart doorbell, the Video Doorbell Pro two ($249.99), offers a few features yous won't find on the company's other models, including 3D motion detection and a Bird's Eye View that gives you an aerial flick of move events. Information technology also delivers very abrupt video and accurate motion detection, and it works with Amazon Alexa voice commands and enough of third-party smart abode devices. That said, information technology'south also one of Ring'southward priciest models at $250, and you have to subscribe to a Ring Protect plan in lodge to access certain features and view recorded video. It's a solid choice if you ain other Band devices and want a doorbell with all of the virtually advanced features, though the $99.99 Ezviz DB1C is an fantabulous alternative (and our Editors' Choice award winner) for far less money.
Ring Pro two Design, Features, and Pricing
The Video Doorbell Pro 2 shares a similar design to its predecessor, the Video Doorbell Pro, which nosotros reviewed back in 2018. Information technology measures 4.four by i.nine by 0.8 inches (HWD) and has a Satin Nickel cover and a glossy black camera face. The face up as well holds a microphone, an ambient light sensor, and a doorbell push bordered by an LED ring that glows blue when the button is pressed. A minor speaker is located on the bottom border.
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Effectually back are two wiring terminals, and under the removable faceplate are a reset button and a QR code for use with the initial setup. The Pro 2 uses dual-band Wi-Fi to connect to your home network and requires a standard 16-24 volt Ac power transformer. Included in the box are the doorbell, a Torx screwdriver for securing the faceplate, mounting screws, an angled wedge adapter, a power cablevision adapter, a user guide, and a quick start guide.
The camera captures 1536p HDR video and has a 150-degree horizontal and a 150-degree vertical field of view. This gives information technology a 1:1 aspect ratio that allows y'all to view a head-to-toe prototype of whomever is at your door. The photographic camera supports color dark vision and Pre-Roll video that lets y'all view what took place just before the motion sensor was triggered.
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The Pro two also offers Ring's new 3D Motion Detection and Birds' Eye View radar technology, which piece of work together to provide more accurate motion detection while letting you see where visitors to your abode have traveled while on your holding. Bird's Eye motion events prove up as dots on an aeriform map that prove the path taken by the visitor. Yellow dots represent the current path of the visitor and will gradually become redder and more transparent before disappearing after a few seconds.
The Video Doorbell Pro ii works with other Ring doorbell and security cameras, the Ring Alarm security system, and Ring lighting devices. In addition, it uses IFTTT applets to interact with third-party smart devices such as low-cal bulbs, plugs, and locks. It doesn't piece of work with Apple HomeKit or Google Assistant, just it does integrate nicely with the Amazon Alexa platform and supports Alexa Greetings that allow Alexa to answer the door for you with a preprogrammed message. Y'all can also view video streams on an Amazon Echo Prove smart display.
As with every other Ring doorbell, the Pro ii requires a Band Protect subscription in gild to view recorded video and to have reward of features such as People Only Mode, Rich Notifications, and Advanced Pre-Scroll, which gives you a six-second colour video of events, with audio, that occur before a motion trigger (regular Pre-Curlicue gives you 4 seconds of blackness-and-white video with no audio). You lot likewise need a subscription to apply Alexa Greetings.
The Bones Program gives y'all 60 days of rolling storage for one camera and goes for $3 per month or $thirty per year. The Plus Plan costs $x per calendar month or $100 per year and provides 60 days of storage for all of your Ring cameras.
The Pro 2 uses the same mobile app (for Android and iOS) every bit all other Band devices. Information technology appears in its own panel on the dashboard screen, forth with panels for all of your installed Ring products. At the pinnacle of the dashboard are Disarmed, Home, and Away buttons, and below those are buttons that will take you to the Neighbors screen where you lot can view events from the Ring community, and to the History screen that displays a list of motion events and video clips of each issue. Y'all can add together buttons for other supported devices including garage door openers, Ring lights, and the Ring Alarm system.
Tap the doorbell panel to view a live stream with buttons for two-way talk, speaker muting, and total-screen viewing. Beneath the video panel is an event timeline you can curlicue through to find an event that occurred at a specific time of mean solar day. To access the doorbell's settings screen, tap the gear icon in the upper right corner. Here you can enable/disable Ring Alerts, Motion Alerts, and Motion Detection, and change Way settings (Disarmed, Home, Abroad). You can also link the doorbell to other installed Ring devices to have cameras begin recording or have lights turn on when movement is detected.
Other options include Motion Settings that permit yous adjust sensitivity levels, configure 3D Movement range and Bird'southward Middle View settings, and enable People Just Way. Device Settings is where you can configure Video, Notification, and Privacy options. There's likewise a button for configuring Smart Responses, where you tin enable Alexa Greetings to have Alexa do things like provide directions for deliveries or have a bulletin. You can likewise have the doorbell use Ring Quick Replies to deliver greetings and have messages.
A Bumpy Installation
Physically installing the Video Doorbell Pro 2 was relatively easy, merely pairing it with the app was problematic in our tests. This is a wired doorbell, so if you're not comfy working with low-voltage (doorbell) wiring, you might want to accept someone practise it for you.
I already had the Band app installed on my telephone, but if this is your first Band device you'll take to download the app and create an account. You can view an installation tutorial in the app or simply get ahead and get started.
I began by shutting off the breaker excursion that supplies power to my doorbell wiring and proceeded to remove my old doorbell. I removed the cover from the Pro 2, connected the two wires to the terminal, attached the base to the siding of my house, and powered upwards the circuit. I opened the app, tapped the iii-bar icon in the upper left corner, tapped Set up Up a Device, and selected Doorbells. Following the on-screen instructions, I used my phone'southward photographic camera to scan the QR code on the doorbell and information technology was immediately recognized. I gave it a proper name and confirmed that it was physically installed and that the LED was spinning, simply the app was unable to connect to the doorbell.
At this point the app became stuck in a loop that always brought me back to the setup screen. I tried uninstalling the app and resetting the doorbell, but each fourth dimension I did the results were the same. I finally called tech support, and after a series of hardware and account verification resets I was able to consummate the install, but it had to exist washed manually without scanning the QR code.
Using the Video Doorbell Pro 2
In one case installed, the Video Doorbell Pro 2 worked as intended. The photographic camera delivers razor-abrupt day and night video, although colour night vision isn't nearly as vibrant every bit daytime colour. Motion detection is very accurate, with no false alerts when set up to People Merely Mode, and the Bird's Center View characteristic works as advertised, showing the path of visitors to my doorstep. 2-manner audio is loud and clear equally well.
The Alexa Greeting feature works reasonably well, but when yous answer the door in person you lot have to tell Alexa to end in society to interrupt the greeting. Finally, the doorbell responded instantly to my Alexa phonation commands to display video on an Amazon Repeat Bear witness.
The Nigh Advanced Ring
Every bit with any smart doorbell, the Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2 will let you meet who is at your doorstep and answer visitors without having to open up the door, simply information technology's the just model that offers an aerial view of where visitors take traveled while on your belongings. The 1536p camera delivered very sharp video in testing with spot-on motion detection, and the doorbell worked well with Alexa voice commands and Alexa Greetings. We had some trouble pairing the device to the app, only your mileage may vary. If you want the latest in smart doorbell engineering science, the Video Doorbell Pro two is an fantabulous choice.
That said, yous can save a considerable amount with the $99.99 Ezviz DB1C, which also delivers loftier-resolution (1526p) video and a wide vertical viewing angle, besides as intelligent alerts, local and deject video storage, and support for Alexa, Google Banana, and IFTTT. And for the same price, you can go wireless with standard the Ring Video Doorbell, which is much easier to install, but doesn't offer many of the advanced features (such as Pre-Roll recording or even dual-band Wi-Fi) that y'all get with the Pro 2.
Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2
Cons
The Bottom Line
Ring's $250 Video Doorbell Pro ii offers lots of bells and whistles including highly detailed video, 3D motion detection, and a unique aerial view of motion activity.
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Source: https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/ring-video-doorbell-pro-2