Shelter-in-Place Journal, Day 261

We bought our Ring Doorbell about four years ago. It’s never had the promised “six month” battery life, which didn’t surprise me at all, but over the years, it’s gotten shorter and shorter. I had to charge it today, less than a month after the last time. That’s annoying, but it won’t be a real problem until we start to travel again (I don’t want the battery to die while we’re traveling) – so I need to replace it before that happens.

The obvious replacement is another Ring Doorbell; the 2020 model is only $100, but it, too, has a non-replaceable battery. The Ring Doorbell 3 has a removable battery, but it costs $200, which is quite a premium for convenience and possibly longer life.

I could also try to move my existing Ring to the side of the door where my old doorbell is and power it that way – it feels like the video would be of people’s sides rather than their face, but maybe that would be OK. And maybe it would connect faster – as it is, I rarely can connect to the doorbell before the person ringing it gives up!

Are any of you using other video doorbells that you like?