Old Ring Video Doorbell gets an upgrade for the same price

The old is new again to some extent. Despite the privacy scandals it has been involved in, Ring remains one of the most popular smart video doorbells in the market, in no small part to its association with Amazon. It has launched more products after its inaugural Video Doorbell but it's not going back to the basics. Taking a cue from Apple's naming strategy, it's simply calling the new Ring Video Doorbell and while it looks exactly the same, it's packing quite a punch inside.

The smart home market has changed a lot since the first Ring Video Doorbell launched nearly a decade ago. Users have become more sophisticated and demand more from their smart home security systems. But more importantly, competition has risen up to take on the pioneer of modern smart doorbells.

Ring has, of course, been busy expanding beyond doorbells and fending off privacy scandal after privacy scandal. It recently just launched a new 2nd gen Ring Alarm as well as its third Ring Doorbell. The latter, however, might not appeal to the masses with its $200 price tag, which is probably why Ring has decided to simply upgrade its $100 original while also keeping the original price.

The new Ring Video Doorbell, alternatively called Ring Video Doorbell gen 2 or v2, now comes with 1080p capture and night vision. The biggest upgrade is perhaps the Privacy Zone that lets users set the exact areas they want only want to be covered. There's also a new Snapshot Capture that lets you take still photos at intervals.

The $99.99 price tag doesn't come without its downside, though. Just like the original, this new Ring Video Doorbell still also has a built-in battery, which means you'll have periods of downtime when charging it. To help reduce that period, Ring will also be selling a $49 Solar Charger but that one's still coming in July.