Ring Battery Doorbell Pro Vs. Nest Doorbell

Ring Battery Doorbell Pro

With 3D vision, the Ring Doorbell Pro can exclude busy sidewalks from your alerts. The wide-angle lens captures more of your yard, plus the removable battery makes recharging simpler. The doorbell will also record night vision in full color. You can’t save video without a subscription, however.
Pros

Wide-angle lens shows more of your porch

Color night vision

Removable battery for easier charging
Cons

Few features without a subscription

Cannot save video during an internet outage
Google Nest Doorbell (Battery)

The Google Nest Doorbell does more without a subscription, allowing three hours of video history and person detection in the free plan. Or, with a subscription, it’s one of the few options that will tell you who is at the front door. It will also save footage during an internet outage. However, without a removable battery, recharging can be a bit annoying.
Pros

Three hours of video history without a subscription

Person recognition (with a subscription)

Saves footage during an internet outage
Cons

View isn’t as wide as Ring Pro

No removable battery

Equipping a home with smart cameras often starts with the front door. However, video doorbells can do more than just show you who is knocking. Arguably, the most innovative options come from brands like Google Nest and Amazon Ring. Despite featuring a single camera, Ring’s new Battery Doorbell Pro can display a bird’s eye view of the path to your front door. But how does the newest Ring stand up to Google’s longstanding battery-powered Nest Doorbell?

After testing the two smart video doorbells, some clear differences made one leapfrog over the other.

Google Nest Cam (Outdoor or Indoor, Battery) review photo 1

Best smart security camera: Top models from Ring, Arlo, and Nest

The best smart security cameras monitor your home’s interior and exterior using 3D motion alerts, night vision, and even Alexa integration.

Looking at the specs of each model, it’s difficult to pick a clear winner, especially since both options offer voice control. But after testing the two smart video doorbells, some clear differences made one leapfrog over the other. Here’s how the new Ring Battery Doorbell Pro stacks up against the Nest Doorbell (Battery).

Price, specs & availability

Before the recent launch of the Battery Doorbell Pro, Ring’s only battery option was the more affordable choice. Now, however, the roles have reversed. As one of the company’s high-end options, the Ring Battery Doorbell Pro retails for $230 while the Nest Doorbell (Battery) sells for about $180.

If you want to slide by without a subscription, Nest is the more affordable choice. Google offers three hours of video recordings and features like person and package detection without a subscription. Ring only allows users to watch live footage, not previously recorded video, with a free plan.

	Ring Battery Doorbell Pro	Google Nest Doorbell (Battery)
Resolution	1,536p	1,280p
Field of View	150-degree	145-degree
Power Source	Battery or hardwired	Battery or hardwired
Brand	Amazon Ring	Google Nest
Voice Compatibility	Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant	Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant
App Compatibility	Android and iOS	Android and iOS

You’ll want a subscription to see videos that happened more than three hours ago (i.e., to see what triggered the camera while you were sleeping) even with a Nest camera. And here, Ring has the more affordable option for single-camera users at $5 a month. Nest’s most basic subscription costs $8 a month, though it isn’t limited to a single smart camera. If you have more than one Ring camera, you’ll need the Plus subscription, which costs $10 a month.

Features vary widely, from Nest’s subscription options to Ring’s. Nest offers familiar face detection and saves videos for up to 30 days. Nest Aware Plus, which is $15 a month, offers 60 days of video history. With some devices, Google also supports 24/7 video history if you subscribe to Nest Aware Plus, but this isn’t an option with the battery-powered doorbell, only the wired version.

nest cam outdoor full hd nest aware connected with talk and listen functions image 1

Ring Protect vs Arlo Secure vs Nest Aware: Security subscription face-off

Subscriptions expand the abilities of smart security cameras, but which company offers the best option?

Ring may offer fewer features without a subscription, but the company’s most advanced subscription offers more than Nest’s. Ring Protect Pro, which costs $20 per month, includes professional alarm monitoring, a service that Google doesn’t offer. The most affordable $5 plan saves video for an impressive 180 days, while the $10 Plus plan supports multiple cameras and enhanced notifications.

Features and storage options

What delivers smarter notifications, facial recognition or 3D motion detection?

Ring’s newest video doorbell has an intriguing feature. Using 3D motion detection and satellite imagery, the camera can show you the path that a person took to get to your front door. Practically speaking, the biggest reason to use this feature is to limit the number of notifications the camera sends to your phone. While both doorbells will allow users to draw out a motion detection zone, Ring’s 3D view does a little better at customizing that motion zone based on distance from the camera.

Another point for Ring is the removable battery. If you don’t want to miss a guest while the doorbell is charging, you can purchase an extra, plus the process of charging is simpler. The Nest model, on the other hand, doesn’t have a removable battery, and you have to remove the entire doorbell to recharge its battery.

The older Nest doorbell, however, still delivers some hard-to-find features. Chief among these is internal storage. During an internet outage, you won’t receive notifications. However, the doorbell will still save videos and so you’ll still see what happened once your network is back online. Ring doesn’t have that option and anything that happens during an outage won’t be recorded at all.

The Nest model can also recognize familiar faces if you have an active subscription and go through the process of saving familiar faces. This means that, instead of receiving a notification that someone is at the door, you’ll see that it’s your neighbor or friend without even opening the app or watching the video.

Google Nest Battery Doorbell Screenshots photo 1 — Pocket-lint

Video quality head to head

The Ring’s ultra-wide view is a win

While you can get an idea of the clarity you can expect from a video doorbell based on the camera’s resolution, the biggest feature to look for is actually how wide the lens is. Often, video doorbells can’t see your welcome mat — they are just too close and the lens isn’t wide enough. That creates issues as directly in front of your door is typically where delivery drivers will leave packages. Thankfully, both the Nest Doorbell Battery and Ring Battery Doorbell Pro will allow you to see a head-to-toe view directly in front of the door, but both brands approach the problem a little differently.

Nest tackles this issue by turning the video sideways, so it’s actually recording a TikTok-style vertical video rather than horizontal. This makes it easy to see your packages from the 1,280p video.

Ring, however, uses an ultra-wide lens that allows it to capture a 150-degree field of view both vertically and horizontally. While both will show you packages, Ring’s wider horizontal view will show more of your front porch or yard. Ring also has a higher 1,536p HD+ resolution.

Night vision scores another point for the Ring Doorbell Pro — a built-in spotlight that allows for color night vision. Nest however, uses infrared sensors for black-and-white night vision.

Ring Battery Doorbell Pro Full Color Night Vision

Smart home compatibility

The two doorbells are neck-and-neck for compatibility

If you’re already invested in a smart home system, compatibility can often make the decision for you. That said, there are not many differences between Nest Doorbell (Battery) and Ring Battery Doorbell Pro here. Naturally, Ring devices are compatible with Alexa and Echo devices, but they also work with Google Home and Google Assistant. Similarly, Nest works with Alexa. If you have an Echo Show, both doorbells can stream video to your smart display.

Neither option supports Apple HomeKit.