Adam is an Engineer with a passion for technology. He has been writing about tech since he was a teenager. Since over a decade, he has written for a variety of print and online magazines with an emphasis on consumer technology. In 2024, he joined How-To Geek while working for Pocket-lint. He is a fan of Apple for a very long time. His interest in home automation technology has led him to run a Home Assistant Server at his home.
The ideal smart home, he believes, should require minimal user interaction. Automations are supposed to run as though by magic and not requiring the push of buttons on the control panel. More of his work can be found on Muck Rack.
I’ve used Ring smart cameras for many years. Reolink was the best choice for me. I regret not switching sooner.
Related to
Why I purchased Ring cameras
Easy integration and low cost
Ring
I had already purchased some Amazon Echo smart displays when I started searching for smart cameras.
Ring cameras are also reasonably priced. This is especially true during Amazon Prime sales, since Amazon is the owner of the Ring brand. These cameras work with Alexa as well. If someone rings the Ring video doorbell the camera feed can be automatically displayed on the Echo Show device so that you can view who is at the front door.
Ring’s cameras were the obvious choice because of this simple integration. A subscription was required for some features. A subscription was required to view video archives and receive notifications about things like person detection. It was only a few dollars per month.
Problems that are harder to ignore (19459014)
Prices and privacy concerns
Photo credit: Ring
What started out as a modest monthly subscription has unfortunately continued to rise over time.
As the cost of subscriptions increased, as I purchased more cameras I had to upgrade my tier to cover more devices. In no time, I found myself paying $10 per month for some of the best features on my smart camera.
Costs weren’t my only concern. Since my recordings of my cameras were in the cloud I became more and more worried about my privacy. This meant that videos from my house ended up on servers owned by third parties, which was not acceptable.
Amazon’s privacy record is not the best. Ring users felt much the same way after watching the Super Bowl advertisement. This ad featured a Ring function called Search Party that used Ring cameras in a neighbourhood to find a lost dog. People were not happy with the advertisement, as they were worried that this technology could also be used for tracking people.
What was worse was that this feature was activated by default. Ring users are concerned about their cameras being used for surveillance without explicit consent.
Reolink: Why I changed to Reolink (19459014)
No subscription required for local storage
After a long struggle, I decided to stop using Ring cameras because of the rising costs and concerns about privacy. The[LocalAlso[ReTheLocalIReReMyLocalReTheThe
No
Weight
1.88lbs (30.1oz)
IP rating
IP65