Top critical review
2.0 out of 5 starsYou take the good...you take the bad...
Reviewed in the United States on August 5, 2023
...and there you have....Ring.
Pros:
*Familiar technology with easy integration into their system
*Decent support (6.5/10) for most calls but a company which will try to do the right thing; you just need to push them
*Amazon owned = quick shipping + fairly painless replacements (if applicable)
*Image quality is improving (more on that below though)
*Night mode is solid
*Lights power on when motion is detected is a great feature
Cons:
*Camera is priced extremely high for the technology. It's 2023, and Ring still uses 1080p cameras (when peers are using 4k resolution). That matters, because the unit is stuck with that camera until you replace it. No matter how many updates Ring does...this unit will always max out at 1080p resolution. I'm sorry, I don't think that deserves the Pro label in a product line.
*Purchased the item during a Prime Day event. Ring ships two (2) boxes: one camera and then a hard wired kit. That was strange. In addition, this "hardwired kit" is just a charger for the unit. It wires into your home's electrical circuits (sure), but interfaces via a USB-C plug which must be plugged into the device and then secured with a cover. This is far different when compared to the Ring Doorbell wired hardware (which are directly wired into the doorbells). To me, it introduces additional failure points.
*Limited instructions on how to install the hardwired kit. I used another Reviewer's videos and found that much more helpful vs. the included instruction packet.
*Quality: My initial hardwired kit broke. I placed the camera on the post, tried moving the camera and...snap...it broke. Amazon helped and sent a replacement immediately.
*This specific camera works...well....at times. Currently showing on my app that I am in hardwired mode, but my web portal shows battery. Same device, same company, same technology...why the difference? That matters because battery mode updates the snapshot timeline far less frequent vs. powered...but my device says it is powered (unless I look at the web portal)?
...there is a ticket with Ring for this currently.
Overall Review:
I'm not an electrician by any means, but I am savvy and know how to find resources. A simple YouTube search (or Amazon video review in my case) gets you to someone who can help with the wiring. The fact that this "wired' kit is a touch misleading and the quality of the camera post is a solid 3/10 (easy to snap) is a pain point. The real issue (as many have said) is that I feel this unit isn't ready for Prime Time; maybe the JV game before though. Lacking camera resolution (1080p?!) + conflicting outputs (app vs. website) on the same platform with the same unit + limited instructions = good, not great.
I didn't use the Bird's Eye View, so I have no review on that.
***Update: 09/01/2023: As of the time of this writing, I never received a response from Ring (or Amazon about the delay in responses from Ring - as Ring is owned by Amazon) about the open ticket.
The camera began saying it was in battery mode again and eventually drained the battery. It was plugged in and receiving power & solid WiFi (validated by my wireless network as it has data on connection, signal strength, etc of the devices on the network) but would periodically say it was not receiving power and had a weak WiFi signal; smh - wireless router within 20' of the unit. Ring Customer support was terrible. Multiple transfers and lack of product knowledge. Amazon support wasn't much better. Transferred to 6+ people within a Customer Service chat. That was enough for me. I returned it.
