Ring joins Best Buy's in-store smart-home selection
The $199 Ring Video Doorbell is now available in over 400 Best Buy stores nationwide and the team unveils a new accessory.
As of today, you'll be able to buy the $199 Ring Video Doorbell in 434 Best Buy stores across the US. Before this retail launch, Ring purchases were limited to its website and catalogs, but the smart-home scene is expanding.
Just yesterday, Icontrol announced that its $199 Piper Classic all-in-one security system would be available in 18,00 new "Connected Life" sections at Target stores come May 26. And, Best Buy introduced its own "="" departments"="" shortcode="link" asset-type="article" uuid="7cc0f585-3cc4-4e80-a480-556321962320" slug="best-buy-shines-a-spolight-on-the-smart-home" link-text="" section="news" title="Best Buy shines a spotlight on the smart home" edition="us" data-key="link_bulk_key" api="{"id":"7cc0f585-3cc4-4e80-a480-556321962320","slug":"best-buy-shines-a-spolight-on-the-smart-home","contentType":null,"edition":"us","topic":{"slug":"smart-home"},"metaData":{"typeTitle":null,"hubTopicPathString":"Appliances^Smart Home","reviewType":null},"section":"reviews"}"> in hundreds of stores last October.
The Ring Video Doorbell is the second product released by parent company BOT Home Automation. Its first Wi-Fi doorbell, the $199 Doorbot , had some significant performance issues and was scraped entirely.
Ring is a significant improvement over Doorbot -- it allows for battery or hard-wired doorbell operation, comes with a 720p resolution and has an intuitive app design. Even so, the smart doorbell scene has yet to produce any standout products.
In addition to Ring's new in-store availability, the team also unveiled an accessory today called Chime. Chime is an indoor Wi-Fi speaker designed to sound when someone buzzes your front door. This should act as a work-around for those of you relying on Ring's battery power, rather than its hard-wired setup option.
Ring says that you'll be able to add custom doorbell sounds, tweak the volume and access a "do not disturb" feature on the free Android and iOS apps. Chime costs $19.95 when bought with the Video Doorbell and $29.95 as a standalone purchase; it is slated for a June 1 release on Ring.com.