IS THAT SOMEBODY AT THE DOOR?

There's a lot of tech out there. Competition is fierce. "Owning" a particular category is rare. As soon as one brand starts to dominate there are usually six others snapping at its heels, competing on price or design or just being better.

But if I asked you who makes the best security camera for your front door, if Ring isn't the first name that springs to mind, I bet it's right up there.

Now Ring brings us the Door View Cam, just as effective and easy to use as other Ring cameras but this device is specifically designed to replace your existing peephole or door viewer. Of course, even if you don't already have a hole in your door there's nothing stopping you drilling your own.

As usual, Ring really pushes the boat out when it comes to supplying all the bits and pieces you'll need for installation. There's even an adapter for larger holes to ensure a nice, snug fit. Setting this camera up is a little bit more fiddly than other camera installs you may have attempted in the past - and not just because you have to remove your existing peephole/door viewer first. It's a two-piece design, with the camera outside and the battery compartment safely inside the door. The two halves are connected by the physical door viewer itself. Once installed, this works just like any normal peephole, allowing you a fish-eye view of your entranceway with no electronics required. There's even a little slidey door you can cover it up with if you want to.

When you install the Door View Cam, you need to feed a flat connector-strip through the hole as well. This has obviously gone badly for some people in the past as there's a spare one included in the box. (Only joking, I assume the spare is for a re-install if you decide to move your Door View Cam to another door. Or another house)

If this all sounds a bit daunting, don't be put off for a moment, as the Ring app walks you through each step so you can't go wrong. For me, the only really frustrating part was charging up the battery. You do this via the supplied microUSB lead and any standard USB charger, but it took ages. My advice would be to not get too excited about using your Door View Cam the second it's installed as you might need to leave the battery charging overnight.

The payoff, of course, is that fully charged battery pack lasts for ages. What's more, a spare one will only set you back $55 if you're worried about your Door View Cam being out of commission when you eventually do have to charge it.

Once you slide the battery pack into place, you're ready to connect the Door View Cam to your WiFi network, again guided step-by-step using the Ring app. This is where the fun truly begins, especially if you run an Alexa-enabled household like I do. There are a lot of options.

The Door View Cam can send you notifications if it detects motion, if someone rings the bell, or even if someone just knocks on the door. Or all three. There's obviously a chime on the doorbell itself, although I've found this a little hard to hear when I'm upstairs with music playing - even with the chime set at full volume. This is easily solved with the addition of an extra chime plugged in somewhere upstairs.

What separates the Ring Door View Cam from other home security cameras is its customisation settings. It's very easy to adjust how sensitive the motion and knock detection is, pretty much eliminating any unwanted notifications to your nominated devices. In fact, you can even use the Door View Cam if your entrance faces a busy path or street - it'll take all that into account.

But back to my helpful assistant, Alexa. She'll detect the Door View Cam once its connected to your home WiFi network, then you can access it if you have an Alexa smart screen device like the Amazon Echo Show. So... doorbell rings... "Alexa, show me the front door..." you'll see a live stream of your visitors.

Obviously you can do the same thing via your smart phone too. The advantage here being you can access the Door View Cam from anywhere - that includes two-way communication so you can ask the courier to leave that package behind the pot plant.

The picture quality is excellent, day or night with a wide-angle view that captures a surprising amount, not just side-to-side but up and down as well. You can even adjust HDR settings to compensate for bright daylight conditions. Yes, there's plenty to tweak.

Frustratingly, you can also access and share recorded videos and images but only if you pay a monthly subscription. Luckily, you get to try this for 30 days free when you first install the device so you can find out if this is something you need to invest in. The other thing I wish I could get Alexa to do is show the live feed from the Door View Cam automatically, whenever the doorbell is pressed. It's just such an effort to have to ask her to do it first. (Now that I've written it down, I'm not sure that even qualifies as a first world problem!)

In short, the Door View Cam is another full-featured, reliable Ring product that's easy to install and covers all the bases. If you've ever had a package go missing, you already know it's worth the investment.


Click here for more information and pricing on the Ring Door View Cam.