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The fact that a home is robbed every 26 seconds in the USA is the biggest reason as to why you need a reliable home security system to protect your house against burglars. And if you are in the market looking for one such system, then I am sure you are going to get overwhelmed with numerous available options.
Now I cannot say what brand of home security solutions will best cater your needs, but what I do know is if you’re looking for a simple, reliable, and easy to operate home security brand, then you cannot find a better option than the Ring home security systems.
Traditional home security systems are incredibly complex to understand and mostly require a professional to install. Not to mention, moving them from one place to another if you are changing homes is a hassle.
But things have changed dramatically since systems like Ring were introduced in the market. They have made installing a professionally monitored home security system a matter of minutes. Also, these new security systems are way cheaper compared to the old complex ones.
In this blog, we will focus on the Ring security system and will talk in detail about its best offering, the cameras.
What is Ring Security System?
The Ring is a company that offers home security solutions at an affordable price point. Ring systems are simple to understand and easy to install. You can install the Ring Security Kit at your home without any professional help, in well under 20 minutes.
The basic kit on offer by Ring at $199, is priced relatively cheaper than its more expensive counterparts. To give you an idea, a Nest Security Kit costs about $400. Although the Ring Kit is comparatively basic as well.
The 5-piece kit includes a base station, a keyboard, a motion sensor, a contact sensor, and a range extender. You also get a few screws, bolts, and double-sided tape to aid you with the installation of the system.
The obvious second step would be to connect everything to the base station, but that is not true in the case of Ring. All the devices included in the kit are preset to pair with the in-box base station, which means as soon as you power on everything, the devices will automatically connect to the base station.
Clever. Also, if you order any extra sensors or cameras while ordering the kit, those additional devices will be preset to connect with the in-box base station as well. Ring advertises its system to be the easiest to use, and they are not lying.
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But there are some compromises you will have to make, in return for the affordable price point at which you are getting such a high-tech security system. For starters, unlike Nest or SimpliSafe, Ring does not offer a fire alarm or a glass break alarm.
Ring currently provides the primary motion sensor, contact sensor, range extender, and few different types of cameras. Although, Ring has stated that they will offer more sensors and devices in the future for better and improved security. But I think the ones that are available right now are good enough for an average user as well.
One thing you might want to consider, though, before choosing Ring as the brand you want to go for, is the fact that the Ring system cannot currently be connected to Google Assistant or Alexa.
So, if you are all about that smart and connected home, then you might want to consider something like NEST or SimpliSafe. The Ring has, however, stated that they would work on smart home integrations for their system.
Ring also provides the professional home monitoring feature, which can be availed using the subscription plans offered by the brand. There are currently two plans on offer, both being extremely affordable.
The monitoring, though, is video-less monitoring, which is a bummer given, Ring also has on offer some excellent cameras. Nevertheless, having someone call the emergency services as soon as an alarm is set off is more reassuring than relying on the phone notification.
We will talk more about the benefits of each of the monitoring plans, but before that, let us look at the different types of cameras Ring offers.
Ring Cameras (Are They Always Recording?)
Ring offers excellent versatility in the camera department, with cameras dedicated solely for indoor/outdoor and cameras that have their floodlights. You even get the option in terms of the way your camera will be powered.
You can get three different power options, solar power, wired, or battery powered. Features that come as standard in each of those cameras is the night vision feature and the motion sensor feature.
Installing the cameras is a relatively easy task as well since you do not need to connect all the cameras to any screen. Just like every other Ring device, the cameras, too, are connected to the base station using the Wi-Fi connection of your home.
You can view the live footage from the cameras on your android/iOS phones using the Ring app. However, the recording of the footage is not stored anywhere if you have not subscribed to the Ring monitoring plans.
If you have subscribed to a plan, though, you not only get the footage recorded but also get unlimited cloud storage to keep the footage intact for 30/60 days (depending on your location).
If you wish to keep the footage further than the given time, you will have to download it and save it on a storage device at your home. For those who do not have any monitoring plans, in case an alarm is raised, the camera records 1-minute footage from when the alarm was raised.
So, the only way of getting your ring camera to record continuously is to get a monitoring plan (which you should be able to afford given the low subscription fee).
Now let us look at some of the cameras offered by Ring.
Indoor Camera
The indoor camera offered by Ring is a pretty standard camera with some necessary features and too high build quality. Ring likes to keep things simple, and it can be seen in the minimalist design of the camera. The indoor camera comes with 1080p video-recording and motion sensors, and night vision. It also has a two-way talk feature, which allows you to talk to someone standing in front of the camera using the Ring app. It is powered through a wall socket.
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Ring Stick-Up Camera
The only difference between the stick-up cam and the indoor cam is the fact that stick up cam can also be mounted to a wall and be used as an outdoor camera. Since not everyone has a wall socket outside their homes, the stick-up cam comes with the power options of solar-powered and battery-powered as well. You also get a stick-up cam “elite” version, which is powered through the Ethernet cable.
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Ring Floodlight/Spotlight Camera
The Ring also offers a spotlight/floodlight camera. These cameras come with lighting to get better footage at night. The spotlight camera has two led strips built-in to the camera that light up when motion is detected.
At the same time, the floodlight camera has two separate floodlights coming out from the sides that illuminate much more than the spotlight camera. The floodlight camera comes only in the wall-socket powered version due to the high voltage requirements.
It will not make much sense if you do not get to record the footage from your cameras at home, which is why it becomes essential to subscribe to a monitoring plan given you buy Ring cameras. So, let us look at what these plans have on offer.
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Ring Professional Monitoring Plans
Ring currently offers two monitoring plans, both of which are incredibly affordable and come with no cancellation fees and no contract policy. There is also a free-trial period, after which you can decide if you want a monitoring plan or not. The two plans on offer are:
Protect Basic Plan
This plan has a monthly subscription fee of just $3 and an annual fee of $30. You can only record the footage from a single camera using this plan.
If you want to record the footage from more than one camera, you will either buy the protect basic plan for each of the cameras or will have to opt for the protect plus plan.
You also get unlimited cloud storage for storing the recorded footage, which can be accessed using the Ring app. However, you do not get the option for professional monitoring under this plan.
Protect Plus Plan
This plan offers all the benefits the basic plan offers and more. The monthly subscription fee for this plan is $10, and the annual fee is $100.
You can record footage from any number of cameras under this plan, and you also get professional monitoring, which will immediately dispatch the emergency service as soon as an alarm is raised.
You also get an extra 10% discount on your future Ring purchases under this plan.
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