Ring finally brings 4K video to its battery-powered doorbell camera

Ring has announced its first battery-powered 2K and 4K doorbell cameras. The Ring Battery Video Doorbell Pro 2nd Gen ($249.99) offers 4K video resolution and 10x digital zoom, while the Battery Video Doorbell Plus 2nd Gen ($179.99) offers 2K video and 6x zoom. The Battery Video Doorbell 2nd Gen ($99.99) also has 2K but uses a built-in battery unlike the other two, which have removable batteries. The new doorbell cameras are now available for pre-order and will be released on April 29th.

The company also announced an upgrade to its Wired Video Doorbell 2nd Gen ($79.99), bringing 2K Video to its budget doorbell camera. All the models get the new, sleeker look first introduced with Ring’s line of wired 2K- and 4K-capable doorbells last year.

The battery-powered doorbells deliver better video quality to Ring’s wire-free line, which has, to date, mostly offered 1080p HD resolution. The company says a “redesigned internal architecture” helps support power-hungry high-resolution video and AI features.

The video resolution boost will feed Ring’s new AI features, providing clearer pictures to enable the devices to capture more detail. The new products also have Ring’s Retinal Vision, an AI-powered capability that fine-tunes footage. Each camera comes with a free trial of Ring AI Pro ($19.99 a month), which gives you access to recorded video along with all of Ring’s latest AI features.

These include video descriptions that send a text description of what the camera saw, and Ring’s new Familiar Faces, which adds facial recognition to the cameras. There is also an AI-powered video search that lets you search footage for specific events, such as “kids on bikes” or “black cat on porch,” and Single Event Alerts, which sends just one combined alert when the camera recognizes similar motion, such as someone mowing a lawn.

The intent here is to reduce notification fatigue caused by security cameras and provide you with the information you need faster. However, recent backlash over Ring’s use of AI in its Search Party feature has created distrust among some users, who are concerned that their video is being processed in Ring’s cloud. There are several security camera companies that offer local video processing and storage if you are looking to avoid the cloud, including Reolink and Eufy. Another benefit of this option is that you don’t need to pay monthly subscription fees.

Along with the new camera lineup, Ring is also introducing solar accessories designed to help extend battery life. These include a Ring Solar Charger for $49.99 that integrates directly into the mounting design and a Ring Solar Panel for $59.99.

The new doorbell cameras and accessories are now available for pre-order on Amazon and will launch on April 29th.