Ring Stick Up Cam Battery Review

Editors Note: This is the most recent version of the Ring Stick Up Cam battery. Read our original review from May 8, 2019 below.

Designed for indoor or outdoor use, the Ring Stick Up Cam Battery ($99.99) joins the company’s growing family of smart home security devices. Like the original Stick Up Cam we reviewed in 2016, this version offers fully wireless, motion-triggered video and works with other connected devices, but this time you get 1080p video, support for Amazon Alexa voice commands, and record a wider field of view. You’ll have to pay to watch videos, but if you’re looking for a feature-rich security camera that can be used indoors and outdoors and is super easy to install, the Ring Stick Up Cam battery delivers in spades and earns our editors. . choice

Design and features

The Stick Up Cam’s sleek cylindrical enclosure looks nothing like its boxy rectangular predecessor. Available in black or white, it has an IPX5 weatherproof rating and is 4.9 inches tall (with stand) and 2.3 inches wide. The stand can be used on a desktop or mounted on a wall, ceiling or soffit and can be adjusted for the ideal viewing angle.

The base of the camera twists to reveal the rechargeable lithium ion battery pack. The battery is rated to last anywhere from six to twelve months between charges, depending on usage, and is easily removed by pressing the silver tab. To replenish the battery, take it indoors and use the included USB charging cable and charge it for a few hours until the LED changes from red and green to green.

In addition to improved aesthetics, the new Stick Up Cam offers even nicer specs than the original. It captures video in 1080p and has a 115-degree field of view compared to the original camera’s 720p resolution and 80-degree field of view. It uses 802.11n (2.4GHz) Wi-Fi to connect directly to your home network and doesn’t require a hub like the Arlo Pro 2 and Eufy Cam cameras. Motion detection is video-based and two-way audio comes through a built-in microphone and speaker. Four infrared LEDs provide black-and-white night video up to 30 feet.

The Stick Up Cam uses the same mobile app as other Ring devices and supports Ring’s Neighbors app that lets you share photos and videos of activity captured by your Ring device with other users around you. The app opens to a dashboard that displays thumbnails of each installed Ring device and tabs for neighbors and history. Tap the Neighbors tab to see photos and videos of incidents like porch burglaries, attempted break-ins, and vandalism. Here you can comment on the event and see a map of where it happened Next to the Neighbors tab is a History tab that takes you to a screen with a list of all your motion and alarm events with time stamps. Tap any event to view, delete or download recorded video of the event.

Added a timeline feature to the Ring Camera view. When you tap a camera tab you’ll see a series of events at the bottom of the preview screen with timestamps. Simply scroll back and forth through the thumbnails and tap any tab to view videos from that timeline, share with friends, or trash. To the right of the timeline bar is a live button that launches a live video stream that can be viewed in full-screen mode by turning your phone sideways or by tapping the square mode button at the bottom right of the video panel. On this screen you can tap the share button to record the live stream and share it to the Neighbors app, and there’s a siren button that activates the camera’s internal siren. Below the screen is a microphone button for two-way audio and a button that mutes the speaker. To adjust camera settings, tap the gear icon in the top right corner

The Stick Up Cam’s settings screen displays the battery level and has switches to enable/disable motion recording and motion alerts. There’s also a Live View button that launches a live stream, and below that are several buttons. Tap the Device Health button to change your Wi-Fi network, check Wi-Fi signal strength, update firmware, and troubleshoot notification issues. Tap the Linked Devices button to interact Stick Up Cam with other Ring devices. For example, you can have your Ring Pro doorbell start recording or ring floodlights when the Stick Up Cam detects motion. You can also get camera feedback on ring alarm sensors.

Other settings let you adjust motion alert frequency, create motion zones, and set schedules to disable motion alerts. You can snooze motion alerts for 15 minutes, 30 minutes, an hour or two hours. The app alert button offers a dozen different tones for motion alerts and includes a volume slider. Like other Ring devices, the Stick Up Cam supports Alexa voice commands that let you watch videos on compatible Amazon devices, and it works with IFTTT applets that let it integrate with other IFTTT devices like smart door locks, lights, and plugs.

Like every other ring camera and doorbell, the Stick Up Cam comes with a free basic plan that gives you motion alerts and live on-demand video, but you need to pay for a subscription to view the recorded video, whereas other outdoor cameras such as Earlier Arlo Pro 2 gives you a few days of free storage.

However, Ring’s cloud plan is one of the more affordable and generous plans: for $3 per month or $30 per year you get 60 days of cloud storage for a camera or doorbell. If you have multiple Ring devices, consider signing up for the $10 per month/$100 per year plan that provides 60 days of storage for all your devices. In comparison, the Nest Cam IQ outdoor camera has a five-day plan for $5 per month/$50 per year, a 10-day plan for $10 per month/$100 per year, and a 30-day plan for $30 per year. month/$300 per year. Arlo charges $2.99 ​​per month per camera for 30 days of cloud storage, $9.99 per month for 30 days of storage for up to 10 cameras, and $14.99 per month for 60 days of storage for up to 20 cameras.

Installation and performance

Most home security cameras today are easy to install, but because they run on battery power, the Ring Stick Up Cam is easier than most. I already have the Ring mobile app installed on my phone, but if this is your first Ring device, you’ll need to download the app and create an account.

I charged the battery and tapped Set Up a Device at the bottom of the dashboard screen. I selected the security cam from the list of devices and quickly used my phone to scan the QR code located on the setup sheet (it’s also located inside the battery cover). I selected my location and was given a choice to install the camera indoor or outdoor. I selected Outdoor, named it Backyard Cam, installed the battery, and verified that the camera powered on. I waited a few seconds for the blue LED to start flashing and connected the camera to my Wi-Fi network when prompted. The camera was immediately added to the network, and after a quick update and a few motion-detection settings adjustments, it was ready to use.

The Stick Up Cam delivered excellent 1080p video in my tests. Daytime video showed good color quality and sharp detail with no noticeable barrel or pincushion distortion, and black-and-white night vision video was also very sharp, with uniform lighting and none of the purple tint we saw with the original stick up cam. Motion detection worked well, and motion alerts arrived immediately after an event. Two-way audio was clear, but the internal siren could have been a little louder.

The integration works as advertised. I created an IFTTT applet to turn on the Philips Hue light when the stick up cam detects motion and it works perfectly. My applet to turn off an outlet on the TP-Link Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Power Strip HS300 also worked flawlessly when motion was detected, and I had no problem using Alexa voice commands to launch a live stream to my TV using Amazon Fire. No TV stick.

Conclusion

Easy to use ring stick up cam. You can place it anywhere inside or outside your home without worrying about being near an outlet or yanking out a power cord. Day and night video appeared sharp in our tests, and motion detection worked well, as did Alexa and IFTTT integration. It would be nice if Ring offered 24 hours of free cloud storage with its basic plan, but its $3/month 60-day storage plan is one of the more affordable options. All of this earns us our Editors’ Choice Ring Stick Up Cam Battery.