Amazon Ring’s First Smart Lock Has a Clever Solution for Battery Anxiety

Amazon.com Inc.’s Ring brand unveiled its first smart lock, with an innovative feature that addresses the dreaded scenario of arriving home to a dead battery.

The $249 Ring Smart Lock will be available in the first quarter of 2027, the company said Wednesday in a statement. Ahead of that release, Ring is also rolling out its latest wave of smart video cameras, including four new 4K models and a pan-tilt camera that helps ensure customers don’t miss a crucial vantage point when reviewing footage.

Ring is late to the smart lock category, which is dominated by Schlage, August, Yale and other brands. Apple Inc. is also developing a smart lock through a partnership with LG Electronics Inc., to be sold under the South Korean company’s brand, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.

But in an interview, Ring founder Jamie Siminoff said the company wanted to wait until it had solved for the common battery anxiety that can result from using high-tech locks. For most current products, running out of power requires a physical key or another backup method. These batteries only need to be replaced once or twice a year, but when it happens at an inopportune moment, the resulting frustration can negate the convenience of using a smart lock in the first place.

The fix that Ring developed is a physical dial that, when turned, recharges the internal battery enough that electronic functions like the built-in fingerprint reader and backlit keypad are restored. As a result, Ring Smart Lock owners won’t need to worry about fallback options like hiding a key somewhere near the door. The lock can always be brought back to life with a few twists of the knob, situated beneath the keypad.

The device can also be controlled remotely using the Ring app or Amazon’s Alexa assistant, which is already integrated with the company’s range of doorbells and cameras. Users can “decide who gets access, how they get it and when it expires,” the company said in the statement. Those features are common among competitors: It’s the dial that’s a differentiator for Ring’s product.

The Ring Smart Lock will be sold in black, silver and brass finishes and fits a standard single-cylinder deadbolt without requiring additional wiring.

As for the cameras, Ring’s latest lineup includes the $150 Outdoor Cam 4K Plus, the $200 Spotlight Cam 4K Plus, $220 Floodlight Cam 4K Plus and $100 Indoor Cam 4K. The Outdoor and Spotlight cameras are available in various configurations including battery, plug-in and solar depending on a customer’s needs, with the former also offering hardwired and power-over-ethernet options.

Meanwhile, although the $70 Pan-Tilt Indoor Cam 2K provides lower-resolution video than the 4K models, it aims to make up for that with a comprehensive view that delivers motion tracking along with 360-degree coverage and 175-degree tilt. It also has a physical privacy shutter that disables both the camera and microphone when closed.

These additions to the lineup further expand Ring’s home camera portfolio as the company tries to offer a model for practically any scenario as it continues to square off with Alphabet Inc.’s Nest and other brands. The Indoor Cam 4K and Ring Pan-Tilt Indoor Cam 2K are available for immediate purchase starting Wednesday, while the other three cameras can be preordered with deliveries beginning in the coming weeks.