It’s been a busy start to the year for Ring. After releasing one of the most affordable smart doorbells on the market today, the company has returned with not one but two new cameras designed to keep your home monitored when you aren’t around. In addition to a brand-new Video Doorbell 4, Ring is finally upgrading its popular floodlight with the new Floodlight Cam Wired Pro. Both versions are gaining some great improvements over the last-gen models.
Of the two, the new Floodlight Cam is undoubtedly the more exciting device, and not just because Ring has already introduced two other doorbells this year. The Floodlight Cam Wired Pro, which the company calls its “most advanced outdoor security camera yet,” is the first upgrade for the product since it was launched in 2017. It’s keeping the same basic specs of the original model — two 2,000-lumen LED lights, 1080p recording, a 140-degree range for detecting motion — but with a few of Ring’s “Pro” enhancements added into the mix.
Both 3D motion detection and Bird’s Eye View — two features launched in February with the Video Doorbell Pro 2 — are coming to the Floodlight Cam Wired Pro. The camera uses its new 3D motion detection to better measure the distance between moving objects. Meanwhile, Bird’s Eye View grants you an aerial map of the path someone has taken on your property. This new Pro model also features color night vision and improved microphones for better two-way communication.
As the name implies, you’ll need to have an external power source for the light when installing. Pre-orders start today for $249.99 with a May 6th shipping date. The original Floodlight Cam is sticking around, and it’s getting a price drop to just $199.99.
Ring also announced the Video Doorbell 4 as its next main series doorbell camera, with improvements coming to the Pre-Roll feature introduced last year. While the Video Doorbell 3 Plus used low-energy camera modules to start recording up to four seconds before any motion was detected, the software was limited to capturing low-res black and white images. The Video Doorbell 4 ups the game to full-color footage in Pre-Roll, a noticeable gain over what its last-gen device could manage. Ring expects its new hardware to include better battery life than previous models, though it’s unclear how much longer you can expect the camera to survive on a charge.
Otherwise, the Video Doorbell 4 gives the same experience you’ve come to expect from Amazon’s brand of smart home security gadgets. It records in 1080p, offers a 180-degree range for motion detection, and can be hardwired to your existing wiring if you’d rather not worry about recharging the camera. It’s available for pre-order now for $199.99 and ships on April 28th.
