Ring Video Doorbell 2

A SUCKER FOR SPEED.

RING’S VIDEO CAMERA sets itself apart from the rest of the bunch here by being (if the name wasn’t obvious) a doorbell at the same time. It’s also one of the most handsome units you can get, and doesn’t look like a security camera. It offers a continuous feed, or can start once someone presses the buzzer, or be triggered by a user-defined proximity zone on the app.

Video quality is excellent in both blinding sunshine and nighttime with a 1080p feed. Once a visitor presses the buzzer, you’ll can view who’s at the door on the app, and even choose to answer it remotely, with footage stored on Ring’s servers. Like the Spotlight Cam, you’ll need a subscription if you want to do this. Installation is easy, with all the tools you need in the box along with two covers and two mounts (one flush and the other slightly offset). It comes with a rechargeable battery, as well as cables to hardwire into mains. We can back Ring’s advice that you don’t enable the always-on feature when using the battery alone as this will drain the power pack. Otherwise, you can expect up to six months of use on battery power (we typically achieved three).

So far, so good, but the Ring Video Doorbell 2 requires a lightning fast internet connection. Ring says minimum 2mbps, but we found anything less than a 5mbps upload won’t get a video feed at all (we had to try this on a fast cable connection to get it to work correctly). It’s also slow to alert the app, and if your walls are thick you might not hear the bell ring. The optional Chime Pro extender will fix this, and improve any flaky router connections, but costs an additional $79.