Ring Video Doorbell Plus
The Ring Doorbell Plus boasts a few upgrades such as 1536p HD+ footage, color night vision, 1:1 aspect ratio for head-to-toe view, and real-time package alerts. It also has a quick-release rechargeable battery that provides up to eight months of usage on a single charge.
Ring Video Doorbell 4
The Ring Doorbell 4 streams footage in 1080p, has a four-second color pre-roll function, a 16:9 aspect ratio, and features a dual-band Wi-Fi system for user convenience. Its battery can go up to a year without charging, making it one of Ring’s best video doorbell cameras.
Amazon’s Ring is a household name in the video doorbell industry, providing qualitysmart doorbell camerasthat allow you to view your front door and monitor packages even when you are out. While the Ring Battery Doorbell Plus is one of the brand’s most advanced and latest offerings, it’s not so different from its predecessor, theRing Video Doorbell 4, making it somewhat difficult to choose between the two, especially since both have unique features. However, a thorough comparison of the video doorbells can help you decide which is ideal for your needs and budget.
Price, availability, and specs
The Ring Video Doorbell Plus will set you back $180 if you buy it on Amazon, while the Doorbell 4 is a bit cheaper, costing $160. Considering the Doorbell Plus has some new cool features and offers better video quality, the $20 price difference is reasonable. Aside from Amazon, you may get both video doorbells on Ring’s website and Best Buy.
When it comes to specs, the Video Doorbell 4 and Doorbell Plus share a lot in common but have unique differences in aspect ratio, video resolution, night vision, and viewing angles.
Measuring 5.1 x 2.4 x 1.1 inches, the Ring Video Doorbell Plus and Video Doorbell 4 are like two peas in a pod in terms of design. They are battery-operated but give you the option of hardwiring them to 8-24V doorbell systems. Although wiring the cameras does not offer the benefits of wired models, such as continuous recording, it will save you from having to remove the batteries when charging.
The Video Doorbell Plus and Video Doorbell 4 are rectangular and feature nicely rounded edges with a circular blue light accentuating the chime button. Additionally, the camera lens and passive infrared sensor sit just a few inches above the button and are enclosed to prevent damage. Both video doorbells come in Ring’s signature colors (a satin nickel faceplate and black panel), but you’re able to customize them according to your preference using interchangeable faceplates, which are sold separately.
Video and audio quality
The most outstanding feature of the Battery Video Doorbell Plus is that it captures sharper videos with its 1536p HD+ resolution and provides a clear head-to-toe view of subjects in the motion zone, thanks to its 1:1 aspect ratio and 150-degree viewing angle.
On the other hand, the Video Doorbell 4 streams videos in 1080p HD, which is high quality but still not as good as the Ring Doorbell Plus’s footage. The Doorbell 4 has a 16:9 aspect ratio with a 160-degree (horizontal) and 84-degree (vertical) field of view, so it will not always provide a full view of the person standing at the door, particularly when they are close to the camera. This can be a drawback if you are looking to keep a close eye on packages placed right by the door.
The Video Doorbell Plus has impressive color night vision that provides quality videos in low-light conditions, making it better than the Ring 4’s gray monochrome night vision. There is, however, one feature that the Ring Doorbell 4 has but is lacking in the Ring Doorbell Plus — the full-color Pre-Roll function. This feature allows the Video Doorbell 4 to record a four-second video of the moments leading up to the event that triggered the camera.
Both have two-way talk, a feature that enables you to converse with those at the door. Regarding sound quality, the built-in microphones on these doorbell cameras have noise cancellation, while the speakers deliver undistorted audio.
Features, software, and connectivity
The Ring Battery Video Doorbell Plus and Video Doorbell 4 share a long list of features, including intelligent motion detection, which lets you customize motion zones based on your security preferences. The cameras will promptly send notifications to your phone when the sensors detect motion in the zones you’ve set.
you may also integrate the Video Doorbell Plus and Doorbell 4 with Alexa-compatible devices like Amazon’s Fire Tablet, Echo Show, and Fire TV. Subscribing to Ring’s service plan enables the cameras to stream live footage to these devices. Furthermore, you can access all features and functions on the two video doorbells using the Ring app. The cameras also have convenient quick replies for when you are busy or don’t feel like going to the door.
It’s important to note that the Ring Video Doorbell Plus only supports wireless connections from 2.4GHz Wi-Fi routers, which is a bit weird for an upgrade, considering the Video Doorbell 4 works with 5GHz and 2.4GHz networks. The Video Doorbell Plus compensates for this shortfall with its real-time package detection, although a subscription is required.
Battery performance and charging
Ring’s Video Doorbell Plus and Video Doorbell 4 feature rechargeable batteries that you can easily remove when charging (of course, you won’t have to do this if the cameras are hardwired because they’ll be trickle charging). To charge the cameras, simply pop out the quick-release batteries and use the micro-USB cable included in the box. Charging takes five to ten hours on both, depending on whether the battery is plugged into an AC outlet or a USB port.
You can also use the Ring solar charger to keep the batteries running if you are using the bundle option. Ring says the Battery Doorbell Plus can go for six to eight months on default settings, while the Video Doorbell 4 can last up to twelve months on a full charge. Battery life for the two models may vary depending on the frequency at which they are activated.
Ring Protect subscription
As with most video doorbell cameras, all the cool features offered by the Ring Doorbell 4 and Battery Video Doorbell Plus require a paid subscription.Ring’s Protect subscriptionis available in three plans — Basic, Plus, and Pro. Depending on your budget, you may pay for the plans monthly or annually. The Basic plan is currently priced at $4 per month or $40 per year, while the Plus plan requires you to pay $10 a month or $100 a year for each camera.
Ring’s Plus and Basic plans provide similar features, such as 180 days of cloud storage, motion alerts, event history, rich notifications, video sharing, smart package alerts (on the Ring Battery Video Doorbell Plus), video download, and more. The only difference is that the Plus plan extends the warranty of your Ring device. If you want to go all in on Ring’s subscription service, choose the Pro plan. It costs $20 a month or $200 a year and unlocks more features than the other two plans.
Which is right for you?
The Ring Video Doorbell 4 and Battery Video Doorbell Plus are good cameras and can be great additions to your home security system. They are easy to install since both are battery-powered. Moreover, the two cameras have common features as both stream videos in clear HD and offer two-way talk, live view, and motion detection.
However, the Battery Video Doorbell Plus has better video quality due to its higher resolution of 1536p. It delivers more detailed videos compared to the Ring Video Doorbell 4’s 1080p. In addition, it has a 1:1 aspect ratio, which gives a wider view than the 16:9 aspect ratio offered by the Video Doorbell 4. If you want more coverage of your front door while also getting the best video quality, package alerts, and color night vision, the Ring Battery Video Doorbell Plus is the ideal pick.
Best for video quality
The Ring Video Doorbell Plus offers a head-to-toe view and streams crisp 1536p footage, allowing for easy identification of faces and objects. It has package alerts and can be a great addition to any door.
Meanwhile, if you want a doorbell camera that shows you what happened a few seconds before an event or one that puts video recordings into context, consider the Ring Video Doorbell 4.
Great for pre-roll
The Ring Video Doorbell 4 is a reliable camera with decent footage (1080p) and a Pre-Roll feature, plus it supports dual-band connectivity. However, the aspect ratio is not the best and will often crop out part(s) of the footage.
