The second technology of Ring’s sensible lighting merchandise ship a essential new characteristic: Solar panels that maintain their batteries charged. That perpetual supply of vitality means you not want to purchase disposable batteries, however it’s not the one method by which the Solar Steplight is healthier than the unique. The new model is greater, brighter, and it packs extra options, too.
I criticized the Ring Steplight Battery for being costly if you happen to don’t have already got the $50 Ring Bridge, and that’s true right here, too. In reality, the Solar model prices $5 greater than the outdated model: $29.99 versus $24.99 for the unique. That added price, nonetheless, is immediately offset since you don’t want to purchase batteries (and in my expertise with the unique, I’ve had to try this about each six months).
This evaluate is a part of TechHive’s protection of the best smart lighting, the place you’ll discover critiques of competing merchandise, plus a purchaser’s information to the options you need to contemplate when buying.
If you need one and don’t have already got the bridge that’s wanted to attach Ring’s sensible lighting merchandise to your Wi-Fi community, I like to recommend shopping for the two-pack of Solar Steplights that features the bridge. That bundle was promoting on for $79.99 on Amazon as of this writing, saving you $30 over the price of shopping for the three parts individually—you’re basically getting the second steplight without cost. It can be nice if Ring supplied reductions on purchases of a number of steplights—with or with out the bridge—since many individuals might want to illuminate a couple of step. Alas, they don’t.
The new Ring Solar Steplight casts a big pool of shiny mild that may assist make sure you don’t journey on a step.
Bigger and brighter
The Solar Steplight is barely bigger than the battery-powered authentic, totally on its prime the place the photo voltaic panel is put in (it measures 3.43 x 2.19 x 4.0 inches, in comparison with the Steplight Battery’s 3.58 x 3.58 x 1.85-inch dimensions). The LED mild supply is bigger and far brighter, producing 50 lumens of brightness at a shade temperature of 3,500Okay versus 35 lumens on the similar temp for the battery-powered product.
As with the unique, you need to use a slider within the Ring app to dim the sunshine to stretch its battery life, and an ambient mild sensor will stop the sunshine from turning on in response to movement when it’s not darkish sufficient to be wanted. The new mild’s onboard movement sensor has the identical 120-degree discipline of view and 15-foot of vary as the unique.
You’ll discover a vital enchancment within the Solar Steplight’s means to show its mild on and off in response to a schedule—together with a nightfall to daybreak characteristic that retains the sunshine on at a lowered brightness degree till movement triggers it to brighten—a characteristic that might prematurely drain the battery on the unique mannequin.
Michael Brown / IDGThe means to have the steplight come on from nightfall to daybreak is one among its greatest software program options.
The Ring Bridge permits all of Ring’s sensible lighting merchandise to be built-in with the corporate’s more and more broad vary of different house safety merchandise, together with its video doorbells, indoor and outside cameras, and the superb Ring Alarm home security system.
Almost any system within the Ring ecosystem can set off every other (the door/window sensors within the Ring Alarm package are an essential exception). If you’ve gotten steps in entrance of your door, for instance, the Steplight Solar’s you may program the onboard movement sensor t o set off your Ring Video Doorbell to start out recording, with out ready for a customer to come back into vary of the digital camera’s movement sensor.
If you’ve gotten one among Ring’s new sensible mild bulbs in your porchlight or inside your house, you could possibly program the Steplight Solar to set off these lights to activate, giving a possible intruder the impression that somebody is house and has already noticed them.
A 50-device most
Ring’s Wi-Fi bridge is restricted to supporting 50 Ring sensible lighting units, and Ring anticipates only one being deployed in every family. Even householders who deploy a lot of steplights, path lights, discrete movement sensors, and sensible mild bulbs, nonetheless, are unlikely to bump in opposition to that restrict.
Besides, Ring gives a number of different sensible spotlights and floodlights that join on to your Wi-Fi community with out counting on the bridge. And as described above, these units also can work together with Ring’s sensible lighting units. Finally, Ring gives a low-voltage transformer that may deliver conventional wired panorama lighting into the Ring ecosystem. One of these $100 units will be wired to very lengthy strings of standard path lights or spotlights (as much as a most of 200 watts), and also you can deploy greater than a kind of in a single family.
Michael Brown / IDGThis single giant rechargeable battery is vastly superior to the three C cells the Ring Steplight Battery makes use of.
You also can group Ring units collectively, in order that one can set off any of the others. In my house, for instance, I’ve a Ring Floodlight Cam and a Ring Floodlight on both aspect of the storage’s roll-up doorways; a Ring Video Doorbell subsequent to the aspect storage door; and a Ring Stick Up Cam contained in the storage. These are in a bunch labeled “Garage.” I’ve a Ring Steplight Battery illuminating the step subsequent to my entrance porch grouped with a pair of Ring Pathlights in my entrance backyard (labeled “Front); and a Ring motion sensor and the new Pathlight Solar are installed near my back porch in a group labeled “Backyard.”
Opening my again door triggers the movement sensor, which sends a message to the Solar Steplight to come back to full brightness, however it additionally activates the 2 floodlights on the entrance of the storage, so I don’t journey over something in my path ought to I flip that path. Since Ring’s sensible lighting merchandise all assist Alexa, I can activate any mild individually or any group of lights with a easy voice command.
Michael Brown / IDGThe giant photo voltaic panel on prime of the Ring Solar Pathlight permits it to function all night time lengthy.
A significant enchancment
I like just about the whole lot concerning the Ring Steplight Battery other than the truth that it runs on three C-cell batteries that have to be recycled each six months or so. The Ring Steplight Solar is a significant enchancment over that. Not solely does its battery get trickle-charged by the sunshine of the solar, I also can have it illuminate my again step all night time lengthy, without having to depend upon movement or every other system to wake it up.
As with the battery-powered mannequin, alternatively, the Ring Solar Steplight is pricey at $30 a pop. If you might want to illuminate a flight of stairs or have a lot of steps throughout the surface of your house, that price will add up shortly. Dumb solar-powered steplights—even ones with movement sensors—will be had for a few third of the worth as these. That mentioned, the sensible options obtainable listed here are unparalleled, significantly if you happen to’re already deep into the Ring ecosystem.