Verdict
It does n’t have the best television timbre , particularly at night when everything bulge out to seem quite soft . However , the Ring Video Doorbell 2nd Gen bring brightly for dispense with telephoner and it integrates to the full with Alexa and other Ring gimmick . If you just want a impertinent doorbell , so you’re able to answer your buzzer from anywhere , the scummy cost here makes this ware hard to reason against .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
The gaudy battery - powered doorbell in the line - up , the Ring Video Doorbell 2nd Gen is a great entry - level alternative .
It sacrifice some of the primary feature of its more expensive siblings , include a removable battery inner circle , and video quality is n’t the best . For those on a budget , these are all sensible sacrifice .
Design and installation
This shelling - powered buzzer is a short different from the other Ring ones I ’ve refresh , such as theRing Video Doorbell 4 . While all of Ring ’s late models have used the Quick Release Battery Pack , the Ring Video Doorbell 2nd Gen use an incorporate battery .
That makes this doorbell a little wider than the other models and means that it has to be removed to be charged . That ’s probably not much of an issue , as most people with a Quick Release compatible doorbell will only have one battery . In gist , in both circumstances the doorbell is out of activeness while charging .
The wide purpose may be cause for more business concern , as the Ring Video Doorbell 2nd Gen may not fit as well on a doorframe . There are no corner wedges in the corner to make meet comfortable , although these are useable as extra .
Installation is straightforward . At its easiest , the doorbell can be charged , connected to Wi - Fi and then bind to the climb on wall bracket .
If you ’ve already engender a wired doorbell , then this model can be connected to the exist conducting wire ( 8 - 24V transformer are confirm ) .
There are two readable advantage to doing this . First , the bell ’s bombardment is drip shoot , so you should n’t have to remove it . Secondly , if you ’ve got a pumped chime inside , the Ring doorbell will ring it . This is an more and more uncommon feature with Ring doorbells , with many of the new coevals not supporting pumped-up chimes .
Features
As with all of Ring ’s other devices , the Ring Video Doorbell 2nd Gen connect via the Ring app . If you do n’t have a Ring Protect system , you ’ll get alerts and can reply the doorbell , but video wo n’t be recorded .
That ’s far ranking to the doorbell ’s received motion detection , which pings an alert whenever any apparent movement is picked up .
In addition , the Ring Video Doorbell 2nd Gen back action zones , where you draw a boxful on the screen and only motion inside the box is counted as an alert . Using a combination of zone and people - only modality , I find that I could cut down the number of alert I was acquire to a reasonable amount .
As the doorbell use a PIR motion sensing element , I found that I still had more qui vive than when using the Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2 , which has radar - based motion spying .
The chief way the Ring Video Doorbell 2nd Gen will be used is when a caller comes to the door . Notifications that the doorbell has been pressed are station to your phone , although only as a ‘ Ping River ’ , so you must mind cautiously .
There is the Smart Responses option , where you may choose from a list of pre - recorded messages , such as ‘ We ca n’t respond the door the right way now ’ . Your take content is play after a set flow ( nonpayment is 10 bit ) , prompting the visitor to result a voice message .
If you do address the door , you get the bouncy picture flow on your phone and can answer with two - manner talk . I found the microphone and speaker on the Ring Video Doorbell 2nd Gen perfectly good for the task at script .
Internally , the buzzer will go any wired chimes , any Ring wireless bell and , if you ’ve linked Ring to Alexa , any Echo smart verbaliser you have in the theatre . If you have a bright display , such as the Echo Show 10 , an incoming call will display the bouncy video provender on the screen , and allow you answer the bell , too .
Samsung SmartThings and IFTTT support are there , too , so you could use the doorbell ’s motion sensor to initiation consequence , such as turning on a lightness .
All video clips are saved to the swarm . get at them still is n’t as gentle as it should be . exploit the thumbnail view and you’re able to scroll through recordings in the timeline , which can be permeate by engagement and result clip . While this view is handy for scrolling through late events , trying to find something older can be painfully slow .
There is the Event History tab , which plainly list all events . Again this is filterable by date and event type , but without thumbnail trying to discover one clip can take a while . It ’s about clip Ring just added a simple story page that shows events with thumbnail . When you do feel the snip you want , the video can be download to your earphone .
Performance
The Ring Video Doorbell 2nd Gen has a 155 - level panoptic lens and a 1080p video detector . This puts it in the same league as the majority of Ring ’s other product , barricade the Pro modelling , which has a high resolution .
Resolution is one affair , but it ’s the character of the television that counts . I found that the Ring Video Doorbell 2nd Gen lags behind its siblings a small . During the day , footage can look a lilliputian delicate , and I found that the tv camera skin more with strong sunshine than other models in the range . Overall , the footage is upright enough , peculiarly for utter to people at your front door , but there are good - quality security cameras .
At dark , the photographic camera can hit in full colour if there ’s enough ambient light , although the detail speedily goes and I found that brightness level in the distance befog details .
When it ’s in full dark , the doorbell switch to IR , get off up the dark in pitch-dark and white . Video gets even softer , and people walking past in the distance were blur to the point where it was hard to see any real detail . For people predict at your threshold , you’re able to see them well enough , but this merchandise is n’t much bull as a security tv camera .
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Should you buy it?
If you desire a fully featured television buzzer without the cost of a premium model , this one is a slap-up choice .
Video calibre is basic and there ’s no offline recording , so go for an alternative if you need razer - knifelike footage .
Final Thoughts
Looking at the competition , most other picture doorbells are more expensive , make the Ring Video Doorbell 2nd Gen hard to place . If you require to quash monthly fee , then theEufy Video Doorbell 2Kmay be a better selection or the Blink Video Doorbell with Sync Module , with both offer offline transcription . If you desire the best video quality , then you have to spend more on theRing Video Doorbell Pro 2orRing Video Doorbell 4 .
If you ’re not so bothered about the security photographic camera aspects , and just want a smart buzzer for make out with company , then the Ring Video Doorbell 2nd Gen is strong to beat . Its video quality is upright enough and the price is hard to argue against , especially as that include a rechargeable battery and desegregation with Ring . For choice , see my guide to thebest TV doorbells .
Trusted Score
How we test
Unlike other sites , we try every security camera we review soundly over an extensive period of time . We use industriousness standard tests to equate features decent . We ’ll always severalize you what we encounter . We never , ever , bear money to refresh a product .
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FAQs
Yes , but it ’s integrated on this model . Other barrage fire - powered Ring doorbells use the Quick Release Battery large number .
It works with Amazon Alexa , Samsung SmartThings and IFTTT .
