Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Customers like the appearance and ease of setup of the doorbell camera. For example, they mention it looks good, is well designed and easy to set up. That said, some complain about the responsiveness and connectivity. Opinions are mixed on the value, video quality, performance, and motion detection.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
311 customers mention248 positive63 negative
Customers find the setup of the doorbell camera to be easy. They mention that the unit comes with step-by-step directions that are simple enough for a small child to follow. The mounting process is straightforward and easy to use the former doorbell wires. The IOS app is easy to operate and the YouTube video is dated. Overall, the installation went well and the product is easy for them to use.
"...The unit comes with step by step directions so simple a small child could probably follow them, and they even include the tools you will need to..." Read more
"...The router set up is very easy, and in my house the front door is a long way around the corner from where my Uverse router is...." Read more
"...smart home technology, and provides security, peace of mind, and ease of use that is not present in many other options at this price point...." Read more
"...It was much easier to set up then I imagined. Just unscrewed old doorbell and popped this one on...." Read more
110 customers mention88 positive22 negative
Customers like the appearance of the doorbell. They mention that it looks good, is better designed than the original doorbot, and is sturdy. They also appreciate the attention to detail, and the panoramic view it provides. Overall, customers are happy with their purchase and recommend it to others.
"...The Live View feature is just fantastic as well, and at any point you can turn that on and see whats going on outside right to the street...." Read more
"...The other is an image of the Ring installed at my front door. It's attractive, sturdy looking and not overbearing in the least." Read more
"...it using the existing doorbell wiring, because we both agree it's a sleek, modern and much more appealing doorbell than our existing one. Thank you!" Read more
"...While it is technically HD at 720p, it looks much lower quality in my installed location...." Read more
678 customers mention426 positive252 negative
Customers are mixed about the performance of the vdo device. Some mention that the product itself is a good product, does a pretty good job, and has no issues. However, others say that it's flawed to the point that it is nearly useless. They say that the alerts will not work, the ring doesn't work very well on battery, and that the setup process is unreliable.
"...The app works extremely well and alerts you as soon as the bell rings in a manner of your choosing, including a traditional door bell chime on your..." Read more
"...It's attractive, sturdy looking and not overbearing in the least." Read more
"...It takes forever to power up Live View on battery power, making it nearly useless if you are trying to get to it quickly...." Read more
"...either and considering this device is outside I think it is doing a pretty good job...." Read more
167 customers mention85 positive82 negative
Customers are mixed about the video quality of the doorbell. Some mention that the video and voice quality are great, the picture and video are excellent, and the view is nice and wide. However, others say that the videos are only available over the internet, not directly, and are rarely available live.
"...the app, right inside the the app they've included excellent high quality instructional videos which guide you through the entire installation, no..." Read more
"...There's no way to save video on your own computer or on a standard cloud service like Dropbox or Google Drive...." Read more
"...It is not terribly grainy or pixellated, but it is not video quality worthy of preservation or bragging...." Read more
"...The video quality is not good enough to tell if the logo on the person's shirt is USPS or some random sales company...." Read more
148 customers mention47 positive101 negative
Customers are mixed about the motion detection on the Ring. Some mention that it's great, and the alerts are about the same. Others say that it detects motion way too late when an actual person is approaching, and that the sensor can be a bit sensitive.
"...I have to admit that Ring sometimes misses motion on my porch, but this is due to sensitivity and zone settings, which I must finely tune due to my..." Read more
"...Result: Video excludes the beginning of the motion or misses the motion entirely...." Read more
"...You can get alerts if there's any motion as well, and you can set the motion range (up to 30 ft away) to whatever distance you are comfortable with...." Read more
"...The device can only detect activity within two feet, regardless of sensitivity, zone settings and how much I wave my arms or walk by the unit...." Read more
115 customers mention68 positive47 negative
Customers are mixed about the value of the doorbell. Some mention that it's worth the price, a better deal than putting in cameras, and provides such value when in use. However, others say that it adds up fast and isn't worth the money.
"...of like a little security camera is why he likes it and finds it worth the price. Maybe you want something similar." Read more
"...In my experience, the camera isn't worth it. It's neither worth the money, nor the hassle...." Read more
"...We bought one that was recommended by Ring and it was inexpensive and easy to install and works well...." Read more
"...So to me at least, that is worth the cost...." Read more
156 customers mention19 positive137 negative
Customers are dissatisfied with the responsiveness of the doorbell. They mention that it's very delayed, notifies them with a delay, and has a noticeable lag between the camera and the user interface. They also say that the tutorial video from the app is slow and pauses every few seconds. Customers also say the Live View takes forever to power up and that the motion detection video is seconds too late to actually record the event taking place. They further mention that the battery takes several hours to charge.
"...original Doorbot because the image reception was awful and the app unresponsive. The Ring however worked without a hitch...." Read more
"...LIVE VIEW: It works, but is not super useful for me. It takes forever to power up Live View on battery power, making it nearly useless if you are..." Read more
"...But, likely related to this, my RING is unreliable, is slow to pop up on the phone, has questionable video quality and even more poor audio quality...." Read more
"...This can take HOURS to do; during that time, you have no doorbell. The doorbell then needs to be remounted, with the security screws replaced...." Read more
128 customers mention32 positive96 negative
Customers are dissatisfied with the connectivity of the vdo device. They mention that it fails to connect to their router, has intermittent connection, voice delay, and false network. Some say that they have trouble connecting to their WiFi and that the live video would not connect. They also mention that the consistency seems to be erratic with connection times.
"This is a great idea but it is dependent on a lot of bandwidth on your wifi system. Installation steps are marvelously explained...." Read more
"...DON'T LOSE IT! With the screws removed, the doorbell slides out of its plastic mount. You can then bring it inside and charge it with a USB cable...." Read more
"...They claim 720p, but it comes nowhere near that. My wifi signal is fine. I've been through all of that with their tech support...." Read more
"...n't answer the ring alert and access the camera - just a blank screen that can't connect." Read more
I've cleared out my previous review and this is the final version after having lived with it for some time.In my experience, the camera isn't worth it. It's neither worth the money, nor the hassle. I'm going to keep it only because I hold out some slim hope that firmware upgrades may improve it to some degree.So there are two main features, the camera and the motion detection.The Camera:The camera is terrible. They claim 720p, but it comes nowhere near that. My wifi signal is fine. I've been through all of that with their tech support. I even purchased an extender though I didn't need it. The video quality has nothing to do with my network speed or my internet speed, period. I'm not sure whether it's the camera itself or that Ring compresses the video to the point it's nearly useless, but either way it's a problem.Real life scenario: Someone comes to the door and I'm expecting a package. The video quality is not good enough to tell if the logo on the person's shirt is USPS or some random sales company. With a broken leg I stumble to the door thinking it's mail. Instead it's a sales representative from some random company ignoring my "no soliciting" sign. Thanks, Ring. I know I should have talked to them through the intercom function first, but still. They were standing two feet away from the door. I should have been able to tell that it was not a USPS logo on their shirt. It was plain to see in person.Another problem with the camera is the autoexposure. When the recording first starts, it's a huge bloom of white light and very, very slowly it may or may not tone itself down to a usable video. Whether it turns into something I can view depends on the time of day. Ring support says it's because the doorbell is mounted underneath a covered porch. Well, it is. But the cover only extends 4.5 feet away from the exterior wall. Many people have covered porches. Better autoexposure would be faster but would also compensate for that. Today you can buy a computer that will run Windows for just a few dollars (Raspberry Pi or similar), but this $200 device cannot figure out autoexposure.Motion Detection:This is what will really get on your nerves. I have been messing with this thing since May. It's what I hope will be improved with a firmware update, but so far, nothing.First, whenever you change the settings, you have to go to your door and ring the doorbell for them to take effect. Really? What if I'm away and using the app? What if it's early in the morning or nighttime and everyone's asleep? Ridiculous.Secondly, it just doesn't work very well. The thermal differentiation is a good idea in theory, but either it's not a good idea in practice or Ring has done a poor job implementing it. I live on a quiet suburban street. In the months I have this device, I have not been able to find good settings. Just today a guy came to the door to stick a flier on there, again ignoring my "no soliciting" sign. It didn't pick him up walking across the yard. It didn't pick him up at all until he was on the porch sticking the flier to my door. But last week it came on to record two people walking down the street, and not only that, the camera came on when they were in front of my neighbor's house. It picks up every car that drives by. Every one except for the mail truck which is the only one I'm interested in. Or the pizza delivery guy. How it knows to ignore the traffic I actually want to see, I have no idea. I've dialed back the settings so that it shouldn't pick up any traffic but nothing works. It goes off six times an hour sometimes. Again, this is a slow neighborhood. That's every car going by. As I write this it's picked up two. Sometimes you can't even see the cars at all because of the autoexposure problem. Sometimes you can but it either came on too late or the picture is still too bright to make out what kind of car it is. Can't tell a dump truck from a motorcycle and that's no exaggeration. The only reason I know is because I can hear it from inside or happen to see them through a window.So it's next to useless. It camera comes on when you don't want it to, and doesn't when it should, or if it does it's really late. Maybe cooler weather would help. I live in Dallas, so it's hot and has been hot for a while. The cars going by are hot. A human's body temperature is usually going to be very close to or just below the ambient air temperature, which might explain why it doesn't always pick up people on my porch, or takes forever to pick them up.Conclusions: Motion detection that's extremely flawed to the point that it's nearly useless. Very poor video quality.Redeeming features:So why do I keep it? Well like I said I think firmware updates can handle some of these issues. Plus I don't need the money that badly. Wouldn't buy it if I had to do it over again, but it's not a huge loss.Also, it's probably better than nothing. Maybe. The jury is out on that.There may be a deterrent aspect. People seem to know what it is. I've seen people walk up and turn away after looking at it. It may deter a break in.The intercom feature seems to work well enough. That's important since you can't ever tell who rings the bell. I can't recognize somebody I've known 20 years, or the people who I've lived next to for 10, or tell the difference between the mailman and a random sales rep. So you can ask them who they are and tell them to go away if necessary.Finally, the apps work pretty well on iPhone or iPad. Whether your at home or away, they do what they're supposed to do. Lots of times with a product like this, it's the app that is the weak link. This time it's the product. There are annoyances, however, especially on the Windows 10 app. You have to press/click too many times to delete all these random videos. With mobile devices the swipe is a little easier.
So I wanted to get one of these for a while, and once the price came down I jumped on it. I am so impressed with this product and this company, that I feel compelled to write a very detailed review of my experience so far with both.
When I first received the package, I was extremely impressed with how much care went into the customer experience, even down to the experience of opening the box, etc. Everything is highly organized and guides you easily through the steps to get your unit up and running. The first thing you're greeted with is also their 24/7 800 #, just in case you have an issue, which I found to be very reassuring.
The unit comes with step by step directions so simple a small child could probably follow them, and they even include the tools you will need to install the entire unit with including a drill bit in case you have to install the bell on a masonry surface (They dont include a drill though, just the bit).
You are led to install their app on your phone first which is extremely simple, and you will need to have high speed wireless wifi for this to work. Once you install the app, right inside the the app they've included excellent high quality instructional videos which guide you through the entire installation, no matter which way you're doing it. I found the videos to be simple, right to the point, a very big help and incredibly easy to follow.
The installation in my opinion was very easy, and took me about 25 minutes total. It turned out that I had done two things wrong though, which I did not know at the time. So I immediately called customer service at 10pm mind you, to see if they could help. After about a 3 minute wait I was connected with an American tech support rep, who was friendly, courteous, and extremely helpful. He wound up staying on the phone with me for probably 45 minutes, walking me through every trouble shooting step till we identified the problem (which turned out to be an issue with my phone, not the device, and that I had failed to install the included diode for my hard wired digital bell).
Once we identified the issues, he walked me through fixing everything, and would not let me off the phone until we tested the bell three times, and it was ringing in the house, and to my phone each time flawlessly. The customer service was absolutely excellent, and top notch.
Since the installation, I absolutely LOVE this product. I had the first visitor today who rang the bell, and I was able to see them and talk to them from the comfort of my backyard, which was awesome. The Live View feature is just fantastic as well, and at any point you can turn that on and see whats going on outside right to the street. The camera is SUPERB, as it's a very wide angle camera, and no matter where the person is on the stoop, they are seen by it.
They'd basically have to be laying flat up against your front door with their faces and bodies pressed to it to hide from the camera, and even then you'd still see some of them! It's really just a top notch camera all around. The picture is crystal clear and in color as well, and the night vision really works too. If there's enough ambient light, you even get color footage at night! Can't say enough good things about the camera.
The speaker two way talking works great as well, I was able to have a conversation with a visitor with no issues and both our voices were clear as a bell. The app works extremely well and alerts you as soon as the bell rings in a manner of your choosing, including a traditional door bell chime on your phone, up to a voice announcing "there's someone at your front door".
Once you click the alert it opens up the live view immediately, and you can view and talk to the visitor; from anywhere you are with wifi in the world. Which I again think is absolutely awesome, even more incredible that it really works!
You can get alerts if there's any motion as well, and you can set the motion range (up to 30 ft away) to whatever distance you are comfortable with. The phone will then alert you in any way you choose when ever there is motion outside in range. Be careful though because its very sensitive. Most likely a grasshopper will set it off lol..But the great thing is if you don't want motion alerts? You can simply disable them, and just get doorbell alerts.
I really cannot say enough good things about this product, the company, or the system they have set up here. Everything is ultra-intuitive and designed with the customer in mind, the customer service is Top Tier (and not outsourced to India, so they're creating American Jobs), and they really stand behind their product.
I am very, very satisfied with my purchase and my overall experience, 5 big stars and a very enthusiastic A+++++++++ from this customer, Thanks!!
I love my Ring. I've had it now for around two months. Installation is a breeze. Once you have it connected to your router, you just read the directions to determine the type of installation you want to do, battery or wired to your existing doorbell power, and based on where you want to mount it, you just either screw it in directly or put in anchors first, which they supply, it took no time. The two security screws go in the bottom after you install the Ring - you use the supplied tool to screw them in. I also purchased the extra chime and plugged it in my living room. It's a one story house, so you can pretty much hear it all over. You can adjust the sound level of the chime using your app. The router set up is very easy, and in my house the front door is a long way around the corner from where my Uverse router is. I was hesitant to buy this at first, because I had purchased (and returned) the original Doorbot because the image reception was awful and the app unresponsive. The Ring however worked without a hitch. I couldn't believe how clear the image is and how clear the sound is. The app is very responsive. You either get a visual and audio notification that there's someone ringing the bell. You have a choice of answering or just watching and listening. Or, a short series of chimes when there is just motion at the door and you can also just watch and listen. Like now I know exactly when my mail is delivered. Even watched the mailman sit down on my bench to change shoes - LOL. By the way, the $30 of a year for cloud storage is well worth it. It's easy to go through and review any activity at your door or doors, even if you have multiple Rings installed. The events are listed in order and you just tap on the one you want to see. Setting the sensitivity on motion and heat detection takes just a couple of minutes on a very user friendly interface based on distance from the Ring. You just slide a finger and that's it. And, if passing trucks, etc, sets your Ring motion notification off, it's easy enough to adjust. Just remember that after you save your sensitivity settings, you actually need to ring the doorbell to activate the new settings. I have no idea why. I'd love to see the company come out with other outdoor and indoor surveillance cameras to add to the system. Pics show mail being delivered - as you can see there's a wide angle to the lens, so it picks up quite a large area which makes selection of a place to mount the button a no brainer. The other is an image of the Ring installed at my front door. It's attractive, sturdy looking and not overbearing in the least.