We got the basic ring (hardwired) and are considering one as a BD gift to our son. He's reasonably handy other than when it comes to electrical work. Anyone have the battery powered one? Is it worth the extra money to avoid the wiring?

I don't have Ring, but do have ARLO,, which is similar

due to the location, I bought the wireless unit,
it is in an area that I do not have a wired doorbell, (We never wired the building for one) but close enough to use the WIFI in the building,


battery life is pretty damn good, the battery that came with the unit as maybe 1/2 charge and in a couple weeks was at about 40%

however it does take a while to charge one, (about an hour) so I bought an extra battery to have charged when needed

If he has wiring to the doorbell already, I'd go with the wired and just install it "together" if possible. Even if not, it's only two wires and a couple screws right?

Also go ahead and get a higher voltage transformer with plans to install that as well, just in case. Almost every home has one rated too low to drive the Ring.

Due to location I went with battery to avoid the hassle of running wires.

Our front door faces east and there is no obstruction to bright sunlight from sunrise to early afternoon, so I added the Ring solar charging thingy to the mounting base.

We had a battery based one and upgraded to the wired version when we moved. The wired one has a better response time to motion/video uploads and don't have to mess with charging a battery every 3-4 months. Go with the wired model if he can handle wiring in a low voltage line and the transformer. I ended up having to replace the transformer about a year after the move. But worth it. Just make sure to turn off that Amazon neighborhood(?) network option that allows others to view your ring.

-TVz

I have had the Ring for several years. It was the best option at the time I bought it.

If I were starting fresh, I would look at one of the alternatives that does not charge a monthly fee for storage.

The battery version isn't going to last long if it gets triggered to record often. I live in a development with sidewalks and gets triggered probably 100 times a day. For me it's no biggie, its hardwired and with the unlimited cloud storage it works out well. I could cut back on it's sensor range but I want it to trigger on when it sees motion.

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If I were starting fresh, I would look at one of the alternatives that does not charge a monthly fee for storage.

I heard ya BUT, when you have their unlimited device cloud storage (1 price for as many devices as you have, I have 4 of them) it also means ALL devices are covered under an unlimited warranty. In the last 2 years I've replaced 2 devices for free under that warranty.

I wired mine and also needed to upgrade the transformer. So easy even I could do it.

The wiring is incredibly easy.

I've used Ring in a rental w/o wiring. The battery version is fine. I had several in rotation and they'd generally last for a couple of months before needing to be swapped even in the "capture everything that moves" mode. I tried the solar charger. It sucks donkey balls. Don't bother.

I use Arlo doorbells b/c my cameras are Arlo Ultra and I wanted to keep the current video surveillance in the same ecosystem. Those both went where low voltage doorbell lines were already present. Low voltage doorbell wiring is simple. Easier than replacing a light switch.

I have better results overall with the Arlo wired doorbells, but I haven't tried Ring's wired versions, so I can't make a perfect comparison.

-Rob

Ours went where the prior doorbell was, so we went hardwired.
Benefit, it also would chime to the existing indoor doorbell.

Our new house has a Vivint system & it does not chime the inside doorbell, but chimes through the alarm panel (and brings up the video).

I have Ring things in both battery and wired. I did the install - and troubleshooting - myself.

Battery is fine and only suggest it if you don't have prexisting wiring for the location. Also, by an extra battery per camera so you can swap them out. They charge using a provided micro USB cable but it's hours before they're charged.

Hardwired highest res is the way to go for a combo camera and doorbell but as I learned, if your home uses a doorbell transformer that is older and is only around 16v, change it for one that's 24v. $30ish at HD or Lowes. The cameras require 16-24v but I didn't have reliable units that rang doorbell, showed images and let you talk until I went with 24v. Once I did everything worked well.

Battery for ours, but we have no hardwired doorbell so it wasn't an option, have two batteries keep one charged making transition easy and quick with no loss of coverage.

Battery life is dependent on use, lots of traffic and motion will of course lower it's life.

I've blocked out the area at the street for passing cars to reduce use.

The battery unit can be hard wired, the advantage would be if power goes out you still have the ring operable.

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Originally posted by BurtonRW:

I tried the solar charger. It sucks donkey balls. Don't bother.

I have heard a lot of negative things about them. I'm guessing that it depends on location, and availability of direct sunlight.

Mine has a totally unobstructed view to the east, so it gets a lot of sunlight every day here in Florida.

It won't charge to 100% but it will gradually decline, stay around 80% charge for maybe six months, and then start a slow decline again.

When I see it approach 50% I put the spare battery on the charger and when it's topped up to full charge, I swap batteries. Once a year, maybe twice, but no more often, does the job.

I've had the older Ring for years and it was battery. The battery needed charging after a few months in my case. Now they are older and need replacing but yoou can't replace them so I looked at alternatives due the Ring being somewhat pricey.
I have Wyze at my business and have been happy with them and they cost a fraction of the price. Also their smartphone app works well and the pictures are excellent. They have both wired and battery and an optional solar charger if your application and conditions work for that.
I'm getting battery.

We have two RING doorbells which are both hardwired (16V) and have removeable batteries. The batteries work as a backup.

Both locations had wired doorbell buttons. They both work great for us.

There are many models with different features, so pick what works for you.

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Originally posted by V-Tail:

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Originally posted by BurtonRW:

I tried the solar charger. It sucks donkey balls. Don't bother.

I have heard a lot of negative things about them. I'm guessing that it depends on location, and availability of direct sunlight.

Mine has a totally unobstructed view to the east, so it gets a lot of sunlight every day here in Florida.

It won't charge to 100% but it will gradually decline, stay around 80% charge for maybe six months, and then start a slow decline again.

When I see it approach 50% I put the spare battery on the charger and when it's topped up to full charge, I swap batteries. Once a year, maybe twice, but no more often, does the job.

In general, people don't seem to know how to set up a solar panel. I've seen it in my own neighborhood a number of times and told the neighobors how it should be.

Here's the way they should be:
1. Aimed true south, not magnetic south
2. The tilt angle should be the same as your latitude
3. The best place is where they'll get direct sun from sunup to sundown. If you don't have that kind of place, use a place that gets as much direct sunlight as possible.

I used solar to power an entire room of my house for Ham Radio for over 20 years. 3 Transceivers including one 100 watt transceiver, a TV, AM/FM radio, police/ham scanner, coffee pot and inverter for turning my antenna rotor.

I don't have that any more, but I do have 2 outside cameras that are on solar panels and have been for 4 or 5 years (Reolink). They maintain a 100% charge all the time in spite of being set where they'll even start recording a cat walking down the street 20 feet away.

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Originally posted by Flash-LB:

In general, people don't seem to know how to set up a solar panel. I've seen it in my own neighborhood a number of times and told the neighobors how it should be.

Here's the way they should be:
1. Aimed true south, not magnetic south
2. The tilt angle should be the same as your latitude
3. The best place is where they'll get direct sun from sunup to sundown.

You don't really have that much flexibility with the solar charger for the Ring doorbell.

It's part of the mounting base for the doorbell; look at the picture below. The solar thingy makes sort of a "picture frame" around the doorbell.

There is no entry door on the south side of my house. My front door faces east. The doorbell has to be mounted where the camera has a good view of people at the door, and at a location where people would reasonable expect to find a doorbell.

I had a battery-powered Ring for about 3/4 years. I upgraded to the Ring Pro when I bought my house 1.5 years ago and it is hard-wired.

I will NEVER use a battery-powered camera again. Having to charge(change) the battery every month was a PITA.

I have a battery powered ring. The former homeowner disabled the doorbell for some reason so I don't have power there #1, and its not close to where I had to mount the Ring due to width #2.

I find the battery lasts maybe 45 to 60 days depending on use. It takes a few hours to recharge.