Ring has been a brand that has been around a while now, offering consumers a way to protect their front porch with a smart video doorbell. With their new line lineup, they hope to be a full home security solution that ties in with the smart devices you already have. While it has been something many companies have been trying to do, Ring has done it in a way that is elegant and easy to set up.
With a mix of wired (Ring Floodlight Wired, Ring Bridge) and battery operated (Ring Spotlight, Ring Pathlight, Ring Floodlight Battery, Ring Steplight, Ring Motion Sensor) devices, the company has a full-featured lineup that should fit most needs. It is amazing how easy adding each new device to your home is. In our test setup, we were able to add everything to the system in a matter of minutes, beyond the mounting or setting some of the more complex devices in place of course.
Before you get started, for any of the Ring Smart Lights to work, you need to ensure you have a $50 Ring Bridge to allow the Smart Lights to connect with the system. Once that is in place, setting up the lights is as easy as scanning a barcode, and following some on-screen prompts. Each ring bridge supports up to 50 lights, so you will have plenty of flexibility building a system that suits your personalized needs. You will need to ensure the Bridge is not too far from all the lights, but once everything is in place, Ring has made the process as painless as one would hope from smart devices.
After everything is paired up, you can set up groups that best suit your particular house or office. For our needs we set it up into front and side yard so we could have an idea of what was turning on and when and gave a clear picture of how the system was working overall, with the app giving alerts accordingly based on the groups and customized alert settings for each.
Thankfully, Ring has given enough customization to select how much the lights will alert you of movement. Should your light be near a busy street or walkway, you may want to set it to medium or low, anything else will result in a lot of alerts and could get frustrating quickly. Thankfully Ring makes this change an easy thing to accomplish, and within a few seconds you should have things adjusted should any changes be needed.
With the app, you can also adjust the brightness and turn individual groups on or off, along with view battery status for anyone that is not directly wired. It can be a daunting amount of customization, but within a few days, the Ring system will be set up and working as you would hope. It is nice to see Ring give the freedom to make things work to suit individual needs, as with all smart devices, a one size fits all solution rarely works as intended.
Once set up, they can tie into Amazon Echo devices to give alerts, or just with the specific Ring app making things painless as possible to setup. Granted, Ring is not an alternative to a fully monitored system, but it does offer a very customizable system at a price that won’t destroy the bank account. The Ring lights and doorbell feel like a great step to making your home smart and safe, and while the app could use a bit of work, it does what it needs to and offers a comprehensive option for anyone looking for a bit more safety and peace of mind in their home.
The sheer variety of lights on offer from Ring is what makes the system so appealing. From floodlights to simple outdoor motion detectors, Ring has built a full suite of products that should meet most needs. It is a system that provides many levels of customization from the lights you pick to how they interact with your smart house as a whole. And for the price (costing only a bit more than the non-smart counterpart) they are a great way to bring a new level of intelligence to all the outdoor lighting of your home or office.
Ring has outdone itself with the suite of lights, offering a range of devices that should fit most people’s needs. From floodlights to motion sensors, Ring’s Smart Lights are a great way to bring your home into the world of the internet. While it will take a bit of time, and up-front cost, the system as a whole feels well thought out, comprehensive, and easy to set up. If you are looking to bring some smarts to your outdoor lighting, Ring has you covered.
