Ring Video Doorbell review: The gadget that makes crooks think you never leave home

My house has never had a doorbell. This alone makes me a good candidate for the $179 Ring Video Doorbell, which uses home Wi-Fi to transmit the sound of a doorbell chime directly to smartphones, as well as to Ring's $30 wall-mounted Chime accessory. But there's a deeper reason why I wanted to test Ring: It's got intriguing home-security features that could discourage the crooks who've been targeting my neighborhood in a series of daytime robberies. Burglars typically start these capers by ringing the doorbell to determine if anyone's home. The Ring Video Doorbell, thanks to its built-in video camera with two-way communication, directly addresses this nefarious use case by making the bad guys think you're always at home.