Ring Mailbox Sensor – Black

4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars | 2,641 ratings

Price: 23.99

Last update: 10-04-2024


About this item

Get alerts — Ring Mailbox Sensor is a battery-powered motion sensor that sends you real-time notifications via the Ring app when your mailbox opens.
Stay online — Mailbox Sensor connects with Amazon Sidewalk out of the box. You do not need a hub device like Ring Bridge or Alarm Pro Base Station (sold separately) if your Mailbox Sensor is using Amazon Sidewalk to connect.
Works with Alexa — Connect Ring Mailbox Sensor to an Alexa-enabled device and Alexa will notify you when your mailbox has been opened.
Pair with other devices — Link with Ring Smart Lighting, Cameras, and Doorbells to turn on and start recording when the sensor detects motion.
Customize your security — Adjust the motion sensitivity in the Ring App to fit your home.

Top reviews from the United States

Bud
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Customer Support
Reviewed in the United States on January 28, 2024
UPDATE 2/2/2024: Immediately after leaving my review for this product, Matthew from Ring (Amazon Executive Community Support) promptly reached out via email to setup a time to talk. We had an excellent conversation today. We talked through certain issues experienced and he indicated there was a 1 yr warranty on the product. I wasn't aware of that. He also provided a suggestion to help improve the battery drain (antenna). This also helps signal strength. However, my main issue is that it completely stopped working. As mentioned below, this works great, when it is working. Given the warranty, Matthew arranged to have a new device sent to me. I truly appreciate this unexpected and wonderful customer service. I'm improving my rating as a result. Thank you, Ring, for the great customer support. That was truly unexpected, and we don't see this type of service very often anymore.

PREVIOUS UPDATE 1/31/2024:
I purchased this unit with the bridge 7 months ago. We have a long driveway, so it is great to know when mail or packages are delivered to the mailbox to eliminate unnecessary trips. For the first 5+ months, this product worked amazingly well. It does go through batteries more quickly. I also noticed that it had trouble detecting motion in extreme heat (90+ degree weather). It was inconsistent in high heat. Lately, it just stopped working. I replaced the batteries twice just in case, but it is no longer detecting. This would be a great product if it consistently worked.
vickie
5.0 out of 5 stars Works Great
Reviewed in the United States on September 13, 2024
easy to install and link with the phone
Dale S.
4.0 out of 5 stars Mostly works, but does have intermittent disconnects, and sharing is not available
Reviewed in the United States on January 22, 2024
I chose the Ring Mailbox Sensor because it not only had reviews that seemed comparable to other brands, but I also already had some Ring cameras (so no extra apps needed).

In short, I've had it installed for about a month now, and while it does seem to quite reliably give me alerts on my phone (via the Ring app), when I tap on the alert to take action, the device often shows up as disconnected/offline. My theory is that it seems the communication to the bridge device is more reliable when initiated by the sensor to the bridge, versus from the bridge to the sensor.

A more annoying fact, that I did not discover until after installation and wanted to 'share' it with a family member (just as I do our doorbell), I found that the Mailbox Sensor does not support sharing. So only the account owner gets alerts. (I did vote for this feature to be added on the Ring site for feature modification requests, as many others had the same complaint.)

Now for the details.... during installation, the app/instructions ask you to choose if you have a plastic or metal mailbox. Well, I have a cast aluminum mailbox installed within a brick pillar at the road. I chose metal, as it seemed the only difference was whether it recommended using the external antennae or not (I did use it). I also did not want the sensor to be easily visible, adding weight to the door, or reducing the amount of space in my mailbox for packages and such. So I drilled a hole thru the back of the brick pillar (at a carefully measured spot) and into a top back corner of the mailbox, then mounted the sensor (with Gorilla brand heavy duty double-sided tape) into the top back of the mailbox, with the external antennae run thru the hole and mounted flat on the back of the brick pillar (again with heavy duty double-sided tape), facing the house. I mounted the sensor with the word Ring upside down in the box (which does not affect functionality) so I could slide it down (versus up) to remove it from the bracket (which I left attached) to be able to change batteries. (Re: battery life, I used lithium as recommended, and they still report 100% after one month.) I later caulked the hole in the brick with silicone after confirming functionality.

I installed the small bridge device in a downstairs window (technically sitting on the inside window sill, as I wanted to keep it mobile for testing until I attached it anywhere with double-sided tape), so it could be as close to direct line of site as possible. The bridge is exactly 69.3' (211"), or 536cm, from the sensor antennae, with nothing but the window and air between them.

Overall, I think this sensor is a good step into the mailbox sensor market for Ring, but it could use some improvements, such as the ability to more reliably stay connected/online to the bridge, and the ability to share the device with other Ring users (as you can with Ring doorbells). I've attached some pictures in case anyone else has a brick encased mailbox and are looking for how others have dealt with the situation.

Update 8/15/24: Ring just released an app update that allows users to share the Ring Mailbox with other users (such as family members). So that issue has been resolved.
Although I still have occasional issues with the sensor (or hub) disconnecting, so I guess 69' must be near the outer limits of its range. I've also had to replace the Energizer Lithium batteries twice since the sensor was first installed (to give an idea of battery life). No change to the Star rating, however, as the occasional disconnects are still annoying enough to take a star off, even though I generally DO like the sensor (especially as I already have other Ring devices).
Customer image
Dale S.
4.0 out of 5 stars Mostly works, but does have intermittent disconnects, and sharing is not available
Reviewed in the United States on January 22, 2024
I chose the Ring Mailbox Sensor because it not only had reviews that seemed comparable to other brands, but I also already had some Ring cameras (so no extra apps needed).

In short, I've had it installed for about a month now, and while it does seem to quite reliably give me alerts on my phone (via the Ring app), when I tap on the alert to take action, the device often shows up as disconnected/offline. My theory is that it seems the communication to the bridge device is more reliable when initiated by the sensor to the bridge, versus from the bridge to the sensor.

A more annoying fact, that I did not discover until after installation and wanted to 'share' it with a family member (just as I do our doorbell), I found that the Mailbox Sensor does not support sharing. So only the account owner gets alerts. (I did vote for this feature to be added on the Ring site for feature modification requests, as many others had the same complaint.)

Now for the details.... during installation, the app/instructions ask you to choose if you have a plastic or metal mailbox. Well, I have a cast aluminum mailbox installed within a brick pillar at the road. I chose metal, as it seemed the only difference was whether it recommended using the external antennae or not (I did use it). I also did not want the sensor to be easily visible, adding weight to the door, or reducing the amount of space in my mailbox for packages and such. So I drilled a hole thru the back of the brick pillar (at a carefully measured spot) and into a top back corner of the mailbox, then mounted the sensor (with Gorilla brand heavy duty double-sided tape) into the top back of the mailbox, with the external antennae run thru the hole and mounted flat on the back of the brick pillar (again with heavy duty double-sided tape), facing the house. I mounted the sensor with the word Ring upside down in the box (which does not affect functionality) so I could slide it down (versus up) to remove it from the bracket (which I left attached) to be able to change batteries. (Re: battery life, I used lithium as recommended, and they still report 100% after one month.) I later caulked the hole in the brick with silicone after confirming functionality.

I installed the small bridge device in a downstairs window (technically sitting on the inside window sill, as I wanted to keep it mobile for testing until I attached it anywhere with double-sided tape), so it could be as close to direct line of site as possible. The bridge is exactly 69.3' (211"), or 536cm, from the sensor antennae, with nothing but the window and air between them.

Overall, I think this sensor is a good step into the mailbox sensor market for Ring, but it could use some improvements, such as the ability to more reliably stay connected/online to the bridge, and the ability to share the device with other Ring users (as you can with Ring doorbells). I've attached some pictures in case anyone else has a brick encased mailbox and are looking for how others have dealt with the situation.

Update 8/15/24: Ring just released an app update that allows users to share the Ring Mailbox with other users (such as family members). So that issue has been resolved.
Although I still have occasional issues with the sensor (or hub) disconnecting, so I guess 69' must be near the outer limits of its range. I've also had to replace the Energizer Lithium batteries twice since the sensor was first installed (to give an idea of battery life). No change to the Star rating, however, as the occasional disconnects are still annoying enough to take a star off, even though I generally DO like the sensor (especially as I already have other Ring devices).
Images in this review
Customer image Customer image Customer image
Gordon Helser
5.0 out of 5 stars does the ring mailbox sensor require a bridge?
Reviewed in the United States on June 16, 2024
The ring mailbox sensor works great. But there is confusion about whether you need a ring bridge or not. The product description says that you do not need a ring bridge. That is only true if you have a Ring or Alexa device that has the Amazon sidewalk bridge function built-in. Many of the newer Ring and Alexa devices have this. You can do a Google search to find out which devices have this. In my case, all of my ring and Alexa devices are older and apparently don’t have the Amazon sidewalk bridge function. So I had to get a ring bridge to make my mailbox sensor work. The ring mailbox sensor uses Amazon sidewalk to communicate with a bridge. if you do need to install a ring bridge for your mailbox sensor, be aware of this. When you install the ring bridge and it gets to the point where it says it’s preparing itself it never ends. You just need to exit the set up and it will still work fine, apparently it is trying to find an Amazon sidewalk device to talk to such as the mailbox sensor. So when you turn on the mailbox sensor by installing the batteries, it will connect to the ring bridge. I have a plastic mailbox. Not a metal mailbox. Therefore I did not need to use the external antenna for the mailbox sensor. I installed the Ring bridge in my garage. My mailbox is at the end of my driveway and it communicates fine with the ring bridge. my garage has metal doors, but that doesn't seem to bother Amazon sidewalk communication. Another thing to be aware of. You cannot share your ring mailbox alerts with other users like you can share doorbell alerts, and camera motion alerts. Amazon sidewalk uses three communication protocols to reach further than Wi-Fi can reach.

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