Ring has been replacing first-gen Ring Alarm Keypads for free

Got an email from Ring offering a free replacement for your aging Ring Alarm Keypad? Yes, it’s legit, and no, there’s no catch. 

Owners of the first-generation Ring Alarm Keypad (pictured above, on the left) have, over the years, been surprised by—and even suspicious of—offers from Ring for a free upgrade to the second-gen keypad (on the right), which came out in 2020. 

Just last week, a curious owner of the original Ring Alarm Keypad posted the offer he received on the Ring subreddit, and others posts just like it have cropped up as far back as three years ago. 

This tip is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best smart home systems.

Here’s what the emails say: 

Get the latest Ring Alarm Keypad, at no cost to you. 

Your Ring Alarm Keypad (Gen 1) is not performing to our standards. Get the latest Ring Alarm Keypad (Gen 2) for free by entering the discount code below at checkout on Ring.com. 

Some Ring users on the various threads have wondered whether the second-gen Ring Alarm Keypad offer was genuine—or, in other cases, how they could get the Ring offer, too. 

I reached out to Ring for answers, and yes, the offer for a new, second-gen Ring Alarm Keypad is the real deal. 

Here’s more from a Ring spokesperson: 

“We learned that some older Alarm keypads (Gen 1) are not operating to our standards. We have been reaching out to customers who own an Alarm Keypad (Gen 1) to provide instructions so they may easily upgrade their device at no cost to the Alarm Keypad (Gen 2), which has additional features including easy to use emergency alert buttons. Any customer who is experiencing issues with their Alarm Keypad (Gen 1) should contact Ring Community Support.” 

Does this mean anyone with a first-gen Ring Alarm Keypad can get the second-gen version from Ring just by asking Ring customer support? 

Well…not quite. More from Ring: 

It’s a subgroup of alarm Gen 1 keypads, we’re encouraging folks who see any functionality issues to reach out to [customer support] to determine if they’re eligible for a replacement. 

So yes, you can get a free Ring Alarm Keypad replacement provided you’re eligible for one. 

For more details about the latest Ring Alarm Keypad, which boasts a more compact design plus dedicated buttons for summoning emergency services, check out our review of the second-gen Ring Alarm. 

And if you do manage to wrangle a second-gen Ring Alarm Keypad for free, here’s how to swap it in for the old first-gen keypad.