Ring doorbell

[Harrison]

Not actually expensive with the new Ring doorbell Wired. Which is what I've bought. Unlike the expensive battery powered units, the wired version is mains electric only, so cuts the cost of the battery out and the need for the components to use it. Makes it slightly smaller, and the image is 1080p instead of 2k, but still very good quality with excellent night vision. It also has all the software features of the most expensive models. In the sake I get it for just £40, plus £15 for a mains adapter that came with 5m+ of cable. Even normally it's only £49.

I now think these are great, because in addition to bring a door bell, with the ability to answer and see when not at home, they act sa great security camera. 150 degree field of view means it covers the whole front of my house, and automatically records detected movement, so logs all activity outside the house. And saves the footage online, so even if the unit was stolen you can still access the footage.

I initially had issues with the motion detection recording everything. So someone walking past on the pavement or a car going by. So morning 7-9, and afternoon 3-5 it was given lots of alerts. But there is a new person detection setting that works really well, and has removed most false alerts for cars driving by. And also manually setting the detection zone within the image means I've removed the road from detection, so only when someone walks towards the house does it notify. Really good software.

At this price it's worth it just for a security camera alone. Tempted to put one down outside the log cabin studio just as a security camera. Far cheaper than buying a proper outdoors camera.