Nest Hello vs. Ring Video Doorbell Pro: Which is better for you?

A video doorbell is a great way to add valuable home security to your property and convenience like no other. Using your bell’s mobile app, you can see who’s standing on your front stoop and communicate with them through two-way talk. Features like motion alerts are another huge advantage. If there’s someone perambulating your property (who shouldn’t be there), your bell will ping your mobile device with an alert, allowing you to check in and phone the authorities if need be.

There are several video doorbells for sale from a variety of different brands, but two of the most well-known options are the Nest Hello and the Ring Video Doorbell Pro. Between these two, which should you buy? We compared both side by side to determine which video doorbell reigns supreme.

At a glance

Design

The Nest Hello Doorbell is small and oval-shaped. It’s 4.6 inches tall, 1.7 inches wide, and 1 inch in depth. The doorbell button is located at the bottom, and it has a light ring around the button that lights up when it’s in use. The camera is located at the top of the device.

The Ring Video Doorbell Pro is small and rectangular. It’s 4.5 inches tall, 1.85 inches wide, and only 0.8 inches thick. The doorbell button is in the center of the device, and the button is surrounded by a blue LED light ring. Above the doorbell button sits the camera. The Ring Pro comes with four interchangeable faceplates (satin nickel, pearl, Venetian, and black faceplates are included) so you can customize it to fit your home’s design. We’re giving the laurel to the Ring Video Doorbell Pro for this category, based on faceplate color options and overall design.

Winner: Ring Video Doorbell Pro

Installation

Nest recommends getting a professional to install its smart doorbell. To install the doorbell yourself, you need to make sure your current doorbell setup will work with the Nest Hello. The power requirements for the device are a 10VA transformer and wired doorbell and chime. The Nest website has helpful tools, like a compatibility checker to find out if your existing doorbell wires are compatible and professional installers in your area. The Nest app (iOS or Android) guides you through the self-installation process, and the box includes a mini-toolkit with the tools you need for installation.

The Ring Video Doorbell Pro install process is relatively painless, and anyone with a solid amount of DIY or home improvement knowledge can install it. Provided you have an existing standard doorbell system (16-24 VAC transformer), the box comes with everything you need. Compatibility isn’t as much of an issue with the Ring Pro because it comes with a Pro Power Kit that ensures the doorbell has enough power. The Pro Power Kit goes on your internal doorbell box inside of your home. Like the Nest app, the Ring app (iOS or Android) is easy to use and navigate. Because of the Ring’s less stringent compatibility requirements, however, it beats the Nest Hello in the installation category.

Winner: Ring Video Doorbell Pro

Features and specs

The Nest Hello has two-way audio, noise and echo cancellation, and 24/7 video streaming. It works with Google Assistant or Alexa, so you can have notifications and feeds go to your Google Home and Echo Show devices. One of the huge benefits of the Nest Hello is its smart alerts, which can tell you the difference between people and objects. The device can even learn regular visitors over time and start to announce them by name. There’s also a quiet time feature, which will stop the chime from ringing when you have a sleeping child. The Nest Hello is designed to work in temperatures between 14 and 104 degrees Fahrenheit. To take full advantage of the Nest Hello’s features like video recording and smart alerts, you need a Nest Aware subscription (more on that later).

The Ring Video Doorbell Pro lets you see, hear, and talk to visitors from your phone, tablet, or PC. It can send you alerts when someone presses the doorbell button or when it detects motion. The Ring Pro works with Alexa, so you can speak to visitors with two-way talk or see a visitor through Echo devices with a display. It also has night vision and live on-demand video and audio so you can check on your house while you’re away from home. As with the Nest Hello, if you want to take full advantage of the Ring Pro’s features, you need to purchase a subscription plan. The Ring Pro is made to work in temperatures between negative-5 degrees and 120 degrees Fahrenheit, which means it’s a bit more resilient than the Nest Hello.

In terms of picture and sound quality, the Nest Hello has a 3-inch, 3-megapixel color sensor camera with 8x digital zoom and a 160-degree diagonal field of view. It takes 1,600 x 1,200 HDR video at up to 30 frames per second. It has night vision (850 nm infrared LEDs), and it has a speaker and microphone. It also has noise and echo cancellation for clearer audio feeds.

The Ring Pro has a 160-degree horizontal and a 90-degree vertical field of view. It takes video in 1080p resolution, has night vision (uses IR LEDs), and it has a speaker and microphone with noise cancellation.

We’re giving this one to the Nest Hello for its crystal clear HDR support and extra functions like quiet time for keeping your dozing child asleep.

Winner: Nest Hello

Price and subscriptions

The Nest Hello costs $199. Its subscription service, Nest Aware, starts at $6 per month (or $60 per year) and Nest Aware Plus (the highest cost plan) is $12 per month (or $120 per year). With the $6 per month subscription, you get 30 days of video history, intelligent alerts, clips and time lapses, and activity zones. Under Nest Aware Plus, you’ll get 60 days of video history and 10 days of 24/7 video history. Without a subscription, you can view live feeds, but you only get a snapshot when someone comes to the door, and that snapshot disappears within three hours. You also need a subscription to take full advantage of the smart alerts and face detection.

The Ring Video Doorbell Pro is priced at $249. The subscription service starts at $3 per month (or $30 per year), and the highest tier plan is $10 per month (or $100 per year). The $3 per month plan lets you examine, share, and store Ring videos. It also provides you with access to recordings for a maximum of 60 days. With the Ring Protect Plus subscription, you’ll receive 24/7 expert monitoring from Ring, lengthened warranties on all your home’s Ring devices, and 10% off certain products through Ring’s site. Without subscribing to a plan, you will receive an alert telling you that some motion was caught, but you won’t be able to preview the video.

Winner: Nest Hello

Overall Winner

Nest Hello

Even though the Ring Video Doorbell Pro is ahead of Nest regarding its composition and user-friendly installation method, the Nest Hello’s features, integration, and specs are surpassing the Ring Pro slightly. The Ring Pro is an exceptional device, too, but it feels very similar to the Ring 2. The Ring 2, on the other hand, can either be battery-powered or hard-wired, while the Ring Pro is only capable of being hard-wired.

One disadvantage to both the Nest Hello and the Ring Pro is that some of their features are limited without the investment in an additional paid subscription plan. But, the Nest Hello at least allows you to look at snapshots from the previous three hours. Ring’s free subscription is highly restricted, but its paid plans are more affordable. If you’re searching for a more reasonable subscription plan, you might want to opt for the Ring Pro. If you wish to have more beneficial features overall, we feel Nest is the best option for you.