You’ve probably seen the ads. A delivery driver drops a box, the camera zooms in perfectly on their shoes, and everything looks crisp, clear, and effortless. But if you’re actually looking at buying the Ring Battery Doorbell Plus, there is a lot of noise to sift through. Most people think it's just "the one with the better camera," but after living with these things and seeing how they actually behave on a random Tuesday in February, the reality is a bit more nuanced.
Honestly, the "Plus" in the name isn't just marketing fluff for once. It represents a massive shift in how Ring handles their battery-powered line, mostly because they finally realized that seeing a visitor's forehead isn't nearly as useful as seeing the package they just dropped on your welcome mat.
The Squarer View You Actually Need
For years, video doorbells used a wide-screen format. It made sense for TVs, but it was pretty terrible for front porches. You’d see your neighbor’s bushes in high definition, but you couldn't see if a thief was swiping a box from your doorstep. The Ring Battery Doorbell Plus fixed this by moving to a 1:1 aspect ratio. Basically, the video is a square.
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Because the field of view is 150° horizontal and 150° vertical, you get what Ring calls "Head-to-Toe Video." It sounds like a gimmick until you actually use it. You can see the hat on a tall guest and the Amazon box at their feet simultaneously.
The resolution is another jump. Most standard doorbells are 1080p. The Plus bumps that up to 1536p HD+. In the real world, this means when you digital-zoom in on a face to see if it’s the guy who keeps letting his dog pee on your lawn, the image doesn’t immediately turn into a pile of blurry pixels.
Why the Battery Setup is Kinda Different
One of the biggest headaches with the cheaper, entry-level Ring models is the charging process. On the basic $99 model, you have to unscrew the whole unit from the wall just to plug it in. It’s a pain.
The Ring Battery Doorbell Plus uses a quick-release battery pack. You just pop the bottom cover, slide the battery out, and the doorbell stays mounted. Pro tip: buy a second battery for about $30. If you have a spare sitting in a drawer fully charged, your downtime is roughly 30 seconds instead of six hours.
The Subscription Trap (and Why it Matters)
Let’s be real for a second. If you buy this doorbell and don't pay for a Ring Home subscription (formerly Ring Protect), you are basically buying a very expensive, very fancy live-streamer.
Without the sub, you get:
- Real-time notifications.
- Live View (looking through the camera when you want).
- Two-way talk.
What you don’t get is a record of what happened two minutes ago. If someone steals your bike and you didn't happen to be looking at your phone at that exact second, the footage is gone. It doesn't save to an SD card. There is no local storage. You’re looking at $5 a month just to see who was at the door while you were in the shower.
Package Detection is the Killer Feature
This is where the Ring Battery Doorbell Plus justifies its existence over the cheaper "Battery Doorbell (2024)" model. Because of that square field of view, it can actually "see" the zone where packages are dropped.
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You can draw a specific box in the app on your porch. When a courier drops a parcel there, you get a specific "Package Alert." It’s surprisingly accurate, though it occasionally gets confused by a stray grocery bag or a very square pizza box. If you’re a heavy online shopper, this feature alone makes the Plus worth the extra $50 over the base model.
Installation Isn't as Scary as it Looks
You don’t need an electrician. Seriously.
If you're going purely battery-powered, you just drill four holes into your siding (or use a no-drill mount if you're renting). But here is something most people miss: you can wire the Ring Battery Doorbell Plus to your existing doorbell chime.
It won't technically "run" off the wires in the way a wired-only Pro model does. Instead, the wires "trickle charge" the battery. It’s like keeping your phone on a charger all day. In most climates, this means you might never have to take the battery out to charge it manually. Just check your transformer first—it needs to be between 8 and 24 volts AC.
Where it Struggles: The Honest Truth
It isn't perfect. No tech is.
One thing that bugs me is the Wi-Fi. The Plus only supports 2.4GHz Wi-Fi. In a world where everything is moving to 5GHz or Wi-Fi 6, this feels a bit dated. If your router is far away or you have a lot of interference, you might see some lag when trying to open the Live View. There's nothing more frustrating than hearing the doorbell, opening the app, and staring at a "Connecting..." wheel for ten seconds while the person walks away.
Also, the "Color Night Vision" is... okay. It isn't magic. It basically takes the available ambient light (like a streetlamp or your porch light) and tries to fill in the gaps. If it's pitch black, you're still getting the classic grainy black-and-white infrared look.
Comparison: Plus vs. Pro
You might see the "Battery Doorbell Pro" sitting on the shelf next to it for more money. Is it worth the jump?
The Pro adds:
- 3D Motion Detection: Uses radar to tell you exactly where someone is on your lawn.
- Bird’s Eye View: An aerial map showing the path someone took to your door.
- Dual-Band Wi-Fi: Supports 5GHz for faster connections.
For most suburban homes, the Plus is the "sweet spot." Radar is cool, but for $80 less, the Plus gives you the same video quality and package alerts.
What You Should Actually Do Next
If you’ve decided the Ring Battery Doorbell Plus is the right fit for your house, don't just slap it on the wall and call it a day.
First, check your Wi-Fi signal at the door before you drill any holes. Open the Ring app, go to "Device Health," and look for the RSSI value. If it's higher than -60, your video is going to stutter. You might need a Chime Pro (which acts as a signal extender) or a mesh Wi-Fi node closer to the front of the house.
Second, spend ten minutes in the "Motion Zones" settings. If you live on a busy street and don't mask out the sidewalk, your battery will die in three weeks because it's "recording" every car that drives by. Turn on "Person-Only" alerts to save your sanity and your battery life.
Lastly, if you live in a place where it gets regularly below freezing, keep in mind that lithium-ion batteries hate the cold. They won't hold a charge as well in January. If you can't hardwire it to trickle charge, you'll definitely want that spare battery on standby for the winter months.