Popular smart home (opens in new tab) video doorbell camera company Ring is adding features, raising service fees, and making some customers very angry.
Ring is expanding its Protect Basic Plan (opens in new tab), allowing people to save videos up to 180 days, introducing discounts for other security devices, and expanding bulk video downloads to 50 at once. These three additions will be released in July 2022, and there are four more features in the pipeline.
Those additional features include package alerts, smart alerts for cars and animals, sound detection (such as a Ring camera detecting glass breaking), and custom event alerts. With custom alerts, you’ll be able to create a unique notification for your home. For example, if you live in a home with a gate that is frequently left open, you can create a custom alert (opens in new tab) to notify you when that happens.
Ring has no release date for these features other than “coming soon.”
Overall, it’s a potentially useful collection of updates for Ring customers, but there is a catch. Ring is increasing its prices and this has drawn the ire of some customers.
Starting July 1, Ring will increase its Basic plan price from an even $3 to $3.99. This means subscribers will be paying $39.99 for an entire year. The Plus and Pro plans will be untouched and not see any price increase or new features added. People on the Ring subreddit noted that the changes are coming to the UK too. A Ring representative was able to confirm that Basic plan subscribers will now pay 3.49 pounds a month (34.99 pounds annually).
Some subscribers on social media are now complaining that they’re no longer getting a good enough service for the price. The Basic plan only covers one doorbell or camera, while the Plus plan (the next cheapest plan) covers every device in your home for $10. Plus, subscribers will be paying for features that won’t come out for a while.
Don't knock
People across social media have been understandably angry at Ring for the unexpected subscription service price increase. On Twitter (opens in new tab), one customer complained that they’re seeing a 33% price hike for features they don’t even want.
Going back to the subreddit (opens in new tab), one person cynically points out this is all a ploy to get more people away from the Basic plan and onto the more expensive plans. There is a free plan that still gives coverage to Ring cameras, but the main draw of the paid plan is being able to record and save videos.
Now some customers are looking for alternatives. Many have stated that they’re going to ditch Ring and look for a better deal. If you’re one of these people, TechRadar has a list of the best video doorbells (opens in new tab) with several non-Ring suggestions.
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