Ring Spotlight Cam Solar MSRP $199.99 Score Details DT Recommended Product “The Ring Spotlight Cam Solar shines as a sunlight-grabbing camera that will never require a battery change” Pros Never needs a battery replacement App offers lots of features Cons Subscription service required after free trial period The best wireless outdoor security cameras, like the Netgear Arlo Pro II and the Blink XT, offer solutions to the problem. Ring’s oddly shaped camera won’t win any awards for styling, but don’t let the lack of looks fool you. The Ring app, available for both Android and iOS, walks you through all setup instructions, making the process easy. We needed to tone down the sensitivity of the camera, as the neighbor’s cat and bushes blowing in the breeze sent motion alerts to our phone.
As residents of the dreary Pacific Northwest, we wondered if the solar panel would do a decent job of keeping the camera powered through the gray, rainy spring. You can check to see whether your battery is charged, snooze motion alerts altogether, adjust camera sensitivity, or download video clips.
As residents of the often-dreary Pacific Northwest, we wondered if the solar panel would keep the camera powered. One of the things we like is that you can invite friends to “Ring Neighborhoods,” which is a way to connect with neighbors to stay safe and share video footage. On a couple of occasions, motion alert recordings failed to load at all, and we had to shut down the app and open it again to access it. You can use the Ring Spotlight Cam Solar without paying for a subscription, but its free functionality is limited.
After an initial trial period, you are unable to view recorded video with the triggered motion alerts unless you pay up monthly. You’ll still see a motion alert on your phone, but won’t be able to see what caused it, which defeats the purpose of having a security camera in the first place. We think the Ring Spotlight Cam Solar is a great camera, and not having to bother with a battery replacement — ever — is a sweet set-up.
If you’re in the market for an outdoor wireless camera but aren’t interested in the solar panel charger, go with the Ring Spotlight Cam Battery. Now owned by Amazon, we expect Ring to add to offerings while continuing support for existing products.
Ring Spotlight Cam Review
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 ‹ UK RRP Manufacturer Size (Dimensions) Voice Assistant Battery Length Smart assistants View Field Night vision Light Power source Ring Spotlight Cam £199 Bionaire 69.1 x 75.9 x 126 MM Alexa 4380 hrs Yes 140 degrees Yes Yes Battery ›
Is the Ring Solar Panel Worth the Cost?
Some of the most popular items for a home security system are exterior cameras like the Ring Spotlight Cam. If you already have a Ring exterior camera, hooking up your solar panel is easy, and if you’re upgrading a home security system, your company will most likely install it for you too.
The Ring Solar Panel only requires a few hours of light each day to keep your cameras charged and at the ready. With a wide field of vision, the Ring Spotlight Cam can cover a large area and give your home full security coverage.
Hands-On Ring Spotlight Cam Battery and Solar Review
The Solar Panel, which sells independently for $49.00, is weatherproof and connects to your Spotlight Cam Battery using a 13-foot cable. According to Ring, with just a few hours of direct sunlight per day, it will keep your Spotlight Cam fully charged.
While some online literature says that the solar panel will not charge the camera’s battery, we found that it did. In our test, the battery level (which you can check within the mobile app) kept creeping up over time.
Even though we had excellent results, there’s a limitation: if the battery is dead, the solar panel can’t power the camera alone.
Customer Reviews: Solar Panel for Ring Spotlight Cam Battery and Stick Up Cam Battery White 8ASPS7-WEN0
That is why we are driven to create products that help you protect what matters most at home, and empower you to connect with your visitors from wherever you are. We are saddened to read that the retail customer support representative could not assist you with the Ring questions you had.
Ring Spotlight Cam & Solar panel review
Of course you can also add the optional Ring Solar Panel, which is a great way to keep your camera operational all the time. The new Ring Spotlight Cam camera comes with a better mounting bracket that’s now a whole lot easier to adjust. The Ring Spotlight Cam has 1080HD video with a built-in microphone and speaker so you can hear what’s being said outside, and even speak with anyone who’s in front of the camera. Spotlight Cam also has infrared night vision built in so you can see and record even in full dark.
For added peace of mind, there’s a 110-decibel siren if you need to pull out the bigger guns, and this blaring beacon can help you scare off prowlers. You’ll get an alert to your smartphone any time the camera senses motion, and it’s possible to configure exactly where within the camera’s field of view the alerts are detected, plus you can disable notifications from higher traffic areas, like street, or your kids swing set.
When configured, it can send an audible alert (like a chime or other sound) through your home when it detects motion. Prices for this Cloud video storage and access range from about $5 to $15/month and fortunatley there’s no contract needed so you can cancel it any time.
There is also a free version that lets you view your camera’s live feed, but you won’t have access to recordings of previous events.
Click Add Device and follow the instructions which will get the camera linked up to your home’s Wi-Fi network. As I noted, the Spotlight Cam bracket is new and now employe a ball and socket joint which lets you move it around better for the best view. During the day I could keep an eye on my pups in the yard, particularly if I was using my Amazon Echo Show 8 as a viewing device.
I will note that I had some recent troubles with the Ring app with my devices not connecting properly or falling offline, or showing alerts as “video not available” but this seems to be less of an issue than it was previously. I know some folks are disappointed that without anteing up for Ring Protect you can’t get your videos, not even from a few days prior, but that’s the reality of most remote security systems today; they all want you to pay a fee for that cloud recording.
I can definitely recommend Ring Spotlight Cam as a way to increase your home’s security and keep watch over your house.
Hands-On Ring Spotlight Cam Battery and Solar Review
The Solar Panel, which sells independently for $49.00, is weatherproof and connects to your Spotlight Cam Battery using a 13-foot cable. According to Ring, with just a few hours of direct sunlight per day, it will keep your Spotlight Cam fully charged. While some online literature says that the solar panel will not charge the camera’s battery, we found that it did. In our test, the battery level (which you can check within the mobile app) kept creeping up over time.
Even though we had excellent results, there’s a limitation: if the battery is dead, the solar panel can’t power the camera alone.
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.
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 Cam Solar | HD Wireless Outdoor Security Camera
Record your videos and capture photos to review, save, and share the moments you missed at any time. Customize your alerts and minimize interruptions by getting notifications only when your device spots a person.
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