Today, I’ll review for you guys the Ring doorbell. I actually got this about 4 months ago but never got around to edit and upload the video until today. Overall, the Ring doorbell has been working for me without any problems. So, basically this is a WiFi camera doorbell that lets you answer your door from anywhere using your smartphone. The one I purchased is their original version which is a 720p and the camera lens has a 180 degree field of view.
You can use this doorbell either using the built in rechargeable battery for homes without an existing doorbell or you can connect it to and replace your existing doorbell at your house. Also, make sure you have a WiFi connection running at 2.4 GHz range. I think this is where a lot of problems occurs with other users during their install. I’ll hook up mine to replace my existing doorbell and I have a dual band WiFi where I ran all my WiFi cameras on 2.4 GHz.
Now, let’s see what is inside the box. Supposedly this is an easy install and you can be up and running in 5 minutes. We just need to download the app, setup the doorbell using the app. Install the doorbell and customize the settings. It comes with everything needed to install the camera doorbell.
So here is what is inside the box. We have the driver handle, a Philips screw and a torx screw at the other end. We have a masonry drill bit for drilling pilot holes in brick, stucco or concrete, we have the screws and the plastic anchors, the camera itself…nice blue light when you press the button. At the back, we have the orange setup button and the micro USB slot to charge the built in battery.
We have diode which you will need to use if you are hard wiring the doorbell to a digital doorbell. I will not need this because I have the mechanical “ding-dong” type doorbell.
We have the setup and installation guide which is very easy to understand and follow through. It will show all the setup scenarios and how to do it.
We have the mounting bracket with easy instructions when you do the install.
Also included is the micro USB cable which you need to use to charge the built in battery.
Lastly, we have a little level that you can attach to the bracket so as to have a straight and level install of the doorbell.
Time to setup the doorbell. First, we need to download the Ring app to your smartphone. Open the app and click on setup device. Choose which doorbell you need to setup, name it which I’ll choose front door. It will make you confirm your address. Press the orange setup button on the back of the doorbell
and you will see that the button will light up white. Then, you have to go to your settings, click WiFi and choose the network that has a “ring” word on it
then go back to the ring app where you choose which WiFi network it needs to connect to. Type in the password and wait for the doorbell to finish the setup. You have an option to add users that will be able to use and access the camera which I’ll skip for now. Then you can adjust the zone settings of the motion detection and depending on where you install it. You will definitely have false alarms but you just need to balance and play with this setting that will work with you.
On your camera device page, you will have different options and settings like the battery status, alert and motion options and on the bottom you have the live view setting which I’ll turn on. If you are not hard wiring the doorbell and using it’s built in battery, you have to take note that enabling the live view feature will use up the battery faster. In my case, I will hard wire this so it doesn’t really matter which option I choose. So, I’ll choose the connect quicker option and I’ll hit save.
So now, I have the Live View button on the main page.
Now, let’s test and try it out. In the recent activity tab you will see all the recordings in the cloud if you sign up for the service. There is a one month trial so that you can check it out.
Clicking the device status will show you the settings for your device. In the motion settings tab, you will be able to adjust the zones how close or far you want any motion to trigger the camera recording. You can also schedule a time range when the camera records when motion is detected and you can adjust the sensitivity so as to minimize false alarms. When saving the settings you need to push the button of the doorbell to confirm the settings.
So, when somebody pushes the button, it will light up blue and will chime in both the doorbell and your phone and the camera will turn on.
Now, it is time to install this outside. Please make sure that the breakers are off before unscrewing your existing doorbell. You just need to unscrew the 2 wires. I already pre-drilled the holes using the masonry drill bit and I pushed in the plastic anchors. I just need to thread the wires through the mounting bracket and screw in the wires. There are only 2 wires and it doesn’t matter which wire connects to which screw. You just need to tighten both of the screws.
Then align the bracket to the pre-drilled holes and screw them in. The bracket is plastic, so don’t over tighten it and actually you make sure that the bracket holds it’s shape and doesn’t bend so that you can easily latch the doorbell unit.
Using the torx screw of the included screw driver, you can then align the main doorbell unit to the bracket making sure that the tabs go in the slots and push it down. Use the torx driver to lock down the doorbell. Ring stated that in any event that somebody tamper and steals your doorbell that they are going to ship you a new one. You just need to provide a police report and I’m pretty sure that whoever tries to steal the unit will have their video recorded.
Now, it is on there nice and tight.
Now, let’s see how it works. When you are walking in to the door, you will trigger the motion sensor and the camera will start recording. Pushing the doorbell will trigger a chime outside and also on your main doorbell and a notification will be sent to your phone stating that there is somebody at the door. You can either click end if you don’t want to answer or click talk if you want to converse with the person in a 2 way communication.
Here are some video footage that I downloaded directly to my phone.
The video is supposed to be 720p but it is not as sharp and clear as I want it to be. You will occasionally see some pixelation. The good thing about a wide angle camera in a door bell format is that you will be able to see the person’s face and will be able to recognize them as compared to having a camera in a ceiling or on top looking down like most security system cameras and the most you will see is the person’s head.
As to delivery guys, I noticed that they move too fast and most of them especially US postal service doesn’t even try to ring your doorbell.
I barely have false alarms in my setup and if there is, then it is mostly the bigger trucks like the city truck that comes in to pick up the trash every Fridays. The sound is pretty good and I can pick up noises even when children are playing in the streets.
The camera’s infrared is pretty good at night but the face get’s washed out when they are too close but you will still be able to recognize who they are. The ring doorbell even recorded somebody that everyone knows on Christmas eve. 😉
You can easily download videos to your phone by going to your recorded videos and clicking the download button on the bottom right of the screen, then you can save the video to your camera roll.
Overall, after 4 months of using the ring doorbell, I have no problems or issues. It picks up and record all movement in the area that I set. There are some false alarms but it is not too much that it becomes annoying plus you can easily set it to decrease the sensitivity or you can schedule a time frame when the app notifies you.
Also, in my situation, I barely notice a time lag. A lot of people are complaining that it takes a long time before you can respond when the person pushes the doorbell and the time you receive the notification and be able to respond to them.
This is a good buy for me and it compliments my other security cameras outside and inside the house. I mainly bought this camera doorbell so I would know when they deliver my packages and I would know if somebody tries to steal them.