Who's There?

It’s a Ring doorbell.

So, it’s the thing. Like, the actual thing. Not a thing that’s like the thing. Not some budget-friendly and/or Danish version of a lauded, ubiquitous product. We got our hands on the lauded, ubiquitous product itself.

And, in some ways, it’s kinda nice. We don’t have to bend over backward to be like, “Here are six Amazon reviews that reflect well on the product and a high rating from Doorbell Camera Reviews Dot Blogspot Dot Com.” We can just be like: “It’s a Ring doorbell.” Specifically, it’s the high-end Ring doorbell, for a big chunk of change less than on Amazon.

On the other hand, if that’s the case, what the hell do we write about here?

Like, it can be fun to explain the virtues of a pair of earbuds you’ve never heard of, or shout out Wirecutter while selling a non-Roomba robot vacuum they named “best bargain.” We feel like cool experts letting our customers in on valued industry secrets (even if, again, those secrets are coming from Amazon reviews and blogs).

And you will experience this too.

Because a lot of the best stuff we sell is off in one way or another. People see it in your house and say, “Is that an Echo?” Or “Is that a Kitchenaid?” Or “Is that a pair of bright pink Beats By Dre headphones?” And you explain: No, it’s something totally different (Or, yes, it is, in the case of the headphones). Then you casually mention the price you got it for, and they’re totally wowed because they paid a whole bunch more for whatever shmancier sounding (or normal looking) yet similarly functional version they have.

But with this Ring doorbell, they’re just gonna be like, “Oh, you got a Ring Doorbell.” And if you bring up the price, you’re going to come off as either defensive or braggy. Which means you won’t be able to explain that, hilariously, all of these savings are because Ring changed the name of their higher-end doorbell from Ring Pro to Ring Plus and then offloaded the inventory that said “Pro” on it to us (a true thing).

So, honestly, maybe you shouldn’t buy this. It won’t be fun at all.

But also, counterpoint: you should definitely buy this. It won’t be this cheap again.