Ring Now Has a $60 Doorbell
Ring has announced its new $60 Video Doorbell Wired – by far the most affordable of its options. This new offering includes all the standard features such as 2-way audio, live streaming, motion detection, and motion zones – as well as the ability to subscribe to Ring’s Protect Plans (of course) for video storage and 24/7 monitoring. The doorbell is available now for preorder on Ring.com and Amazon, and will ship by Feb. 24. It will be instore at Home Depot on Feb. 24 and at other retailers starting March 26.
The NPD Take:
- This price point undercuts most of the competition (not that there is much competition) and Ring’s own prices by a long shot. At these prices, Ring and its retail partners would have to sell nearly double the doorbells to drive the same dollars as they could with their $100 Video Doorbell 2020 Release – and we believe there is a strong possibility that they will be able to do so. There is a lot of momentum in smart doorbell sales today, and this price point opens up the segment to a much broader audience.
Alexa Is Acting on a Hunch…
A new update to Alexa’s Hunches now allows “her” to proactively control your smart home devices – no permission needed. Hunches have been available for a few years – enabling Alexa to ask permission to complete tasks that she knows (or thinks) you like based on your habits and frequent requests – such as turning off the lights before bedtime. Now, if the proactive hunches are enabled, Alexa will skip asking permission and just go ahead and do it. Note that the hunches are currently limited to locks, lights, plugs, and thermostats.
The NPD Take:
- This all sounds useful and convenient, as well as somewhat creepy. Amazon does say that the automatic actions must be turned on from the Alexa app and that you can toggle the actions on and off for each compatible product – which brings down the creepiness factor.
Amazon Guard Plus Rolls Out
Amazon is rolling out a $5 per month Guard Plus security subscription service that was originally announced back in September – an upgrade to the free Alexa Guard service. Among other things, your Amazon Echo can make it sound like a dog is barking inside your house if your security cameras sense movement when you’re not home…or it can simply sound a siren for more traditional noise distractions. The service also alerts you if Alexa picks up on unusual sound in the house and can call an emergency helpline on your behalf, which is staffed 24/7 to request dispatch of emergency responders. Guard Plus is included with Ring Protect Plus and is supposed to become available through partners including Abode, Scout Alarm, Resideo, A3 Smart Home, and Wyze in the future.
The NPD Take:
- In theory, the tasks that Guard Plus can take on are very useful…but perhaps the most useful of which – the access to 24/7 monitoring – is already widely available from security-focused companies – such as Ring, with its Ring Protect Plus service, and from the companies that Amazon says will eventually make Guard Plus available…albeit at prices that are generally more expensive (but also include more perks). For the household that only has Echo speakers or displays and no cameras, security systems, etc., Guard Plus seems like a great addition. For everyone else, the value proposition is murky.