Amazon’s got an unstoppable deal right now for a smart doorbell: The Ring Video Doorbell Pro is on sale for $199. That’s the usual $50 discount we’ve seen before on this item, but on top of that, Amazon’s throwing in a free Echo Dot. The third-generation Echo Dot is usually $50 (albeit currently on sale for $40), but it’s not clear if you get the second or third generation mini speaker with this deal.
The Ring Video Doorbell Pro features 1080p video capture with infrared for nighttime vision. It connects to your Wi-Fi via 802.11b/g/n and you can check-in remotely to see who’s at your door. The Pro also works with Amazon’s Alexa digital assistant, which allows you to use the smart speaker for two-way talk with whoever’s at your door.
Unlike the standard Ring doorbell, the Pro doesn’t have a battery pack. Instead you have to hook it up to your existing doorbell wiring with at least 16 to 24 volts of AC power. Why doesn’t it use a battery? Because the Ring Pro is constantly processing video to decide whether or not to send you an alert that someone is at the door.
We reviewed the Ring Video Doorbell Pro back in August and loved the premium-priced home tech. The Pro version of Ring’s video doorbell includes a more complex detection zone scheme that we found was better for eliminating false alerts.
[Today’s deal: Ring Video Doorbell Pro and Echo Dot for $199 at Amazon.]