Ring Video Doorbell 3 Plus Review

Ring packs great features in best iteration of flagship device

As an avid fan of the US ‘Dragon’s Den’ style show, ‘Shark Tank’, I first heard about Ring, the home security device company a few years ago when it made its debut on the show. Fast-forward a few more years and the company was bought by Amazon for a fee in the region of $1.1 billion.

How did a company which was rejected by the ‘sharks’ on Shark Tank become such a success in the space of just a few years? Well, the foundation of any successful company is built on its excellent products, and the Ring Video Doorbell 3 Plus adds to the already impressive repertoire of Ring’s products.

The Ring Video Doorbell 3 Plus is the latest version of the company’s flagship product and packs some new features which hadn’t been used on previous variants.

Design

The design is largely similar to its predecessor and comes in a black and silver colour consisting of the camera and the button.

The doorbell also comes with a removable battery pack which is easily rechargeable, but you can order an AC adapter like the one shown below to remove the hassle of having to recharge the device every few months.

The rechargeable battery fits into the doorbell which is the primary reason why it has a chunky design, but it isn’t much bigger than my last doorbell, which wasn’t packed with this many great features.

This Ring Video Doorbell 3 Plus comes with a few newer features that were not on previous iterations of the device. One of these is the pre-roll video which records what is happening in front of the home before it notifies the user of motion. It records in black and white and without sound and is designed to conserve battery life – but unfortunately doesn’t work at night which is a real shame.

Another new feature is Snapshot Capture which takes images regularly throughout the day to show users what is happening between events. These images can be integrated into the timeline and provides a good overview of events happening outside of the home.

Installation and Performance 

After downloading the Ring app and creating an account, I was ready to move on to the installation process. The app is wonderfully easy to navigate and offers clear instructions and a step by step process for the installation of the device.

The app has a Motion Wizard feature which allows users to configure motion settings to subsequently eliminate unwanted alerts. It gauges how close the home is to the street and takes just a few minutes to set up. The Motion Zones feature on the app allows users to select zones for the camera to ignore such as trees or busy streets.

Before setting up, users should note that it is important to take a picture of the QR which is located on the back of the device as this is needed for other users to connect to the Ring Doorbell.

The actual performance of the Ring Doorbell is excellent. Both the video and audio quality work exceptionally well and users to clearly see and speak with people at your door, even while you are not home. The camera offers a wide scope (despite a slight obstruction in my case).

Users can also be notified of motion, so users will still see and hear anything in front of their homes even if the doorbell has not been touched.

Chime Pro 

The Ring Chime Pro is an optional add-on that works as a few things but most importantly as a speaker which amplifies the actual doorbell ring. It is especially important for those who are away from their phones much of the time and so would be a valuable £29 addition to the actual device.

Without the Chime Pro, it’s quite difficult to hear when someone is at the door, but those who have connected their device to the Ring Doorbell will receive a notification.

There are over 30 doorbell chimes which are regularly updated, with special Halloween themed ones being introduced prior to the annual holiday.

Users can also function the Chime Pro to ring whenever there is motion in front of the house and the device also works as a Wi-Fi extender which provides stronger connectivity to the Ring Doorbell.

Verdict

The Ring Video Doorbell 3 Plus is a supremely impressive piece of technology. It offers a sense of security and capably performs in pretty much every department. The video and audio quality are excellent and the AC adapter which can be purchased from Amazon means I don’t have to charge the device every few months.

The Ring Video Doorbell 3 Plus retails form £199 on Amazon. The Chime Pro is also available on Amazon for £29