Why get a Ring doorbell?

In every case of burglary on my road, a Ring doorbell has prevented none of them. Shared videos of guys in hoodies/baklavas do the rounds on our neighborhood watch group which are met with loads of sympathetic neighbourly texts, but a Ring doesn’t stop thieves from doing what they want, what they’re good at, and what they’re determined to do

Might help catch them though.

Nest ones record continuously, but Ring ones have to be motioned triggered

I’ve had the police knock on our door twice to ask for footage and both times, they said they were glad we had a Nest and not Ring because of the Ring issue of not always recording something over the road or someone running past

I have a Nest but I suppose they are all the same. I love it! We got it after someone nicked our vegetable delivery from our front garden and it didn't happen again (I imagine the thief was sorely disappointed to get a load of wonky veg, though, so might just have been that).

I've provided footage to the police on two occasions, once when someone nicked my neighbour's catalytic converter and once when the neighbours' son a couple of doors down on the other side had his motorbike stolen.

I answer the door when working or out of the house and let delivery people know where to leave parcels. Have even had a chat with the postman while stuck in a very boring meeting. I can also ask charity people who want me to sign up for direct debits etc to go away, not to mention the Jehovah's Witnesses and random salesmen.

When my house was having some work done and we were away we could see when builders were turning up etc which while not particularly useful was quite interesting.

I have also had some fun watching foxes and hedgehogs at night.

When I wake up in the middle of the night and want to see if DS is home I just check the camera history via my phone and don't have to get out of bed!

We were advised to get one by the police we my DD's bullies were coming to the house and shouting abuse outside. Thanks to it we have had them charged with harassment.
Now it's just useful as a loud door bell as we have quiet a big house and if I'm not in the teenagers don't always hear knocking from their rooms.

I have one because I can hear the door bell from my garden office. It's just set up to be a bell, with a ringer in my officer.

It is reassuring for my teen when we are out and he can see if anyone is sneaking around. As for looking out the window, not everyone has a lounge at the front, mine is on the back, I have privacy glass in my door so I cannot see who it at the door unless I go into my dining room. My house also does not face the road, I am at an angle to it. Before lockdown I was home alone a lot, my drive is very private and you cannot be seen at the front door from the road. We have a Ring doorbell plus other Ring security cameras. We got them after my car was broken into on my drive.

I found it very useful to eavesdrop using the live feature as people assume it only records when you press the front door bell. I have listened in to 2 very interesting conversations from workmen, one chap saying no the customer is not with me at the moment, I have stepped outside and then heard what his manager wanted him to say back to us, all very dodgy. Plus we were prepared for them for brushing off their shitty workmanship.

I have a couple of trail cameras for this. Not sure how they compare with Ring doorbells.

No deer here but regular hedgehogs and one day this critter.

It's handy to know when the DC's have got in from school.
Mine picks up passers by on the path so I know if anyone dodgy is around.

I do pay something for the extended recording maybe £70 a year or something? Think you get a couple of hours or something basic.

Yes it hilarious for watching teens trying to get in when you're away or out. I once watched DS1 doing the worm all the way up the drive at 5.00 4 hours after he was supposed to be home in attempt to evade it.

It is the all seeing eye though and NOTHING escapes it! Even when they just run really fast up the drive and try to blur themselves 😄

I find it really useful, wouldn’t be without one

In not sure what we have but some kind of camera doorbell thing , I don’t have the app on my phone DH does . It’s useful, we once watched my dad carry something up our drive and while his hands were full his trousers fell down, we know where one of our kids hides his weed , we could see how many friends were sneaked in when we were away on holiday, all kinds of useful stuff !!🤣

@SmartHome do you pay a yearly subscription for that one?

I have the Google Nest one which maybe works a bit better than a Ring (I can go back a few weeks) and I quite like it. The alerts and notifications are entirely configurable so I for example don't care to be told when someone approaches the door. Whereas DH has every alert configured so he can glare at the screen from the pub round the corner and go wtf is that at the house! They're looking at my car! They're going to try and get it! Oh, no, it's just the Amazon delivery chap (90% of all alerts).

My favourite use for it is to shout at full blast out of it, from my office, 3 floors up, use your fucking key! When the doorbell goes 4 times I quick succession at school return time as my kids all get off the same bus/train separately and separately walk up the road and serarately arrive and ring to be let in, separately, even though they have keys.

Totally this. I really don't understand them - just seem like total paranoia.

Love ours especially now I work from home. Can see who's at the door and answer accordingly. Great for ignoring the constant stream of people trying to sign me up for Hello Fresh, Salvation Army etc etc.

Can you tell me how you do that? (Make the screen appear on your Alexa). I can do that on mine, but I have to say "Alexa show the front door" and then she thinks about it for a bit and then shows me. If it did it automatically that would be great.

If someone was breaking into your house or a neighbour you wouldn't think like this. You can speak through then also. Police often ask if people have video footage if an incident has happened I think they are quite good! Footage is pretty clear too... you just never know!

I agree, there are far better solutions than Ring, although I see the appeal simple and cheap.

Personally I can't see the point if it doesn't record 24/7

It's the same if you leave the instruction verbally.

I’ve got the Eufy one, it’s great imho.

That's the fantastic thing about the way things work. If you don't see the need for it, you don't have to buy one. You don't need to understand why someone else might want one .

We have one to screen having to answer the door to chuggers and other unwanted visitors. As soon as the doorbell goes the video comes up in the Alexa device and I can just ignore it. If you don't want your phone alerting you, you don't have to.

To answer the OPs question, you can increase the time it records for in the settings.

Is Eufy as good as Ring?
Conclusion: Eufy and Ring are both excellent smart home security ecosystems, but they differ in terms of features, pricing, and user experience. Eufy is an excellent option for those on a budget, while Ring offers advanced features and more polished user experience.