Ring Doorbell

[Al_G]

Has anyone got one of these? Bought as a gift but online reviews are mixed (poor battery life, response to phone etc).

At £150 it’s not cheap, I’m considering returning it.

The doorbell in question.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0758975BR/?tag=cliospnet01-21

 

[Danith]

Interested as my mum keeps asking me to get her one!

 

[NickM5c]

I’ve got one (battery) along with several of the cameras (mains and 1 battery one), a couple of chimes and a chime pro (WiFi extender). I personally think it’s pretty good but as you’d expect it is very dependent on your WiFi strength/connection. I have one camera that does struggle sometimes due to how far it is away, but the rest I have no trouble with.

As you mentioned the battery on the doorbell lasts nowhere near the quoted time. Like all battery operated things the more you use it (for live feeds or extend its detection range) the faster it will drain. I can get about a month out of mine before a battery swap is required. I have a few spare batteries and swapping them over is literally a 30 second job so it’s no big deal. You can get a mains doorbell as well in case you weren’t already aware.

 

[Al_G]

I’ve got one (battery) along with several of the cameras (mains and 1 battery one), a couple of chimes and a chime pro (WiFi extender). I personally think it’s pretty good but as you’d expect it is very dependent on your WiFi strength/connection. I have one camera that does struggle sometimes due to how far it is away, but the rest I have no trouble with.

As you mentioned the battery on the doorbell lasts nowhere near the quoted time. Like all battery operated things the more you use it (for live feeds or extend its detection range) the faster it will drain. I can get about a month out of mine before a battery swap is required. I have a few spare batteries and swapping them over is literally a 30 second job so it’s no big deal. You can get a mains doorbell as well in case you weren’t already aware.

Cheers for taking the time to respond. It’s much appreciated.

Mine (if I decide to keep it) will be 4m from the router (located under the stairs) so even though I’m in the middle of nowhere and fiber speed is slow (10mbps) general signal strength should be good).

Problem I have is mounting it. I’ve got nowhere to mount it other than on the door itself (large glass panels either side of the door and very thin wooden frame). There’s no existing door bell so battery is the only option. I don’t fancy drilling into my expensive oak front door so will probably attach the unit using 3M tape.

What’s the connection time between the door bell ringing and you being able to answer it on your phone while away from your property? I heard it can be 30s plus in certain circumstances.

 

[super_ted]

I have one that I’m very happy with, only downside is the slight delay of around 4-5 seconds when using the app. I’ve found my battery to last around 2 months which I think is pretty good to be fair. You can also get a solar charger surround for it too.

 

[DivideBYZero]

I have the Nest Hello and it works flawlessly with Google Home to announce someone is at the door. Or even WHO is at the door of their face is recognised.

 

[Eddie555]

I have the door bell, a rear spotlight cam and chime door bell WiFi extender. I also have really bad WiFi service at only 4meg. My system works perfectly fine and delay is 2-3 seconds from pressing the door bell to my phone alerted. I’m very happy with everything and battery lasts approximately 4-5 weeks with standard alert settings.

 

[STEVE.M]

Christ, I just hacked into one of these, and you could be arrested for watching that kind of p**n.

 

[davo172]

I have the Nest Hello and it works flawlessly with Google Home to announce someone is at the door. Or even WHO is at the door of their face is recognised.

These do get very good reviews.

 

[Danith]

Any good deals on?

 

[Al_G]

Any good deals on?

Wife bought mine from amazon...£150.

I’ve just sent it back though. The Fact it’s so bulky with nowhere to fix it (other than the door) and the poor battery life (no existing door bell to hard wire it too) put me off. Will wait for something with a smaller form factor.

Otherwise a good product.

 

[Danith]

Also, I don't get that it's just a stick on wifi bell with camera?

If someone's gonna burgle your house surely they'll just rip it off or even kids might just nick the camera?!

 

[Al_G]

Also, I don't get that it's just a stick on wifi bell with camera?

If someone's gonna burgle your house surely they'll just rip it off or even kids might just nick the camera?!

I think Ring offer a free replacement but can’t imagine it’s easy to claim. If you pay for ring protect (£2.50 a month) you get 30 days worth of video storage (it’s got motion detection) so you’ll catch the offender in action.

A friend made a valid point, if you answer remotely it kind of advertises the fact you’re out...But saying that most burglars will know when nobody’s at home and at least the motion detection will pickup some activity providing the bell is positioned in the right place.

 

[PoppinCherries]

Dad got us one the other week.. personally if it was my house I wouldn’t bother. Battery isn’t great but if you live somewhere with a lot of traffic or people walking past then it’s obviously being set off all the time. I don’t even look at it anymore when the notification comes through my phone unless someone’s actually pressed the button.

Picture quality is pretty good thou and our WiFi router is literally just the other side of the door but by time someone’s pressed it and then you’ve opened up the app/notification your probs getting on for 10seconds so just depends on how patient the person is at your door. Have been successful a couple of times with parcels telling them to leave in a safe place thou.

After 30 days you will need to pay a subscription thou, think it’s about £30ish for the year if you don’t you can’t look back at the recording so kind of have to have it.

 

[Al_G]

Dad got us one the other week.. personally if it was my house I wouldn’t bother. Battery isn’t great but if you live somewhere with a lot of traffic or people walking past then it’s obviously being set off all the time. I don’t even look at it anymore when the notification comes through my phone unless someone’s actually pressed the button.

Picture quality is pretty good thou and our WiFi router is literally just the other side of the door but by time someone’s pressed it and then you’ve opened up the app/notification your probs getting on for 10seconds so just depends on how patient the person is at your door. Have been successful a couple of times with parcels telling them to leave in a safe place thou.

After 30 days you will need to pay a subscription thou, think it’s about £30ish for the year if you don’t you can’t look back at the recording so kind of have to have it.

Out of interest mate, can you answer the door bell on multiple devices or are you limited to one device/user id? Say yours and your wife’s mobile? What happens if you answer at the same time lol?

 

[PoppinCherries]

Out of interest mate, can you answer the door bell on multiple devices or are you limited to one device/user id? Say yours and your wife’s mobile? What happens if you answer at the same time lol?

Yh you can answer on multiple devices, I have it on my phone as well as my dad but we haven’t answered at the same time yet, I’m guessing it wouldn’t let the 2nd person to answer the notification to be able to speak, probs be able to watch it live thou. Might give it ago tomorrow lol

 

[NickM5c]

I don’t know about the doorbell as I haven’t tried, but the cameras allow multiple viewers to talk at once.

 

[davo172]

Is the pro version a fair bit smaller?

 

[Al_G]

Is the pro version a fair bit smaller?

Yes but has to be hard wired. Same as the nest.

 

[Ol’ Tarby]

Yeah Pro needs to be hardwired but it works much quicker. The battery one drops WiFi connection whilst in standby to save battery life, so a delay comes from it reconnecting to the WiFi and then sending the notification

 

[davo172]

Anyone got the pro one?

 

[Danith]

ok my mum is keen as mustard to get one for some reason. so I think I'm gonna suggest to get her the ring doorbell 1.

£89 for the ring and £149 for the ring 2 and as far as I can see you're paying the extra for the 1080p over 720p. Can't see it;s worth double. Both can be battery or hardwired too (I would've thought hard wired would be better?).
both come with 2 years theft free replacement.

 

[Al_G]

ok my mum is keen as mustard to get one for some reason. so I think I'm gonna suggest to get her the ring doorbell 1.

£89 for the ring and £149 for the ring 2 and as far as I can see you're paying the extra for the 1080p over 720p. Can't see it;s worth double. Both can be battery or hardwired too (I would've thought hard wired would be better?).
both come with 2 years theft free replacement.

Ring 2 has a detachable battery (meaning you can buy extras and keep them charged ready to swap over), Ring 1 has to be removed in full from the wall using the included special screw driver as the battery isn’t removable.

Obviously this is a mute point of you plan on hard wiring it. Saying that I’d go for the pro in that case as the Ring 1 & 2 are the size of a brick.

 

[Danith]

Ring 2 has a detachable battery (meaning you can buy extras and keep them charged ready to swap over), Ring 1 has to be removed in full from the wall using the included special screw driver as the battery isn’t removable.

Obviously this is a mute point of you plan on hard wiring it. Saying that I’d go for the pro in that case as the Ring 1 & 2 are the size of a brick.

Can't be that hard to hard wire? Why would folk want to use batteries, don't get that.

Is the size a genuine issue?

Forgot ebay has 15% off, that I could've used for this!! too late now. skint anyway

 

[Al_G]

Can't be that hard to hard wire? Why would folk want to use batteries, don't get that.

Is the size a genuine issue?

Forgot ebay has 15% off!! too late now

Nah, I’m no electrician though. If you’ve already got a door bell in situ you can just use the existing connection.

It’s big but all depends if you have the room for it. The pro looks to be a similar size to a normal door bell.

I think I’m going invest in an Arlo cam system instead.

You’ll probably also want to buy a “chime” to go with the ring 2 so you can hear the doorbell go off if you’re at home and not near your phone.

 

[Danith]

Also, the lot of them seem to be one of those products that you buy cos you think you need it and the initial outlay of buying the product is also followed by a subsequent subscription which means you're tied in (like iPhones).

Is this the case?

 

[Al_G]

Also, the lot of them seem to be one of those products that you buy cos you think you need it and the initial outlay of buying the product is also followed by a subsequent subscription which means you're tied in (like iPhones).

Is this the case?

If you want to use it for surveillance then you have to pay 2.50 a month for one device. The recordings are stored in the cloud for 30days. You can use it for live watch and answering the bell for free.

 

[davo172]

Also, the lot of them seem to be one of those products that you buy cos you think you need it and the initial outlay of buying the product is also followed by a subsequent subscription which means you're tied in (like iPhones).

Is this the case?

Think the subsription is 2.50 a month or 40 quid a year paid up front iirc

 

[Danith]

Oh right is that it. That's ok then. Thought it was one of those marketing product/service hybrids where you're tied in and pay over a fair whack each month

 

[Danith]

Just bought the Chinese one off amazon (modohe) and its been fine for my brother in law and mum. But whenever i get a notification it just buffers and says cant connect. Absolute shite, or am i doing something wrong!?

The camera connects to wifi ok and pairs up etc but alerts are slow and useless.

Shall i just get a ring 1?

 

[Rich..]

Think the subsription is 2.50 a month or 40 quid a year paid up front iirc

It’s £24.99 for the year, £40 would be more than £2.50 a month

 

[Hxrry]

My Dad has anyone and the only fault I can find is that the chime on his phone is bloody annoying!! This can be toggled I know

Camera quality is great, gives remote playback and battery is fantastic for what it is imo.

 

[Rich..]

Went on YouTube to see what they’re like in the dark and ended up watching videos of package thieves caught on them, the 2nd clip on this one is funny as f

 

[brisa4984]

Best piece of kit I’ve bought for the home in ages. Excellent stuff

 

[boultonn]

i looked into these in the past but when looking at the Amazon reviews there were an alarming number saying how it took like a minute for the notification to come through, by which time the visitor/deliveryman had long gone, even when the door bell was really close to the router.

anyone had an issues with latency/lag in the video or delay in the notifications arriving on your phone?

 

[Danith]

i looked into these in the past but when looking at the Amazon reviews there were an alarming number saying how it took like a minute for the notification to come through, by which time the visitor/deliveryman had long gone, even when the door bell was really close to the router.

anyone had an issues with latency/lag in the video or delay in the notifications arriving on your phone?

Yes mine takes a few seconds. Im more after it to detect any intruders tho so its good for that as records clips.

 

[brisa4984]

i looked into these in the past but when looking at the Amazon reviews there were an alarming number saying how it took like a minute for the notification to come through, by which time the visitor/deliveryman had long gone, even when the door bell was really close to the router.

anyone had an issues with latency/lag in the video or delay in the notifications arriving on your phone?

I heard about this too but. I’ve got a router extender on the inside of the wall where the door bell is. Literally 2 feet away and there’s no delay. Without it and yes there is but no more than the time it would take to get to the door in a conventional manner.

 

[Danith]

Ok so this modohe one is far too glitchy and unreliable. Keeps buffering and disconnecting so it's going back.

Who's got the ring1? Ring2 is double the price so not sure its worth the extra?

 

[Rojer]

Ok so this modohe one is far too glitchy and unreliable. Keeps buffering and disconnecting so it's going back.

Who's got the ring1? Ring2 is double the price so not sure its worth the extra?

Does it have an option to be hard wired rather than WIFI?

 

[Danith]

Does it have an option to be hard wired rather than WIFI?

No but i don't want to hard wire as want to take it to new house in a month or 2, before i get a proper cctv system at the new pad