This hidden Ring doorbell feature can massively extend its battery life – here’s how to do it

If you’re looking for an easy way to extend the battery life of your Ring video doorbell, I just found this hidden feature that I wish I’d known about sooner.

I have the Ring Battery Video Doorbell Plus and it’s easily my favourite smart home device I own. In general, Ring doorbells have a pretty impressive battery life between six to 12 months, and the charging process is simple – you just take the battery pack out from the doorbell and plug it in to charge it back up.

Having said that, I’m not the best at remembering to charge my Ring doorbell. I tend to get a few app and email reminders before I recharge it, so if you’re like me, you might want to give this hidden feature a try.

Motion detection is a handy but battery-draining feature which could be affecting the charge and lifespan of your Ring doorbell. If your motion zones are too wide, your doorbell will work harder to capture more footage and wider angles which you don’t always need and which impacts your battery life.

Your Ring doorbell’s motion frequency can also affect your battery as it’s constantly recording events, and sending you frequent notifications which aside from being annoying, can make your doorbell work overtime. So, to save some extra battery, you can adjust your motion settings in the Ring app – here’s how.

How to adjust motion detection and frequency in the Ring app

In the Ring app, select your Ring doorbell and go to its Settings. From there, click on Power Settings which will show you your battery’s status and Feature Power Usage. Within this section, you should be able to see a list of features that use up battery life, including Motion Zones and Motion Frequency.

Starting with Motion Zones, click Default Zone and adjust the zone. I’d recommend making your zone smaller and focused right outside your door if you want to extend battery life, but you can also widen it slightly to cover blind spots if this is something you want to keep an eye on. Once you’re done, save your motion zone and the changes will be seen on your doorbell’s live view.

For Motion Frequency, you can decide between Frequently, Regularly and Periodically. The Ring app automatically selects Regularly as its default setting which means motion detection takes a short break after each Motion Alert. This ensures a medium battery life – I have this setting saved and my doorbell lasts for several months at a time.

If you want your battery to last longer, select Periodically. This motion frequency gives maximum battery life as motion detection takes a longer break after each Motion Alert. I’d say to avoid the Frequently setting as it uses a lot more battery as the motion detection is always active which can be very draining.