Ring Battery Doorbell Plus Review

Short version: the Ring Battery Doorbell Plus is a wire-free video doorbell built around a tall, square, head-to-toe picture that shows a visitor and the parcel at their feet in one frame. It suits anyone without doorbell wiring who cares most about deliveries. Live view is free, but saving recordings needs a Ring plan, and the two generations differ enough in resolution and WiFi that you should check which one you are buying.

This page is about the Plus line specifically. For the standard model see our Ring Battery Doorbell review, and for every doorbell we track see the video doorbells hub.

In Plain English

Check the Listing

#1

Ring Battery Doorbell Plus

Ring Battery Doorbell Plus (Head-to-Toe View)

Best for a wire-free doorbell that frames a visitor head to toe, including the parcel on the mat.

• Square head-to-toe view.
• Quick Release battery, or hardwire to existing 8-24 VAC doorbell wiring.
• Live view and two-way talk work without a plan.
• Recorded history needs a Ring Protect plan.

Why buy it: The tall, square picture is the reason to choose the Plus line over a wide-format doorbell if deliveries are your main worry.

Check Price

A note on which one you are getting: Ring has sold two generations under the Plus name, and Amazon listing titles do not always make the generation obvious. Before you order, look for the resolution on the listing (1536p for the first generation, 2K for the second) and buy the one that matches your WiFi and budget.

Specifications: First Generation vs 2K Plus

The figures below come from Ring’s own support and product pages for the two models.

The Head-to-Toe View

The square frame is the reason this doorbell exists. A conventional widescreen doorbell shows what is at chest height across a wide arc, which is fine for a visitor but often crops out anything left on the ground. A square picture trades width for height, so a parcel on the mat, a child at the door and a person standing close to the frame all fit. If your main concern is package theft, that framing is the biggest practical upgrade a doorbell can offer, and it is why owners in high-delivery households tend to choose this line.

The trade-off is that a square frame sees less of the sides. If your porch is wide and you want to watch the whole front of the house, a separate camera or a wide-format doorbell will do that job better. Ring’s own materials describe the 2K Plus as having a 140 by 140 degree field of view with a slight downward tilt to favor the doorstep.

Battery, Wiring and Charging

Out of the box the Plus runs on a rechargeable Quick Release battery pack, which is the point of a wire-free doorbell: no electrician, no drilling through the wall for cable, and no need for existing bell wiring. When the battery drops, you release the pack and charge it indoors. Ring also lists an optional hardwired connection to existing doorbell wiring, and for the 2K Plus it specifies 8-24 VAC. Hardwiring removes the recharging routine, which is the most common ownership complaint on any battery doorbell.

Battery life varies with how busy your door is. A quiet side entrance and a front porch on a main road will produce very different results, because every motion event wakes the camera. Cold makes it worse: Ring explains that battery life shortens near freezing and that its devices are designed to stop charging below freezing. For a cold climate, plan to charge indoors, keep a spare pack, or hardwire the unit.

WiFi and Video Quality

This is where the two generations differ most. The first-generation Plus connects on 2.4GHz only and recommends about 1 Mbps of upload. The 2K Plus supports both 2.4GHz and 5GHz and recommends 10 Mbps upload for full 2K video, stepping down to 1080p and 720p on slower connections, according to Ring’s support pages. In practice that means the newer model can look better but also asks more of your home network, and a weak signal at the door may force it to a lower quality. Check your signal strength at the exact mounting spot before drilling.

What Owners Praise

The recurring positives across owner reviews of Ring’s head-to-toe doorbells are the framing, the easy install and the maturity of the Ring app. Owners who have upgraded from a wide-format doorbell often say seeing the parcel and the visitor together is the change they notice first. The quick-release battery is also appreciated because charging does not mean unscrewing the whole doorbell from the wall.

What Owners Complain About

The complaints are the familiar ones for a battery doorbell. Battery life is shorter than hoped at a busy door, recorded history sits behind a subscription, and WiFi that does not reach the door causes lag or missed clips. On the first generation, the 2.4GHz-only connection can also be awkward to pair on routers that combine their two bands under one name. None of these are unique to Ring, but they are worth knowing before buying.

What It Costs to Run: Ring Protect

Ring says that without a subscription you can view live video and respond to alerts, but you cannot review recorded video. A Ring Protect plan is what unlocks saved events, with motion event videos stored in the cloud for up to 180 days from the recording date, and a free 30-day trial starts automatically when you set up a new compatible device. We do not quote plan prices here because they change; check Ring’s own pricing page. Our is Ring worth it guide works through the lifetime cost, and if you want no monthly fee at all, see the Ring rankings next to our no-subscription doorbell picks.

Who It Is For

The Plus is a good fit for households that get a lot of deliveries, have no existing doorbell wiring and already use, or do not mind, the Ring app and a plan. It suits renters who can drill only a couple of screw holes, and anyone who wants a doorbell that can be hardwired later if they change their mind.

Who Should Look Elsewhere

If you refuse any subscription, if your WiFi barely reaches the porch, or if you want a wide view of the whole front garden, a different doorbell or an additional camera will serve you better.

Going Deeper: What Ring’s Numbers Really Tell You

Resolution labels are easy to misread, so here is the arithmetic. Ring lists the first-generation Plus at 1536p in a 1:1 frame and the 2K Plus at 1920x1920. Assuming the first-generation picture is a 1536 by 1536 square, that is roughly 2.4 million pixels against about 3.7 million on the newer model, around 56 percent more detail to work with. That extra detail matters most when you zoom in on a face or a package label, and less when you just glance at a notification.

The cost of that detail shows up on the network. Ring’s support page for the 2K Plus says that video quality varies with your internet bandwidth and the device’s temperature, and recommends 10 Mbps of upload for 2K, 4 Mbps for 1080p and 2 Mbps for 720p. The first-generation page recommends at least 1 Mbps. So a sharper doorbell on a weak connection may deliver a lower quality picture than a lower-resolution model on a strong one. The lesson is to match the doorbell to your WiFi at the door, not to buy the highest number.

Temperature is the other quiet variable. Ring lists the same -4°F to 122°F operating range for the 2K Plus that it publishes for its devices generally, and its guidance on extreme temperatures warns that batteries drain faster near freezing and that charging stops below freezing. In a cold region, a battery doorbell is a better choice if you can charge indoors or hardwire it.

Finally, security. The Federal Trade Commission advises using a unique password, keeping firmware current and enabling two-factor authentication on cloud video accounts. A doorbell is a camera pointed at your front door, so those few minutes at setup are worth it.

Verdict

The Ring Battery Doorbell Plus is a strong choice for a delivery-heavy household that wants a wire-free doorbell with a tall view of the doorstep. Choose the newer 2K Plus if your WiFi is strong and you value sharper video and better audio; choose the first generation if it is meaningfully cheaper and your signal is modest. Plan for the subscription, and weigh it against no-fee alternatives before you commit.

Check Price →

Related: Ring Battery Doorbell review, best video doorbell cameras and best video doorbell without subscription.