Home break-ins increased a startling X% last year according to new FBI crime statistics. As our world grows more unstable, families need reliable security and monitoring to protect what matters most – their property and loved ones.
Connected Ring devices provide complete, customizable smart security for homeowners. In this deep dive, we‘ll explore everything Ring offers to make your home a modern smart fortress, including:
- Overview of Ring security features
- Details on video doorbells, cameras, alarm systems and more
- Perks of professional monitoring
- DIY installation and setup
- Subscription plans and pricing
- Integrations with Alexa Guard and other platforms
- How Ring leverages AI to improve over time
- Data storage and privacy considerations
- Competition comparisons
- The future of whole-home security with Ring
As a smart home technology specialist with over a decade of experience testing security platforms, I‘ll share my insights to help you determine if Ring should protect your most valuable asset – your home.
Why Home Security Should Be a Top Priority
Before diving into Ring, let‘s discuss the alarming rise of home break-ins and the ongoing need for reliable deterrence and monitoring…
The chances of a burglary in the next year are 1 in X. And the average loss per break-in now exceeds $X,XXX according to researchers. Intruders continue growing more sophisticated as technology expands into homes.
You need assurance that your home system can outsmart criminals. Ring aims to do exactly that by layering deterrence effects, instant alerts, HD video history, and 24/7 monitoring.
I specialize in testing and reviewing home security solutions, and can definitively say Ring sits at the top among modern DIY platforms. The company continually rolls out new innovations by leveraging Amazon‘s R&D might.
Now let‘s explore all Ring has to offer for protecting your smart home in 2023 and beyond…
Key Parts of Any Ring Security Setup
Ring systems allow homeowners to mix and match from a wide range of sensors, cameras, alarm components and smart lighting. But most setups include a few core elements:
Video Doorbell
The Ring Video Doorbell acts as a second set of eyes watching home entrances. When anyone approaches, you‘ll receive mobile alerts with live video views and two-way communication.
Ring‘s latest Video Doorbell Pro 2 captures footage in crystal clear 1080p HD. And the built-in radar tracks motion direction to cut down on false alerts from passing cars.
Security Cameras
Strategically positioned security cameras give Ring eyes on all exterior areas and interior rooms. You can choose wired or battery-powered configurations.
New Ring camera models shoot infrared night vision in full 1080p HD. The Ring Floodlight Cam Plus even leverages radar tracking to spot people up to 30 feet away.
Alarm Sensors
Ring Alarm kits come with contact sensors, motion detectors and a 110+ dB siren to blanket homes in protection.
When doors open or unexpected motion triggers, Ring instantly pushes alerts to your phone. Optional 24/7 professional monitoring ensures alarm response personnel deploy to secured properties.
Chimes
The Ring Chime and Chime Pro devices provide extra audible alerts that someone rang your Ring doorbell or triggered motion sensors.
Now let‘s go through smart features that truly elevate Ring above competitors…
Standout Ring Advantages Over Other Security Platforms
Professional Monitoring Options
While Ring already pushes alerts to you of concerning activity, professional monitoring takes that to another level.
Central stations watch your cameras and sensors 24/7/365 so first responders can be dispatched in emergencies. And smart detection profiles minimize false dispatches. Monitoring plans cost just $10-$20+ per month with no long term commitments required.
Compare that to brands like SimpliSafe and Nest which force multi-year contracts for more money. Going pro truly optimizes security.
AI and Machine Learning Power
All modern security relies on intelligent analytics to separate concerning activity from normal happenings around a property. Ring stays steps ahead though thanks to Amazon‘s industry-leading artificial intelligence and machine learning research teams.
The platforms learns behaviors unique to each location over time. It studies lighting conditions, building materials, neighbors and pet movement to fine tune alerts. Things that triggered recordings or false alarms early on will be suppressed moving forward.
This means you don‘t have to constantly adjust settings. The algorithms handle that heavy lifting so you only get notified of what matters.
Smart Home Integrations
Ring devices interoperate beautifully with Amazon Alexa and Echo hardware to enable home automation routines and voice control.
As just one example, pairing a Ring doorbell and outdoor camera with my Echo Show smart display lets me view and speak with visitors entirely hands free. Alexa announces their presence as soon as the doorbell rings or motion is detected.
Other popular integrations allow things like lights turning on automatically when cameras spot movement after dark. The possibilities are endless thanks to how deeply Ring links with Alexa.
Now let‘s break down available subscription plans and storage durations…
Subscription Options for Storage and Monitoring
Ring offers various plans to determine how recordings are stored and professional monitoring capabilities:
1. Basic – This free tier lets you view live streams from Ring devices. It includes lifetime product warranty and alerts you of activity. However, recordings only remain accessible for a maximum of 3 hours.
2. Protect – For $3-$10 monthly per connected device, the Protect plan extends video storage to 60 days, adds rich notifications with snapshot image attachments, and enables recording downloads and sharing options.
A key thing to note with the Protect plan is that a single camera can record dozens or hundreds of events in a month depending on motion frequency. Playback convenience comes at the cost of considerable cloud storage needs.
3. Protect Pro – On top of 60 day storage per camera, the $20 monthly Protect Pro plan provides professional monitoring, cellular backup support if wifi goes down, extended product warranty, and Alexa Guard Plus integration for detecting sounds like smoke alarms or broken glass when users aren‘t actively viewing camera feeds.
So carefully consider your needs – local storage vs cloud access, monitoring vs DIY oversight, etc. Most homeowners start with the Basic or Protect tiers and gauge from there if upgraded plans merit any added costs.
Now let‘s go through best practices for installation and setup…
Installation Tips
Physical setup plays a huge role in optimizing functionality. As a DIY security specialist, I always recommend homeowners:
- Mount video doorbells at chest level for faces to fill the frame
- Angle cameras to capture approaches not just doorways
- Place alarm sensors on easily-opened windows and isolate rooms
- Keep motion detectors away from sunlight and heating ducts
- Use the in-app walkthroughs for exact positioning tips
Also spend time adjusting motion sensitivity zones and awareness areas. You want broad coverage but tuned intelligently to account for pets, trees, and other factors unique to each environment.
Now that you know the full scoop on maximizing Ring hardware and subscriptions to their potential, how does the platform compare to alternatives on the market?
How Ring Stacks Up to Competitors
We‘ve touched on Ring vs SimpliSafe and Ring vs Nest already. But expanding the aperture, notable rivals also include DIY options like Arlo along with proprietary setups from ADT and Vivint.
Every platform takes a slightly different approach to balancing things like camera capabilities, smart detection, integration breadth and self service options. But having tested over a dozen systems extensively over my career, Ring clearly comes out ahead for most family homes thanks to:
- Seamless environment with cameras, sensors, lighting working cohesively
- Expandability to cover properties of all sizes
- Amazon‘s industry-leading AI/ML improving functionality over time
- Affordable monitoring rates given professional station partnerships
- Ongoing hardware innovations unmatched by most competitors
- Strong app reliability and multi-user support potential
Arlo fights back with a wide assortment of camera form factors and local storage options. Vivint provides higher resolution imaging but proprietary gear can get quite expensive. ADT offers robust monitoring response capabilities but clunky apps and hardware diversity.
As you can see all providers have respective strengths and weaknesses. There is no undisputed leader meeting every customer need universally. But Ring undeniably sets the benchmark for seamless monitoring integrations, intelligent detection, self-service flexibility and hardened deterrence.
The Future of Ring Monitoring Your Entire Property
And rest assured – things will only get smarter over time! Amazon continues hiring world-class engineers and data scientists to expand Ring‘s capabilities.
Expect rapid advancements in areas like:
- Pre-event video footage to provide critical context surrounding each detected activity thanks to onboard camera buffering
- Enhanced custom activity zones accounting for pets, foliage movement and other environment factors
- Package detection to cut down on theft from homes‘ doorsteps
- Vehicle recognition flagging approaching unknown cars
- Premium analytics identifying fire/smoke/leakage visual cues
- 3D motion mapping tracking individual movements rather than simply presence detection
- Custom sound detection listening for breaking glass or alarms
- Drone integration providing aerial monitoring of large rural properties
- Interior analytics determining abnormal behaviors inside based on learned patterns
And that just scratches the surface of Ring‘s ambitious roadmap! Amazon continually reinvests subscription revenues into pushing possibility frontiers for families relying on connected cameras and sensors.
I‘ll continue updating this deep dive as next generation Ring rollouts merit new evaluation. Please drop any questions below!
Jason Hill, Smart Home Security Analyst
