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Ring slims down and specs up its iPhone-linked doorbell with 1080p video, 5GHz Wi-Fi, more zones

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Dom reviewed Ring’s iPhone-linked Video Doorbell last year, and was impressed. I was too, with two minor complaints: video is 720p rather than full HD, and it only connects to 2.4GHz Wi-Fi networks.

Ring has addressed both issues with its new Video Doorbell Pro, offering 1080p video and connecting to 5Ghz Wi-Fi as well as 2.4GHz. It also offers much more sophisticated motion-detection zones, allowing you to ‘draw’ on your iPhone screen the areas you’d like it to watch. Finally, the hardware itself has been significantly slimmed down.

On the downside, the Pro model loses the ability to operate on battery power for homes without existing hardwired doorbells, and costs an extra $50, coming in at $249.

It’s pretty funky being able to answer your doorbell from the other side of town, letting a delivery driver knowing where to put a package.

The Ring Video Doorbell Pro is available for pre-order now, with shipping slated for late April.

zones

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Comments

  1. Aaron Esterling - 8 years ago

    It looks like the pre-order link is broken for me.

  2. oakie - 8 years ago

    same

  3. uniquified - 8 years ago

    Isn’t that Zone1 going to go off every time a car drives by?!

  4. Mark Granger - 8 years ago

    I would buy this immediately if it did not require a paid subscription to an online service and worked on my home network and services like Google Drive or DropBox for free.

    • Ben Lovejoy - 8 years ago

      You only need the paid subscription if you want to access recordings – it’s not needed to see who’s at the door – so it really depends how you use it.

  5. Scott Bessel (@sbessel) - 8 years ago

    I wonder if they finally fixed the recording delay with this model. Really my only complaint with the current unit.

    All I ever get is the back of the delivery driver leaving, never the face, worthless for security.

    • Ben Lovejoy - 8 years ago

      Might be worth playing with the zone patterns – mine is activated as soon as someone approaches the door.

  6. aces99 - 8 years ago

    Does anyone know if you can lock and unlock the door with your phone to let somebody in the house if you are not at home?

    • focher - 8 years ago

      Not with Ring, as it’s a doorbell, but there are locks to do just that.

  7. Paul Tremblay - 8 years ago

    Does ring only work with iphone? Can I use a samsung gallaxy phone?

Author

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Ben Lovejoy

Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer and EU Editor for 9to5Mac. He’s known for his op-eds and diary pieces, exploring his experience of Apple products over time, for a more rounded review. He also writes fiction, with two technothriller novels, a couple of SF shorts and a rom-com!


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