New Ring doorbell could help you find your lost pets

If you think your home is in need of a security upgrade then you might want to take a look at the latest Ring cameras and doorbell that Amazon just unveiled at a big event in New York City.

The main thing to know is that three of these devices, the Wired Doorbell Pro, Outdoor Cam Pro and Floodlight Cam Pro, are the first Ring products that include 4K resolution cameras. That's a significant upgrade on image and video clarity.

Amazon has branded these cameras as "Retinal 4K devices", which errs pretty close to Apple's use of "Retina" to describe iPhone, iPad and Mac screens. Just like with Apple's use, "retinal" here does not mean anything, it's just branding. "Retinal Vision", as Amazon brackets it, and you can bet AI is involved.

"Retinal Vision doesn't just capture video; it optimises every step of the imaging process with advanced AI tuning," Amazon said in a press release. "It's not just about sharper video-it's about unlocking a new level of intelligence, where every feature becomes more effective because the foundation is clearer, crisper, and closer to reality."

A clever tool called Search Party will allow you to report your pet as lost, and neighbourhood Ring devices will use AI to look for possible matches and notify you if your lost pet has been spotted, and where.

Some of these AI smarts require Alexa+, Amazon's latest version of its Alexa AI assistant. However, Alexa+ is not yet available in the UK, and Amazon has not confirmed when it'll arrive on these shores. So, if you want new Ring features like an AI voice that will chat to people at your door on your behalf if you're not in (or don't want to deal with them!), you'll have to wait, even if you buy one of these new devices.

Aside from that hitch, the specs here are impressive, as you'd hope for the £219.99 Wired Doorbell Pro, £179.99 Outdoor Cam Pro and £249.99 Floodlight Cam Pro. They all have a 10x enhanced zoom, better low-light performance, while the Doorbell Pro and Outdoor Cam add a night vision mode that Amazon claims can give you a clear picture in total darkness, along with 3D motion detection.

That pitches them as ideal devices if 24/7 monitoring of your property is what you need.

In addition, the new Indoor Cam Plus and Wired Doorbell Plus have Ring's Retinal 2K tech, a similar AI infusion at a lower (but still decent) resolution to its 4K products. These devices cost £49.99 and £159.99 respectively.

"Wired Video Doorbell Plus and Indoor Camera Plus offer crisp, true to life video with Retinal 2K, Low-Light Sight, and Adaptive Night Vision to get a vibrant colour view in low light and a clearer picture even in darkness, with up to 4x Enhanced Zoom," Amazon said.

While hardware updates are evident in the new Ring range, it's worth bearing in mind that the spending doesn't stop after you invest in a new camera or doorbell. Ring charges a subscription fee at three different tiers, and you need to stump up monthly or annually in order to access all the features and services.

Basic costs £4.99 per month or £49.99 per year, Standard is £7.99 per month or £79.99 per year, while Premium is £59.99 per month or £159.99 per year. You might be able to get away with Basic, but if you want features that you might rightly assume were must-haves, such as continuous live feed from the cameras, 24/7 recording or a daily event summary, you'll have to pay more.

You can pre-order all the new Ring devices now, and they ship on October 29.