Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Pro Review

Editors Note: This is the latest version of Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Pro. Read our original review from January 10, 2022 below.

The Ring Floodlight Cam wowed us in 2017 with its sharp image quality and ability to work with other smart devices, but at the time, its companion app was a bit of a gamble. With the Floodlight Cam Wired Pro ($249.99), the app is no longer a hindrance and enhances the Ring camera with welcome features like HDR video, dual-band Wi-Fi, 3D motion detection, and a bird’s-eye view of motion. Case in point The $199.99 Arlo Pro 4 Spotlight camera remains our Editors’ Choice winner thanks to even sharper 2K video and greater third-party compatibility, though the Ring is a better option if you want to light up your entire yard.

Weatherproof housing with dual-band Wi-Fi

Available in a black or white finish, the IP65 weather-resistant Floodlight Cam Wired Pro measures 7.7 by 12.8 by 8.5 inches (HWD). It uses two adjustable LED lamps that put out 2,000 lumens each and have a 3,000K color temperature. For comparison, the Ufi Floodlight Camera has a brightness of 2,500 lumens per light, while the Arlo Pro 3 Floodlight Camera reaches 3,000 lumens per light. Regardless, the Cam Wired Pro’s lamps were bright enough to illuminate my backyard in testing. The Arlo Pro 4 Spotlight, meanwhile, is aptly named in that it shines a spotlight on whatever is moving around your property, but it won’t illuminate the entire area like a floodlight.

The camera housing sits just below and between the two lamps. It has a 1080p HDR sensor with a 140-degree horizontal field of view; A speaker and microphone; a 110dB siren; and six infrared LEDs for black-and-white night vision. With the floodlight on, the camera can also offer color night vision. It uses a dual-band Wi-Fi radio to connect to your home network The camera interacts with other Ring devices, supports Alexa voice commands, and connects to many third-party smart home devices via IFTTT. That said, it doesn’t support Apple’s HomeKit platform or Google Assistant.

Floodlight Cam Pro uses the same 3D motion radar technology that Ring first introduced with its Video Doorbell Pro 2. In short, the 3D motion detection feature allows you to create custom motion zones with distance thresholds. When the sensor detects an object, it measures the distance between the object and the camera and sends an alert if that distance exceeds a threshold. This technology also powers Ring’s Bird’s Eye View feature that lets you see where visitors to your home have traveled on your property. These events appear as dots on an aerial map and guide the visitor.

Like every other Ring camera, the Pro 2 requires a Ring Security subscription to view recorded video and access some of these more advanced features. The Basic plan gives you 60 days of rolling storage for one camera and costs $3 per month or $30 per year. The Plus plan costs $10 per month or $100 per year and provides 60 days of storage for all your Ring cameras.

App Settings

Floodlight Cam Wired Pro uses the same mobile app (available for Android and iOS) as every other Ring device. The app opens to a dashboard screen that lists all your Ring products; This section also shows shortcuts for Neighbors (a community app that lets you share photos and videos of captured events), History (a list of event-triggered videos that you can tap on to view), and more. Touch the edit panel to add or remove shortcuts.

To view a live video feed from your camera, tap the Floodlight Cam Pro panel and then the Go Live arrow. Just below the video panel, the app displays the time of day, an end live button that ends the stream, a microphone button, and a speaker mute button. To view the video in full-screen mode, press the square icon in the lower right corner Once the live stream is over, a timeline of motion events will appear below the video panel. Simply scroll through the timeline to find and watch event clips; A bird’s eye view shows the feed in the upper left corner.

Tap the gear icon at the top right of the screen to access the settings menu. Here, you can turn lights on and off, sound sirens, and enable motion detection or motion alerts. A motion warning button enables you to play a recording through the camera’s speaker to alert anyone (or whatever) outside that they are being recorded.

Additional tiles allow access to specific sections of settings. For example, Mode settings allow you to enable geofencing and configure Home, Away, and Disarmed states. Motion settings allow you to configure motion sensitivity, enable 3D motion and smart alerts, and set up motion alert schedules. Go to the Devices section to change lighting settings (such as brightness and motion zones), enable color night vision, set the default video recording length, and configure notifications. Other settings allow you to link the Floodlight to other Ring devices, configure network settings, and update firmware.

Standard installation and solid video quality

To install Floodlight Cam Wired Pro, you must first download the Ring app and create an account. The installation process is relatively simple, but requires working with high-voltage electrical cables. If you are not comfortable with it, you should hire a professional to install it.

I started by triple-tapping the icon in the top left corner of the app’s dashboard and then selecting Set Up a Device. I then selected the Security Cam tab, scanned the QR code on the bottom of the box, and gave the camera a name. At this point, you can view the installation instructions or skip them if you have already installed the device

Before removing my existing floodlight fixture, I turned off the circuit breaker. With the old fixture removed, I installed the metal ring mounting bracket on the junction box and attached the plastic mounting plate to the metal plate. I used the included fabric strap to hang the device on the mounting plate and cable nuts (also included) to connect the camera cables to the junction box cables. I slid the fixture onto the plastic plate, attached it using the included cap nut, and restored power to the circuit.

After the LED started flashing, I followed the instructions to connect the fixture to the Ring app and my Wi-Fi network. The app immediately connected to my network when I entered my Wi-Fi password, and the camera showed up in the app and in my Alexa device list without delay. During the setup process, the app also installs a firmware update for the device.

Floodlight Cam Wired Pro delivered 1080p video with excellent contrast, rich colors and fine image detail in tests. I didn’t notice any obvious barrel or pincushion distortion, and the wide viewing angle covered most of my backyard. Black-and-white night video looks sharp and well-lit, as does color night video, but as expected, colors in the latter mode weren’t as vibrant as during daytime captures. Two LED lamps were bright enough to illuminate my backyard.

Both the 3D motion detection feature and the Bird’s Eye View aerial map worked without a hitch. When I enabled the Smart Alert setting, the camera correctly detected motion caused by human movement and ignored everything else. I created an Alexa routine that triggers a U-tec Ultraloq U-Bolt Pro smart lock when the camera detects motion and the lock never fails to engage. Additionally, the Floodlight Cam Pro responded quickly to Alexa voice commands to stream video to an Amazon Echo Show.

A topflight floodlight camera

We like many aspects of the Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Pro—its HDR camera delivers excellent video quality, while its 3D motion detection and bird’s eye view feature both work flawlessly. The light may not be as bright as you get with some competitors, and the camera doesn’t work with Google Assistant or HomeKit, but it was still bright enough to illuminate my backyard in testing, and you get Alexa and IFTTT support. Ultimately, the Arlo Pro 4 Spotlight offers more functionality at a lower price, earning it our Editors’ Choice award, even though it won’t light up your entire yard. For a lot less money, meanwhile, we also like the Wyze Cam Floodlight, which doesn’t support HomeKit or offer voice control, but costs just $84.99. If you already own other Ring devices, however, the Floodlight Cam Wired Pro is a perfect addition to enhance your outdoor security.