Ring Video Doorbell 3 Plus review
Our Verdict
The Ring Video Doorbell 3 Plus lets y'all run across more of the action outside your front door, but it's still not every bit good every bit the Nest Hello.
For
- Tin can be wired or bombardment-powered
- Pre-gyre shows all move
- Works with a good number of other smart dwelling house devices
Confronting
- No package detection
- No preview notification
- Subscription required for many features
Tom's Guide Verdict
The Ring Video Doorbell 3 Plus lets you see more than of the activity outside your front end door, only it's still non as good as the Nest Hello.
Pros
- +
Can be wired or bombardment-powered
- +
Pre-roll shows all motion
- +
Works with a good number of other smart home devices
Cons
- -
No bundle detection
- -
No preview notification
- -
Subscription required for many features
The Ring Video Doorbell 3 Plus addresses one of the biggest issues with video doorbells head-on. The claiming: capturing all of when a person—company or otherwise—enters the picture. By the fourth dimension the movement sensor detects motility and tells the camera to start recording, the person might already be halfway through the frame, so all yous encounter is the dorsum of their head.
The solution is called Pre-roll, which enables the Ring Video Doorbell three Plus to show you the four seconds before someone enters the frame. This characteristic isn't new—some of the best video doorbells already practise this—just it's good to come across Band communicable up. And, of the video doorbells with this characteristic, Ring'due south is the only i that can practice it on bombardment ability alone.
But, as you'll discover in our Ring Video Doorbell 3 review, at that place are notwithstanding some areas where Ring needs to catch upward with the competition.
Editor'south note: Ring has phased out the Ring Video Doorbell 3 Plus in favor of the Ring Video Doorbell 4, which has an improved color Pre-roll feature. We suggest checking out that model instead.
- Security camera storage plans compared
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- Ring Video Doorbell vs. Ring 3 vs. Band Pro: Which should you buy?
Ring Video Doorbell 3 Plus: Price and release engagement
The Ring Video Doorbell three ($199) and the Ring Video Doorbell 3 Plus ($229) were released in 2020, and are virtually the same. The major difference between the two is that the Plus has a feature called Pre-Roll technology, which adds a low-resolution, blackness and white 6-second video preview of each movement event.
Ring Video Doorbell 3 Plus: Design
Ring Video Doorbell 3 Plus specs
Video resolution: 1080p HDR
Field of View: 160 degrees
Person detection: Yes
Packet detection: No
Battery/wired: Aye/Yeah
Works with: Alexa
Size: v.ane x ii.4 x one.one inches
No major changes here. The Ring Video Doorbell 3 Plus (and the Ring Video Doorbell 3) expect pretty much the same every bit their predecessors, the Band Video Doorbell 2 and the Ring Video Doorbell. It'south a rectangle measuring v inches tall, 2.4 inches broad, and about 1 inch deep; the top third houses the photographic camera, and is sleeky black. The bottom two-thirds, where the doorbell'south push resides, has a plastic silverish cover (Band sells a bronze-colored embrace).
Considering Ring's doorbell cam includes a battery, so it tin be installed where there are no wires. However, considering of the battery the Video Doorbell 3 is thicker than wired doorbell cams such as the Nest Hello and the Arlo Video Doorbell.
Ring Video Doorbell 3 Plus: Installation
I of the things I liked almost the original Band Video Doorbell was that, to install the device, you lot kickoff had to install a lightweight base plate, to which y'all attached the power wires. And so, you lot slid the video doorbell and secured it to the base of operations plate. I liked this arroyo because information technology was easier to do by yourself, and you didn't take the full weight of the video doorbell tugging on the wires before you screwed everything in.
Unfortunately, like other video doorbells, the Ring Video Doorbell 3 Plus doesn't have a base plate, so yous have to adhere the wires directly to the dorsum of the doorbell itself. There'southward too less room in the back, then I had to work to cram my doorbell's wires into identify. I did like that the Ring Video Doorbell 3 has a beefier security spiral than before, though.
Included with the doorbell are 2 plastic wedges, ane of which angles the camera more than towards the heart of your door, and the other of which angles the camera downward.
Another helpful optional feature that Band offers is the Chime ($29) and the Chinkle Pro ($49). These are wireless doorbell chimes that you can link to the video doorbell, so that when someone presses the doorbell button, the Chime will sound. That manner, fifty-fifty if yous don't have your phone handy, you'll know if someone's at the door. Yous tin can likewise configure the Chime to audio if the doorbell detects motion. The Chime Pro as well has an added do good of acting equally a Wi-Fi extender for the video doorbell, helpful for when your home wireless network can't quite reach your front door.
Band Video Doorbell iii Plus: Pre-roll
Ring's new Pre-curl feature is similar to that institute on the Nest Hullo, the Arlo Video Doorbell, and the August Doorbell Cam. Basically, all of these cameras are continually buffering a few seconds of video; when the doorbell detects move (and records it), it then adds that buffered video to the commencement of the recording. That way, there's a greater chance of seeing someone as they approach your door.
Unlike its competitors, though, Ring's Pre-roll works even when the doorbell is running on bombardment ability. (For what information technology's worth, the Nest Hello, Arlo, and August are all wired-but video doorbells). Even so, to conserve battery life, Pre-roll footage is recorded at a lower resolution and in black-and-white. And, only the middle horizontal section is in focus, so if y'all're trying to place someone above or below that expanse, you'll have trouble. Also, Pre-roll doesn't piece of work when the photographic camera is in night vision mode.
When looking at the Pre-roll video, I felt like I was watching the scene in The Wizard of Oz when Dorothy leaves her house and steps into Oz for the first time, but not quite as magical. It'southward moderately effective, but if yous don't need a wireless doorbell, this similar characteristic on the Nest and Arlo are much better.
The Band Video Doorbell 3 Pro ($249), which is a hardwired-only model, too has a Pre-roll feature, merely it records everything in colour and at full resolution.
Ring Video Doorbell iii Plus: Video Performance
Like the Ring Video Doorbell 2, the Ring Video Doorbell 3 Plus has a 1080p camera with a 160-degree field of view. It offered a nice, expansive view of my front stoop, but did not show the function of the porch closest to my door—the identify where a bundle would most likely be dropped. The bottom edge of the Ring video was about four feet from my door, virtually two feet farther out than the Arlo. Installing the included wedge helped somewhat, but if you really want to meet what's at the very base of your door, you'll need a camera similar the Maximus Reply DualCam.
Otherwise, I was generally pleased with the quality of Band's video, both 24-hour interval and night. While not the sharpest—tree leaves and darker areas looked a scrap mottled, especially when they were swaying in the breeze—I could easily make out faces and features of people. The Band Video Doorbell three Plus' HDR mode also helped to account for the darkness of my shaded porch and the bright sunlit heaven beyond.
Ring Video Doorbell three Plus: App and features
One feature I similar most Arlo's video doorbell is that, when I receive a notification, a still image from the doorbell would appear on my iPhone'southward lock screen. It's a quick and piece of cake way to encounter if it'south just someone delivering the mail, a guest, or someone else. With the Ring, you get a notification that a person is at your door, but no epitome, so you accept to actually open the app to see who'south there.
The Band app has a Movement Wizard, which asks you a few questions, such every bit how close you are to a street, and tries to configure the motion settings automatically to best eliminate unwanted alerts. It's quick, and is pretty constructive.
Yous can as well manually select or deselect one of iv zones for the camera to ignore, adjust the sensitivity, and set schedules for when motion alerts are active. Why information technology doesn't have the more flexible move zone settings offered with the Ring Video Doorbell Pro is across me.
The Ring Video Doorbell 3 Plus also includes Person Detection, a welcome new feature. When enabled, you should only receive notifications when a person walks in front of your door. (It will still tape all motion events, though). Equally a test, I enabled Person Detection, but set up the camera to sense motion all the way to the street in front of my house, and set movement detection to its most sensitive. Sure plenty, while the Ring 3 Plus dutifully recorded every automobile that drove by, it only alerted me when a person appeared.
However, the Ring Video Doorbell 3 Plus still lacks package detection, a feature available with the Arlo Video Doorbell and the Nest Hello. And, while Ring has been reportedly toying with the feature, there's no facial recognition, every bit at that place is with the Nest Hullo. While some may find this creepy, it might exist helpful to know when family members go far home.
Your neighbors will appreciate a characteristic chosen Privacy Zones, which lets y'all black out sections of the Video Doorbell 3 Plus' vision, so that you lot don't record their property.
In July 2021, Ring launched end-to-end encryption for its video doorbells and home security cameras. Unfortunately, this feature is not available for battery-powered devices, such as the Band Video Doorbell 3. Hither is a complete list of Ring video doorbells with stop-to-terminate encryption equally well every bit instructions on how to enable the characteristic.
Ring Video Doorbell three: Subscription costs
As is the trend among smart home security devices, you need to pay for a subscription to get virtually of the Ring Video Doorbell 3'southward benefits.
If yous don't sign upwards, you can go notifications and view a live feed from the camera, but that'south about it. It's pretty ineffective, considering past the time you receive a notification, the person at your door has probably already left.
Subscriptions first at $3/calendar month or $30 per yr for a unmarried camera, and gets yous 60 days of rolling cloud storage. If you jump up to the Band Protect Plus programme ($x/calendar month, $100/twelvemonth), it covers an unlimited number of cameras — this can include home security cameras, likewise — at any one location.
That's pretty competitive when you compare it with other security cameras. For example, Arlo Premier starts at $3/month for an private camera, or $ten/month for up to five cameras; additional cameras are fifty% off. Nest Aware includes 30 days of video storage, costs $6/month (or $60 annually), and includes an unlimited number of cameras.
Ring Video Doorbell three Plus: Privacy and Security
Whatsoever review of a Ring product with a camera would be remiss without at least a cursory discussion of the company'due south past privacy and security concerns. In 2019, Band was beset by a number of claims of individuals hacking into Ring cameras, the vast majority of which were the effect of weak passwords. Band now requires ii-factor hallmark for all users, and in the app, makes its privacy policies easier to understand, and easier for you lot to opt out third-party data sharing.
As well of concern to some is Neighbors, a feature of the Ring app that lets you share footage from your Ring cameras to others in the Neighbors app, as well as view video that others have posted. It's used to warning those in your surface area to incidents, such every bit crime, safety, unknown visitors, lost pets, and "neighborly moments"—acts of kindness. A number of local police enforcement agencies in the U.South. also participate in the Neighbors programme, but individuals are not required to share their video or information with the authorities unless compelled to practice so by a court order. And, in the Ring app, you lot tin can opt out from receiving requests.
Ring Video Doorbell three Plus: Smart Home compatibility
As Band is part of the Amazon commonage, it's no surprise that the Ring Video Doorbell iii Plus plays nice with Alexa. For example, you can use two-manner talk with the Repeat and Echo Dot, and if you have an Echo Testify, you can see who's at your door and converse with them.
Since the original video doorbell, Ring has expanded its offerings to include smart lights and the Ring Alarm home security system. If your Ring smart lights sense motion, you can set the doorbell camera to automatically begin recording.
The Band Video Doorbell 3 Plus as well works with the Schlage Encode smart lock, as well equally ADT Pulse, WeMo, Smartlink, Kevo, and Wink.
Ring Video Doorbell 3 Plus: Verdict
The original Ring Video Doorbell set the standard for video doorbells. Yet, the standards have changed, and while the Band Video Doorbell 3 Plus is an excellent device—worthy of inclusion as one of the all-time video doorbells—there are however a few things that the competition does ameliorate.
I like that the Band 3 Plus' Pre-roll now lets y'all see more of what's going on, merely information technology's non as effective as what you tin can find on other video doorbells. The ane difference is that Ring'south works on battery power, which could be a big deal for some.
If yous're invested in the Band ecosystem and replacing a hardwired doorbell, I suggest the Ring Video Doorbell Pro; it'south $20 more expensive, but you get full color, and full-resolution video for Pre-coil. But if you lot're looking for a wireless doorbell, the Ring Video Doorbell three Plus is pretty great.
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/ring-video-doorbell-3-plus
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