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Ring’s most feature-rich video doorbell yet, the Battery Doorbell Pro offers head-to-toe vertical viewing, 3D motion detection with Ring’s aerial Bird’s Eye View tracking, color night vision, and more. It’s a battery-powered device that installs in minutes and works with the Alexa voice assistant plus many third-party smart home devices via IFTTT applets. At $229.99, it’s one of the more expensive wireless doorbells we’ve reviewed, and you have to pay even more to view recorded video and take advantage of certain features like package and person alerts. If you don’t need all the bells and whistles you get with the Battery Doorbell Pro, you can save a lot of money with our Editors’ Choice, the $79.99 Arlo Video Doorbell (2nd Generation), which also delivers sharp 1536p video, intelligent alerts, and has an even wider field of view. Design and Features: You Get It All The Battery Doorbell Pro uses the same black and satin nickel enclosure as the Battery Doorbell Plus ($179.99), and at 5.1 by 2.4 by 1.1 inches (HWD), it shares the same dimensions. The camera is positioned at the top of the enclosure and the lower half contains a removable cover and a doorbell button with an LED ring that flashes blue when you ring the doorbell and displays a white spinning light during setup.
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(Credit: Ring)
The Doorbell Pro uses an HDR camera that captures 1536p video with a 150-degree (horizontal and vertical) field of view that gives you a head-to-toe view of your doorstep. It provides full-color night vision (with adequate ambient light) and offers the same Bird’s Eye View and 3D motion detection radar technologies that you get with the Ring Wired Doorbell Pro ($229.99) and Floodlight Cam Wired Pro ($249.99). Bird’s Eye motion events show up as dots on an aerial map that let you see where visitors have been while on your property and 3D motion detection lets you create custom motion zones with distance thresholds. The 3D motion detection feature also promises improved performance in dark and low-light conditions with fewer false alerts compared with traditional camera vision detection. A pair of speakers on both sides of the doorbell and a microphone embedded in the camera assembly facilitate two-way talk, while an integrated dual-band Wi-Fi radio lets you connect the doorbell to your home network via the 2.4GHz or 5GHz band. As its name implies, the Battery Doorbell Pro is powered by a removable, rechargeable battery pack, but it can also be hardwired to an 8-24 VAC transformer using the two wiring terminals on the back.
The more affordable Battery Doorbell Plus also delivers 1536p video with a head-to-toe aspect ratio, but it doesn’t support Bird’s Eye View, dual-band Wi-Fi, or Pre-Roll, which captures four seconds of activity prior to an event trigger. The camera will record video when the doorbell button is pressed or when motion is detected, but as with every Ring camera you have to subscribe to a Ring Protect plan to view it. Starting at $4.99 per month or $49.99 per year, the Basic plan covers one camera and gives you 180 days of rolling video storage. It also unlocks several features including color Pre-Roll, package and person alerts, Rich Notifications, and Snapshot Capture, which takes pictures at preset intervals so you can see what’s going on between triggered events. The Doorbell Pro comes with a free 30-day Ring Protect trial that begins when you activate the doorbell, so you can decide whether the paywalled features are worth the upcharge. For $10 per month or $100 per year, you can upgrade to the Ring Protect Plus plan, which covers an unlimited number of cameras, and unlocks additional features including live picture-in-picture viewing, Multi-Cam Live View that lets you monitor up to four camera feeds at a time, and enhanced notifications.
(Credit: Ring)
The Battery Doorbell Pro supports Alexa voice commands and IFTTT applets that allow it to integrate with lots of third-party smart devices, but it doesn’t work with Apple HomeKit or Google Assistant. It uses the same Ring Always Home mobile app for Android and iOS as all other devices from the brand, and appears in a panel on the app’s Dashboard screen along with a still image of the last captured event. Tap the panel to open a video screen with a play arrow that launches a live stream. Below the video preview is a timeline of recorded events, and at the bottom of this screen are buttons for sharing the video and filtering videos by device if you have more than one camera. There’s also a Calendar button for searching for videos by date and a More button that lets you take a snapshot of the current video frame. Tap the gear button in the upper right corner to open a control panel where you can turn motion detection and alerts on and off, configure Bird’s Eye settings, view the event history screen, configure Mode Settings (Disarmed, Home, Away), temporarily snooze alerts, and link the doorbell to a Ring Chime and other Ring devices such as lights and cameras. Other settings let you check device health stats (battery level, Wi-Fi connection), configure Wi-Fi settings, enable Smart Responses that allow the doorbell to play one of four default messages, and adjust video and night vision settings. Installation and Performance: Simple and SeamlessInstalling the Battery Doorbell Pro is fast and easy. To get started, you have to download the Ring app and create an account. I charged up the battery, inserted it into the battery compartment, and opened the app. When the LED began spinning white, I scrolled to the bottom of the Home screen, tapped the setup button, and selected Doorbells. When prompted, I used my phone’s camera to scan the QR code on the back of the doorbell, then selected my previously entered home address and gave the device a name. I secured the cover using the included screw and screwdriver and entered my Wi-Fi SSID and password when prompted. Once the doorbell was connected to my Wi-Fi, it automatically performed a firmware update. At this point, you can view a physical installation tutorial or skip it. I took the doorbell outside and attached it to my front door frame, scrolled through several feature screens, and the installation was finished.
(Credit: Ring)
The Battery Doorbell Pro worked flawlessly in testing. Daytime video provided rich colors with a full view of the doorstep, while black-and-white night video appeared sharp with good contrast. However, color night video quality was not as vibrant or as crisp as daytime video.The Bird’s Eye feature worked as intended, as did Package Detection. Motion alerts arrived instantly and were correctly identified, and two-way talk and Quick Responses came through loud and clear. Alexa voice commands to stream video to an Echo Show smart display worked without issue. as did my Alexa routine to have a Wyze Bulb turn on when the doorbell detected motion.Premium Porch MonitoringThe Battery Doorbell Pro is one of Ring’s more expensive wireless doorbells, but you get a number of advanced features including the company’s unique Bird’s Eye View and 3D motion detection technologies, as well as dual-band Wi-Fi. It also installs in minutes, delivers sharp 1536p video with a full view of your doorstep, and works with Alexa voice commands and IFTTT applets. That said, you have to spend even more to view recorded video and unlock some features such as color Pre-Roll, intelligent alerts, and package detection. If the Battery Doorbell Pro’s $229.99 price is more than you’re willing to spend, there are more affordable alternatives out there, including our Editors’ Choice, the $79.99 Arlo Video Doorbell (2nd Generation).
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