RING DOORBELL

[mrsboz]

I’m going to buy a ring doorbell but which one?

We do not need the subscription service. we would like one where it does save the recordings for a bit. Does anyone know which one to get and where I can get the best price?

Thank you.

 

[OrangeBirdGirl]

Our Ring is a few years old and the only way to save the recordings is to buy the subscription service, which isn't much like $30/yr. My parents just got the Blink setup and some other device where they install a small memory card into it and they do not have to pay for a subscription as it saves recording onto their memory card.

 

[mrsboz]

Thank you. I was unaware that the subscription service is only $40/year.

Aren’t there many different kinds of Ring? Does anyone know the difference of any of them?

Do you know where they are on sale?

Thank you.

 

[hsmamato2]

Usually on sale around black friday, but keep checking for deals.... you need the sub service to watch any saved videos...it's 40 a year. (I feel it's a ripoff) But I'm gonna re subscribe b/c it's not much use without it. You can watch outside as it happens, but since it's got a time lag for when it picks up movement and when it turns itself on it's not great without the replay

 

[Grace&Carolinesmom]

We actually invested in an Arlo camera system because we wanted to "see" more than just the straight on view from a doorbell camera. The Arlo cameras have a rechargeable battery which we like as well so there is no hardwiring involved. We mounted a camera on our front porch, another outside our garage looking down the driveway, and another outside our sliding glass doors and back patio. You can subscribe to a monthly service for longer video retention and some other perks but it isn't necessary.

 

[DLgal]

We have a ring peephole camera. I preferred the straight on view out the door to the weird side view of the doorbell cam (our doorbell is perpendicular to our door). I also like the lack of hardwiring required of the peephole version. It's super easy to install.

As mentioned, you need the subscription, but it's super cheap. The quality of recordings is really good. It's like HD. I also like that you can talk through the camera to people outside by using your phone. I can act like I'm home when I'm really not. I have my phone set to send me notifications for all motion near our front door. It's a good way to keep track of kids coming and going as well as package deliveries.

 

[Mle8308]

And don't think you need to buy the most updated Ring doorbell, either. I have the original and it works just fine. As others have mentioned, if you want to keep the video, it was either $3 a month or $30 for the year. That is what I pay, it may have increased slightly. The original is available from Amazon for $59.99, refurbished are even cheaper.

 

[FastPasser.]

Our Smart house was engineered by Amazon, who knew? Because Ring is owned by Amazon it came with a Ring video doorbell unit. It is hard wired. It does more than we need but I guess it's a good unit. I would buy it from Amazon. Amazon, which also owns Alexa, seems to be the leaders in integrated home automation systems.

 

[DisneyHardin]

We have an Arlo system. The camera doorbell is $2.99/month to see the saved videos. Since we already had a regular doorbell, we got the one that is hardwired so our old doorbell chime still rings when the doorbell is pressed as well as getting a notification on my phone.

 

[_19disnA]

Any of the the wireless devices have some sort of battery that will eventually need to be replaced. Some can be difficult to find and/or pricey to replace. The advantage with a hard-wired system is that you don't have to bother with battery replacement. We have an ADT system and replacing the various batteries is quite a procedure and a nuisance if a battery goes bad in the middle of the night. Definitely prefer the wired system if you have a choice when doing an installation.

 

[DLgal]

Any of the the wireless devices have some sort of battery that will eventually need to be replaced. Some can be difficult to find and/or pricey to replace. The advantage with a hard-wired system is that you don't have to bother with battery replacement. We have an ADT system and replacing the various batteries is quite a procedure and a nuisance if a battery goes bad in the middle of the night. Definitely prefer the wired system if you have a choice when doing an installation.

The Ring ones are around $35 and readily available at Target, Best Buy, and Amazon.

 

[EACarlson]

Do you have other Alexa devices? If not I'd go somewhere other than Ring, there are lots of options out there. The biggest appeal of the Ring is that it works seamlessly with Echo Shows. For the same reason I have the Google video doorbell. I have three Google Nest Hubs so when someone rings my doorbell I get video on all three screens.

 

[DLgal]

Do you have other Alexa devices? If not I'd go somewhere other than Ring, there are lots of options out there. The biggest appeal of the Ring is that it works seamlessly with Echo Shows. For the same reason I have the Google video doorbell. I have three Google Nest Hubs so when someone rings my doorbell I get video on all three screens.

I don't have any Alexa devices. It's easy enough to get Ring notifications on your phone in real time. I always have my phone with me.

 

[EACarlson]

I don't have any Alexa devices. It's easy enough to get Ring notifications on your phone in real time. I always have my phone with me.

But if you don't have the Alexa devices that make ease of connection a primary factor, OP may not want to use a company that doesn't give you the video but will keep and give out the video to others without your consent. They also share your wi-fi by default. There are other companies that don't do this, without a big install of Alexa or Google Assistant devices I'd recommend Eufy cameras, that allows you to keep the data encrypted locally and you maintain control of it.

 

[HopperFan]

Our Ring is a few years old and the only way to save the recordings is to buy the subscription service, which isn't much like $30/yr. My parents just got the Blink setup and some other device where they install a small memory card into it and they do not have to pay for a subscription as it saves recording onto their memory card.

Maybe I need to re-check but when I went to renew it was $100. DD bought for us, we didn't want it because we already have a Blink system but ..... The Blink quality is superior especially at night and it's free to save. We are saved to an app and I just go on the phone to delete every couple days. Anything I want to keep I just save it to my phone. We have 4 cameras on our system (2 are for animal watching).

The ring notifies our Alexa when someone pushes the doorbell on it OR I can open the app up and look at live feed. Otherwise it is worthless. I was very disappointed with the quality of the film at night.

 

[hsmamato2]

We got our Ring a couple of years back when it was on some kind of super sale ,otherwise I think I'd get something like Blink or another brand that doesn't require a sub.... honestly I never thought I'd use it but it was almost free to get, and in reality we've used it a few times for some stressful moments and it was useful.

 

[DLgal]

But if you don't have the Alexa devices that make ease of connection a primary factor, OP may not want to use a company that doesn't give you the video but will keep and give out the video to others without your consent. They also share your wi-fi by default. There are other companies that don't do this, without a big install of Alexa or Google Assistant devices I'd recommend Eufy cameras, that allows you to keep the data encrypted locally and you maintain control of it.

I literally don't care who has access to the video of what is outside my front door. It's public space (we don't own our home and it's a condo anyway so there is no expectation of privacy outside in front). And I welcome the police being able to access videos in order to help solve crimes. We already live in a surveillance state. Nothing is truly private. We have nothing to hide.

I would never place cameras INSIDE my home, though.

 

[DLgal]

Maybe I need to re-check but when I went to renew it was $100. DD bought for us, we didn't want it because we already have a Blink system but ..... The Blink quality is superior especially at night and it's free to save. We are saved to an app and I just go on the phone to delete every couple days. Anything I want to keep I just save it to my phone. We have 4 cameras on our system (2 are for animal watching).

The ring notifies our Alexa when someone pushes the doorbell on it OR I can open the app up and look at live feed. Otherwise it is worthless. I was very disappointed with the quality of the film at night.

Have you messed with the settings on the Ring? Our Ring peephole camera has HDR and Infrared Light settings but you have to specifically enable them. It works really well at night. We get crystal clear images at all times of the day. Maybe the Peephole camera is higher quality, I don't know.

 

[OrangeBirdGirl]

Maybe I need to re-check but when I went to renew it was $100. DD bought for us, we didn't want it because we already have a Blink system but ..... The Blink quality is superior especially at night and it's free to save. We are saved to an app and I just go on the phone to delete every couple days. Anything I want to keep I just save it to my phone. We have 4 cameras on our system (2 are for animal watching).

The ring notifies our Alexa when someone pushes the doorbell on it OR I can open the app up and look at live feed. Otherwise it is worthless. I was very disappointed with the quality of the film at night.

My ring just renewed it was $40. Curious on your blink setup though as my parents just got it. So when there is motion or ringing the doorbell it will display on their TV (via Fire Cube integration) as text. However, it doesn't display "motion detected at front door" it displays "motion detected at asdfklasdf-1234234334". Or something random like the S/N of the device. In the app we have the doorbell named as front door. Any idea how to make it display "front door"? Thanks!

 

[tinkerone]

We have a wired Nest doorbell. We can connect it to my Samsung phone and DHs Apple phone so we can see what is happening anywhere we are. We have both an Echo Dot and a Google Nest Hub and we can watch on either of these platforms.
It's very versatile and we find it fits our needs as we like to use different products. It's all about compatibility.