Ring is adding a bunch of new service features - but theres a catch

Date:
Fri, 03 Jun 2022 21:45:18 +0000

Description:
Some Ring customers are smarting over a new service price hike, even though theyre more alerts.

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Popular smart home video doorbell camera company Ring is adding features, raising service fees, and making some customers very angry.

Ring is expanding its Protect Basic Plan , allowing people to save videos up to 180 days, introducing discounts for other security devices, and expanding bulk video downloads to 50 at once. These three additions will be released in July 2022, and there are four more features in the pipeline.

Those additional features include package alerts, smart alerts for cars and animals, sound detection (such as a Ring camera detecting glass breaking),
and custom event alerts. With custom alerts, youll be able to create a unique notification for your home. For example, if you live in a home with a gate that is frequently left open, you can create a custom alert to notify you
when that happens.

Ring has no release date for these features other than coming soon.

Overall, its a potentially useful collection of updates for Ring customers, but there is a catch. Ring is increasing its prices and this has drawn the
ire of some customers.

Starting July 1, Ring will increase its Basic plan price from an even $3 to $3.99. This means subscribers will be paying $39.99 for an entire year. The Plus and Pro plans will be untouched and not see any price increase or new features added. People on the Ring subreddit noted that the changes are
coming to the UK too. A Ring representative was able to confirm that Basic plan subscribers will now pay 3.49 pounds a month (34.99 pounds annually).

Some subscribers on social media are now complaining that theyre no longer getting a good enough service for the price. The Basic plan only covers one doorbell or camera, while the Plus plan (the next cheapest plan) covers every device in your home for $10. Plus, subscribers will be paying for features that wont come out for a while. Don't knock

People across social media have been understandably angry at Ring for the unexpected subscription service price increase. On Twitter , one customer complained that theyre seeing a 33% price hike for features they dont even want.

Going back to the subreddit , one person cynically points out this is all a ploy to get more people away from the Basic plan and onto the more expensive plans. There is a free plan that still gives coverage to Ring cameras, but
the main draw of the paid plan is being able to record and save videos.

Now some customers are looking for alternatives. Many have stated that theyre going to ditch Ring and look for a better deal. If youre one of these people, TechRadar has a list of the best video doorbells with several non-Ring suggestions.



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/news/ring-is-adding-a-bunch-of-new-service-features- but-theres-a-catch/


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