Budget smart home manufacturer Ring hasn’t been feeling so budget lately with the likes of Wyze unleashing one ultra-cheap (and consistently impressive) smart gadget after another. But with its latest video doorbell, Amazon-owned Ring might lure some bargain-hunting smart home shoppers who have otherwise been going the Wyze way.
The new Video Doorbell Wired marks Ring’s smallest doorbell yet, and at $60, it’s also the least expensive—not as inexpensive as the $30 Wyze Video Doorbell, mind you, but it’s a start. (Our review of the Wyze product is in the works.)
Slated to ship on February 24, the Ring Video Doorbell Wired is a good $40 cheaper than Ring’s least expensive doorbell, the battery-powered $100 Ring Video Doorbell. It’s also much less pricey than Ring’s two existing wired doorbells, the $250 Video Doorbell Pro and the $350 Video Doorbell Elite.
Designed for use with existing low-voltage doorbell wiring, the slimmed-down Video Doorbell Wired offers 1080p video resolution, night vision, and two-way audio with noise cancellation. The doorbell has an IP65 certification for resistance to dust ingress and jets of water sprayed from any angle. (You can read more about IP codes in this story.)
Ring
Ring’s $60 Video Doorbell Wired delivers 1080p video resolution, night vision, “advanced” motion detection, and customizable motion zones.
Customizable motion zones let users decide which areas of the camera’s field of view (155 degrees horizontal, 90 degrees vertical) will trigger a motion alert, while “privacy zones” block out areas of the frame that you don’t want the camera to record. The Ring Video Doorbell Wired’s Advanced Motion Detection feature starts recording as soon as the doorbell detects nearby motion.
For more advanced doorbell features, you’ll need to pony up for a Ring Protect Plan subscription, which offers a 60-day video history for one camera for $3 a month, or the same 60-day history for all your connected cameras, plus 24/7 professional monitoring of a connected Ring Alarm system for $10 a month.
Among the advanced features Ring Protect unlocks are a People Only mode, which is Ring’s version of people detection; Pre-Roll, a six-second color preview of activity on your doorstep in the moments before a motion event was triggered; and Rich Notifications, which attach photo previews to mobile alerts.
Naturally, the Video Doorbell Wired works with Alexa, allowing you to ask Alexa to see a live feed of your front door or speak with a visitor on your doorstep.
We’ll have a full review of the Ring Video Doorbell Wired once we get our hands on a review unit.