DON'T buy a Ring Doorbell this Prime Day - get a Tapo video doorbell instead
Another Amazon Prime Day, another bunch of discounts on Amazon devices like Ring doorbells, but sometimes these deals aren't always as great as they seem.
While the big headline discounts of nearly 50% sound great, buried more subtly in the product description is the need for a Ring Home subscription to make the most of your new doorbell.
While you may save $70 by buying the Ring Doorbell Plus over Prime Day, you will need to spend another $99.99 a year to be able to receive doorbell calls and record video (which is the point after all).
On the other hand a rival product like the Tapo Smart Doorbell has a more modest discount at the moment, but offers those features without the need for an ongoing subscription.
It also comes with a chime, while with the Ring, you will either need to connect it to an existing doorbell system or opt for a package with the Chime Pro (an additional $40).
You will need a microSD card to plug into the Tapo's chime to record video, but you can buy a 128GB card for just $11 (I'm currently running a Tapo doorbell on a 64GB card that provides more than enough storage).
This means the savings for opting for the Tapo over the Ring in the first year are $78.94 and an additional $99.99 for every year after.
You also should bear in mind that Amazon has raised the prices of its Ring subscriptions before, so this ongoing cost is likely to go up in the future.
Even if you want a subscription based model with the videos stored remotely, the Tapo Care subscription costs a third of the Amazon version with a $34.99 yearly fee that can be used with up to 10 Tapo security cameras.
I can vouch for the quality of the Tapo, having been recommended it by a very stringent product tester and after using the D230S1 model over the last 18 months with no problems - and all without a single subscription charge.
If you're looking for a deal on a video doorbell that doesn't cost you more in the long run, the Tapo is the way to go.
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