Comparison of Ring Video Doorbell: You’re out. You would like to buy a smart doorbell camera, so that you always know who is at the door. But which one should you choose? The range is constantly growing and there are sometimes different choices within the range of one particular manufacturer. Similarly in Amazon’s Ring family. In this article, we look at the differences between Ring’s most recent addition, the Video Doorbell 3, and its predecessor, the Video Doorbell 2.
Comparison of Ring Video Doorbell Ring Video Doorbell 2 and 3
The similarities
In order to consider which model suits you best, it may be useful to first know which functions they have in common. This way you know whether the primary specifications of the Video Doorbell 2 will be sufficient for your use. First of all, the resolution in which the camera records video. Where the original Video Doorbell still had to do with an HD resolution of 1280 by 720 pixels, both the Doorbell 2 and the Doorbell 3 record in the Full HD resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels. At 160 °, the viewing angles are slightly smaller than those of the first model, which had a viewing angle of 180 °.
Both models also have a removable battery. This means you don’t have to unscrew the entire doorbell every time the battery is empty. Incidentally, it is not a superfluous luxury to immediately buy an extra battery when purchasing. Where Ring advertises a battery life of a few months, in practice this often turns out to be only a few weeks. In addition, charging takes quite a long time, so if you do not want to miss the functionality of your doorbell for too long, you can continue to exchange the batteries. The devices can also be connected to a doorbell system with a VAC transformer from 8 to 24 volts for continuous power supply.
Both models come with no additional accessories or features outside of the Ring Protect plan. For example, the Ring Chime is missing, an additional receiver that also functions as a doorbell chime and is supplied as standard with the Ring Pro models. In the box you will only find the device itself, the mounting bracket and a charging cable.
Comparison of Ring Video Doorbell
The differences
Then it is time to look at the points in which both devices differ. One of the first things most will pay attention to is the price point. The Video Doorbell 3 , with its suggested retail price of 200 euros, is twice as expensive as the Video Doorbell 2. It is therefore useful to make sure that you really need the improvements that have been made to the latest model.
One of the biggest improvements that has been made is the addition of support for WiFi over the 5 GHz band. In general, far fewer devices are active on this bandwidth than on the 2.4 GHz band. The big advantage of this is that the connection to your Video Doorbell 3 will be a lot faster and more stable. Also, the 5 GHz frequency doesn’t use channels that overlap each other, so you don’t have to dive into the settings of your modem or router to find the most stable channel. The only major drawback to this frequency is that its range is a lot more limited. Therefore the device should be placed as close as possible to a WiFi transmitter. This should not cause any problems for people whose router is in the meter cupboard at the front door.
In addition, the range for the movement zone is a lot larger. The motion zone is the area in which a visitor must be in order to signal the doorbell camera to notify. With the Video Doorbell 2 you can set the movement zone at a distance of 4.5 to 9 meters from the device. The minimum distance for the Video Doorbell 3 has been reduced to 1.5 meters. This is very useful for people who do not have a front yard or driveway in front of their door. In houses facing the street or in flats with narrow corridors, users are therefore no longer constantly inundated with reports about passers-by.
The motion zone can also be precisely set on the Doorbell 3 thanks to the improved motion detection, a feature that is missing on the Doorbell 2. Areas within the field of view of the Doorbell 3 can also be excluded from recording, for example if there is an area of your home that you would prefer not to include. Ring calls these areas Privacy Zones, and the feature stems from the concerns of concerned privacy advocates.
Finally, the build quality has improved compared to the previous model. The mounting plate and screws are designed so that the doorbell is more securely attached to the wall.
Since the Video Doorbell 3 is the direct successor and replacement of the Video Doorbell 2, it does not seem inconceivable that the latter will be discontinued in the short or long term. Ring recently unveiled the second generation of the original Ring Video Doorbell, which will likely remain available as the budget option. For owners of the original version, the question will therefore be whether and to which model they want to upgrade, the Ring Video Doorbell (2nd generation) or the Ring Video Doorbell 3.
Video Doorbell 3 Plus is also available in some markets. The only difference with the regular version is the presence of the so-called Foresight technology. This means that footage prior to a report is recorded up to 4 seconds further back. That is done in black and white to save the battery.
About Ring
Ring is an American manufacturer of smart cameras, including security cameras, video doorbells and door spies. The company was acquired by e-commerce giant Amazon in 2018. Since then, the number of Ring products and services has grown significantly. There is the Ring Protect subscription . With this subscription, recordings can be viewed back up to 30 days, because they are recorded in the cloud. Ring Protect costs $ 3 per month per device, but there is also an option to deposit $ 10 per month to support an unlimited number of Ring devices. Then you have Ring Protect Plus, with which you can extend the warranty of your devices.
Because of its affiliation with the parent company, Ring’s products work by far the best with Amazon’s Alexa. This digital assistant is not yet available in Dutch, so you still have to give commands in English. For example, if you say “Alexa, answer the door,” your Ring product will show who is at your door. There is also (limited) support for the Google Assistant, for example. In addition, there is support for some smart home systems, such as IFTTT and Z-Wave.
The company is a number of times negative news, including login details after more than 5,000 users on the streets were laid . In addition, it emerged that Ring shares usage data with advertisers such as Facebook and Google.
