09 May
Blog

Ring Video Doorbell 3 Plus Review: Complacent in a Sea of Innovations

"Live breakdowns and a few missing functions make this doorbell a dubious choice."

  • A variety of motion controls

  • Pre-roll preview function

  • Compatible with Alexa and Ring devices

  • easy installation

  • Doesn't recognize boxes

  • Glitchy live view

  • Distorted video

We already love ringtones. With the ring app, you can see who is at your door, wherever you are, and even talk to visitors in real time. We love Ring so much that Ring Video Doorbell 2 and Ring Video Doorbell Pro made our list of the best video doorbells for 2020. Now the company has launched the next model in its line, the Ring video doorbell 3 Plus ($ 229.99). Will we love it as much? That's how it went.

Doorbell Plus 3 is ringinginstallation

Setting up the doorbell is fairly easy since the doorbell app guides you by connecting the doorbell to your Wi-Fi network. It is even helpful to set up security and usage settings. The installation kit also includes everything you need, including a drill, in case you need to drill new holes for the mounting bracket.

As soon as this is complete, you can connect your new doorbell to other Ring products such as the Ring Solar Floodlight, Solar Path Lights, the various intelligent light bulbs from Ring or Solar Step Lights. With this connection to other devices, you can set up tasks. For example, you can set up a task to automatically turn on your smart lights during the night when the doorbell detects motion.

Ring video doorbell 3 plus cover platesAlina Bradford / Digital Trends

If you have color preferences, the 3 Plus comes with two different front panels: you can choose between silver and black to better match your home. Replacing is as easy as snapping a case onto your phone.

I recommend combining bell 3 with the bell signal. It will work without it, but if someone comes to your door and you don't have your phone nearby, you probably won't hear the doorbell ringing. It is not very loud. I could barely hear it and was only a few yards from the front door. The carillon sounds in your house.

Outstanding functions

The bell 3 has so many functions that it looks almost overwhelming. Fortunately, the app is intuitive and it's easy to set everything up.

One feature that I like is the pre-roll option. This allows the camera to record a four-second preview video to see exactly what triggered a motion alarm. The footage is shot in black and white to conserve the battery. In the event of a possible break-in or tampering with the package, this additional four seconds can help law enforcement. Unfortunately, pre-roll does not work with the night vision of the camera. That means you won't get this nifty feature at night.

I was disappointed that there was no box detection technology.

The motion detection is fully customizable. You can adjust the area of ​​the motion detector, for example, by specifying how many feet from your door it detects motion. If your home is near a sidewalk or street, you will not be notified by the doorbell every time something goes past your home. If you want to take a nap, you can turn off motion alerts for 30 minutes to four hours. You can even adjust the sensitivity of the motion detector to reduce warnings.

Ring video doorbell 3 plus app

There are options to change what the doorbell also recognizes. You can choose whether the doorbell detects some kind of movement or just people. I was disappointed that there was no box detection technology like the Nest Hello doorbell. I get a lot of packages and want to know when a package is on my porch. For some reason, this doorbell does not contain the box identification A.I. Feature. It has the same field of view as the nest at 160 degrees, so it's a shame it doesn't support this feature.

In addition to these options, you can also customize various modes that can be set up with specific behaviors when you are at home or on the go. In home mode, for example, you can set the doorbell so that no movement is detected and deactivate the live view function.

Do you want to stay up to date? The Ring app sends you real-time crime and security alerts reported by your neighbors or local law enforcement agencies. The app shows you current activities on a map of your neighborhood, weekly safety reports and more. I think it's a very useful feature. For example, a neighbor was shot down the street by her boyfriend. I could see the location of the incident on the map. The app also reports information about missing children near you so you can keep an eye out for them.

Ring neighborhood warnings

Works with Alexa

Although the app works great, you can connect other smart devices outside of the ring ecosystem to your doorbell using the Alexa app. You can also control the doorbell with voice commands. For example, you can say commands like this:

  • "Alexa, speak to the front door."
  • "Alexa, turn off the motion sensor on the front door. "
  • "Alexa, set the motion sensitivity on the front door to low."

If you have an Alexa-compatible smart display like the Amazon Echo Show, you can see who is at the door on the screen. You can also speak to them for even more flexibility when using the 3 Plus.

Video and audio

The Bell 3 Plus has 1080p HD video, which means that the quality has not changed since the Bell 2. Still, the video was nice and clear, but there was a problem.

Things are just a little rounded.

There's fishbowl-like distortion for everything you see through the camera. However, this doesn't seem to affect how visible a person is in the video, regardless of where they stand on the porch. Things are just a little rounded. I'm a little disappointed because other video doorbells like the Arlo video doorbell have figured out how to get great video quality without the fishbowl look.

Ring video doorbell 3 plus live videoAlina Bradford / Digital Trends

The live video can also be faulty and it can take a minute for a connection to the app to be established. This can be annoying when trying to speak to someone at your door. You can go before you get the app up and running. Shutting down and restarting the app fixed the problem, but it was an annoyance. It's hard to say what is the culprit behind the problem, as the 3 Plus has both 2.4 and 5 GHz dual-band Wi-Fi connectivity.

While the 3 Plus is doing a great night video, I wish it had a built-in floodlight like the August Doorbell Cam Pro. There are dozens of situations where a little more light on your porch can be useful. August also records color night videos, and the Ring Video Doorbell 3 Plus only records in black and white.

You need a cloud service plan to save your videos. With Ring Protect, you can review and share videos and photos for up to 60 days. It costs $ 3 a month per device or $ 100 a year for your entire household. This price is comparable to other video doorbell video storage plans like Nest Aware, but Ring Protect gives you a lot more storage days. August, on the other hand, offers its customers its video memory for free.

The audio quality when you talk to someone through the app is very good. The 3 Plus has noise cancellation technology that makes voices stand out from all the noises in your house, which is very helpful.

privacy

Ring has been in the news many times for privacy concerns related to their cameras. However, the Ring Video Doorbell 3 Plus has some features that can help you calm down. For example, there is a two-step confirmation to access the app or your account online and protect your personal information. You can also turn off the microphone to prevent it from hearing things you don't want to hear. If certain parts of your garden are not to be recorded, e.g. For example, your pool or your children's play area, you can set up privacy zones that limit the visibility or recording of the camera. In the video you can see a black box in which the data protection area has been set up in the app.

Our opinion

Ring Video Doorbell 3 Plus is a decent intelligent doorbell. It has a lot of great features, but it's not the best option we've come across. The video specs could have been updated to keep up with the competition, and I don't like the live video glitches. However, there are many great features that allow you to customize how the doorbell detects things around your door. Finally, I really appreciate how easy it is to integrate into a larger smart home ecosystem to work with other smart products that are compatible with Alexa and Ring. When it comes to price, the Ring Video Doorbell 3 Plus is $ 300 compared to other major providers in the high-end video doorbell market.

Is there a better alternative?

Yes. The Arlo video doorbell ($ 149) is cheaper and offers many great options, including Alexa integration. The August Doorbell Cam Pro ($ 171) is also cheaper and has a fantastic lighting feature.

How long it will take?

The whole doorbell is made of plastic. The thinness of the cover plate affects me. I'm not sure if it will withstand rigorous use, but a one-year limited warranty is given. In the unfortunate event that it is stolen, Ring will replace it free of charge.

Should I buy it?

If you already have a lot of ring products in your house, I would absolutely say so. The best thing about the Ring Video Doorbell 3 Plus is how it interacts with other Ring products and the great Ring app features like crime warnings. If you are not a ring fan, I would choose a different video doorbell.

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