Powered by a battery and detects motion via radar technology, which helps the sensor to be more precise. But the appearance of the Ring Battery Doorbell pro didn’t change, since Ring decided not to bother with updated designs.
What’s new
Ring, one of the leaders in the smart home industry, introduced a new doorbell which runs on batteries. The Ring Battery Doorbell Pro, priced at $229,99 USD was based on the Ring Battery Plus, which released last year. It allows for video with 1536p resolution and the ability to see a person full height. A 3D motion sensor based on a radar instead of a passive IR sensor was also added. The motion sensor update is expected to send out more precise notifications about detecting people specifically. The device received dual-band Wi-Fi, video previews in color, night vision in color and audio with noise removal.
Alternatives
Now Ring has three wireless doorbells with a battery as the power source: the 2nd Gen Video Doorbell for $100, the Battery Plus for $150 and the Battery Pro for $230. The new Pro has almost all the features from the wired Video Doorbell Pro 2. The only features missing are the less useful Alexa Greetings. But the Ring Battery Doorbell Pro looks the same as any other Ring doorbell.
Just like all Ring Doorbells that run on battery, the new one can also be connected to a power source to charge the battery and function with already present wires. If you don’t have a Ring Protect subscription (priced at $3,99/mo), Ring will only provide messages about motion and live view from the Ring app. If you buy the subscription, you will get cloud storage for video, which is triggered on certain events, and smart notifications about people or parcels.
Of course, the Battery Doorbell Pro works with Amazon Alexa, it notifies about visitors through Echo or can translate the live view on the Echo Show display.
Today, we are reviewing a quite interesting and questionable to an extent device – Qinping Motion and Light Sensor T. The letter “T” in its name means it has Thread support. Also, the device has Apple Home support, as claimed by the manufacturer, which only piqued my interest further.
Aqara compatibility
Although the device works on the Thread protocol, when it first boots, it can be discovered as a Bluetooth device and work that way later.
In reality, there shouldn’t be any problems with adding the device to the Aqara system. Just scan a QR code or enter the pairing code in the factory app. Don’t forget to turn on pairing mode on the device. For that, hold down the blue button for 10 seconds. When the LED inside stops blinking and lights up, stop holding the button.
This device is for the Aqara ecosystem, but I can’t check how the device works with Aqara hubs since I don’t have one at home. I assume that support for Bluetooth or Thread is required for the device to work.
I will once again remind you that both protocols – Thread and Bluetooth – work at the same frequency.
Home Assistant compatibility
Since Home Assistant allows for devices that work with Apple Home, this device should also be A-OK. There is a requirement, though – you must set up the Bluetooth integration. Besides, if you plan on installing the sensor far from the Home Assistant controller, Bluetooth Proxy also becomes a requirement. What that is and why use it is a topic for a different article, so for now, follow the link to learn more.
So now, we put the Qingping Motion & Light Sensor T into pairing mode by holding down the blue button under the casing for 10 seconds. After a while, Home Assistant will discover a new device and request to add it.
The next step is to enter the code which is on the photo.
Now that you’ve added the sensor, you can optionally assign it a room or a zone.
Below is the device page where you can see its status: the motion and light sensor, battery status, etc.
#image_title
I will again remind you that, at the moment, the Qingping Motion & Light Sensor T works in Bluetooth mode. Of course, this is enough for full functionality, but if you’re building a Thread network and don’t want to inconvenience yourself with Bluetooth Proxy, you can put the device into Thread mode.
Connecting the Qingping Motion & Light Sensor T to Thread
For Thread to work, you must have a border Thread router in your home network. In Home Assistant, the “OpenThread Border Router” addon does the job, which doesn’t work without a Thread adapter.
For the device to connect to the network using Thread, go to the device page and click the “Provision Preferred Thread Credentials” button.
After about a minute, your sensor will connect to the Thread adapter. You may see the device become unavailable for a few seconds, which is when it’s changing modes.
In the “Diagnostic” column, the sensor’s status has changed to an end Thread device (Child).
Something that might be strange is that the “OpenThread” integration is empty. The sensor is still in the “HomeKit Device” category. Perhaps it’s because the device is for HomeKit.
By the way, many people think that if the device works using Thread, it also means that it will work with Matter as well, which isn’t the case. Thread is simply a method of transferring information between devices, like a wired connection in a local or Wi-Fi network. Matter takes care of compatibility between ecosystems on a logical level.
Conclusion
The device I’m reviewing works well. It quickly reacts to motion, and the additional light sensor allows use in many scenarios. The dual CR2450 batteries guarantee good battery life without replacing the power source, but we still need to test that theory. If you own an Aqara hub and have devices you can use as Bluetooth gateways, then the device is definitely for you.
Otherwise, you’ll have to set up a Thread network, and it’s hard to do for now due to the lack of many devices that support the new protocol.
Update 2022.5.3 to Home Assistant introduces a new integration called Ukraine Alarm. With its help, you can get information about air alarms or other alarms in Ukraine in real-time.
Ukraine Alarm creates four binary sensors, each responsible for a specific type of alarm, and when the sensor is in the “on” state, a corresponding alarm goes off.
In version 2022.5.4 HA, the integration got an update. Now you do not need to wait for the API key from the developers (who may not give you the key), and you can configure “Ukraine Alarm” by specifying the area you plan to monitor immediately.
Adding Ukraine Alarm integration to Home Assistant
Click the My button or add “Ukraine Alarm” manually by clicking the “+ Add Integration” button and start entering the name. Then click on the name of our integration.
Next, you need to choose the area where you plan to monitor the alarm, which could be an area, district, local community, or city.
In the last step, you can assign a room (zone) to which new integration sensors would add.
After clicking on the “Finish” button, the “Ukraine Alarm” integration will be added.
As you can see in the image, each instance of this integration creates four binary_sensor entities responsible for having a type of alarm. These alarms are Air, Artillery, Urban Fights, and Unknown. There is a limit on the number of territories, not to exceed the number of API requests from one IP. You can monitor up to 5.
Adding sensors to the home screen in the Dashboard
If you do not want to receive notifications but want clear information about alarms in a particular region, add sensors to the Lovelace card. Of course, you can design the look to your liking.
The first image shows a card with four-alarm sensors when there are no alarms. The second image shows the state of the sensors when the air alarm goes off.
Adding sensors to the home screen in the Dashboard
I already made a tutorial on setting up a Telegram bot that receives notifications from your smart home. Next, I’ll just add the automation code, which will allow you to send notifications to your telegram bot.
I will also provide the code to allow you to manage notifications in your Home Assistant mobile app. This example will use a voice notification, and you will hear it even when your phone is silent. Well, let’s get acquainted with the code.
In the code above, I left comments on the relevant parts.
That’s all for today. Have a peaceful sky without air alerts!
