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Nov 13, 2024

Ring Battery Doorbell (2024) review: A great smart doorbell you'll pay for forever

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As a product reviewer, I receive a ton of packages — often containing high-value items I really don't want in the wrong hands. That's why I picked up one of the best smart doorbell cameras on the very day I moved into a 500-unit apartment building. But for apartment-dwellers like myself, finding the right battery-powered doorbell that doesn't require extensive drilling or hardwiring can be extremely tricky. Ring, a company known for smart home security, wants to make it easy with its new Ring Battery Doorbell.

There are things about the Ring Battery Doorbell that have become life-changing, like the ability to see a package pushed up against the door and a tall person's face in the same frame of video. However, the Ring Battery Doorbell is anything but an easy product to recommend. That's because it's barely useful without a subscription, and paying $5 or $10 per month in perpetuity for a doorbell camera is a tough sell.

The Ring Battery Doorbell has plenty of great features that include motion detection and alerts, custom motion zones and privacy settings, integration with Alexa, and a live camera view with the ability to talk to and listen to visitors. However, it's hard to recommend unless you're already invested in the Amazon ecosystem due to its high subscription costs.

The new Ring Battery Doorbell was released in 2024 and retails for $100. It's available in either Satin Nickel or Venetian Bronze colorways. With a built-in and rechargeable battery, the Ring Battery Doorbell doesn't need to be constantly hooked up to doorbell wiring, although it can be. You can buy the Ring Battery Doorbell from Ring, Amazon, Best Buy, and other retailers. The doorbell might also be found on sale or bundled with other Ring cameras at a discount, particularly on Amazon.

Let's start with the good. The Ring Battery Doorbell is the cheapest battery-powered smart doorbell supporting head-to-toe video recording. This was previously a perk exclusive to the Battery Doorbell Plus and Pro models, but it's now available on the $100 standard Battery Doorbell. Coming from a Google Nest Battery Doorbell, having full 150-degree horizontal and vertical FOV coverage of the area in front of my door was game-changing. I could see when a package was delivered, but also if it was picked up off the ground afterward.

Similarly, a look-in from the Ring app gave me more peace of mind, allowing me to check that a package was still at my door at any point in time. My Nest supports package detection, but its limited FOV prevents me from seeing packages already on the ground. This head-to-toe coverage, plus the camera's 1440 x 1440 resolution and color night vision, ensures that you can see what's happening in nearly all conditions.

The mounting process could be better, although it's still fairly easy. Anyone who lives in an apartment likely knows that even drilling a few holes in a door or frame could cause the loss of a security deposit, but apparently, companies like Nest and Ring do not. A drill-free sticker mount is available as a standalone accessory, as is a wedge mount to adjust the angle. The fact that these essential accessories for apartment residents — likely the target demographic for a battery-powered doorbell — are not included is puzzling to me.

I fixed this with a pair of Command strips. However, the no-drill mount and the wedge kit cost $40 combined, and can quickly inflate the price of a Ring Battery Doorbell setup. For reference, a wedge kit was included with my Nest Doorbell Battery, but the MSRP of that doorbell is higher.

Battery life is nearly impossible to gauge on a video doorbell. It'll depend on how much activity happens around your front door. Ring says the typical range is six to 12 months of battery life, but since my door is right next to an entrance gate, I'll be lucky to get a month or two. Luckily, it's fairly easy to recharge with a USB-C port on the back.

The subscription price of the Ring Battery Doorbell is a significant consideration you should make before buying it. Other options, like the Reolink Battery Doorbell, offer local storage and are subscription-free. However, I want to emphasize that Ring can be a great option if you have a lot of cameras, or are planning to. A single Ring Protect plan covers all the Ring cameras in your home. The subscription doesn't sound so bad if you get the top features on indoor cameras, outdoor cameras, video doorbells, whole-home alarm systems, and more.

A true contender for best video doorbell with local storage

It's extremely difficult for me to buy hardware that requires a subscription. And technically, the Ring Battery Doorbell doesn't require a subscription. You can monitor the video feed coming from your camera at any time and drop in when someone rings your doorbell.

However, for just about anything else, you'll need at least the $5 monthly Ring Protect Basic plan. That includes photo capture, video recording, person and package detection, video saving, and video sharing. There are also Ring Protect Plus ($10/month) and Pro ($20/month) plans, but Basic could give you all you need to get the most out of the Ring Battery Doorbell.

In my view, all the features you'd expect from a video doorbell require a subscription. Meanwhile, I've used the Nest Doorbell Battery subscription-free for a year with few complaints. I get person and package alerts and can save or view video recordings for up to three hours — both features would require a monthly subscription if I was using a Ring Battery Doorbell. Even though the Nest is more expensive in the short term, it'll be cheaper in the long run.

For those just starting to build a network of smart cameras — or who only need a video doorbell — the Ring Battery Doorbell isn't a great value. There are other doorbells, from Nest, Reolink, and others, that provide similar or identical features to the Ring Battery Doorbell without requiring a subscription for them.

That's why I'm sticking with the Nest Doorbell Battery. If I had a fleet of Ring cameras or planned to create a large ecosystem of Amazon smart devices, the $5 monthly subscription wouldn't be a deal-breaker, though.

The Ring Battery Doorbell has plenty of great features that include motion detection and alerts, custom motion zones and privacy settings, integration with Alexa, and a live camera view with the ability to talk to and listen to visitors. However, it's hard to recommend unless you're already invested in the Amazon ecosystem due to its high subscription costs.

Smart doorbell devices to guard your home and protect your family

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