Amazon-owned Ring has just announced two new battery-powered video doorbells: the Ring Video Doorbell 3 and Ring Video Doorbell 3 Plus. The new models stick close to the design of their predecessors but pack quite a few new features.
Ring Doorbell 3: New features
The biggest highlight is the company’s new Pre-Roll feature, which captures the four seconds of footage prior to a motion alert. This feature makes it possible to see an incoming person much before they hit the ring button. Users will also get to know what triggered a motion alert. That four-second video is recorded in black and white, though.
While such a feature is already available on Ring’s wired doorbells, or on similar offerings from other companies, this is the first of its kind feature on a battery-powered video doorbell. Ring says the addition of this new feature has only a minimal impact on battery performance. Pre-Roll, however, is exclusive to the Ring Video Doorbell 3 Plus.
The rest of the features remain the same across the two Doorbell 3 models. Both doorbells have a new, adjustable motion zone that can detect motion within five to 15 feet of your front door. During the setup, you can drag boxes over an area to set it as a motion zone. If the device detects motion in that area, you should receive an alert.
With Doorbell 2, you could only create a motion zone starting 15 feet away. Now that the near point has been reduced to five feet, Doorbell 3 should come a long way to eliminate false alerts.
This is another great addition, more so for those who live on a busy street. There’s also dual-band 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi on both models, which should help with video transmission.
Design wise, you’re not getting a product that looks too different from the Doorbell 2: a vertical multi-color setup with the camera and sensor deck located at the top. The duo can capture footages at 1080p, with a 160-degree field of view.
Both of these devices are battery-powered, but can also be connected directly into the electrical system of your house. You also get Alexa support on both the video doorbells.
Ring Chime and Chime Pro launched
Along with the two new doorbells, Ring also announced a new pair of wireless chimes. The new Ring Chime and Chime Pro let you hear the doorbell ring throughout your home by providing audio notifications. The latter further includes a built-in nightlight as well as a wifi extender, in case the dual-band Wi-Fi is not enough to reduce connectivity issues.
Ring says both new Chime devices are compatible with all its Doorbells and Cameras and provide real-time audio notifications.
Price and availability
Ring Video Doorbell 3, and Doorbell 3 Plus are available now for pre-order on Ring’s website and on Amazon. The Video Doorbell 3 costs $199.99, while the Plus model costs $229.99. You get 30 days free trial of Ring Protect, which lets you store up to 60 days of videos, with both the models. Post that, you’ll have to pay a $3/month or $30/year subscription fee to use the service.
The new Ring Chime and Chime Pro are also now available for pre-order. The two are priced at $29.99 and $49.99, respectively. All of the four new Ring products will be available for purchase in the US starting on April 8, 2020.