There’s no question that video doorbells have a reputation of being an expensive piece of tech that’s more of a luxury than a must-have. Ring’s latest video doorbell, however, turns that entire premise on its head.
The $59.99 Video Doorbell Wired is available for preorder starting January 27, with shipments arriving in just a few weeks on February 24. And at just under $60, you’d be hard-pressed to find a more affordable and capable video doorbell on the market.
It packs 1080p HD Video quality and two-way talk into a very tiny footprint. It’s smaller than the rest of Ring’s doorbell lineup and looks tiny. But don’t let its size fool you, as Ring didn’t cut the feature list short. Custom Motion Zones allow you to specify an area in the camera’s view that will detect motion. It saves you from getting an alert every time your neighbor backs out of their driveway. Like all other Ring doorbells it can connect with Alexa and offers privacy zones. You’re not really losing much with this affordable offering.
For more advanced controls like receiving alerts only when a person is detected, instead of an animal or leaf blowing in the wind, you’ll need to sign up for Ring Protect. This service starts at $3 per month.
It adds in features like Pre-Roll, which records a short clip of video before motion was detected and includes people-only detection and rich notifications. The latter bundles a video preview with a motion-detected message right into the notification on your Android or iOS device. This way you can avoid opening the Ring app if you don’t have to. Pre-Roll first launched with the Ring Video Doorbell 3 Plus in the spring of 2020.
When you link Ring to Amazon’s Alexa, you can use Echo smart speakers in your home to talk to whoever is at your door when your doorbell rings. If you have an Echo Show (aka an Amazon smart display) or an Alexa-compatible TV, you can even view a live feed of your camera.
Lastly, as its name implies, the doorbell requires a wired connection and doesn’t rely on batteries like some of Ring’s products. If you live somewhere that doesn’t have a wired doorbell, Ring’s $99.99 Video Doorbell or $199.99 Video Doorbell 3 are just two of your options.
However, if you’re looking to feel safer in your home with a video doorbell but haven’t wanted to spend a lot of money, the Ring Video Doorbell Wired looks to be a solution. It’s up for preorder now at $59.99 and will ship in the coming weeks.
