Someone must have told Ring to go big or go home at this year’s CES convention in Las Vegas, Nevada, because they sure went big in a major way, bringing over a dozen new products to market. Among those products are a new kind of Ring doorbell, a whole host of new smart lighting options and accessories, and even some new (and potentially life-saving) sensors for things like smoke, carbon monoxide, and water leaks. Read on for a few of the pertinent details on several of these products and to see which of them most speaks to you.
Ring Door View Cam
While most doorbells (and doorbell cams) are installed approximately waist high, the new Ring Door View Cam gives you the same view you’d have if you were looking through your peephole. In fact, your peephole is exactly where you install this new product.
Simply unscrew your old peephole (provided you have one) and put this camera in its place. Ring even provides a tool specifically for this purpose (the only one you’ll need), and claims that the entire setup process takes just minutes to complete. It’s very convenient!
Once installed, you’ll be able to get the view from your peephole directly on your smart phone. In fact, you can even ask Alexa to show you who’s at your door when someone comes knocking. And because the Door View Cam has built-in motion sensors, it really does know when someone is knocking (as opposed to pressing its built-in doorbell button).
This particular product has not been officially released yet, but it should be coming along sometime fairly soon, so stay tuned to the Best Buy Canada Blog for more information (and hopefully a hands-on review) as soon as it becomes available.
Lights and Accessories
Ring is also hitting hard in the smart lights and accessories space, with 7 new products being introduced at CES ’19.
These include a battery-powered spotlight, a battery-powered floodlight, a wired-in floodlight (shown above—it also comes in black), a pathlight (basically a stick light to be used with other lights of the same kind for lighting an outdoor path), a steplight, (a small, battery-powered and motion-triggered light for steps, decks, and walkways), a motion sensor, and a transformer.
Some of the shared traits of the various lights are things like app-based control via the Ring App and compatibility with other lights in the family (as well as various Alexa-enabled smart devices). Note that you will need the Ring Bridge to take advantage of some of the smart control options.
The Ring Motion Sensor is a battery-powered detector that you place outdoors where it can activate your other Ring products by talking to them via the bridge. This way, any time motion is detected, your lights can come on and your cameras can begin recording.
The Ring Transformer, alternatively, is a low-voltage transformer that connects via the bridge to your existing landscape lighting (non-Ring ) and allows you to control everything via the Ring App.
Sensors and Detectors
Finally, Ring brings us this year a new selection of sensors and detectors that could potentially save our lives. These include both the First Alert Z-Wave Smoke/CO Alarm and the Smoke and CO Listener (both of which detect dangerous smoke and carbon monoxide).
Then there’s the Dome Siren (that flashes and sounds an alarm in the case of a potential break-in or other security issue) and the Flood & Freeze Sensor that detects water (i.e., leaks, flooding, and even freezing, if placed strategically) and notifies you of any problems through the Ring App if a problem is detected—as do the other sensors and detectors.
As you can see, the good folks at Ring have sure been busy this year, and there’s a pretty good chance that most (and likely all) of this stuff will come to us here in Canada. So, as I mentioned before, keep checking back here on the Best Buy Canada Blog for all the latest news from Ring and all your other favourite developers of Smart Home technology. (Note: A few bonus shots from Ted Kritsonis are provided below.)
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