Professional’s Score
Execs
- Glorious efficiency, indoors and out
- Radar-based movement detection
- Obtainable in battery, photo voltaic, and plug-in configurations
- Incredible night time imaginative and prescient, with the choice of color
Cons
- You possibly can have Hen’s Eye View or Pre-Roll, however not each
- Not absolutely appropriate with Google Residence or Apple HomeKit
- 1080p decision
Our Verdict
This indoor/outside digital camera is a no brainer for any Ring buyer trying to broaden their house safety protection. Sure, it’s restricted to 1080p decision, however enabling HDR delivers colour-saturated pictures and this digital camera has very robust night time imaginative and prescient, with a color night time imaginative and prescient possibility you may discover you don’t even want. In the event you want only a single digital camera and may get by with out so many superior options, alternatively, you’ll discover a bevy of less-expensive choices.
Radar-powered movement detection has trickled right down to Ring’s Stick Up Cam household. Priced at $180 / £160 (for both the battery-powered mannequin reviewed right here or the plug-in model; it will also be bought with a photo voltaic panel for $210 / £210), the indoor/outside digital camera Ring Stick Up Cam Professional prices quite a bit lower than the Highlight Cam Professional.
Whereas I nonetheless suppose Ring’s Hen’s Eye View function is overrated—extra on that later—this digital camera has loads of different nice options to suggest it, together with glorious colour night time imaginative and prescient, even with out the built-in highlight that drives up the worth of its stablemate.
The Ring Stick Up Cam Professional captures high-quality video with choices together with excessive dynamic vary and colour night time imaginative and prescient.
In the event you’re new to Ring cameras, a very powerful factor to know is that you just’ll want a subscription to get the complete use of the Stick Up Cam Professional. That is more and more widespread amongst house safety cameras and video doorbells, however I’m bringing it up early on this assessment in case that’s a stumbling block for you. With no subscription, you gained’t get motion-detection alerts or video recordings; as a substitute, you’ll solely get a dwell view from the digital camera.
Ring offers all the pieces it’s essential to set up the Ring Stick Up Cam Professional, however a cost-savings measure appears to have eliminated the screwdriver from the package. Personally, I’d have most well-liked to surrender the Micro-USB cable–or the sticker.
Michael Brown/Foundry
If that is your solely Ring digital camera, a Fundamental subscription will price $3.99 / £3.49 per thirty days or $39.99 / £34.99 per 12 months. The Plus tier prices $10 / £8 per thirty days or $100 / £80 per 12 months, however it covers all of the Ring cameras and doorbells you’ve put in at a single location. In the event you even have a Ring Alarm house safety system, your greatest wager is to subscribe on the Professional stage, which incorporates all the pieces within the Plus tier, together with skilled monitoring of your alarm system.
In the event you additionally personal a Ring Alarm Professional system, you possibly can plug a microSD card into its base station and retailer your digital camera and doorbell recordings regionally. (Notice that just a few Ring units will not be appropriate with Ring Edge, and also you’ll want a Ring Defend Professional subscription to allow this function, which is accessible solely within the US. That prices $20 per thirty days or $200 yearly.)
Design & construct
- 1080p video decision with HDR
- 155 x 139 x 80-degree subject of view (diagonal, horizontal, vertical) subject of view
- Coloration night time imaginative and prescient
- Radar-based movement detection
- Will be deployed indoors or out
- Twin-band Wi-Fi (2.4- or 5GHz)
- Climate resistant, with working temperature vary of -4 to 120 levels Fahrenheit
- Two-way audio with superior noise cancellation
- Onboard 85dB siren
In contrast to so lots of its opponents, Ring has resisted the urge to pursue ever-higher digital camera resolutions, sticking 1080p HDR for this mannequin. That’s not meant as a dig: This digital camera delivers glorious image high quality day and night time (colour night time imaginative and prescient with an help from close by mild sources). And its lens captures lots of motion because of its very extensive subject of view: 155 levels diagonal, 139 levels horizontal, and 80 levels vertical.
I examined the battery-powered mannequin, however you should buy an AC-powered model for a similar worth (and add a battery later, in case you’d like, which is able to act as a backup energy provide). There’s additionally third SKU that bundles the digital camera with a battery and a photo voltaic panel for $210 / £210. A number of the digital camera’s options—together with color night time imaginative and prescient—devour further battery energy, so that you may need to depart them turned off (they’re by default). In contrast to the Highlight Cam Professional, this mannequin can accommodate solely a single battery.
The Ring Stick Up Cam Professional is equally adept working indoors or out. We reviewed the battery-powered mannequin, however the identical digital camera is accessible with an AC energy adapter or a battery and photo voltaic panel.
Michael Brown/Foundry
In the event you’re changing an older Stick Up Cam related to a first-generation photo voltaic panel, you gained’t be capable of carry that accent over except you additionally purchase Ring’s $13 / £10 USB-C/Barrel-Plug Adapter. Alternatively, Ring has two newer USB-C photo voltaic panels: a 6.9 x 4.4 x 0.5-inch (HxWxD) mannequin that sells for $40 / £35, and a extra strong 8.1 x 6.7 x 0.5-inch mannequin that goes for $60 / £50.
The battery itself hasn’t modified, which implies you possibly can salvage one from any battery-powered Ring digital camera or doorbell you’ve in any other case put out to pasture (simply don’t throw away your outdated Micro-USB cables, since you’ll want one for charging).
Set up and setup
The Ring Stick Up Cam Professional makes use of the identical battery as each different digital camera within the firm’s product line. You too can purchase a photo voltaic panel to maintain the battery perpetually charged, though you’ll want an adapter in case you have one of many older fashions that makes use of a barrel-type energy connector.
Michael Brown/Foundry
The Stick Up Cam Professional could be set on a flat floor or mounted to a wall or fence submit, with an articulated stand that makes it simple to level the digital camera within the path you need to monitor. I like this mechanism higher than the ball-joint on the Ring Spotlight Cam Pro. Ring offers the screws and hollow-wall anchors wanted for the duty, however it appears the times when it additionally included a small screwdriver have ended.
You’ll need to twist open the battery compartment on the underside of the digital camera, take away the quick-release battery, and provides it a full cost earlier than continuing with set up and setup. LEDs on the battery will glow orange after which inexperienced to let you already know when it’s prepared. When you’ve changed the battery, you possibly can tighten down a Phillips-head set screw to make it tougher for a thief open the digital camera and steal the battery.
My smartphone had problem capturing the tiny QR code on the again of the digital camera and within the person handbook.
Michael Brown/Foundry
The following step is so as to add the digital camera to the Ring app by scanning both the tiny QR code within the person handbook or equally small QR code on the again of the digital camera. I can perceive why the one on the digital camera is so small—there’s not lots of accessible actual property—however my iPhone 15 Professional had appreciable problem specializing in both of them as a result of they’re so small. It took a number of tries, however my telephone’s digital camera ultimately captured the one within the handbook.
The Ring app will ask you quite a few questions throughout setup to make sure you get the most effective outcomes from the digital camera, together with whether or not the machine shall be put in indoors or out. I arrange the digital camera for indoor use first, after which {hardware} reset it and went by means of the method a second time so I may check it outside. You’ll want to supply your Wi-Fi credentials—dual-band, 2.4-/5GHz networks are supported—except you’ve beforehand arrange a Ring digital camera, wherein case these particulars will auto-populate.
Movement detection, Hen’s Eye View, and privateness
Hen’s Eye View is likely one of the Ring Stick Up Cam Professional’s marquee options. While you allow it and draw out the world you need it to observe, the radar-based tech will observe an individual’s actions in that zone and show the trail they took on an aerial map of your property. This animation is displayed in a picture-in-picture window, and you’ll swap between it and a full-screen view of your recordings.
However I didn’t discover Hen’s Eye View to be all that compelling after I reviewed the Ring Highlight Cam Professional, and I’m not any extra impressed with it on this indoor/outside mannequin. First, it’s in no way helpful for indoor deployments; second—and extra importantly—enabling Hen’s Eye View disables the digital camera’s pre-roll perform.
Ring’s radar-based Hen’s Eye View might be most helpful in much less densely populated areas than the one I dwell in.
Michael Brown/Foundry
The pre-roll perform additionally reveals motion that came about earlier than the digital camera was triggered to ship you a movement alert, and I seeing that is way extra priceless than seeing animated dots. If monitoring an individual’s motion round your property is essential, wouldn’t it’s higher to only arrange further cameras round your perimeter?
Some of the important methods the Ring Stick Up Cam Professional extends its battery life is by defaulting to recording and sending alerts solely when an individual is detected within the digital camera’s outlined motions zones. You possibly can select to report and/or obtain alerts primarily based on any movement in these zones, however the app will warn that it will scale back helpful battery life. If that’s one thing you want, you’d be higher off with both the plug-in or photo voltaic variations of the digital camera (or including a photo voltaic panel after the actual fact).
By default, the digital camera will take a snapshot as soon as each hour in between movement occasions. You possibly can enhance this frequency to each 14 minutes—on the appreciable expense of battery life. These frames seem within the digital camera’s timeline and provide help to observe what’s occurring in between movement occasions; as such, they are often extremely helpful.
In case your neighbor’s house is inside your digital camera’s subject of view, you possibly can set up privateness zones to dam doorways, home windows, gates, and the like so that you’re not intruding on their privateness. You gained’t be capable of see these areas and any movement inside them shall be ignored. Privateness zones could be as massive as you want, however you’re restricted to 2.
Video high quality, night time imaginative and prescient, and two-way audio
Regardless of having solely 1080p decision, the Ring Stick Up Cam Professional captures high-quality video with the choice of excessive dynamic vary (one other function that may be disabled to increase battery life). Its night time imaginative and prescient is much more spectacular, and you will get full colour night time imaginative and prescient—once more, in case you don’t thoughts sacrificing some battery life. However you may discover you don’t want it. Just a bit further ambient mild from a floodlight on my deck 20 toes away was sufficient to seize night time scenes in my yard in colour.
Two-way audio is a typical function on safety cameras as of late, and it’s of superb high quality on this one. Folks standing in entrance of the digital camera heard me completely clearly and so they sounded as in the event that they have been calling me on the telephone at my finish.
Sensible house integration
Ring has grown to be an enormous participant within the sensible house market, with a strong assortment of sensible lighting and residential safety merchandise. Ring Alarm and the extra highly effective Ring Alarm Professional are the DIY safety system I like to recommend most frequently. Along with the combination options I’ve already talked about, any Ring machine can set off the Ring Stick Up Cam Professional to report, and it might probably set off another Ring machine to carry out actions of their very own.
Ring interoperability is one thing of a pressure multiplier, in order that an occasion in a single space of your home can set off issues to occur anyplace else in your home: Movement-activated lights can set off cameras to report earlier than their very own movement sensors do and vice versa.
The Ring Stick Up Cam Professional delivers vivid image high quality and a really extensive subject of view with little or no distortion.
Michael Brown/Foundry
Being an Amazon firm, tight integration with Alexa-powered units is a given. You will get a dwell view of the digital camera on any Echo sensible show and even in your TV in case you have a later-model Amazon Fireplace TV machine plugged into it.
Sadly, that compatibility doesn’t lengthen to different sensible house ecosystems. You possibly can’t stream video feeds from the Stick Up Cam Professional to a Google Nest Hub, as an example, and it’s not appropriate with Apple’s HomeKit ecosystem both. Whereas Apple doesn’t have a wise show, you possibly can stream some safety digital camera feeds to an Apple TV.
Matter may break down these obstacles in the future, however the usual itself doesn’t take safety cameras into consideration proper now. We would see motion on that entrance someday in 2024, however don’t make right this moment’s buying selections primarily based on anybody’s predictions.
Must you purchase a Ring Stick Up Cam Professional?
There’s a boatload of 1080p house safety cameras that price a fraction of the Ring Stick Up Cam Professional, however none with as many options or that ship as a lot efficiency.
That mentioned, in case you want only one digital camera and don’t want integration with a broader sensible house or house safety ecosystem, check out the choices from Ring’s sibling firm, Blink, or Wyze Labs. Each of these corporations have very robust low-priced cameras, and also you’ll discover our critiques of their greatest in Tech Advisor’s safety digital camera roundup. Remember, nonetheless, that these corporations have subscription plans of their very own.
In the event you’re already within the Ring ecosystem—or plan to be—with a Ring doorbell, different mannequin of safety digital camera, or a Ring Alarm system, the Ring Stick Up Cam Professional will make an ideal addition to your arsenal, indoors or out.