Improved software, too, provides greater control over recording and reduces the number of notifications you receive. A slightly fiddly app interface makes finding old recordings a little tricky – but, otherwise, the Ring Spotlight Cam is an excellent camera. Ring has built up an impressive array of security devices that are designed to protect your home inside and out.
With the Ring Spotlight Cam, the company is adding to its range of dual-purpose cameras with security lights built in. Improved software and a decent price make this a handy utility camera, particularly for those who already have a Ring subscription. As an outdoor camera, the Ring Spotlight Cam is designed to be mounted on a wall or fence post. There’s space inside the unit itself for a second battery pack, to extend run-time, with the added advantage that you can have one cell charging while the other is operating your camera. If you don’t want to bother with charging at all, you can buy the solar panel pack to keep your camera’s battery topped up. As with Ring’s other battery-powered cameras, the Spotlight Cam features a large PIR sensor that’s used to detect motion.
The main issue with this kind of product is that any motion will trigger the camera to wake and start recording, and you can’t draw activity zones. Even so, if you face the camera towards a busy street then you’ll find it’s triggered often, thus impacting battery life . To further limit being bombarded with notifications, the Spotlight Cam lets you set up a motion schedule, defining when you do and don’t want to receive alerts.
Trying to find one event, even using the filters to choose the type of recording (motion, triggered by live view, or favourites) is still cumbersome. Amazon Alexa support is available via a skill, which lets you view the camera’s feed on a screen-enabled Echo.
In my experience, it’s worth turning on the camera’s HDR feature, even if this does slightly reduce battery life. HDR smooths out the image and makes it easier for the camera to cope with varied lighting as a result of changes in the sun during the day. However, since the Ring Spotlight Cam has two bright LEDs on the side, which light up the surrounding area, the camera is able to capture footage in full colour. The result is that night-time images are almost as good as those captured during the day, presenting in full colour and displaying plenty of detail and sharpness. If you have other Ring cameras already, then adding this into the mix lets you get cloud storage for one monthly subscription, saving you money. Specs ‹ Manufacturer Light Night vision View Field Power source Smart assistants Battery Length Voice Assistant Size (Dimensions) UK RRP Ring Spotlight Cam Bionaire Yes Yes 140 degrees Battery Yes 4380 hrs Alexa 69.1 x 75.9 x 126 MM £199 ›
Ring Spotlight Cam Battery Review
With the Spotlight Cam Battery ($199), Ring continues to grow to its already impressive stable of home security devices. This battery-powered outdoor security camera is completely wireless and offers motion detection with triggered recording and compatibility with IFTTT and other smart home devices.
There’s a setup button on the top of the enclosure and a 160-degree (horizontal) motion sensor on the bottom that covers the battery compartment.
It uses four infrared LEDS to provide up to 30 feet of night vision and has a built-in 110dB siren, an 802.11n Wi-Fi radio, and a speaker and microphone for two-way audio.
The camera comes with one battery pack, a mounting bracket, wall screws and anchors, a screwdriver and drill bit, and a setup guide. The Spotlight Cam appears in the list of installed Ring devices in the app: tap it to access its dashboard screen where you can turn motion alerts on and off and check the battery level.
Tapping the Live View button launches a live video stream in landscape mode with buttons for turning the spotlight on and off, sounding the siren, recording and sharing a clip with neighbors, push-to-talk (two-way audio), muting the sound, and ending the stream. Tap any event to play a clip and share it with friends and family or with your neighbors by pressing the Ring Neighborhoods button. Ring Neighborhoods is a feature that lets you share recorded events with neighbors who have downloaded the app and signed up to participate. Within seconds the camera will connect and you’ll have the option to view a video tutorial that will walk you through the physical installation, or you can skip this step and use the written instructions.
The internal siren was certainly loud enough to scare away any would-be intruders, and the spotlight did a great job of lighting up an otherwise dark area in my backyard. The Ring Spotlight Cam Battery is ideal for users who want to monitor what’s going on outside but don’t want to be bothered with electrical wiring.
The Spotlight’s motion sensor shined bright in testing, and the camera’s 1080p day and night video was sharp. If you can live without the spotlight feature, consider our Editors’ Choice for outdoor security cameras, the Netgear Arlo Pro 2.
How High Can You Mount Ring Spotlight Cam? (Plus Range of Camera)
As we enter a new age of smart home technology that is supposed to make our lives easier, it often feels more complicated than it needs to be. Ring’s Support Center recommends mounting your Spotlight Cam lower rather than higher.
This range of view gives ample side-to-side coverage in any setting; this allows you to see what is going on in multiple directions without feeling like you’re looking through a fisheye lens.
The Ring Spotlight Cam has two main options for its camera’s power, wired or battery.
Your camera at five to six feet will give you a face-level video feed where you can see individual people clearly. The next hurdle of connecting your newest smart home device is ensuring you have a strong enough Wi-Fi signal. If your Wi-Fi router is too far away from your Ring Spotlight Cam, you may have a spotty signal and won’t have a clear video feed. Avoid hanging your Ring Spotlight Cam higher than nine feet unless you only need it to cover a small area.
Protect Plans | Home Alarm Security Monitoring Service
A trial of Ring Protect starts immediately when your device is set up. For Protect Plus and Pro, all home doorbells and cameras at one location for one user account are covered. Your Ring products provide certain features (instant alerts, Live View, Two-Way Talk, and so on) without any subscription. Ring Protect Plans simply offer additional features for those who want them.
If you’re currently using Ring Protect Basic and want your new device covered at the same address, you can add another Basic subscription, or upgrade to Ring Protect Plus or Pro. Ring Protect Pro is available only within the U.S. (all 50 states, excluding U.S. territories).
Every Ring product can be monitored and managed by an unlimited number of mobile phones, tablets, and PCs. We do not accept any payments in the form of cash, check, or money order. Any such payments sent to our address will be returned to you, and you will be instructed to subscribe and pay for Ring Protect online.
Payments that are mailed to Ring may cause a lapse in your Protect Plan coverage. If you do not subscribe and pay for a Protect Plan online within your 30-day trial period, or prior to the expiration of your existing subscription plan, you will lose your stored video recordings and they will not be retrievable. ● Discount does not apply retroactively to purchases made prior to subscribing to an eligible plan.
● Discount may not be combined with other offers (e.g. including but not limited to Cyber Monday, Black Friday, military, teacher, first responder and Amazon Prime Day promotions). ● Does not apply to Ring Assist +, third-party devices, or non-Ring products. ● We reserve the right to change or waive enforcement of any portion of these terms without notice.
Your free trial subscription begins as soon as you activate your new Ring product.
Ring Spotlight Cam Review
Ring’s equipment is spot on, which you might expect from a well-established home security company whose bread and butter is cameras. This outdoor security camera comes with an integrated spotlight, motion detectors, and a built-in 110-decibel siren as well as a mic and speaker for two-way audio.
One of the simplest ways to watch over your yard
The Spotlight Cam is a strong option if you want a motion-activated outdoor light with a built-in high-definition camera. Download the Ring app for Android, iOS or Windows and follow the step-by-step tutorial to set up your Spotlight Cam. Ring Spotlight Cam Ring Floodlight Cam Netatmo Presence Kuna Price $199/£199/AU$$329 $249/£195/AU$330 $300/£235/AU$400 $199/£155/AU265 Color finish Black or white Black or white Black Black or bronze Power source Plug-in or battery-powered Hardwired Hardwired Hardwired Resolution 1080p HD 1080p HD 1080p HD 720p HD Live streaming Yes Yes Yes Yes Continuous recording No No No No Cloud storage Yes Yes No Yes Local storage No No Internal microSD card No Mobile app Android, iPhone and Windows Android, iPhone and Windows Android and iPhone Android and iPhone Web app No Yes Yes No Night vision Yes Yes Yes No Alerts Motion Motion Motion (person, car or animal) Motion Activity zones Yes Yes Yes No Third-party integrations Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, IFTTT Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, IFTTT Apple HomeKit, IFTTT Amazon Alexa The Spotlight Cam is priced the same as the Kuna/Maximus, but Ring’s camera has a better resolution, night vision, activity zones and more smart home integrations.
Enable the Ring skill and you can ask Alexa to show you your camera’s feed on your screen-equipped Amazon speaker or on a Fire TV. Otherwise you’re stuck watching the live feed 24-7 or being ready to click on motion alerts ASAP to make sure you catch whatever activity is taking place.
The pricier plan includes additional features, like a lifetime warranty and 10 percent off future Ring product purchases. The Spotlight Cam’s simple installation, solid performance and easy-to-use app make it a favorite among the outdoor security camera-light fixture hybrid devices I’ve tested.
Keep in mind that a spotty Wi-Fi connection can cause interruptions in your live feed or cause it not to work at all; test out the quality of your network where you plan to install your camera beforehand. The Ring app has a “Device Health” section, too, where you can check in on the status of your Spotlight Cam’s connection at-a-glance. Overall, Ring’s $199 Spotlight Cam is a great option if you’re looking for a reliable outdoor camera with integrated motion-activated LEDs.
Ring Spotlight Cam review
The price tag puts the Spotlight Cam at the top-end of the smart camera market, so it’ll really have to offer something unique to best the likes of the Reolink Argus 2 and Logi Circle 2. The Spotlight Cam comes in black and white, which should help it blend relatively easy into both light and dark environments, and features an integrated mounting base with an adjustable ball joint. The video, in general, is clear and crisp, and the night vision is capable of illuminating a decent-sized area – around 20-30ft (aka the size of our garden) in our experience. The lights are motion-activated by default, although this can be disabled and manually controlled via the Ring app for iOS, Android, Mac and PC.
While it was once presented in a clunky list format, a fairly recent update to the app now provides a more intuitive timeline view. While we haven’t had a chance to test it out for ourselves, logic dictates that it’d be a worthy purchase unless you’re planning on installing the Spotlight Cam somewhere that rarely sees movement.
It’s compact, easy to install and boasts a range of smart security features including motion-activated LED strips, a 110db siren, two-way talk and night vision. The Ring app is well designed too, and a recent update to the UI makes it easier than ever to view past motion events.
But while the technology is strong, it’s let down by the fact that rain and wet weather can cause moisture on the inside of the camera that can completely obscure the view.
Ring Spotlight Cam review
The Ring Spotlight Cam is a great option if you want to deter intruders but don’t have power nearby to hook up a mains-operated security camera? As soon as motion is detected, it will automatically record footage in full HD video and activate both bright lights and a loud siren should you choose. Simple to use, you will need to subscribe to Ring Protect for $3 / £2.50 / AU$4 per month to view the footage after it’s been recorded, and the camera is bulky and slightly tricky to install. The Ring Spotlight Cam is a great option if you want to deter intruders but don’t have power nearby to hook up a mains-operated security camera?
As soon as motion is detected, it will automatically record footage in full HD video and activate both bright lights and a loud siren should you choose. Simple to use, you will need to subscribe to Ring Protect for $3 / £2.50 / AU$4 per month to view the footage after it’s been recorded, and the camera is bulky and slightly tricky to install. Also on board is an extremely loud siren, which when coupled with the lights is ideal for scaring off unwanted intruders. These include ‘customizable motion zones’ so you can, for example, tailor the areas where you want the Spotlight Cam to detect movement and ‘people only’ mode so it doesn’t capture unwanted footage of birds flying across the sky or squirrels climbing the fence. The Spotlight Cam is a versatile outdoor camera ideal for monitoring your property, and while it is a few years old now, the device’s software has been updated considerably to give you all the options you need to use as part of a comprehensive home security setup.
As we’ve already mentioned, if you want to review video after the camera has recorded it, you’ll need to subscribe to Ring Protect. A chunky, rectangular-shaped outdoor camera, measuring 4.96 x 2.72 x 2.99 inches / 12.6 x 6.91 x 7.59 cm ( h x w x) and available in black or white, it’s fair to say the Ring Spotlight Cam is not a thing of beauty. However, what it lacks in looks it makes up for in terms of versatility, with a large two-way speaker underneath the main lens and two bright spotlights either side and one below.
Ring claims installation time is around five minutes but, in reality, it took us closer to an hour once it was angled properly. During the day, the full HD footage was clear and detailed, although after dark the images weren’t the clearest we’ve seen. However, the two-way audio was very loud and clear (the Spotlight Cam has one of the best speakers we’ve seen on a security camera) and the lights powerful enough to illuminate the entire garden. Perhaps it’s the influence of Amazon, which bought Ring in 2018, but the user interface is extremely intuitive with clear options you can toggle on and off. As with most home security devices, the easiest way to set up the app is to scan the QR code inside the battery compartment. Other useful options include power setting so you can see how much charge your battery has before it needs recharging and a new geofencing feature.
Ring Spotlight Camera Battery review: Shining a light on your security arrangements
It’s a product that’s not only designed to capture and record suspicious activity, but to ward off would-be burglars by casting a light on them as they approach your property as well. And it’s possible to tweak the motion sensitivity, so it’s not set off all the time by swaying bushes or people walking past your house on the pavement. As with the rivals mentioned above, the Ring Spotlight is designed to run on battery power, which is a boon to DIY smart-homers.
There’s no need to connect an extra hub to your router, as with the Arlo or D-Link systems – simply pair it with your wireless network and you’re off and running.
I was able to connect the camera to my wireless network and associate it with my existing Ring account in a matter of minutes. I mounted the camera on the outside of my garden office, some 30m and a brick wall away from my nearest mesh Wi-Fi node, and it was still able to maintain a strong enough signal.
This screws to the wall via a circular plate and holds the camera via a stubby arm, angled slightly down, with a ball joint at the end to allow for fine-tuning the position. In the end, I settled on the compromise of positioning it just above door height on my garden office but even here the camera would lose sight of anyone getting too close.
The benchmark in this sector is the Nest IQ and Hello doorbell cameras, which capture far cleaner, clearer and sharper footage. Traditional IP cameras allow users to draw boxes around areas to detect motion in, which would be a more effective system here. I was able to recognise the faces of people approaching it, day and night, and both email and app-based alerts were issued in a timely fashion. The live feed pops up reliably and quickly, too, which is something I’ve experienced problems with on other camera systems.
It’s easy to install and setup, doesn’t require an extra hub to be attached to your router and is powered by an easy-to-charge lithium-ion battery. If you already have a Ring doorbell, it integrates nicely with the rest of the system, plus, the camera itself is very reasonably priced, especially as it also doubles as a security light and offers twin battery bays.
The caveat is that Ring’s subscription prices will hit you in the pocket harder than rivals, and especially if you want to run more than one camera.
Ring Spotlight Cam review
(Pocket-lint) – Ring is best known for the Video Doorbell – and you don’t have to walk too far down any suburban street to spot one of its devices ready and waiting to greet you at the front door. The main unit sees a central camera with a wide-angle lens flanked by powerful LED illuminators down the sides. It’s a box shape with a ball-socket mount on the rear that clicks into the wall-mount and is held in place with a bracket that’s tightened with a hex screw. With that in mind you might want to mount it fairly high on the wall, so a passing opportunist can’t just take the battery out. This can also be done retrospectively, so if you setup the Cam and then find it’s out of range, you can add in a Ring Chime Pro and move devices to that network instead. Once all connected, the app gives you various settings you can change, like the motion detection area, which is divided into thirds. There’s also a desktop app for Mac or PC, so you can get those alerts when you’re working – which is great for those who might be wearing headphones and unable to hear the doorbell. Unlike the Ring Video Doorbell, there’s no physical trigger for the Spotlight Cam, i.e. no one walks up and presses a button. The motion detection is sensitive and it uses two systems: there’s the PIR sensor for the light trigger on the bottom of the unit; and IR illuminators providing night vision for the camera, so you don’t have to have the lights fire up – it can capture video in night vision if you want.
The Ring Spotlight Cam has a great wide-angle lens on the front that will give you 140-degrees horizontal and 78-degrees vertical capture, so it fits a lot into view. The quality of the video that it captures is great: in daylight it’s clear and crisp with a realistic balance of colours. In IR-illuminated the video has that slightly ghostly appearance to it, but provides a method of capturing motion in the dark.
Protect your home with this wireless and wire-free outdoor rechargeable security camera By Pocket-lint Promotion · 1 December 2021 Verdict The Ring Spotlight Cam Battery is easy to install and setup, delivering decent video capture with illumination. squirrel_widget_143865 Netatmo Presence also offers 1080p video and has an LED illuminator, but this is a wired camera, so needs to be connected to the mains. Read the Netatmo Presence review squirrel_widget_167594 The Arlo Pro 3 offers an LED illuminator and video capture at 2K HDR resolution, as well as the two-way talking functions.
The advantage over the Ring device is that you get 30-days of cloud storage free so there’s no subscription costs – unless you want advanced features like AR detection vehicles, people or animals.
Ring Spotlight Cam Battery Review
This is a rubric that I apply to all of my home security cameras to make sure they’re up to snuff in terms of video, audio, night vision, and more. The Ring Spotlight Cam Battery has 1080p HD, standard in the security camera industry, plus a wide field of view of 140 degrees. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to zoom in optically with this camera, but that’s definitely not a dealbreaker as the footage is clear in general. This can be useful just for chatting with someone in another room or scaring away intruders, so it’s fortunate that the Ring Spotlight Cam Battery comes with two-way audio.
While the Ring Spotlight Cam Battery doesn’t come with any cloud or local storage, you can buy it for as little as $3 a month. Still, I’m giving the Ring Spotlight Cam Battery full marks for its smart platform integration. When it comes to home security cameras, artificial intelligence is typically used for person detection and facial recognition. This creates more specific and smarter notifications, as you’ll only be notified when people move in front of your camera, not pets or inanimate objects.
Overall, the process only took a few minutes, so I’m giving the Ring Spotlight Cam Battery two thumbs up for convenience.
Ring Spotlight Camera Review
Location is as vital to home security as it is to real estate, so we wanted to be smart and strategic when choosing where to place our camera. In addition to customizing the type of motion you want to see, you can also pick certain locations within the camera’s view to focus on.
Google Nest’s cams, for example, go even farther with face-recognition detection – but Ring pulls all those nifty features together in a way we simply can’t resist.
Pro Tip: If you place your Ring Spotlight Cam near a street, but you don’t want to keep getting motion alerts every time a car passes by, we found that turning on People Only Mode was the best fix.
We think it’s worth mentioning that there was a roughly two-second hiccup on the audio, which is a common issue in some other cameras we’ve tested. The Ring mobile app is tied into Neighbors, a helpful neighborhood watch community where you can stay in the loop on suspicious activity or crime near your home. Ring’s outdoor cameras include a loud 110-decibel siren that is sure to scare off anyone – human, animal, or maybe even vegetable – who might be a threat. We’d love to see Ring’s next release include Google Assistant compatibility as part of its smart home integration options, in addition to Amazon Alexa.
FYI: To fully unleash the Ring Spotlight’s smart home capabilities, we recommend using an Amazon Echo Show, which is basically Alexa with a screen. Ring offers 1080p HD quality, which produces clear, sharp images and is a standard feature in most major-market cams.
That same combination of 1080p HD resolution and ultra-bright LEDs also makes Ring’s night vision work like a charm.
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