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Ring has established itself as a leading company in the home security system landscape. Founded in 2013 as Doorbot and offering a smart doorbell that allowed users to see, hear and speak to visitors through their phones, Ring has since expanded its range of products to include security cameras, smart lighting, and a comprehensive home security system called Ring Alarm.
Ring’s products are all easy to install, with a focus on DIY installation and user-friendly designs, making them a great option for the first-time security system customer. Smart home security systems like Ring’s provide a sense of security and protection for you, your family, and your property, by deterring crime, alerting you to potential threats, and enabling a rapid response from authorities. Plus, Ring offers two subscription services for monitoring, which provide additional features, such as video storage and cellular data backup.
Rating: ★★★½
Ring is a popular smart home security brand that offers a range of products designed to enhance the safety of your home. Their product line includes video doorbells, security cameras, motion sensors, and alarm systems, all of which can be controlled and monitored via the Ring mobile app. Ring’s systems are known for their easy installation, integration with smart home ecosystems, and stylish appearance.
With a focus on user-friendly technology and a commitment to continuous innovation, Ring aims to provide homeowners with a comprehensive security solution that combines accessibility, convenience, and peace of mind.
Our experts have reviewed Ring’s security products and found them to perform well, and, although purchasing individual devices can prove expensive, its security packages offer good value for money.
Our Independent Advisor experts have researched and tested each home security system in order to provide fair, impartial and accurate recommendations. We compare products, features, quality and cost alongside what industry experts and customer reviews say.
Our reviews are determined by the following categories:
We examine 35 elements within these categories including:
All of our home security articles are verified by our in-house team of fact-checkers, to give consumers the knowledge they need to make an informed, up-to-date and confident decision. For more information, see how we review home security systems.
Advancements in technology have led to a new era of security solutions for homes and businesses. Smart security systems are quickly gaining popularity as they offer enhanced protection, convenience, and customisation compared with traditional security systems.
Smart security systems use the internet (either wifi or a cellular connection) to pair with smartphones, computers, or tablets, allowing users to access, monitor, and control their security devices remotely. This provides convenience and peace of mind, as users can watch their property from anywhere in the world. Traditional security systems, on the other hand, are isolated and can only be accessed and controlled on-site. This increased connectivity also allows homeowners to integrate other smart home devices, such as lights and thermostats, to create a cohesive smart home environment.
Ring, and other smart security systems, provide instant notifications and alerts to users via phone notifications in the event of a security breach or unusual activity. These real-time updates enable homeowners to respond quickly and effectively, potentially preventing further damage or loss. Ring’s packages also include advanced video surveillance features such as live high-definition video, night vision, and motion detection. Users can store video footage on the cloud, making it easily accessible and providing added security.
Traditional systems may only trigger on-site alarms or alert a monitoring centre, without directly notifying the user, and they also lack the video capabilities of a smart system.
Another reason why homeowners choose smart security over traditional systems is their high level of customisation and flexibility. They can be tailored to the specific needs and preferences of the user by adding or removing devices, adjusting settings, and configuring rules.
Ring, for example, offers three different security modes – home, away, and disarmed – allowing users to quickly and easily set or stop their alarm. There’s also the option of additional security codes for guests, which is especially useful if you employ a cleaner or dog walker.
Traditional alarm systems typically come with a fixed set of features and offer limited flexibility in terms of configuration.
Compared with ADT, SimpliSafe and Verisure, Ring offers the cheapest monthly subscription charge, and sits in the mid-price range. Both ADT and Verisure require a minimum monthly commitment – the former being 36 months, while the latter require six months.
Although ADT appears more affordable, it doesn’t offer DIY installation options and, as a result, works out significantly more expensive than the other three systems. You also must commit to professional monitoring as there is no option for self monitoring. Verisure also uses the same model with professional installation and monitoring only.
| Key feature ↓ | ADT | SimpliSafe | Verisure | Ring |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum equipment cost (without installation) | £199 | £249.96 | £300 | £219.99 |
| Starting monthly fee | £35.99 (36 months minimum) | Roughly £15.90/month (53p/day) – optional and no contracts | £32/month (6 months minimum) | £3.49/month – optional and no contracts |
| Power outage backup | Checked daily by ADT | 24-hour backup battery | Backup battery and 48 hours of backup in central unit | 24-hour battery backup |
| Mobile phone backup | Cloud storage | 4G data backup | Cloud storage | Yes, Cloud storage with subscription |
| Live streaming | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Push alerts | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Remotely arm/disarm system | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Ring offers a range of smart home security packages with varying price points. The basic packages are suitable for small homes and apartments, while larger packages are ideal for the average four-bedroom property.
The packages can be upgraded to your circumstances, with extra products easily integrated. However, these come at an additional cost, and you may be better advised to purchase a larger package instead if you want to expand the package with several more products. Ring discounts packages in sales frequently, or tout the inclusion of an additional product for free.
Although the prices for Ring home security packages are comparable with other brands, the fact that they can be quickly and easily installed, using the included sticky pads, means there are no installation costs to factor in. However, Ring does have a professional installation service, if you prefer, at an additional price. This service isn’t available in Scotland, Wales or postal code zones EX, TR, TQ, and PL.
Our researchers found that the Ring packages are well-considered, cater to a broad range of user requirements, and offer good value for money. If you need to add extra components, however, these can rapidly drive the price up. If this would provide a better security solution for your home than the standard packages, it may be worth waiting until Ring has a sale to reduce costs.
| Package name | Equipment | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Small Alarm Pack | 1x Base station 1x Alarm keypad (2nd Gen) 1x Alarm contact sensor (2nd Gen) 1x Alarm motion detector (2nd Gen) 1x Alarm range extender (2nd Gen) | £219.99 |
| Medium Alarm Pack | 1x Base station 1x Alarm keypad (2nd Gen) 2x Alarm contact sensor (2nd Gen) 2x Alarm motion detector (2nd Gen) 1x Alarm range extender (2nd Gen) | £269.97 |
| Large Alarm Pack | 1x Base station 1x Alarm keypad (2nd Gen) 4x Alarm contact sensor (2nd Gen) 3x Alarm motion detector (2nd Gen) 1x Alarm range extender (2nd Gen) | £339.94 |
| Small Alarm + Indoor Camera Pack | 1x Base station 1x Alarm keypad (2nd Gen) 1x Alarm contact sensor (2nd Gen) 1x Alarm motion detector (2nd Gen) 1x Alarm range extender (2nd Gen) 1x Indoor camera | £269.98 |
| Medium Alarm + Indoor Camera Pack | 1x Base station 1x Alarm keypad (2nd Gen) 2x Alarm contact sensor (2nd Gen) 2x Alarm motion detector (2nd Gen) 1x Alarm range extender (2nd Gen) 1x Indoor camera | £319.96 |
| Large Alarm + Indoor Camera Pack | 1x Base station 1x Alarm keypad (2nd Gen) 4x Alarm contact sensor (2nd Gen) 3x Alarm motion detector (2nd Gen) 1x Alarm range extender (2nd Gen) 1x Indoor camera | £389.93 |
| Small Alarm, Doorbell + Indoor Camera Pack | 1x Base station 1x Alarm keypad (2nd Gen) 1x Alarm contact sensor (2nd Gen) 1x Alarm motion detector (2nd Gen) 1x Alarm range extender (2nd Gen) 1x Indoor camera 1x Video doorbell (2nd Gen) | £369.97 |
| Medium Alarm, Doorbell + Indoor Camera Pack | 1x Base station 1x Alarm keypad (2nd Gen) 2x Alarm contact sensor (2nd Gen) 2x Alarm motion detector (2nd Gen) 1x Alarm range extender (2nd Gen) 1x Indoor camera 1x Video doorbell (2nd Gen) | £419.95 |
| Large Alarm, Doorbell + Indoor Camera Pack | 1x Base station 1x Alarm keypad (2nd Gen) 4x Alarm contact sensor (2nd Gen) 3x Alarm motion detector (2nd Gen) 1x Alarm range extender (2nd Gen) 1x Indoor camera 1x Video doorbell (2nd Gen) | £489.92 |
Ring offers two levels of cover plans – Protect Basic and Protect Plus, on top of its standard free coverage. These plans provide additional features, such as video storage and professional monitoring, to enhance the functionality of Ring’s devices.
Ring Protect Basic covers one device, such as a video doorbell or camera, and saves the captured videos for reviewing, downloading and sharing later. It doesn’t, however, provide professional monitoring.
Its Protect Plus subscription covers unlimited devices, so is more suitable for larger properties. It also offers Assisted Monitoring, which alerts your emergency contacts via an automated call wherever a security issue is detected. This is an opt-in or out service, with no long-term commitment necessary.
| Monthly plan | Features | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Standard (free) plan | – One year limited warranty – Motion-activated notifications – Real-time video with live view – Two-way communication – Theft protection – Hassle-free cancellation | N/A |
| Protect Basic | – One year limited warranty – Motion-activated notifications – Real-time video with live view – Two-way communication – Theft protection – Hassle-free cancellation – Person alerts (a notification when a person has been spotted) – Rich notifications (a photo preview of an alert without opening the Ring app) – 10 per cent off select Ring products – Extended video storage up to 180 days – Download up to 50 videos at once – Video saving and sharing – Snapshot capture | £3.49/month or £34.99/year for one device |
| Protect Plus | – Motion-activated notifications – Real-time video with live view – Two-way communication – Theft protection – Hassle-free cancellation – Person alerts (a notification when a person has been spotted) – Rich Notifications (a photo preview of an alert without opening the Ring app) – 10 per cent off select Ring products – Extended video storage up to 180 days – Download up to 50 videos at once – Video saving and sharing – Snapshot capture – Assisted Monitoring with Ring Alarm – Cellular backup with Ring Alarm – Extended warranties for all Ring devices | £8/month or £80/year for unlimited devices (free trial included with purchase of Ring Alarm) |
Each Ring home security package contains the components required to set up your home’s system, including the adhesive pads to fix the surveillance devices. It also has an extensive range of additional accessories, including solar panels designed to power your devices.
Our experts have broken down the packages to give you an overview of the equipment.
The base station is your home security network’s hub, connecting all your devices. It incorporates a siren and backup battery, providing power for up to 24 hours.
The keypad allows you to control your system, input codes and arm alerts. It can be wall mounted if you wish, and extra keypads can be incorporated and placed around your home.
When mounted on door and window frames, these sensors will alert you when the contact is broken when opened.
To get the most from your motion sensors, they should ideally be mounted in corners, enabling them to cover as wide a range as possible. When movement is detected, you’ll receive a notification. Customisable smart detection allows the system to ignore pets and only sends alerts if intruders exist. However, you can also set it to monitor your pet’s movements if you wish.
The range extender ensures full connectivity throughout your home, extending the signal from the base station to every Ring component.
Designed to be compact and discreet, the plug-in Ring indoor camera can be wall or surface mounted. It offers HD video, two-way communication, motion-activated alerts, and night vision. It has a sight-range of 140 degree diagonal, 115 degree horizontal and 60 degree vertical.
Powered by a rechargeable battery, Ring’s video doorbell is equipped with HD video, two-way communication, night vision, and customisable motion detection, with a range of 155 degrees. Using wifi connectivity, the doorbell sends instant notifications to your mobile device.
The video doorbell arrives with the appropriate mounting bracket and tools for the installation. Once the bracket is attached, line up the slots on the bracket with the corresponding holes in the doorbell, and click into place.
Ring also offers a wired video doorbell as an optional accessory.
Ring’s UK customers have given the company a low 2.5 stars out of five on Trustpilot, slightly higher than those in the US have awarded (1.3 stars).
The positive Ring reviews on Trustpilot mention the quality of its products, helpful customer service, and ease of installation. Conversely, several users have experienced poor customer support and some mentioned issues with the mobile app.
It should be noted that Ring is an Amazon-owned company, and a significant number of customers have left reviews on that platform, with under 20 reviews on Trustpilot. More than 4,300 customer reviews on Amazon have awarded Ring 4.5 stars, and it is the best seller in the Home Alarm Systems category – 94 per cent of customers give Ring four or five stars.
“[I] contacted customer service before buying a powered outdoor stick-up camera and pan-tilt mount. The customer service guy was very helpful and knowledgeable, providing quick and pertinent answers to questions. I’m a technician and these products are good value, perform excellently and are very easy to install; best kit I’ve seen in years. I’ve got three Ring items with just one left to buy.”
“I’ve had a Yale alarm for years. I recently moved house and set everything up with Ring. It’s space age compared to the Yale system. It’s designed from the ground up for now, whereas the Yale system felt like it was an old system squashed into modernity.
The units are much higher quality and have numerous settings which are easy to control. The Ring alarm box even has an internal spirit level so when you’re up a ladder you’re not wondering whether the thing is level or not.”
“This system was extremely easy to fit and set up, the instructions are clear and concise. Also if you make a mistake you can go back and start again. Arming and disarming the system is so easy my seven year old grandson can do it. I like the way the system tells you it is arming and disarming. Having the alarm on my phone and tablet is also an added bonus.”
Ring’s user-friendly mobile app allows you to access, monitor, and manage your security devices from anywhere in the world. It’s compatible with Android and iOS operating systems and supports integration with smart home devices like Amazon Alexa.
Ring’s app offers a wide range of features designed to give you customised control over your home security:
Ring offers nine ready-made home security packages, catering to a wide range of user circumstances and budgets. Our experts have considered three typical homeowner scenarios and reviewed the packages we feel best to meet those needs.
The Medium Alarm, Doorbell + Indoor Camera Pack provides enough devices to cover the average UK family household. We considered the lifestyle of a busy family with parents and one or two younger members living in a three- or four-bed property. The house might be empty during the day while people work or attend school. Video doorbells are becoming increasingly popular with the rise of doorstep crimes. A family with visitors, deliveries, and one or more cars parked on a driveway will likely find a video doorbell a helpful security device.
The contact sensors could be fixed to the exterior rear door and window frames, with the Ring Alarm covering the front of the property, while the motion detectors would cover the main hallway and either the living room or stairs. The living room would be the ideal location for the indoor camera if the family had pets they wanted to keep an eye on, but it would also be ideally placed to capture intruders.
Depending on the size of the house, the range extender ensures that long-range connections are stable, allowing the base station to be placed unobtrusively. We envisioned the keypad control unit to be attached to the wall in the hallway, near the front or kitchen doors, allowing easy access.
With this setup, the main entrance points, high-traffic areas and the potential route of any intruder are covered.
The package is a reasonable price for the included devices and can easily be added to if necessary.
| Reputation | ★★½ |
| Security and performance | ★★★★ |
| Features | ★★★ |
| Plans and pricing | ★★★★ |
| Customer experience | ★★½ |
| Overall | ★★★★ |
Smaller properties require fewer home security devices to provide peace of mind. We feel Ring’s Small Alarm Pack offers the perfect coverage for a small home or flat and, if it’s a rental property, the price point is low enough that a tenant or landlord could consider installing it. Plus, the peel-and-stick adhesive fixings are ideal if you move away and want to reinstall, or if you’re worried about causing damage to your landlord’s property.
With the motion detector and contact sensor, you’ll receive notifications if someone enters the property through a door or window. For added security in a rental home, by combining this package with Ring’s Protect Plus, landlords can enjoy the protection of Assisted Monitoring, ideal for when the house is untenanted.
| Reputation | ★★½ |
| Security and performance | ★★ |
| Features | ★★★ |
| Plans and pricing | ★★★★½ |
| Customer experience | ★★½ |
| Overall | ★★★½ |
If you have a large property to protect, we feel Ring’s Large Alarm, Doorbell + Indoor Cam Pack is worth considering. It contains four contact sensors which can be placed on strategic entrance points, such as rear doors and windows which are hidden from the road or neighbours. The three motion detectors could cover the main routes through the house, such as the hallway, kitchen and living room. The indoor camera could provide video surveillance along the hallway. The video doorbell ensures all movement around the front door is covered and allows two-way communication between the homeowner and visitor.
Although this is Ring’s most expensive package, we feel it offers good value for money for the amount of protection it provides.
| Reputation | ★★½ |
| Security and performance | ★★★★ |
| Features | ★★★ |
| Plans and pricing | ★★★★ |
| Customer experience | ★★½ |
| Overall | ★★★½ |
Ring offers a simple-to-install, customisable home security solution. Its packages contain everything needed to install the system, comprehensive instructions, and guides on gaining the optimum coverage for your home. Other Ring devices can be easily integrated, allowing homeowners to create a fully tailored security system.
Ring Protect Basic and Protect Plus subscription plans provide additional cover. These paid services include assisted monitoring, a 10 per cent discount on other Ring devices, and 180 days of extended video storage.
The accompanying mobile app contains many helpful features, including the Neighbourhood, SOS and voice control options, and is designed to manage the smart system from anywhere.
While Ring has a relatively poor Trustpilot score, the systems score very highly on Amazon’s platform – five stars in some cases. We feel this is due to Ring being an Amazon-owned company, with most buyers choosing to leave reviews on the platform they purchased from.
Overall, the products are well-designed, discreet enough for most interiors and provide reliable smart home security solutions.
| Reputation | ★★½ |
| Security and performance | ★★★½ |
| Features | ★★★ |
| Plans and pricing | ★★★★½ |
| Customer experience | ★★½ |
| Overall | ★★★½ |
Yes, Ring security products can work with Google Home, but a workaround has to be used, as they are not directly compatible. While Ring is owned by Amazon and designed to work seamlessly with Amazon Alexa, you can still use it with Google Home by setting up a third-party integration, such as SimpleCommands.
SimpleCommands allows you to connect and control your Ring devices through Google Assistant, enabling you to use voice commands with your Google Home device to interact with your Ring products.
Keep in mind that using these workarounds may not provide the same level of integration and functionality as using Ring devices with Amazon Alexa.
Like any internet-connected device, Ring home security systems can potentially be hacked. Although Ring has implemented various security measures to protect user data and privacy, no system is entirely immune to hacking. Some of the risks associated with internet-connected devices include weak passwords, unsecured wifi networks, and software vulnerabilities.
To ensure the privacy of its users, Ring encrypts your videos by default, meaning that any data is thoroughly scrambled, making it almost impossible to decipher. However, as an additional layer of security, it offers end-to-end encryption (E2EE), essentially making any data extra scrambled. Your account information is also protected by two-step verification, which blocks any unauthorised attempts to access your details, and any time a new device logs in, you’ll receive a notification.
For any smart home security system, we recommend you take certain security steps, including using a strong, unique password for your account, regularly updating any security system apps on your phone, not sharing your login details with anyone and ensuring your home wifi network is secure and has a strong password.
When an alarm is triggered by a Ring security device, you’ll receive a notification on your phone through the app. You can then decide whether to contact the police, fire department, or other emergency services based on the situation.
However, the company offers a paid-for professional monitoring service called Ring Protect Plus, which provides 24/7 monitoring for its devices. With this service, if your system is triggered and you’re unable to respond or need assistance, the monitoring centre can contact emergency services on your behalf.
In either case, it is essential to understand that Ring security devices are not directly connected to the police or other emergency services. The user or the professional monitoring centre must initiate contact with the appropriate authorities.
