Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2 Employs 3D Motion Detection And Radar To Thwart Porch Pirates
Ring is on a mission to "make neighborhoods safer" by making and selling nifty video surveillance doorbells. Its newest model, the Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2, is not only its most advanced and full-featured model to date, it brings together a cornucopia of technologies like 3D motion detection with radar and a Bird's Eye View feature to help ward off package thieves and intruders.
The basic premise is the same as always—the Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2 replaces your regular doorbell, giving you access to a video feed so you can see who exactly is at your front door (or wherever you decide to install it). But just pointing out the video capability is selling the latest model way short.
Ring says its new 3D motion detection feature allows people to set more precise boundaries for where they want the doorbell to detect motion. This is a potential boon for people who live off a busy sidewalk or street—setting a tighter boundary could cut back on unwanted notifications and recordings, without compromising security.
Then there's the Bird's Eye View feature. This is also powered by radar and shows an aerial map of motion events recorded by the camera, with each person's position represented by a series of dots on a map the user defines when setting up 3D motion detection.
"3D Motion Detection and Bird’s Eye View are the natural next steps in home security and will set a new
standard in motion detection," said Jamie Siminoff, Ring’s founder and Chief Inventor. "With the
introduction of these radar-based features, we’re reinventing what our devices can do to give our
customers a more precise picture of what is happening at home. We’re excited to add this technology to
our most popular product—the doorbell, and to offer customers even more choices for their home
security systems."
As for the actual video feed, Ring upgraded the resolution to 1536p and added color to its night vision mode, to better see guests from head to toe. It also expanded the field of view to 150 x 150 degrees (a first for a Ring Video device) to make it easier to keep track of packages that get dropped off.
Ring improved the audio as well. Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2 features two-way talk with noise cancellation, an upgraded microphone array to help reduce noise distortion, and enhanced HD audio. This is on top of all the features carried over from the previous Pro model, like Amazon Alexa support, enhanced dual-band Wi-Fi connectivity, pre-roll video previews, and so forth.
As with any smart device, there are potential downsides. Last month we wrote about a bug in Ring's accompanying app that leaked precise user location. Fortunately in that instance, Ring was quick to patch the vulnerability after it was discovered.
The Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2 is available to preorder for $249.99 and will release on March 31.
