Top positive review
61 people found this helpful
Nice doorbell but poor outgoing audio quality until Ring worked with me for a resolution
By Elliott on Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2023
This review is on the Video Doorbell Pro, the initial version, let's call it version 1. That is what I purchased and what many reading this review may have as well. My original review that follows pointed out one annoying negative and gave the product 3 stars. Apparently Ring monitors their reviews (since they are owned by Amazon) and as a result I was contacted by a Ring specialist, who was knowledgeable about their products and worked closely with me for a resolution. That experience was very positive. As a result, I have upped my review to 5 stars as the doorbell now meets all my needs and her willingness to work with me was exceptional. The product I am giving 5 stars to is the Video Doorbell Pro 2 which is different than the product I purchased which was the Video Doorbell Pro. Following is the review of the Pro. After that is the review of the Pro 2. I purchased Ring since they are an industry leader, generally get good reviews, and were helpful with my questions prior to purchase. The install went fairly well. The couple of questions I had they quickly and efficiently addressed with my calls to their help line. The only tricky part was due to my door’s construction and the need to mount the Ring somewhat higher on the frame then normally is done for conventional doorbells. I had to fish my doorbell wire up behind the trim to the Ring. But it all went well. The one problem, and the one that is still not resolved, is the audio quality of the signal broadcast by the Ring speaker for talking to the person at the door. The audio quality I hear inside is great; it is just the audio quality going out that is bad. I did a bunch of reading about this. I suggest you go to the Ring community forum at community-dot-ring-dot-com. Search for poor audio quality and read the post titled “Ring Pro very poor audio quality - garbled badly at doorbell - but fine if reviewing recording.” That series of posts covers the problem in detail. I also found similar complaints in Amazon reviews. I called their help line hoping to raise the complaint up the food chain and get it resolved. It seemed to me like a product problem. After over 3 hours invested and talking to 4 different support agents of increasing authority, I was told by the last one “I am the top of the line,” I still got no resolution. She insisted the issue was my Wi-Fi even though all the tests conducted by the Ring doorbell indicated the Wi-Fi was fine and even though the incoming video and audio was high quality with no distortion. They also sent me one replacement and then another, the last one supposedly from the newest “version 3” batch. They all worked the same. I do have to say they tried, but with the info I provided and the info in the Ring Community posts, it does sound like a design flaw. I can’t say for sure, but I have given up. I don’t really believe my last contact was the “top of the line,” nor that she ever spoke to actual product engineers. It is annoying how companies “protect” their engineers from their customers. I decided to keep the doorbell since it does everything else well, and I have modified my door jamb to accept it. I don’t often have to talk to a visitor using the doorbell and the one time I needed it I was able to, even though the audio sounds like I am talking through a Kazoo. The Ring website is easy to use and it is nice to have a video doorbell. UPDATE for the Pro 2. As I said a Ring specialist saw my Amazon review and contacted me to see if she could better resolve my problem. She was more expert that the 4 prior persons I had spoken to and also apparently had direct access to engineers familiar with the product. She asked if she could send me another (my 4th doorbell). I said “yes let’s give it a try,” thinking this was another update on the Pro. Actually it turned out to be a different more-expensive product, the Pro 2, but I didn’t realize this till later. The long and the short of it is, the Pro 2 works fine. It has even better video than the Pro, similar incoming audio, and a much-improved outgoing audio. It is now reasonable to have 2-way conversation through the doorbell. She also assured me that the prior Ring advice was incorrect and that my Wi-Fi was fine as was the way I had interfaced the doorbell to my system. I asked my contact if the Pro still had the same audio problems as I had identified, and she assured me that the latest version of the Pro and the Pro 2 had “the same audio capabilities.” I cannot confirm this but she seems to know her stuff. So, if outgoing audio is important to you, the current version of the Pro may suffice, but your best option may be to spend the extra for a Pro 2.
Top critical review
6,947 people found this helpful
I tried, I really tried
By Papa on Reviewed in the United States on September 27, 2018
Well, I tried – I really Tried. But it turns out my expectations were way too high. I was mesmerized by the commercials, captivated with visions of my gruff, electronically-brazened voice calling out over the speaker “Hey! Whutter you doin’ on my porch! Put that package down, the police are on their way!” But it doesn’t work that way out here in Suburbia, not in the real world. Oh, I tried, I really tried. I poured through the meek User Guide that came with the kit, graduated to the FAQs on the Ring website, and made so many calls to Ring Tech Support that I cringed each time in expectation that Ring would announce “You’re exceeded your limit!” But of course, they didn’t. They patiently answered my questions, helped me understand about 30-second versus 60-second video clips and the lag or buffering issue and zones and sensitivity. I learned about Device Health and Speed Test and download and upload speeds. I moved my mailbox out of the way of the video doorbell. I bought a new porchlight that didn’t cast its ubiquitous glow onto the doorbell. I climbed into a 110-degre attic, swam through an ocean of blown-in insulation to find and replace a doorbell transformer. Because who among us has the tools or the skills to measure the output voltage of your doorbell wires? BTW, your local hardware store does not stock a doorbell transformer that matches the exact specs of the Ring Video Doorbell Pro, I had to order one online. From a patient cable internet technician, I learned about updating the firmware on my wireless router (“You gotta do this 1, 2 times a year!”). But it was worth it, because now my download and upload speeds are in what Ring calls “the Good Range”. I also purchased and installed the Ring Chime Pro, even though my house is what I would call Small by today’s standards – under1,000 sq. ft. But none of that helped. Even though when I go to Live View and can see all of my yard in vivid color (or stark black-and-white at night) and see every twig movement and hear far-away roosters crow, it still won’t detect and alert me to a person walking up my driveway, until they are actually standing on my porch directly in front of the camera. Oh, it will do it once in a while, maybe twice in a while, but it won’t do it every time, it won’t do it even a majority of the time. The only time it does it 100% is when the person is actually standing on my porch. I am confident that an intruder could roam my yard at will, do as they will to the cars in my driveway, as long as they don’t climb onto my porch. Well, I can go to Live View and watch every movement, but the Ring Video Doorbell Pro will NOT detect and alert me. And that myth about me actually speaking to the person on the porch? Well, the ghost of that ship has done sailed, honey, far out into the sunset and ne’er to return. Only the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Home Improvement Salesmen are willing to stay on my porch after they have rung the doorbell, waiting while it takes 10-15 seconds for the alert to hit my phone, and then the 2-5 minutes it takes for the video to become available for me to view. So no, my expectations were not met. So, I will keep the new porch light, my wife likes it better than the old one. And I should have moved that mailbox long ago, it is much easier to empty in its new location. And I’ll keep the new doorbell transformer, it is a sturdy, handsome fellow even though it is buried beneath an AC return duct and 16 inches of powder insulation. But my old doorbell is going back on my porch, and this Ring Video Doorbell Pro is going back to Amazon. It is too unreliable, and does not, can not, WILL NOT work as advertised.
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