Ring Wired Doorbell Plus (2nd gen) review: Now with 2K and AI
Ring Wired Doorbell Plus: Specs
Price: $179.99
Dimensions: 2.11 x 1.18 inches (without wall mount)
Video: 2K, low-light sight with adaptive night vision
Motion detection: 3D, with customizable motion zones
Field of view: 140 degrees horizontal and vertical; 1:1 aspect ratio
Audio: two-way talk
Connectivity: WiFi 6, dual-band 2.4GHz or 5GHz
Operating temperature: -4°F to 120°F
I’m not entirely sure why, but we get a lot of door-to-door solicitors in our neighborhood, far more than I’ve ever experienced anywhere else I’ve lived. Since I work from home, you can imagine it gets tedious telling these solicitors that I’m busy or just don’t want to talk. The Ring Wired Doorbell Plus (2nd gen) and its Alexa+ AI features seemed like a great solution to my solicitor problem, not to mention the peace of mind that comes with it when I’m traveling for work.
And it comes with even more benefits: It has a resolution of 2K, can track your packages in the age of porch pirates, and lets me see who’s coming and going while I’m far away from the front door (I spend a lot of time in my detached garage).
The Ring Wired Doorbell is a convenient option for anyone looking to monitor the front of their house from the couch. It’s got a massive field of view and even records well in the dark. But how does it compare to the Ring Video Doorbell Pro, which has an even higher 4K resolution, as well as the best video doorbells?
Ring Wired Doorbell Plus (2nd gen) review: Price and availability
The Wired Doorbell Plus costs $179.99 and is available for purchase now. You can buy the unit on Ring’s website, or from other retailers like Lowe’s.
Ring sent me the Wired Doorbell Plus (2nd Gen) + Indoor Cam Plus bundle, which costs $239.98. I will review the Indoor Cam Plus separately. You can also purchase a Wired Doorbell Plus (2nd Gen) + Chime (3rd Gen) bundle for $214.98, or a Wired Doorbell Plus (2nd Gen) + Floodlight Cam Plus bundle for $359.98.
Ring Wired Doorbell Plus (2nd gen) review: Design and setup
The Ring Wired Doorbell plus comes packaged with the doorbell unit, which mounts to your home next to your front door; installation hardware; a corner kit for angling the doorbell if necessary; and a chime that can be installed into the existing wiring for your current doorbell chime unit. Ring also includes a small tool for removing the faceplate of the doorbell unit.
Installing the Wired Doorbell Plus took about twenty minutes total. Simply remove your old doorbell and wire in the Ring Wired Doorbell Plus to the existing wiring. Ring also includes a wiring harness and wire nuts to simplify the process. The chime installs similarly on the other end of the doorbell system; use the existing chime wires and use the included wire nuts to tie into that system. It’s a pretty easy setup, even if you’re not a very handy person. Just remember to turn off the circuit breaker to the doorbell wiring before you get started.
Once installed, the app takes a few more minutes to download and sign in. Once I downloaded and created my account, and connected the Ring camera to WiFi (it is compatible with 2.4GHZ or 5GHZ signals) , the doorbell needed a firmware update, which took about five minutes to complete. From there, you’ll set up your camera preferences, or simply choose the defaults to speed through the rest of the setup.
The drawback of the Ring Wired Doorbell Plus is the wired install. At first, I wanted to install this system on my detached garage, since I operate my business out it. But there wasn’t any existing wiring in the garage, which meant this version of the Ring doorbell wouldn’t work. Ring does offer wireless video doorbells that operate on rechargeable batteries, but none that have 2K resolution.
The mini chime that came with my doorbell was easy to install and sounds out loud and clear within my house. I like that I can also shut off the chime if I want to. The Ring chime has become ubiquitous these days, and it’s more pleasant than my normal doorbell chime. But when I’m in meetings (I work from home), it sure is nice to shut off the chime and prevent my dog from reacting the way he always does: by barking his head off.
Ring Wired Doorbell Plus (2nd gen) review: Performance
The Ring Wired Doorbell Plus 2K video is very, very good. In broad daylight, it’s easy to pick out even small objects in the frame, and you can pinch to zoom in to see even more details. The image quality doesn’t suffer much in low light, either.
Within the first week of using the Ring Wired Doorbell Plus, it came in quite handy. For starters, I was able to avoid awkward conversations with various solicitors — already the Ring camera justified its price.
On another occasion, a man came to our door asking for someone we’d never heard of. No big deal really, but it felt good to have the person on camera (both video and audio) should it have been something more nefarious, or if anyone returned later with bad intentions. As it was, nothing came of it, and all is well.
I very much like having the audio along with the video feed. And the audio is startlingly clear, as is the video image — in just about all conditions. I haven’t yet come across any video or audio clips that were indecipherable, or even close to it. The Ring doorbell’s recording is absolutely stellar.
The field of view is very wide, too. I like being able to see my entire front yard, as well as my driveway. My neighborhood recently experienced some car break-ins, and while our cars weren’t affected, someone did kindly scratch up the hood of my truck. This happened before I installed the Ring camera, and I sure do wish I had it back then.
At night, you’ll lose the color from the image, but the detail and clarity still remains. Even zooming in, while not as sharp as in daylight conditions, allows you to pick out objects and people. My only complaint here is up close, subjects get a bit blown out, so it’s hard to see someone’s features when they’re positioned close to the doorbell.
The Ring Doorbell features Low Light Sight, which looks a bit like those scenes in movies where a character is wearing night-vision goggles, minus the green tinge. It was easy to pick out objects and people close to the camera, and I was able to see with clarity objects on the street, like my trash cans at the curb.
The front of my house faces east, which means in the morning, the sun blasts right at the camera mounted by my front door. The camera handles this well; the sun doesn’t wash out the image, though some flare is of course present. Throughout the day, as the sun works its way toward my backyard, the image only improves. By late afternoon, shadows wash over the front yard, and the 2K image avoids pixelation common in low light conditions. It’s a very clear image in all conditions throughout the day.
Ring Wired Doorbell Plus (2nd gen) review: App and smart home compatibility
I found the Ring App easy to set up and use. There is a lot to explore within the app, and tons of various settings to either broaden the Ring’s applicability or limit it. It’s kind of easy to get lost in it all, and you’re bombarded with setup options during the initial setup process.
The Live View setting shows you what the camera sees in real time, through Retinal Vision 2K video. It’s triggered by 3D motion detection, which records segments should anyone come within range of the doorbell. You can adjust this setting in the app to exclude moving vehicles and other things that aren’t humans approaching your door if you choose.
The Live View setting also features two-way talk, which is exactly what it sounds like: you can talk to someone at your door and they can talk to you. It’s a convenient way to speak with visitors that perhaps you don’t want to meet face to face.
Video History is handy should you need to reference events that happened in the past. That’s possible with the Ring subscription. You’ll get a 30-day free trial at purchase. More on that in a moment.
Keep in mind that this doorbell works with the Alexa ecosystem only, which is limiting. If your house is already on a different system, that might be a dealbreaker for you. As it is, I already use other Alexa devices, so the doorbell integrated easily.
Ring Wired Doorbell Plus (2nd gen) review: AI features
While not exclusive to the Wired Doorbell Plus, Ring has added a number of AI-powered features to its doorbells that make it easier to search through your video history and identify particular events.
Video Descriptions gives more detailed descriptions of what the doorbell records, so you might get a caption that reads “a person walked through the yard carrying a package.”
AI Single Event Alerts will summarize a series of alerts from the same camera within a certain time period. So, if there are kids playing on your lawn and they go in and out of the camera frame, it will group all of these events into a single notification.
Last, Smart Video Search can let you search using natural language for particular events in your video history, like “dog catching a frisbee in my yard.”
However, all of these features come at a cost.
Ring Wired Doorbell Plus (2nd gen) review: Subscription costs
You get a Home Plan 30-day trial when you install the video doorbell. After that, you’ll have to upgrade. Strangely, you can’t manage your plan in the Ring app. That seems counterintuitive.
You’ll need to go to the Ring website instead and choose between the three offered plans: Basic for $4.99 a month or $49.99 a year; Standard for $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year; or Premium, for $19.99 a month of $199.99 a year. While the Basic plan gives you 180 days of video history as well as Person, Package, and Vehicle Alerts, you’ll need to spring for the Premium plan if you want AI-enabled features like Video Descriptions, AI Single Event Alerts, and Smart Video Search. I find it a bit irksome that I need to subscribe at all, after purchasing the unit for what I would consider to be a high dollar amount.
You can avoid the subscription altogether, but you will lose out on a lot of features, such as the ability to save video or look at past events, as well as any AI functionality. You’ll still get Live-View, Real-Time Notifications, and Keypad Arming and Disarming, among other features.
Ring Wired Doorbell Plus (2nd gen) review: Accessories
Ring offers a ton of products and accessories to work within the Ring ecosystem. Outdoor and indoor cameras, alarms, Alexa products, and many more options are available for purchase. Ring offers a lot of bundles too, so you can buy several products at once and save a few bucks.
Some of the more useful accessories include hardwired kits for cameras, various wall mounts, and different chime options. The Ring Beacon ($49.99) warns passers-by that your home is protected by Ring, day or night. It captures solar energy to charge during the day, and glows at night not only to show people your home has a Ring camera, but also to light your front steps or path to get you safely to your door.
Ring Wired Doorbell Plus (2nd gen) review: Competition
Ring is perhaps the most well-known doorbell camera on the market. But several competitors have entered the space in recent years. Google Nest Doorbell is among the most prominent. This works best with the Google smart home environment, something Ring does not offer.
Other competitors in the space include Arlo Video Doorbell Camera and Chime 2 Bundle, Eufy Dual+ Security Video Doorbell, and brands like Simplisafe, Lorex, and Wyze Cam. While many of these offerings come in at a lower price than Ring, the Ring Doorbell Plus beats them all in features, video quality, and reliability.
Ring Wired Doorbell Plus (2nd gen) review: Verdict
I didn’t expect to like the Ring Wired Doorbell Plus as much as I do. I’m not generally the type who feels the need for constant surveillance. But it has simplified my life quite a bit, largely because I no longer have to get up from my desk to go deal with the surprisingly high number of solicitors we get in our neighborhood. I also love that I can see much of my driveway in the wide field of view, so should we get another spate of break-ins or someone scratching up my truck again, I’ll have some potential for recourse.
Google released the Nest Doorbell battery (3rd) gen around the same time as Ring released the Wired Doorbell Plus (2nd gen), and the two share a lot of similarities, such as 2K video and AI integration for smarter alerts. Both also require a subscription to use all their features, but Google does give you six hours of video history without charging you a monthly fee.
I do wish the app subscriptions were included with the sale price. And the device is limited to Alexa ecosystems, which can be limiting for certain consumers. But if you’re looking for exceptional video and audio quality, as well as a super wide field of view, it’s hard to beat the Ring Wired Doorbell Plus — unless you want to go with the 4K Ring Wired Doorbell Pro.
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