Easy setup, fine user control, extremely thoughtful design!
I was using smartthings with a mix of smartthings, wink, and other z wave products for my alarm.
This alarm is better in my opinion than anything you can buy professionally or diy.
Design
First off, everything just looks nice and clean. The sensors are slightly wider and taller than my old sensors, but are way thinner which makes them stick out less. I really the design language of everything for the 2nd generation products.
Setup is really fast and easy. I appreciate this because z wave can be super duper finicky and hard/time consuming to setup. The thoughtfulness of design of everything is just bar none better than anything else. For example, starting with the base station, backup battery, cellular free, wifi and ethernet options, and cable management! Both the base station and keypads have cable management which gives options in setup to really make everything look nice! The keypad also can be operated wired or by rechargeable battery which again, awesome. On top of that, the base station comes with a great wall mounting solution that can be used permanent or semi permanent with the charging cable and not have to go through walls. The cable even has a notch to make it easier to pull out!
The sensors are amazing as well. Installation is easy with double sided tape and also the option to hard mount with screws. The detection distance is very good which helps for non aligned installations due to door trim and such. What I really appreciate is they use CR2032 batteries which I can buy almost anywhere. Too much of my other z wave equipment used rare batteries that were not stocked by walmart/target/etc. Also the batteries are easy to change and that is also something that really matters down the line.
Control and Integration
The amount of control has been just amazing as well. There are still improvements to be made, however with Ring they have been constantly improving and i feel like that is a huge benefit to this alarm in that the software will keep maturing.
I use multiple ring outdoor and indoor cameras with a doorbell pro, and schlage smart deadbolts. Together with this alarm, I have been very satisfied with how well you can sync everything up. First off my deadbolts synced up on first try which did not ever happen with smartthings. It is truly wonderful to be able to both arm and disarm my alarm from my deadbolt TouchPad. The ability to set one deadbolt to arm and disarm the ALARM with codes while the 2nd deadbolt doesn't is great. The amount of user control is great, but what makes this really stand out is I don't have to look online for custom schedulers or run iftt to get things to work how they should. You can easily make any single door sensor alert on open or close with a few different sounds. They can be separately configured or be turned all off/on based on alarm mode which is again great.
I already had Ring premium or whatever it is called due to my doorbell and multiple cameras, so this cost me no more than I was already paying. Paying $100 a year for camera and alarm service with cloud storage is a steal. Please don't ever change that.
Overall this has been everything I could have asked for and more. By far the easiest install. What was surprising was how well everything is designed and how well you can control everything to your liking.
I am hoping that my door sensors do not have the issues down the line that I had with other zwave devices. On the plus side, replacing a sensor is again just such a great design. You can just replace the sensor without having to undo any tape or screws due to the design of the sensor mount. Please, whoever designed these, give them a raise!
Ring Alarm 8-piece kit (2nd Gen) – home security system
4.7 | 17,092 ratings
Price: 249.99
Last update: 01-01-2025
About this item
A great fit for 1-2 bedroom homes, this Alarm Kit includes one Base Station, one Keypad, four Contact Sensors, one Motion Detector, and one Range Extender.
Includes an intuitive Keypad that can arm and disarm your Alarm and Contact Sensors that detect when doors or windows open.
Choose the Ring Alarm Kit that fits your needs and detect even more with additional Alarm Sensors and accessories (sold separately) at any time.
See more. Know more. Protect more. - Record 24/7 on your eligible cameras, scroll back in time to rewatch what you missed, get alerts for people and package, and so much more with an compatible Ring Home subscription (sold separately).
More peace of mind. Subscribe to Ring Home Standard (sold separately), to Arm your Alarm from anywhere, keep your system online if the Wi-Fi goes down, and more. Plus, add Alarm Professional Monitoring to your eligible Plan for emergency police, fire and medical response, and more.
For added peace of mind, pair with Alexa to help you keep an eye on your home. Connect with Alexa to hear motion alerts on your compatible Echo device or see a Live View with an Echo Show, Fire TV, or Fire Tablet. Talk to visitors by saying, “Alexa, talk to the front door.”
Includes an intuitive Keypad that can arm and disarm your Alarm and Contact Sensors that detect when doors or windows open.
Choose the Ring Alarm Kit that fits your needs and detect even more with additional Alarm Sensors and accessories (sold separately) at any time.
See more. Know more. Protect more. - Record 24/7 on your eligible cameras, scroll back in time to rewatch what you missed, get alerts for people and package, and so much more with an compatible Ring Home subscription (sold separately).
More peace of mind. Subscribe to Ring Home Standard (sold separately), to Arm your Alarm from anywhere, keep your system online if the Wi-Fi goes down, and more. Plus, add Alarm Professional Monitoring to your eligible Plan for emergency police, fire and medical response, and more.
For added peace of mind, pair with Alexa to help you keep an eye on your home. Connect with Alexa to hear motion alerts on your compatible Echo device or see a Live View with an Echo Show, Fire TV, or Fire Tablet. Talk to visitors by saying, “Alexa, talk to the front door.”
Top reviews from the United States
BradyI am in awe of how great the design is.
Traveler742Awesome system. Super easy to install!
Jose LópezPerfect home security system
Mike