is a senior reporter and author of the Optimizer newsletter.She has more than 13 years of experience reporting on wearables, health tech, and more. Before coming to The Verge, she worked for Gizmodo and PC Magazine.
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Amazon just announced some new Ring hardware with upgraded 2K and 4K recording and some fancy processing tech that’s supposed to make streams look better than the competition.
The new $179.99 Ring Wired Doorbell and $59.99 Indoor Cam Plus both offer 2K resolution featuring tech that Ring is calling “Retinal Vision.” There’s also a ton of 4K Ring cameras. Onstage, we saw the $249.99 Ring Wired Doorbell Pro 4K, $199.99 Outdoor Cam Pro 4K, $249.99 Spotlight Cam Pro 4K, and the $279.99 Floodlight Cam Pro 4K. Amazon is also introducing power over ethernet (POE) versions of the Spotlight Cam Pro, Outdoor Cam Pro, and Wired Doorbell Elite. Those will cost $349.98, $299.98, and $499.99, respectively. Overall, the new designs are sleeker but still hew to the familiar Ring designs.
Ring Retinal Vision was described onstage as a “multi-step process” that uses AI-powered tuning for clearer video, especially in low-light situations. There will also now be support for 10 times zoom. There’s also a new AI facial recognition feature called “Familiar Faces” which allows you to register friends and family. The doorbells will then tell you who’s actually at the door, or if the person isn’t someone you know. The idea is to help reduce notifications triggered by daily routines.
Alexa Plus is also coming to the doorbells, which “enable Alexa to act as an intelligent doorbell assistant.” That includes actions like asking solicitors why they’re at your door, managing deliveries, or even giving instructions. Essentially, it’s a boost to existing features that lets your Ring answer the door for you.
For pet owners, there’s a new feature called Search Party. If a neighbor reports a lost dog in the Ring app, anyone nearby with a Ring camera can start a “search party”. The cameras will then use AI to look for possible matches with the lost dog, and if detected, flag relevant footage.
It’s nice to see some new Ring hardware, given that Amazon has focused on new software updates for the platform in recent months. The last refresh was in 2024 for the company’s entry-level Ring Battery Doorbell and the Battery Doorbell Pro. Earlier this summer, it added AI-powered video descriptions for detected motion activity in its cameras and doorbells, 2K resolution for some of its outdoor cameras, as well as a rebrand of its subscription plan from Ring Protect to Ring Home.
All of the new Ring cameras are available for preorder starting today. The Familiar Faces and Alexa Plus Greetings features will begin rolling out in December. Search Party will roll out in November for dogs, with cats and other pets to follow.