When a cat came strolling around the porch at 2 am, I knew exactly where it went, just in case it left me any presents to clean up later. Ring also sells a $289.99 package with the Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2 and a Ring Chime Pro if your house is like mine and doesn't have a traditional doorbell chime in it, or if you just need to add another chime for other places in your home. If you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a commission. Buy the Ring Alarm (2nd Generation) and the new Geofence option lets you snooze your doorbell as you get home, so you dont get a pointless notification telling you that youve seen yourself arrive home. Whether it's leaving a message for you to listen to later, get instructions for where to deliver packages or something else entirely, it's pretty comforting knowing that someone at the door isn't just standing there wondering if someone is home or not. First, you can set a schedule for when you want notifications (you still get recordings and doorbell presses); and you can temporarily snooze notifications, which is handy if you have workmen going in and out of your home, or youre loading up a car to go on holiday. As with every other Ring doorbell, the Pro 2 requires a Ring Protect subscription in order to view recorded video and to take advantage of features such as People Only Mode, Rich Notifications, and Advanced Pre-Roll, which gives you a six-second color video of events, with sound, that occur before a motion trigger (regular Pre-Roll gives you four seconds of black-and-white video with no audio). The main benefit, aside from more detail, is that you can see a person in full, head to toe. The camera delivers razor-sharp day and night video, although color night vision isn't nearly as vibrant as daytime color. Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2 is available as of March 31, 2021, at the usual major retailers that stock Ring products. Ring's name has become synonymous because of its pivotal contributions to the home security industry including some of the best smart doorbells and for the lessons in privacy we've learned from the company's missteps over the years. Taking subscriptions off the list of complaints, though, there are two things I'd love to see added in the future. You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time. As you can see from the shot below, Im in black and white thanks to the IR lights, but the background is in colour because of the streetlights. You may well still need to replace your existing transformer, however, since the Video Doorbell Pro 2 requires a 16-24VAC power adapter. Android Central's expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. The face also holds a microphone, an ambient light sensor, and a doorbell button bordered by an LED ring that glows blue when the button is pressed. Our expert industry analysis and practical solutions help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology. You can configure movement alerts to take place anywhere in a 30ft radius of the doorbell, helping to avoid traffic or other visual noise that might cause false notifications. If you want the latest in smart doorbell technology, the Video Doorbell Pro 2 is an excellent choice. If those things don't bother you, you're in for a real treat of a product, as Ring's expertise in the video doorbell realm shines through with a truly excellent product that detects motion like none other. You're already running a Ring or Alexa-powered smart home. With HDR support, the Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2 copes well with all lighting conditions: even my south-facing front door didnt phase the camera, despite it being in direct sunlight. I began by shutting off the breaker circuit that supplies power to my doorbell wiring and proceeded to remove my old doorbell. Is it cool? It doesnt work with Apple HomeKit or Google Assistant, but 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. Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab). Ive been working with computers for ages, starting with a multi-year stint in purchasing for a major IBM reseller in New York City before eventually landing at PCMag (back when it was still in print as PC Magazine). These plans are only $3 per month for a single doorbell, though, so we're not talking about an exorbitant amount of money. I certainly experience no issues using my mesh system. When an event is triggered, you get the recording plus the first six seconds of video, so you can see what happened before a recording started. This calibration helps Ring understand where motion is located on said satellite image. Options for transformer or plug-in versions, The Night Sample IR has the best set of motion detection controls, Excellent image quality and it responds fast. Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2 ships with a satin nickel faceplate but customers can claim one free additional faceplate color after purchasing the doorbell. Below the video panel is an event timeline you can scroll through to find an event that occurred at a specific time of day. That, complete with the birds-eye view that's created in a picture-in-picture-style over the live video gives you a glanceable view of which way movement originated and where it ended. Expect more of this kind of thing in the future. At the top of the dashboard are Disarmed, Home, and Away buttons, and below those are buttons that will take you to the Neighbors screen where you can view events from the Ring community, and to theHistory screen that displays a list of motion events and video clips of each event. (Image: Nick Sutrich / Android Central), Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2 at Amazon for $259.99, Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2: Price and availability, (Image credit: Source: Nick Sutrich / Android Central), Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2: You'll love what it sees, Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2: It's hard to like subscriptions. I already had the Ring app installed on my phone, but if this is your first Ring device youll have to download the app and create an account. Nicholas Sutrich While Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2 isn't useless without a subscription, it's going to deliver a severely limited set of functionality that would be better served by a cheaper doorbell. As an Amazon company, Ring always sells its products on its website and Amazon.com. Having the plug-in adapter option is neat for those who dont have a wired doorbell and want a quick way to install one. Theres still the older Event History section of the app, which simply provides a list of events sorted by time, but this lacks thumbnails. With a Ring Protect plan, you get Advanced Pre-roll. A small speaker is located on the bottom edge. The idea is that you can get the doorbell to ignore motion at the end of your front garden, such as people just walking past. Ring Doorbell Pro 2 is the culmination of Ring's impressive motion detection technology research and introduces a brand new concept to video doorbells: 3D motion detection. I opened the app, tapped the three-bar icon in the upper left corner, tapped Set Up a Device, and selected Doorbells. https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/ring-video-doorbell-pro-2, Since 1982, PCMag has tested and rated thousands of products to help you make better buying decisions. To begin, you first use a combination of the regular map and satellite imagery to place your doorbell. It measures 4.4 by 1.9 by 0.8 inches (HWD) and has a Satin Nickel cover and a glossy black camera face. The newer model offers higher-resolution video, 3D Motion Detection and Advanced Pre-roll. Today, we have millions of users a month from around the world, and assess more than 1,000 products a year. Ring Doorbell Pro 2 is the debut Ring product with this feature, swapping out the passive infrared sensor that Ring has used for years with a brand new radar sensor. Tap the doorbell panel to view a live stream with buttons for two-way talk, speaker muting, and full-screen viewing. Second, I'd love a way to run this thing on battery power. This kind of motion detection is particularly important if you live on a busy street either foot or car traffic or have a property with lots of trees or shrubbery that might block the otherwise perfect view your video doorbell has of your home's path of entry. With the Nest Doorbell (wired) you the option to send quick replies from a Google Nest Hub smart display and the app, although you cant send a reply automatically after a set period of time.. You can also trigger Alexa Routines when motion is detected or the doorbell is pressed, adding to the power of the camera. Heres why you can trust us. With its 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi support, youll have fewer problems getting a strong signal to the doorbell. Otherwise, you'd probably just buy something less expensive. I really like the way that the Arlo Video Doorbell actually causes your phone to ring, making it more difficult to miss. Sure, the characters and scenery are all there, and the colors are great, but without that sense of depth, it's hard to understand what's truly going on. Given how flexible Alexa routines are, you can really do a lot here say, turning on a hall light when someone presses the doorbell. If you upgrade to a Ring Protect Plan then you get cloud storage. Many of Ring's other video doorbells have the option to run on a battery or be hardwired, and I'd love to be able to easily hook Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2 up to a battery and, at the least, have it run in a reduced-capacity if the power were to go out. If you go for the first option, the main downside is that it will no longer be compatible with a traditional doorbell chime; youll have to bypass it completely. The camera captures 1536p HDR video and has a 150-degree horizontal and a 150-degree vertical field of view. This gives it a 1:1 aspect ratio that allows you to view a head-to-toe image of whomever is at your door. If youre struggling to get a good picture, there are a few advanced options. We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Theres also a button for configuring Smart Responses, where you can enable Alexa Greetings to have Alexa do things like provide directions for deliveries or take a message. There are two versions: the first requires professional installation to put the DIN-rail transformer in place near your consumer unit; the second version ships with a plug-in adapter for self-install. That makes it easier to see packages on the doorstep and, once again, get a better contextual view of what's going on in front of your home. Here, the camera records six seconds of video to internal memory constantly. Ring has had a range of doorbells for a while now, although theyve largely offered the same Full HD recording resolution and similar features, with the main difference being between wired and wireless options. Ring just needs to tidy this up and have a simple screen of thumbnails, so its much easier to find an event. The Pro 2 uses the same mobile app (for Android and iOS) as all other Ring devices. Rings real strength lies in its ecosystem, with the doorbell working well with the alarm and any other cameras you have. That is, of course, unless you really need that 3D motion detection. Here you can enable/disable Ring Alerts, Motion Alerts, and Motion Detection, and change Mode settings (Disarmed, Home, Away). You'll need hardwired power, so it'll probably cut out some renters from owning it. Thank you for signing up to Android Central. That said, you can save a considerable amount with the $99.99 Ezviz DB1C, which also delivers high-resolution (1526p) video and a wide vertical viewing angle, as well as intelligent alerts, local and cloud video storage, and support for Alexa, Google Assistant, and IFTTT. As I mentioned, theres now no support for regular chimes. Ring has added its Privacy Zones, which let you block out part of the image to protect a neighbours privacy. That connection to Alexa allows your doorbell to answer itself. All video is recorded to your cloud account. NY 10036. Ring also seems to have worked on response times; from pressing the button to receiving a notification on my phone was only a few seconds, and it was no more for Echo devices. In conjunction with the brand new, higher-resolution camera, this new sensor creates the most accurate view of motion you'll get from any video doorbell on the market. Video quality has been bumped up to 1536p which, just as the numbers suggest, is a 50% bump in resolution. The new 3D Motion Detection feature, combined with traditional activity zones, means that youll largely only receive important notifications: a powerful and genuinely useful upgrade. The camera supports color night vision and Pre-Roll video that lets you view what took place just before the motion sensor was triggered. Most definitely. The Video Doorbell Pro 2 shares a similar design to its predecessor, the Video Doorbell Pro, which we reviewed back in 2018. Once installed, the Video Doorbell Pro 2 worked as intended. The Basic Plan gives you 60 days of rolling storage for one camera and goes for $3 per month or $30 per year. Its a powerful combination, as motion has to take place both inside a motion zone and within the range youve set. Around back are two wiring terminals, and under the removable faceplate are a reset button and a QR code for use with the initial setup. It also delivers very sharp video and accurate motion detection, and it works with Amazon Alexa voice commands and plenty of third-party smart home devices. It's still got people-only detection and cloud storage when you subscribe to a Ring Protect Plan, and it's even got the great always-on recording that'll give you a 6-second lead-up to motion events to understand the context better. Well be right there!. Birds Eye motion events show up as dots on an aerial map that show the path taken by the visitor. You also need a subscription to use Alexa Greetings. 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 you get with the Pro 2. Physically installing the Video Doorbell Pro 2 was relatively easy, but pairing it with the app was problematic in our tests. Im not quite sure of the reasons that Ring has made this change, since a regular doorbell chime is a reliable way to receive notifications that dont rely on your Wi-Fi working. Its quite easy to miss, particularly if you have multiple apps sending notifications. To access the doorbells settings screen, tap the gear icon in the upper right corner. As with any smart doorbell, the Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2 will let you see who is at your doorstep and answer visitors without having to open the door, but its the only model that offers an aerial view of where visitors have traveled while on your property. That change is both in the camera itself which is both higher-resolution and uses a different aspect ratio and the way it detects motion. During the day, image quality is good, and a step up from the older Video Doorbell Pro. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct. PCMag.com is a leading authority on technology, delivering lab-based, independent reviews of the latest products and services. That's something I never considered would even be possible. When you answer on your phone, you notice that the Video Doorbell Pro 2 has a square 1536 x 1536 resolution, up from 1080p resolution on previous models. That extra resolution helps, although it has to be said that definition is better for people standing still, waiting for you to answer the door, rather than those moving quickly, say, as they walk towards the door. I tried uninstalling the app and resetting the doorbell, but each time I did the results were the same. Once the doorbell is placed, you can use the test feature to set the range of the motion detection, cutting it off at the point your property ends. I spent more than 14 years on staff, most recently as the director of operations for PC Labs, before hitting the freelance circuit as a contributing editor. When people think of video doorbells, they probably think of Ring first. Just as Ring's products integrate perfectly into the Amazon Alexa ecosystem, Arlo's works deeply with the Google ecosystem and, actually, very well with Alexa, too. That said, it's also one of Ring's priciest models at $250, and you have to subscribe to a Ring Protect plan in order to access certain features and view recorded video. When you set the Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2 up, you'll be presented with an overhead satellite view of your property, which is provided by MapBox. In addition, it uses IFTTT applets to interact with third-party smart devices such as light bulbs, plugs, and locks. If local storage is your thing, the best smart video doorbell that stores locally is, undoubtedly, the Eufy Video Doorbell. Quality high-resolution video footage and excellent Amazon Alexa integration make this a great choice for any Echo-based household. I loved seeing the motion history while scrubbing through the motion timeline on the Ring app, as it's perfectly laid out in a way that's easy to understand exactly where motion was detected. It's a solid choice if you own other Ring devices and want a doorbell with all of the most advanced features, though the $99.99 Ezviz DB1C is an excellent alternative (and our Editors' Choice award winner) for far less money. While the Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2 has plenty under the hood to differentiate itself from the first-generation model, the biggest change is how it sees the world. Similarly, all of your data can be stored locally for greater control of your data. Founded in 2004, Trusted Reviews exists to give our readers thorough, unbiased 3D Motion detection enables the video doorbell to see motion and understand where that motion is happening in viewable space.