I have read that the Skybell treats Android like a second-class citizen compared to iPhone. Can anyone give any feedback to this claim?
Also, a review about Ring Pro is that if you don’t accept their cloud subscription, the doorbell turns “dumb” and is essentially worthless for monitoring. Any feedback to this?
I’m leaning Skybell, because after a few years the Ring Pro ends up doubling the price of your device. But the Skybell Android app has me hesitant.
What? No.
If you don’t get their cloud subscription (is $30/year, $2.5/month really that expensive?) it just means you don’t get any recordings , you’ll still get notifications if it detects motion/button presses and you’ll still be able to just to a live view of that notification or at any other time.
That’s what I assumed, but Amazon reviews are scathing from those that have cancelled their subscription. Say that their live view had diminished greatly right after they cancelled.
(Friendly rant: No, $30 isn’t expensive, but Skybell doesn’t charge a thing for their cloud, so I’d rather give my money to a company that isn’t looking to nickel and dime you. In a 5 year snapshot, you essentially spend $350 on Ring compared with $200 on Skybell. I can justify upgrading to the latest and greatest Skybell every few years with the money saved from a lack of subscription. Different strokes, obviously. 
)
Anyway, thanks for your input. So you have personal experience with Ring without the subscription? And you’re happy with it?
It’s a fair point and certainly a very good comparison as well, so thank you for pointing that out. I don’t want to say anything that would come across as knocking SkyBell because I’m not but my money is definitely in on Ring, like you say, different strokes.
Personally I have no experience of Ring without a subscription though I highly doubt Ring is stifling Live View if you don’t pay. Live View was a feature requested by the Ring community and they delivered, I would imagine lots of these reviews were when Live View was new and still quite buggy.
Top it off with people not understanding how WiFi works and blaming the poor performance of Ring (or SkyBell for that matter) on the device rather than their WiFi network, I can see how people might try and blame it on some sort of scheme to get them to pay the money.
I’ve been using the Ring Pro for a few weeks now and it’s great. When I first installed it, my experience was abysmal. The issue is that it has a really weak WIFI antennae. I got a WIFI extender, which benefited me beyond just the doorbell, as I had WIFI dead spots at the extremities of my home anyway. Long story short, the performance is amazing now that it’s getting a good signal. I also subscribed to their cloud storage offering so I can’t comment on the experience without it, but I can’t imagine it would be any different.
While I’m glad it worked out for you, WiFi extenders traditionally just make a bad situation worse. I don’t recommend them in the slightest although some new WiFi ‘mesh’ designs are coming up which approach the problem in a slightly different way and do a much better job of it.
Personally though, there is no replacement for just having a separate router and multiple WiFi access points connected via Ethernet. I know this isn’t possible for a lot of people but for those who are building new houses or are able to run Ethernet, you’re much better off with that solution than any WiFi extender/mesh.
Yah I would have loved to have everything cabled, but it wasn’t feasible. That being said, it did the trick to get the Ring Pro working properly for the time being. Ultimately my point was make sure you have a good WIFI signal to the doorbell if you’re planning on getting it.
I am re-hijacking this thread… Trying to pull the trigger on either the Skybell HD or Ring - both on sale Skybell HD at $140 and Ring $125 and Ring Pro for $200. I have read mixed reviews on both which is making this process harder. I had my mind set on Ring for $125 at Best Buy and getting the $30 yearly cloud subscription. However, Skybell came out with their offer today which includes cloud recording at no extra charge. However, I read different reviews compaining that Skybell’s cloud storage is not reliable as the videos are not always available to be watched whereas paying $30 seems to have be fair to avoid not having access to recorded videos…
Where is the Ring Pro for 200 at?
Note my response in that thread about their sales tax shenanigans…
And this is why I came to this forum instead of trusting Amazon reviews. Thanks!
The choice between Ring and Skybell is yours although I personally recommend Ring and if you have a powered doorbell I would personally not even consider anything else but the Ring Pro.
Does anyone have experience with both Ring Pro and Skybell HD? I got the Skybell HD and the WiFi reception seems to be weak - a tablet at the same spot gets above 40 SNR whereas Skybell HD only gets 24. I wonder if Ring Pro has any better WiFi performance.
Woohoo! It’s a small thing, but you can now control the Kuna porch light through Alexa. 
It’s just on/off for the light, nothing with the camera, but it’s still nice to add this to my outdoor lights group.
I have a skybell hd POS, yes. And I would recommend highly that you return it immediately. Their customer service is an absolute joke. I had to get a replacement, which also didn’t work, and they had claimed I would be refunded for the entire cost if the replacement didn’t work. Well, when it didn’t, the representatives claimed I had a poor internet connection, and skybell couldn’t connect. But if that’s the case, how was I able to get notified everytime someone rang my bell, on my phone? Anyway, after months of them refusing to respond to my emails, I filed a BBB claim against them (you should check their rating btw) and a few days later, before I got my response, the Skybell tech JUSTIN finally responded and asked for allt he pertinent info for my refund. Next day, on BBB, some crusty chick Crystal said I was outside of the warranty period (which is a year, and I have only had it for six months) and that she was blocking all communication from me, and that I was SOL. Save yourself the time.
I highly recommend the Ring as well. I am using the original ring and it’s completely wireless, it works well practically no delay and very satisfied. The only con I have noticed is at night sometimes it takes an additional second or two for the night vision to actually kick in, but that’s about it; BTW I haven’t subscribed.
It all depends on the settings, I have my Ring Pro jacked to the max on the sensitivity setting and on the recordings now it’s starting before what was supposed to have triggered the motion in the first place.
As for the video quality, can anyone post a clip to demonstrate? Genuinely interested.
Kuna runs on AC mains, yes? It has access to much better power than Ring or Skybell. Kuna is always recording, and it keeps a 2-3 second buffered video. When it detects motion, the recording starts with the buffered video and then continues with the live recording.
Ring runs on AC mains… but post-doorbell transformer, so it’s getting 12-24vAC and limited current. Current is limited because it’s installed as a parasitic device positioned as a momentary switch (like an original doorbell button).
So, that’s why Kuna’s motioned-detection video is awesome, and why getting the same to run off the power from the doorbell wires is difficult. I have a Ring Classic and a Ring Pro, and I’m very happy with the product and the customer service.
Quite true although mine does seem to be doing a lot better with the sensitivity turned right up now.
With that being said you’re pretty much spot on about the issues Ring/Skybell face. Ring Elite will alleviate pretty much ALL the issues faced by Ring/Skybell but it’s VERY expensive and the amount of people who have PoE by their doorbell is probably next to zero.