Ring’s flagship battery-powered video doorbell is 35% off for Labor Day

What’s up?

The flagship Ring Battery Pro Doorbell 35% off through Labor Day, price $150.

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ZDNET Key Points

• Amazon recently launched a new product Ring Battery Doorbell Pro for $230.
• The premium video doorbell is battery-powered, making it easy to install anywhere. It also has the Pro features Ring is known for, like Bird’s-Eye View and 3D Motion Detection.
• My biggest issue with the Ring is that you have to pay a subscription fee to access most of the device’s features, which is something you can’t get away with with local storage options. I also wish the Battery Doorbell Pro had 2K resolution instead of 1536p to justify the upgrade to ‘Pro’.

Ring has become the quintessential brand for video doorbell. It’s like Kleenex is to tissues, Google is to search engines, and Band-Aid is to duct tape. In short, you can’t help but think of Ring when you hear about video doorbells.

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I don’t always recommend Ring products to everyone looking for a video doorbell or security camera for one simple reason: most of the best features are locked behind a subscription plan, and you can’t bypass that by adding a separate hub or microSD card like you can with many other brands. However, many smart home and security enthusiasts like the convenience and peace of mind that comes with a subscription plan.

Also: Everything you need for smart home security

The Ring Battery Pro Doorbell is the company’s best battery-powered video doorbell, hence the ‘Pro’ name. It’s the first battery-powered doorbell to join Ring’s Pro line of devices, standing out from the rest with its more rugged construction, premium finishes, and additional features, like Bird’s Eye View and 3D Motion Detection.

Tested Ring Battery Plus Doorbell Lately, I haven’t been able to see a huge difference right away. There are some small physical differences between the two doorbells, but they’re as hard to find as a spot-the-difference game.

In addition to the Doorbell Pro being 1mm taller than the plusBoth are the same width and thickness, and appear to be made of the same plastic material. The Pro weighs about 244g, while the Plus weighs about 235g, a difference of less than an ounce.

The camera’s appearance is one of the only physical differences between the two video doorbell models. The Pro has a dark, deep bezel around the camera and a different set of lenses.

Low Light Sight is my favorite feature to test on the Battery Doorbell Pro — it’s a unique feature of this video doorbell that helps you see better in the dark. The doorbell also has zoned infrared LEDs that help balance out overexposed and underexposed video.

The difference in the camera’s appearance suggests that the Pro uses a slightly wider aperture. Amazon doesn’t specify the exact aperture, only noting that the Ring Battery Doorbell Pro has a “premium image sensor.”

This feature — and the Battery Doorbell Pro’s video quality in general — works great. I have to admit that the Ring’s video clips look better than those from my 2K-resolution doorbell, though performance is otherwise similar.

Also: How to Extend Smart Doorbell Battery Life in Cold Weather

Installing the Ring Battery Doorbell Pro is a breeze, with no additional mounting plate required to mount the doorbell — perhaps one of my favorite features of the Ring Battery Doorbell Plus and Pro.

Since this Pro Video Doorbell has a removable battery pack, you install it by removing the front panel and screwing the doorbell directly into your porch wall or door frame. Whenever you need to charge the battery, you can remove it or swap in a fully charged battery if you want to keep a spare.

In addition to Ring Protect Pro features like panoramic view, 3D motion detection, and pre-play mode, the Ring Battery Doorbell Pro also supports Audio+ for improved two-way talk and dual-band Wi-Fi, meaning the doorbell can support both 2.4 and 5 GHz networks.

Setting up Bird’s Eye View is a lot of fun. You use an overhead map to delineate a surveillance area up to 30 feet away. It gives you an aerial map view of events around your home, showing you the path the person took when entering your home.

3D Motion Detection uses radar to detect motion in a custom area of ​​your choice, reducing false alerts and supporting panoramic views.

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Essentially, these Pro-exclusive features power advanced motion detection to reduce false alarms and deliver more accurate notifications, giving you more details about what happened when it detects someone entering your property. Ring hopes these features will help reduce the ‘motion detected’ alerts you might get when leaves are flying in front of your doorbell.

And my testing shows that those extra features work. I tested the Ring Battery Doorbell Pro for several months and didn’t have any issues with false alerts or missed notifications. However, I didn’t have those issues with the Plus model, either. Eufy E340 Security While the panorama view information is useful, I don’t feel like I need this feature or think it provides much detail about individual video clips and motion events.

ZDNET Buying Advice

The Ring Battery Pro Doorbell It is definitely the best battery-powered doorbell the company offers; it has top-notch features and the performance does not disappoint, especially with the current Labor Day promotion.

That said, it’s harder to recommend when Ring Battery Plus Doorbell have many of the same features. Both devices have 1536p resolution with head-to-toe view, two-way talk, person and package detection, quick-release batteries, and color night vision.

I wish the Pro had the upgraded 2K resolution to justify the extra cost and as a bonus to its Pro moniker. There’s also the issue of not being able to skip the subscription fee. You shouldn’t buy the Ring Video Doorbell Pro unless you’re okay with the fact that you’ll always have to pay a subscription fee to access most of its features. I’m on a tight budget and want to save as much as possible, so I don’t want to spend $200 on a security camera and then continue to pay a few dollars a month to continue using it.