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Ring Spotlight Cam Review

Yaro

September 14, 2017

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The brand Ring has gone from being a pretty small startup into one of the most prominent names in the smart home industry. They are especially famous for their smart doorbell products, with the Ring Doorbell and Pro version being two of the most famous smart doorbells available today. By using their successful smart doorbell technology, they have also released several smart security camera products, and the Ring Spotlight Cam is their newest release.

The Ring Spotlight Camera is based on the Ring Floodlight Camera, which was released earlier this year. In fact, the Spotlight Cam is designed to be a more affordable option for the Ring Floodlight Cam, with a more compact lighting system. So, you will notice many similar features between the two.

What’s really interesting about the Ring Spotlight Cam is that it comes in three different options: solar-powered, wired, and battery. The wired option is obviously the most affordable, followed by the battery version. However, the solar-powered version is still cheaper compared the Ring Floodlight Cam.

So, let us start this Ring Spotlight Cam review by discussing the key features.

Key Features

1080p HD Video Resolution

All three models feature a 1080p HD video resolution, which is the current standard for smart video doorbells and security cameras. Also, the cameras have a very nice 140-degree field of vision, which is also above average.

LED Panel Spotlight

As the name suggests, the key highlight of the Ring Spotlight Cam is the spotlight feature. You should notice the difference with the Ring Floodlight Cam, where the floodlights are separated from the camera unit. With the new Spotlight Cam, the spotlight feature comes in the form of thin LED panels, which are located beside the camera unit. Not only the LED panels made the Ring Spotlight Cam more affordable, it is also more compact, easier to install and maintain.

Motion Detection Sensor

Both the LED panels and the camera are activated when the Ring Spotlight Cam detects motion. Your Ring app will also be alerted when the sensor detects any motion, and you can fine-tune the alerts and lighting schedule depending on your needs. The motion sensor itself can detect any movement within 270-degrees, which is very nice.

Battery, Wired, or Solar Powered

This option is actually a very nice thing to have since many otherwise excellent smart cameras have limited applications due to their hardwired setup. With the Ring Spotlight Camera, you can choose between the cheapest hard-wired model, battery-powered version, and solar-powered version. With these three available versions, you can basically install the Ring Spotlight Cam(s) anywhere you need them.

Built-In 110 Db Siren

This is a returning feature from the Ring Floodlight Cam and is actually a very nice inclusion. Very few smart security camera products offer built-in alarm/siren and even fewer offer ones that truly work without sounding itself with every false alert. With the Spotlight Cam, you can activate the alarm with your Ring app to scare intruders remotely.
With the Ring subscription, you can further fine-tune the siren with your own audio files and create schedules. A very nice feature to have.

Our Ring Spotlight Camera Review

For this review, we can only test the wired version of the Ring Spotlight Cam, because the battery-powered and solar-powered versions are still currently on pre-order (scheduled to start shipping in fall 2017). So, keep that in mind as you are reading this review.

First of, included in the box is the mounting bracket, a security screw to mount the camera on the bracket, the camera unit itself, the power cord, screws, and an instruction manual.

As with any other Ring products, installing the Ring Spotlight Camera is extremely easy. With this wired-only version, the camera must be plugged in at all times, so the first thing we do is installing the mounting bracket in a close enough proximity from our power outlet. Once the camera unit is all secured and powered, it’s time to connect the Ring Spotlight Cam to our Wi-Fi network through the Ring app.

The Ring app itself is very easy to use with a user-friendly interface and is constantly updated to be better ever since the release of the original Ring Video Doorbell. The basic features included in the app is pretty decent, giving you the ability to control alerts, schedule, and view your video feed. With the Spotlight Cam, you can also set activity zones and control the built-in 110-decibel alarm.

Now, regarding the LED panels, to be honest, we had a low expectation for the lighting quality. However, turns out it is not as bad as we expected. It doesn’t give a thorough illumination like the Ring Floodlight Camera gave. However, it is still pretty decent in lighting especially the areas captured by the camera, which is its main purpose.

The built-in alarm also works really well, which is an early issue of the Ring Floodlight Cam. The issue has been addressed, and now the built-in alarm works perfectly to scare intruders.

The downside we found is simply the hard-wired setup, which can easily be addressed by purchasing the battery or solar-powered version. Also, there is no free cloud storage service, and you will need to subscribe to Ring’s Video Recording Plan starting at $3/month.

Pros and Cons

Bottom Line

Let us end the Ring Spotlight review with a verdict: the Ring Spotlight Cam is a worthy successor/ more affordable version of the Ring Floodlight Camera, which we really liked. The audio and video quality are excellent with very decent night vision and noise cancellation technologies. The spotlight LED panels are also surprisingly decent.

The only major downside we feel is the (currently) limited third-party integration which hopefully will be addressed in future updates. Nevertheless, a very nice choice for a smart security camera, especially if you are already a fan of the Ring brand and products.