Ring’s next generation of smart home bells is here, with better sound, a larger field of view and, most interestingly, radar. Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2 replaces its immediate predecessor as the flagship of the line, offering new features called 3D Motion Detection and Panning. Both use the new radar sensor – with a range of up to 30 feet – to better identify and track people who approach your home. The former was designed to make motion detection much more accurate, while the latter uses radar to track a person’s movement in their garden in real time.
In terms of specifications, the Pro 2 has a new 1.536p HD video camera with a fisheye lens, allowing you to look down and see the floor of your balcony. While other Ring bells have a 90 degree vertical field of view, this model has 150 degrees in both directions, allowing you to really see the plots on your balcony. The company added that a new matrix microphone will help reduce sound distortion for clearer audio when speaking to visitors.
Since they use a camera to detect movement, ringing bells can often be overzealous with their motion alerts. Watch your app’s activity log and you’ll see alerts triggered by flying birds, a big truck blocking the sun for a moment and people walking on the sidewalk. Using a radar sensor for 3D motion alerts will hopefully reduce these incidents, as it will only look for movement within the range you have set up to 30 feet.
Bird’s Eye View, in turn, uses the sensor to track a person’s journey towards their door to ensure that they do not stray from the path. Watch the footage and you’ll see a map embedded with a breadcrumb trail, probably to check that they haven’t snooped on your property. If you are feeling a little nervous about the privacy and surveillance implications inherent in this type of tracking, get in line.
The longer the Ring is part of Amazon, the closer the integration between the bell and the retailer’s digital assistant will be. Users can now set up Quick Replies and Alexa Greetings, which allow them to offer a predefined request or allow Alexa to receive messages like an answering machine, without speaking to the app yourself. In one example, Alexa may ask a delivery person to place a package on the step when you are unwell.
Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2 is, like its predecessor, a wired competitor only and appears to be the same size and shape as the first version. It is available for pre-order starting today and will begin shipping to customers on March 31, 2021, at a price of $ 250.