Gabe: Hey folks, this is Gabe with Security Baron, and you are trying to keep an eye on
your front lawn even when you're away. Well, today we are checking out the Ring Video Doorbell
Pro, which may give you the opportunity to do just that.
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Gabe: In today's review of the Ring Video Doorbell Pro, we're going to go over some
pros and cons, its design, its feature set, the installation process before diving into
its web application, the Ring Always Home app, to make sure you have all the information
you need to make the right decision.
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Gabe: If you'd like to see a list of our favorite video doorbells, google "Security Baron Best
Video Doorbells." If you have a question about today's review, leave a comment and I will
get back to you.
[music]
Gabe: Let's kick off today's review of the Ring Video Doorbell Pro checking out some
pros and cons beginning with the pros. It has 1080p high definition video with HDR.
You get that high dynamic range really allowing you to capture the essence of what's taking
place. At 160 degree field of view, I think with some of the best night vision we've seen
so far from a rain product.
Overall, you're getting a nice day and night vision with the Ring Video Doorbell Pro. On
top of that it has customizable motion zones, really helping you hit the next level in customizing
the notifications that you get.
You don't want to be bombarded all day with notifications. If you can make your ring video
doorbell see exactly what you want it to, you can help cut that down while still not
having to turn off motion alerts completely.
When it comes to cons the Ring Video Doorbell Pro does not have any Artificial Intelligence
capabilities. It doesn't have facial recognition technology or person detection. You are going
to be quite reliant on custom motion zones and scheduling to cut down on your notifications.
[music]
Gabe: Now that you've gone over the pros and cons for the Ring Video Doorbell Pro, let's
talk about its design. This may be the smallest of the Ring Video Doorbells. It is not battery
operated. It is only hardwired which allows it to be a little bit smaller. It doesn't
have to keep a battery inside of it.
In terms of the faceplate, we had the silver but it actually comes with four faceplates.
You have a lot of options to choose from. On the front of the device you have the microphone
lens that's were assessed and the button that does protrude a little bit out.
Generally speaking, I think it's a nice, sleek design. You'll note that you have speakers
on either side of the device. On the back, you have these screws that allow you to hardwire
directly to where your existing doorbell infrastructure is located.
The Ring Video Doorbell Pro can operate in temperatures from -5 to 120 degrees Fahrenheit.
So unless you're in Death Valley, it should work for you basically anywhere in the contiguous
United States. So overall, I'm a fan of the sleek design of the Ring Video Doorbell Pro.
[music]
Gabe: Hold on, I hope you're enjoying today's review of the Ring Video Doorbell Pro. If
you want to keep up to date on the newest video, doorbell Smart Home Security, cyber
security, and more, subscribe to our channel. Security Baron are dropping new content weekly.
All right, let's get back to the video.
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Reviewer: Let's move into the feature set for the Ring Video Doorbell Pro. We have to
start with that stellar video quality that has 1080 High Definition 106 degree field
of view with HDR as an option. So, you go into your settings, you can turn on that high
dynamic range, and really capture things in a crisp and clear vision.
Now, if you're looking at depth, of course, the foreground is really strong, you can capture
basically every blade of grass, every flower in the bush and our case. I will note that
with the shadows cast, where we had our camera set up, it did make me a little bit darker
making it difficult to see my features, they were a bit obscured.
That's just for the foreground, the people that I see coming to your home in the background.
You're seeing a lot, you can really make out what's taking place on the street, you can
see the exact make and models of cars going by, and that was a really strong feature.
And when it comes to night vision, we actually didn't have any of those shadow issues.
I thought that it really picked up my face quite well using its infrared LEDs. And that
was a strong indicator that you're going to be able to see pretty much everything going
on around your home, even when it's dark outside, even in the background.
Another strong feature on the Ring Video Doorbell Pro is the two way audio, you're gonna have
a crisp, clean conversation with whomever is at your front door, picking that's particularly
nice microphones that help you to hear what they're saying with noise cancellation built
in.
And the inverse is also true, you're going to know that the speakers are clear, they're
going to be able to be loud, and they're going to hear what you're saying really well. So,
in terms of answering the phone, or ignoring the phone calls, either way, you can result
in a very nice conversation with whoever's at your front door.
Man: Hey, Gabe, what's up?
Gabe: Just chilling, man. Come on in.
Man: Hey, thank you.
Gabe: With the Ring Video Doorbell Pro, you're able to get alerts from people that come up
and ring your doorbell, to people who are just walking by with the motion alerts.
It could be someone actually walking up your stoop and deciding, "Oh, you know what? This
is the wrong house." But you want to be cognizant of everything taking place. With the Ring
Video Doorbell Pro, you're going to get all these motion alerts.
If you live in a busy place like I do, you may not want every cyclist going by on the
way to work, or every person walking their dog, which I promise you is about 100 people
every morning. In that case, you have the ability to make customized motion zones with
the Ring Video Doorbell Pro.
I think this is a significant advantage over its predecessors. Here, you can draw the exact
motion zone that you'd like. For me, I just want to know when people come onto my stoop.
So I'm able to go ahead, draw that motion zone and I'm only going to be alerted when
people actually come on to my apartment building property.
That is my perspective on the custom motion zone and its ability to help you cut down
notifications, considering the Ring Video Doorbell Pro doesn't come with any Artificial
Intelligence capabilities.
Ring is an Amazon owned company so it pairs well with Amazon's virtual assistant. That
means that I can send the video from my Ring Video Doorbell Pro directly to my Amazon Echo
Show, Amazon Fire TV, or Amazon Echo 5. You're really going to be able to see exactly what's
happening on the screens made available to you.
If that's not enough, you can actually use each of your Amazon Echo devices as chimes
for the Ring Video Doorbell Pro. Maybe I don't have an existing doorbell infrastructure like
I don't have here in Brooklyn, doesn't matter. I can use Amazon Echo Spots that I have around
my apartment as chimes.
If you want to be able to view and save your clips from the Ring Video Doorbell, you're
going to have to sign up for the Ring Protect basic plan. Its $3 a month or $30 a year,
and with that you can go back two months essentially and view and even download or share clips
from your Ring Video Doorbell Pro.
Overall, I'm a big fan of what the Ring Video Doorbell Pro is bringing to the table.
[music]
Gabe: Let's talk about the installation experience on the Ring Video Doorbell Pro, which now
I have a significant amount of. There are two ways to set up the Ring Video Doorbell
Pro, but only one way that it can be set up and that is hardwire. This is not a battery-operated
video doorbell, you're going to have to hardwire it into something.
In both of my experiences, I was able to do so in under an hour. Overall, the experience
requires you to either use A, the existing infrastructure in a traditional home, or B,
a power adapter.
Let's begin with the traditional home. You're going to go take off your existing doorbell,
basically replace it with these pieces here. On top of that, you're going to have to go
to where your chime is located and make sure that you connect what is necessary there.
Then you're going to want to start the actual installation process which necessitates a
strong WiFi connection.
When we are in a traditional home, we use the ring WiFi extender. The router was in
the back of the house. We placed the Ring Video Doorbell Pro in the front of the house,
which meant that we put the ring WiFi extender about in the middle so that it would be able
to serve as that bridge, giving us the ability to set up the Ring Video Doorbell Pro.
When setting it up in an apartment building, like where I live in Brooklyn, it's a different
experience. Essentially, you take a power adapter, like anything you would use for your
Xbox in that nature, that's built for video doorbells.
You want to thread the wires through to your Ring Video Doorbell Pro. Then you're simply
going to put in your Chime Pro which functions as a range extender for your Internet and
also an actual chime so you can hear when people are at your door.
That installation experience was maybe even easier because I didn't have to go into my
home and actually deal with the chimes. I simply installed it using the power adapter
and the Chime Pro which sets up in about five minutes. Overall, the experience setting up
the Ring Video Doorbell Pro in both locations using both methods was under an hour.
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Gabe: We've got our Ring Video Doorbell Pro installed. Let's check out the mobile experience
with the Ring Always Home app. Here, you can be doing all the interfacing with the Ring
Video Doorbell. You want it to be a generally pleasant experience, but people seem to be
having a middling experience overall.
With iPhone users, this has a 3.2 out of 5-star ratings in the Apple App Store. For those
on Android, it has a 3.1 out of 5-star rating in the Google Play Store. Let's go ahead and
check it out on my iPhone 7+.
Here I am checking out my Ring Video Doorbell Pro in the Ring Alarm Always Home App on my
iPhone. People are coming and going here all the time, so it's always a good idea...oh,
looks like someone's here. Hey, man.
Man: Hey Gabe, what's up?
Gabe: All right, just chilling man. Come on in.
Man: Hey, thank you.
Gabe: That's pretty great with the Ring Video Doorbell Pro. I can see exactly who's at my
door when they ring it. Let's go and check it out in the live view.
You can see this car going by. You can basically see a lot of what's happening even in this
view. Of course, if I take it to landscape mode I can zoom, I can turn the sound on if
I'd like. You see a lot of different options at the bottom. I could speak directly to whoever's
outside even if they don't ring the doorbell, which is pretty useful.
Now we go back to the other view. You can see pretty well, even when you're not on landscape.
Let's go and check out the device settings.
Here, I'm in device settings. We've looked at the live view and let's look at the event
history. Here, you can see exactly everything that's taken place, or you can decide to take
it step by step.
I can look at the calls I've gotten today. I've missed a couple it seems. I can look
at all the motion detection, and even look at some live views that have been recorded.
If I go back and decide to look at my device settings, you'll note that I can look at the
motion settings. With the Video Doorbell Pro you have a lot more capabilities than you
would with its predecessor, the Ring Video Doorbell 2. To begin with, you can decide
to go to people only for motion sensitivity.
I live in Brooklyn, there's plenty of cars. I can decide to go all the way down or I can
decide to change the actual motion zone. If you see here, I can change the motion zone,
turn it like this, change this one, even. If I really wanted to do it the right way
I would do it right here from my stairs. Anyone in my stairs, boom, now I got them. Save that.
Now I'll be alerted to any of that activity. Of course, you can decide to go and make your
own motion schedule. I can decide to disable alerts, for example, every Saturday and Sunday
when I'm watching soccer. I watch between 6:00 A.M. and about 2:00 P.M. Yeah, I spend
that much time watching soccer.
Now I'm not going to be bothered by any motion alerts because I'll be sitting right in front
of the door. I'll be able to see exactly anyone coming in. Of course, you can go through and
look at the different settings in terms of video alerts in general. I can decide if I
want to be in color night vision, to audio stream record, or even more general things.
I've named this one the security baron ring pro. I can decide what type of doorbell sounds
I'd like to have. It goes with the internal kit. Of course, I've set this up with My Time
Pro and Amazon Echo Spot. I'm actually a pretty big fan of how I feel intuitive it is to use
this video doorbell and the Ring Always Home App.
Here I am, checking out the day vision on the Ring Doorbell Pro. You'll note that it's
pretty solid 1080p high definition. It's capturing the motion of me waving and sitting down pretty
well. You will see that my face is a bit under-exposed, obscuring my particular features.
Physically speaking, you can't see my face as well as you may want to, but that's probably
also exacerbated by the shadow caused by the garage. You'll note you can see cars pretty
well in the background as they pass by. You can see that flower bush just swaying in the
Texas breeze, and this family walking their dog.
I think it does grant them a certain degree of privacy but you can still see what's happening
on your block. You can even see them go pretty far down the street because it has that 160-degree
field of view. Overall I'm pretty happy with the daytime vision on the Ring Video Doorbell
Pro.
Here I am checking out the night vision on the Ring Video Doorbell Pro. You'll note that
it's pretty crisp. The 1080p high definition with the infrared LEDs actually makes it so
I think you can see my face better now than you could in the daytime.
You'll see once I go to the driveway that ring spotlight cam battery turns on, giving
you a little bit more light. You can see pretty well into the background despite the fact
that it was about midnight when we shot this, or pretty late.
I know I look a little exasperated but I'm actually pretty happy and satisfied with the
way the Ring Video Doorbell Pro is working, giving it the thumbs up. Putting my face directly
[laughs] into the infrared LEDs, and you can make me out pretty well.
You wouldn't have any issues with a late-night pizza delivery, or seeing anyone creeping
around your front door, no matter where you are. There's no lag. We're pretty fortunate
with the way this one turned out in terms of how it was capturing the vision.
Note, when this pick-up truck is pulling up to the house, you're pretty much alerted to
it, not only through the motion detectors but the fact that you can see quite well.
At any point, if you wanted to check in on your home on the night vision with the Ring
Video Doorbell Pro, you're probably going to capture exactly what you need.
[music]
Gabe: All right, we've gone over most every element of the Ring Video Doorbell Pro, and
it gave us is the right video doorbell for me, Gabe. Listen, it has beautiful daytime
and night time vision. 1080p high definition, 160-degree field of view with that high dynamic
range also known as HDR.
The infrared LED, it's really made for a nice night time experience. If you think about
the noise cancellation with the two-way audio, you're going to be able to engage in some
crisp, clean conversations with anyone who comes to your door.
I will point out that it's a bit spendy, coming in at about $250 for a device that doesn't
have Artificial Intelligence. However, overall, I was pretty impressed and enjoyed my experience
and the performance of the Ring Video Doorbell Pro. I feel like it's a solid contender for
anyone looking for a video doorbell.
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That concludes our review of the Ring Video Doorbell Pro. If you appreciate today's video,
give us a like and hit that subscribe button. As always, this is Gabe Security Baron. Be
secure.