Ring - Wired Doorbell Plus (2nd Gen)Retinal 2K for crisp, true-to-life video, Motion Detection, Low-Light Sight - Silver

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• Rated 4 out of 5 stars

  New Adventure with the Newest Ring Video Doorbell

  • Incentivized
  • Verified Purchaser
  • Owned for 1 week

  We added this additional Ring video doorbell to our back door which complements our front one. We thought this version might still be able ring our mechanical chime inside but Ring’s technology has moved past this feature. We fully expect it to perform as well as our current device and would have given it 5 stars if it still worked our indoor chimes.

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  George Posted 1 month ago

• Rated 4 out of 5 stars

  Good hardware, software still needs refinement

  • Tech Insider Network Member
  • Top 25 Contributor

  Great Fast response Quickly adjusts IR to prevent blowout Simple install Can describe events AI descriptions allow to search for specific events Loud microphone Very clear speech if there is not noise pollution No ghosting even when poorly lit Includes a wedge in the box Simple install Doorbell rings can now be like phone calls Doesn’t have the cooldown time between events like previous models Not so great Birds eye view not working Doorbell screw locations changed from previous generations Audio muffled with certain background noises Chime mini sounds distorted AI event description delays previews Announcements on Echo devices inconsistent Viewing angle reduced from 150 to 140 degrees Limited functionality without a subscription Fully dependent on internet No local storage or AI capability No Alexa Greetings capability Installation mounting position is different than previous generations The design is more rounded than previous generations. Ring has also redesigned the IR ring. Instead of a ring that appears to be a single light, the new version you can see distinct LED strips arrange to be somewhat circular. This latest doorbell no longer works with existing hardwired chimes. Instead, it includes a Chime Mini in the box. Consistent with their product lineup, the Wired Doorbell Plus has no local storage and AI processing is done via the cloud. Functionality is limited without a paid subscription. While it can answer with certain predefined responses, Alexa Greetings capability is limited to the Pro doorbell Installation 7/10 Installation is easy if you are mechanically inclined. It is very similar to previous generations of Ring doorbells. Strangely, like the past 3 Ring doorbells our family has had the mounting screw locations have been moved again. After years of owning ring doorbells our brick now has multiple holes drilled in it. It would be nice if Ring standardized the mounting holes between doorbell design changes. The most significant difference is when you install the Chime Mini you bypass your existing doorbell chime. It has double sided tape so you can stick it inside your existing chime to take its place. It sounds horrible and distorted but does offer one benefit. The doorbell no longer uses just phantom power from your chime which creates limitations in performance. Instead, the doorbell gets full power at all times. Video 8/10 The latest version of the doorbell does have some better specs, but some have been downgraded. The resolution has been increased to 2K but the viewing angle has been reduced from 150 in previous generations to 140 degrees. It is not very noticeable but it is unusual to see a previous version having better specifications. Video quality has been improved where faces are sharper. There are signs of compression but Ring has done a respectable job minimizing the effects. With it fully hardwired it means preroll is full quality and the entire video is clear with no ghosting. No more viewing blurry or pixelated preroll. However, dynamic range seems to have decreased. Faces during the daytime are often dark and not very clear even if there is a modest amount of daylight in the area. Night vision is the opposite. Ring really seems to have improved IR exposure. Faces typically blown out by IR up close are not an issue. Even if their face starts out overexposed the camera quickly adjusts. Audio 7/10 The speaker on the doorbell is certainly loud enough. In fact, on full volume your neighbors across the street could easily hear talking. However, understanding is a whole different story. When listening through the app and there is any noise such as traffic, speech sounds blown out. It is like the microphone sensitivity is turned up too high. However, during normal sounds of nature it does a much better job of picking up speech clearly. In fact, during this scenario the audio quality is possibly the best Ring has ever done and conversations feel more natural. Performance 8/10 With the fully hardwired setup, response time is greatly improved. No more waiting for the camera to wake from low power mode. Events are quickly announced on any Amazon Echos you have around your house. However, every once in a while, it seemed to stop announcing and showing events. After the doorbell had been installed for a few days it seems to have improved. With updates being automatic it could be that this improved after an overnight update. What will slow things down consistently is turning on AI recognition. When the AI recognition is turned on there is a long delay from when an event happens and when it shows up on the timeline for viewing. App Notifications and Answering 5/10 It seems like Ring is trying out some new features that haven’t been fully optimized yet. Notifications are usually pretty fast to Echo devices in the house and only delayed by a second or two, but the app is less consistent. Initially it seemed to be due to a new feature where you can receive a call when someone rings the doorbell. When our family tried to use it the phone and app would ring and when you answered it would just spin. We turned that feature off thinking it would help, but currently the phone only rings half of the time when someone presses the button. This is when using the latest app on an iPhone 17 Pro Max with the app set to allow critical alerts. Two different phones had the same experience. When the app did notify of a doorbell press, answering was much quicker than previous Ring doorbells. Final Thoughts The Wired Doorbell Plus is a solid product from a hardware perspective disregarding the Chime Mini. However, the software feels like Ring needs time to optimize. For those of you who have had Ring products in the past, this should not be a surprise. If their track record continues, this doorbell will likely improve over time and maybe add a new feature or two. For those unsure, you may want to wait a little bit for Ring to iron things out a bit. For those familiar with the way Ring handles new products and are confident the software will continue to improve, this new fully hardwired version eliminates the compromises of the previous generations.

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  CraigB Posted 4 months ago

• Rated 5 out of 5 stars

  This is security

  • Tech Insider Network Member
  • Top 25 Contributor

  I recently had a bad experience with a different doorbell camera and now that I have had this one, I feel even more justified in the review I left for the other one. Since I have had various brands of doorbells over the years, this one has truly impressed me. So, let me get the few things I don’t like out of the way and then I’ll get into everything I enjoyed. One thing I don’t like about some security cameras is being forced into a subscription to be able to record video. Though, this one is like that, you can buy the Ring Alarm Pro base station and record to Micro-SD. However, many features still require a subscription. The other thing I did not like is the plastic angle piece for installation feels very flimsy. I feel like it could easily be ripped off my door frame. The main bracket is metal, but due to the position of my door, the angle is needed, so it now has the plastic behind it. Now, out of all the doorbell cameras I have had, this is the first one that did not need some external power source for the chime. I never did understand why I needed to provide an external USB charger for some of them, or have a whole device of its own plugged in. This one just connects right up to the wires inside my old box and is stuck to the wall. Just like the 2 wires used to connect the camera on the outside. Detection on this thing has been immaculate. I turned motion detection on to see if there is anything I might miss. Apparently I have various animals now visiting my front door. I don’t know if they have been doing that before and I just never caught it on camera or what. Because the viewing angle on this thing is huge, as I can see my whole door, or now that the door bell replies “You are being recorded” when it detects motion and the animals think someone is talking to them. Either way, I find it interesting that I can see so much at the same time and it detects it all. This includes package detection as I get recording of it being delivered and when I removed it. One thing I like about wired cameras is being able to record early and often. Some wired doorbell cameras still only recorded the moment they detected motion. This one seems to be recording all the time but only saving seconds before the motion/person/package are detected so you can see everything up to the actual event. When there isn’t anything detected, you get a snapshot every 1 minute, so you can see a timelapse of the day. When viewing live, I was surprised there was no record or snapshot feature. Come to find out, it records it automatically when you go live, so you can go back through it with other moments and grab what you need from there. Ring is also known for their neighborhood features. Like their own social posts for others to share incidents around your neighborhood, but they also have a built-in search party option that can help find lost pets and “Amazon Sidewalk” that allows other devices to share the network connection through your device. Personally, I find that a bit invasive and have disabled them myself, but they claim they are secure and it does help the community with trackers and such. Of course Ring is by Amazon, so you can easily connect this to your Amazon account and have it ring on other Alexa devices. If you have other Ring cameras, it can even send notifications through the cameras, in case you are out back when the doorbell is pressed for instance. You can also view your devices through their website and enable notifications with your browser, so they even show up on your computer. I could go on about every single little thing I like about this camera over the ones I had previously, but I feel I have rambled enough. Overall, this Ring wired doorbell camera has a huge field of view, crystal clear image, amazing detection and a load of other features. With the simple install and not needing an additional power source, it already impressed me before I really started using it.

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  DavidJr Posted 4 months ago