Ring Battery Video Doorbell 2K Plus Review

Design and installation

• Quick to install
• Works with wired chimes
• Slimmer design than previous models

Ring hasn’t particularly seemed that bothered about overhauling the design of its battery-powered doorbells, with chunky brick-like models the norm. For the Ring Battery Video Doorbell 2K Plus that changes, and the doorbell has a curved exterior that looks more modern.

As the same Quick Release Battery Pack (still charged via micro USB, rather than USB-C) is used, there’s only so much Ring can do, but this new version is slightly slimmer than the previous version, the Ring Battery Video Doorbell Plus.

Of course, the advantage of having stuck with the same battery back is that spares are easy to come by, and you may even have a few yourself.

Installation has changed slightly, too. Rather than having to screw the doorbell to the mounting bracket, the Ring Battery Video Doorbell 2K Plus instead attaches to a mounting plate, and then clips onto the bracket you attach to the wall.

To remove, instead of a security screw, there’s a plastic tool that punches in below to release the doorbell. It’s a small change, but one that makes the Ring Battery Video Doorbell 2K Plus easier to fit. Ring also provides an angle bracket, should you need it. Given my narrow door frame, I had to use it.

Although a battery-powered doorbell, the Ring Battery Video Doorbell 2K Plus can also be connected to an existing doorbell transformer, where the battery is trickle-charged. You may think, at this point, that it’s better just to buy the wired version, but think before you do.

Wired doorbells don’t work with existing chimes, but the battery ones do. Given I’ve got a well-placed chime in the middle of my house, it’s much more convenient to have that sound. And, if the internet goes down, my internal chime still works as it doesn’t rely on Wi-Fi. For that reason, I personally stick with the battery models.

Adding the doorbell to the Ring app is simple, and then it’s down to business.

Features

• Requires a subscription for main features
• AI-features are powerful

At this point, the Ring Battery Video Doorbell 2K Plus and Ring app will seem quite familiar to most of us. As with other products in the line-up, you have to have a subscription to get the main features; without one you can get incoming Rings and motion notifications. If you really don’t want to pay, then a doorbell with its own storage, such as the TP-Link Tapo Video Doorbell Camera D235 may be better.

Personally, I think Ring is well priced, provided you have enough other products. A Ring Protect Solo plan gives you up to 180-days of video history (setting in-app, with the default set to 30 days) and costs £4.99 a month. That’s quite expensive, but if you have more than one camera, it’s just £7.99 a month for all of them. Both plans also include cellular backup for a Ring Alarm. That’s really good value.

At the high-end, there’s Ring Pro (£15.99 a month), which adds in the AI features: video descriptions (a man is emptying a bin, for example), video search and familiar faces. Plus, you get Single Event Alerts, where the system recognises that multiple clips are from the same event, so it cuts down on the number of notifications you get. With the lower tiers, you can add these features to one chosen camera for £3 a month. 

Finally, there’s Ring Guard Response (£29.99 a year), which also adds in security guard dispatch for your alarm system.

Overall, compared to the competition, such as Arlo, Ring’s plans are well priced for those with multiple devices and who want up to 4K video quality.

As a general doorbell, the Ring Battery Video Doorbell 2K Plus takes incoming calls and routes them through to your phone and any Alexa-powered smart displays, such as the Echo Show 11. Generally, alerts come through quickly, and I could answer with clear video and audio on both sides. Alternatively, it’s possible to send Quick Replies, such as, “Please leave the parcel outside. If you’d like to leave a message, you can do it now.”

Outside of that, the doorbell acts like any other security camera in the range. Dive into the app, and the Ring Battery Video Doorbell 2K Plus gets its own thumbnail, that you can tap to jump into the Timeline view, with an additional button to go live.

From this live view, I could talk to anyone that I could see or even send a Quick Reply, just like when answering a live ring.

You can also get automated alerts when motion is detected, although it’s best to tweak how that’s done. The one option missing from this doorbell is 3D Motion Detection. This feature uses radar to limit detection distances, say, ignoring all motion outside of your front door. If you live on a busy street, then 3D Motion Detection is brilliant; if you’ve got a long drive and/or you live somewhere quiet, you won’t see the benefit as much.

With the Ring Battery Video Doorbell 2K Plus motion control is via activity zones, motion sensitivity and, with a subscription, Smart Alerts. With these you can choose your combination of whether to record or notify for people and familiar faces, vehicles, other motion and packages. By getting the right combination it’s relatively easy to drop the number of alerts you get.

You can also control when the doorbell records using schedules or by adjusting modes based on the state your Ring Alarm is in. However, as this is a doorbell, it makes more sense just to have it active permanently.

Video that’s recorded is available in the app. Improvements over time have made the timeline view much easier to use. You can swipe through to find events quickly, jump to specific date, or filter by the event type.

Even better, if you’ve got the right subscription, you can just use the video search, type in what you’re looking for, and you’ll get the results back quickly.

Performance and video quality

• Excellent night vision
• Sharp video, head-to-toe
• Quickly picks up motion

The Ring Battery Video Doorbell 2K Plus has a Retinal 2K resolution, which means it has a 1920 x 1920 square resolution, the same as on the Ring Wired Doorbell (2^nd Gen). Combined with its 140° horizontal and vertical field of view, the doorbell captures people head to toe.

Quality is very good, but the Ring Battery Video Doorbell 2K Plus is more designed for close-up work, rather than a regular security camera. That is, there can be a bit of distortion, with the doorbell designed to capture people at the door head-to-toe. This really is its job.

What matters is that the video quality is excellent. During the day, video is sharp and detailed, with natural colours and plenty of detail through the frame.

At night, there are two options, depending on the light level. With Adaptive Night Vision, it adjusts illumination to capture detailed black-and-white images. With regular IR vision, details can be blown out, but this tech does a very good job of maintaining sharpness.

If there’s enough light (I have a spotlight), the doorbell can shoot in full colour. There’s a bit of noise to the image, but the quality is excellent.

Motion detection is also very good, working reliably and capturing motion events. This camera doesn’t have the Pre-roll feature of the older models (to preserve battery life), but I found the Ring Battery Video Doorbell 2K Plus woke up quickly to record without missing anything important.

Should you buy it?