Ring Intercom test: my intercom is connected, but it took me 2h30


Sold for 130 euros (50 euros at launch), the Ring Intercom is a small white box that connects to a wall intercom. Thanks to an application, it allows its owner to answer the handset or open the front door of his building without having to get up.

Announced in the summer of 2022, the Ring Intercom is a product with great potential. Ultra popular in the United States with its connected doorbells, Ring, which belongs to Amazon, wondered how it could repeat this success in Europe. His observation is as follows: in Germany, England or France, almost all the buildings are equipped with old intercoms, which have hardly been modernized in several decades (there are indeed a few videophones in recent buildings, but it is still rare).

Thus was born the Ring Intercom, a small box that adds Wi-Fi connectivity to your building intercom, to allow you to answer from any room in the house, or when you are not there.

Who is Ring Intercom for?

Before describing the installation of the product, it is important to specify that the Ring Intercom is a product intended people equipped with an intercom with a telephone handset in their apartment or house. To install it, several wires must be connected to the existing intercom, in order to allow the Ring Intercom to intercept the signal and send the opening order (there is no installation to be carried out in the hall of building). The product can also open a gate remotely, if its installation is based on the same concept.

Is your intercom compatible with Ring Intercom? The brand says that most models are, but still offers a page dedicated to this question on its site. The model on which we tested the product was very old, but the installation worked. Which is rather reassuring as to its compatibility. What about videophones? It works, but without the camera part. The Ring Intercom does not support video feeds (and will not be able to do so in the future).

2 hours to connect an intercom: what a hassle

Let’s move on to installing the Ring Intercom, which the brand describes as rather simple. The application speaks of a configuration “between 20 minutes and 1 hour”, we were on our side much less lucky. The fault of an old intercom that is too sensitive to false contacts, but also of many bugs in the application. We had to start all over five times to finally get everything to work (the handset and the app). 2 hours after starting the installation, we finally finished it.

The Ring Intercom comes with several cables. The app tells you which kit and guides you step by step. // Source: Numerama
The Ring Intercom comes with several cables and a screwdriver. The app tells you which kit to use and guides you step by step. // Source: Numerama

Concretely, here are the steps necessary to install a Ring Intercom (and the problems encountered, in bold):

  • Download the Ring app and create an account. It is unfortunately obligatory, including for guests.
  • Scan the code on the installation manual, then insert the battery into the box (which is not connected to anything at the moment).
  • Connect it to Wi-Fi, which turned out to be oddly complicated. After 10 attempts, the connection finally worked.
  • Dismantle the existing intercom, to discover the wires used for its various functions (calls, door opening, bell, etc.). We recommend that you take a picture of it to restore everything in the event of a glitch.
  • Pass the wires behind by slightly unscrewing the intercom support.
  • Tell the application its intercom model. Again, it’s not easy. Our model did not appear, but a Google search allowed us to find its more modern equivalent.
  • Follow the very many steps of the application, which say on which wire to connect the wire of the Ring Intercom. There were 5 of them with us, sometimes with a weird logic (A6 in port 6, A5 in port 5, but A3 in port 1…). This step took more 1:30 a.m., since we were victims of numerous false contacts, which temporarily broke the entire intercom. We had to redo everything carefully several times (applying wire by wire and checking each time that the intercom still works).
The best way to properly connect Ring Intercom wires is to tangle them with existing wires. It hurts the fingers, but it limits false contacts. We also advise you to check that the intercom is still working after each step. // Source: Numerama
The best way to properly connect Ring Intercom wires is to tangle them with existing wires. We also advise you to check that the intercom is still working after each step, to detect the wire causing the problems. // Source: Numerama
  • Test by going outside and ringing the doorbell. Again, lots of false attempts, often due to a wiring problem. THE 6th round trip was the right one, everything was finally working.
  • Configure the application, which will, for example, insist that you allow Amazon delivery people to enter your building without having to ask you. You can say no to him, but you have to refuse twice.
  • Hang the box on the wall using the integrated adhesive tapes… which did not fit with us. Fortunately, we were able to replace them with 3M tapes.

After a lot of hassle and after almost giving up a dozen times, we managed to get the intercom to work. Ringing the doorbell outside sends a notification to the phone, which allows you to answer or open the door directly. If desired, you can also just open the door, without someone ringing first.

The configuration in the application. The steps for the wires are well indicated, but we panic quite quickly when nothing works. // Source: Numerama
The configuration in the application. The steps for the wires are well indicated, but we panic quite quickly when nothing works. // Source: Numerama

What is a connected intercom used for?

Why did you do all this? The Ring Intercom has several obvious advantages. It allows, for example, to answer a guest without having to get up, which can be practical in the evening, or to answer remotely, to tell a delivery person to leave a package in front of the door. You can also define permanent or occasional guests (like a babysitter on certain time slots), so that he can come in without ringing the handset. Alexa compatibility is also there, to ask the voice assistant to open the door of the building (but Ring does not plan to add Matter support for the moment). Finally, it also provides access to an opening history, to know who opened the door and at what time. Everything works very well according to our first tests, especially since the old handset remains functional just in case.

The box is on battery, but the latter can be easily removed (the box remains on the wall). It recharges in Micro USB, which is a bit of a shame. Why shun USB-C?

The Ring app interface. When someone rings, you receive a notification that allows you to answer the call or just open the door. // Source: Numerama
The Ring app interface. When someone rings, you receive a notification that allows you to answer the call or just open the door. // Source: Numerama

Either way, it’s hard not to find great interest in the Ring Intercom. Anyone who lives in an apartment with an intercom knows that it’s easy to miss a call, not know if a delivery person has passed, and sometimes it’s disturbing to be woken up by someone ringing the doorbell. door. Amazon’s case solves this problem, which makes it a very attractive proposition. Especially at its price of 129 euros, on track to be very often discounted (49 euros at launch).

The verdict

It took until 2023 to see a product like the Ring Intercom arrive. In the age of the Internet, smartphones and voice assistants, how come millions of people agree to walk through their apartment to unlock the front door of their building? The interest of a connected intercom seems so obvious that it is hard to understand why no one had this idea before. The Ring Intercom lets you answer calls and open the door to your driveway from an app, and that’s great.

Despite everything, we can’t help but find this V1 improvable. For example, we would have liked to completely replace our handset with a model already connected, so as not to have to add a large white box to the wall… Another problem: the installation can be really complicated. In some cases, using an installer may be mandatory. It’s not really Ring’s fault, but it does make the product flawed.

Do you want to know everything about the mobility of tomorrow, from electric cars to pedelecs? Subscribe now to our Watt Else newsletter!



Source link -100