Ring is bringing its best feature to a new battery-powered video doorbell

Ring is bringing one of its best features to a battery-powered video doorbell for the first time. 

One of the biggest reasons to get a video doorbell is to know when a package has been delivered — not only so you can know to check, but also to know if someone tries to steal your delivery.

However, many video doorbells have a rectangular aspect ratio that’s great for seeing things on either side of your door, but not the area right at the base of your door — the space where packages are most likely to be dropped. 

The Ring Battery Plus, the company’s newest video doorbell, has a 1:1 aspect ratio, which provides a 150-degree view both horizontally and vertically, so that you can see more of the area right beneath your door.

The only other Ring doorbell that provides as expansive a view is the Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2, which has the same field of view and same 1536 x 1536 resolution. However, that model needs to be hardwired to your house.

Just as important: The Ring Battery Plus is equipped with package detection, so that you’ll get an alert on your phone when something has been dropped off at your doorstep. It’s just one of four Ring video doorbells with this feature, the others being the aforementioned Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2, the $99 Ring Video Doorbell (2nd gen), and the Ring Video Doorbell 4 ($219). 

Unfortunately, to use the package detection feature, you’re going to need to subscribe to a Ring Protect plan, which starts at $3.99/month ($39.99/year). You’ll also need a subscription if you want to use the Home and Away feature, which was previously free to use in the Ring app, but which the company just put behind a paywall. (Here’s how Ring’s subscription compares to other security camera storage plans.)

Another welcome feature in the Ring Battery Plus is that it has a removable battery; this allows you to purchase a second battery, so that you don’t have any downtime when you have to recharge one. However, like Ring’s other battery-powered video doorbells, you can also hardwire this one to your home.

The Ring Battery Plus video doorbell costs $179.99; it’s available for preorder, and will start shipping on April 5. It will replace the Ring Video Doorbell 3, which will continue to be sold while supplies last.

We’re looking forward to seeing how it compares to some of the best video doorbells, as well as how it stacks up against Ring’s other video doorbells. Stay tuned.