Ring Spotlight Cam Battery

SUBSCRIPTION REQUIRED.

WELL KNOWN AMONGST smart home enthusiasts for pioneering the “video doorbell” category, Ring has expanded its product range to outdoor security cameras. The Spotlight Cam, which combines a smart security camera with a motion-activated spotlight and siren alarm, is available in wired, solar-powered and battery-powered variants. We tested the latter version.

Unlike the older Ring Floodlight Cam, which needs to be professional installed by an electrician, the Spotlight Cam Battery is designed to be easy enough to install yourself if you’re handy with a screwdriver. All of the bits and bobs for drilling it into a wall are included in the box, and there’s no electrical wiring to fuss around with.

Whenever the Spotlight Cam detects motion, it sends your phone a notification, records a video clip, and plays a chime sound (which we quickly disabled in the app). Tapping on the notification brings up the live 1080p video feed, where you can see what’s happening through the camera, speak to whoever’s there using the two-way audio feature, and manually turn the spotlight on.

If you don’t like what you see, you can sound the siren alarm. At 110 decibels, it’s loud enough to scare a would-be intruder away, but may not be loud enough to reach your next door neighbour.

The Spotlight Cam Battery comes with a 30-day trial to the Ring Protect Plan, and this includes video recording for up to 60 days. While the subscription is priced reasonably well (from $4 a month/$40 a year), we’re miffed that you don’t get any visual evidence of activity – not even a still image – if you don’t subscribe. Instead, you’re lumped with just a live feed and a text log of motion detected events.