The next generation of Ring’s smart home doorbells is here, with better sound, a larger field of view and, most interestingly, radar. The Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2 replaces its immediate predecessor as the flagship of the series and offers new features called 3D Motion Detection and Bird’s Eye View. Both use the new radar sensor – with a range of up to 30 feet – to better identify and track people approaching your home. The former is designed to make motion detection much more accurate, while the latter uses radar to track a person’s motion in real time.
Specifically, the Pro 2 has a new 1,536p HD camcorder with a fisheye lens, which allows you to look down and see the floor of your porch. While other ring bells have 90 degree vertical field of view, this model is 150 degrees in both directions so you can see the packets on your porch. The company added that a new microphone will help reduce sound distortion for clearer sound when talking to visitors.
Because they use a camera to detect movement, the doorbells can often be diligent with the movement warnings. Look at the activity log of your app and you will see warnings caused by birds flying past, a large truck blocking the sun for a moment and people walking on the sidewalk. Using a radar sensor for 3D motion alarms will hopefully reduce incidents, as it will only search for motion within the range you set up to 30 feet.
Bird’s Eye View, meanwhile, uses the sensor to track someone’s journey to your door to make sure he’s not straying from the path. Looking back at the footage, you see an inlaid map with a breadcrumb trail, presumably to see that you did not go snooping through your property. If you feel a little nervous about the implications of privacy and oversight in this type of detection, you need to get in line.
The longer Ring is part of Amazon, the tighter the integration between your doorbell and the retailer’s digital assistant. Users can now quickly set up replies and Alexa greetings, allowing you to present a preset request, or allowing Alexa to take messages like an answering machine without talking to the app itself. In one example, Alexa may ask a delivery person to put a package on the go if you are not otherwise set up.
The Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2 is, like its predecessor, only a wired contestant and appears to have the same size and shape as the first version. It is available to order from today and will be shipped to customers on March 31, 2021, priced at $ 250.