Ring Stick Up Cam is one of the latest products from the company that started with smart doorbells, but now has a serious security product portfolio. The latest product in that lineup is the Stick Up Cam that comes in both wired and wireless (or battery) editions.
The camera has a serious list of features, but it’s perhaps the seamless integration with Ring’s mobile app that makes a very compelling product that’s easy to setup and to add multiple devices to.
After spending a few weeks with the product, it’s time to share my thoughts on the design, feature and value of the product and if you should invest in Ring Stick Up cameras as part of your home or business security system.
DESIGN AND FEATURES
Looks and features matter
The feature set of this product mirrors closely the most famous of Ring’s product, the Doorbell 2, that means you also get the following features out of the Stick Up Cam. If you’re fan of the idea, or like me, even have a Ring doorbell, then you’ll appreciate being able to use the same mobile app to access the live stream and motion events from the camera(s).
In terms of design, the camera itself is available in 2 different colours, black and white, enabling you to choose the right colour to match with your house.
1080p video quality
The video quality of a camera is important when you have an incident, until then you may think saving a few dollars on a 720p camera is worth the trade off. The problem is, if you (or the authorities) are trying to recognise the face of a person of interest, or a detail of their shirt or a tattoo at distance, then every pixel counts.
Battery powered
The camera is powered by a healthy 6040mAh lithium-ion battery, to power the camera and maintain its connection to your WiFi network. This makes the Ring Stick Up camera portable which not only makes placement simple and easy, but also enables you to move it, should you need to monitor a room or location temporarily.
Two-way talk
The camera also features a speaker and microphone which means you can have a conversation with a person (or people) in view of the camera. This works well with the doorbell to talk to the courier delivering a parcel to you, but as a standalone camera, it’s more likely you’ll be talking to a potential offender in an effort to scare them away.
Indoor / Outdoor placement
You can position the camera in almost any location you like. This is thanks to a weatherproof design and the battery power.
Motion-activated notifications
There’s no doorbell button to press here, so the motion-activated events and you manually selecting Live View to view the camera. Personally a motion activated notification works fantastic and the new mobile view is great for scrolling back through time to review footage if you miss an event.
Night vision
Naturally security events happen 24×7 so you’re going to want any product you buy to check this very important box. Thankfully Ring’s Stick Up cam is more than capable at night time and does a great job of illuminating the area around the camera. There is an obvious distance restriction here, but for the most part, if someone gets close to your Stick Up cam, you’ll get them on camera.
Alexa compatibility
A very nice addition on the Stick Up cam is the ability to watch the camera feed on a video-enabled Alexa device. Just ask Alexa ‘who’s out the back?’ and the stream can be shown on devices like the Echo Show.
Solar Panel compatible
Ring also offer a solar panel to charge their security products and the Stick Up Cam Battery is compatible with it. This means if you get tired of charging the battery, just add the solar panel and it’ll be forever charged.
ISSUES
Room for improvement
The Stick Up Camera from ring is a fairly compelling product with very little to complain about. My biggest complaint is probably the price, not because it’s not good value for money, or competitive with other products on the market, but rather so more people could buy them. In fact if these were under A$150 each, they’d make a great present and you could easily grab multiple to secure the whole house or business.
Probably my only other complaint is the lack of a magnetic mounting option. While the camera base (included) can be rotated to mount it standing upright, or upside down (using 3 screws), the camera would provide even more mounting options if the stand could be removed and the camera could snap to a downpipe on the outside of your home.
PRICE & AVAILABILITY
How much and when can you get one ?
Ring’s Stick Up Cam comes in 2 versions, Battery and Wired. The version I reviewed was the battery version and it’s available now in 2 colours, white or black so you can blend it in, or contrast whichever location you place it around the home.
The Stick Up camera is available as a single item for A$319.99, or available in combo packs from 2, 3 and 4 packs that range up to A$1,079.00, a saving of $197 over buying 4 individually. Some buyers will understand their needs today and buying in bulk makes plenty of sense, however it is worth remembering, you can always buy and add cameras later.
OVERALL
Final thoughts
With all things considered, this is easily one of the most compelling security cameras on the market. It’s quick and easy setup, combined with a great mobile app that supports all Ring video products, the bi-directional communication and great price point make it a really easy product to recommend.
The product is sold individually, so you may want to buy your first on its own, then to secure your whole home, you may look to the bundles.
If you’re a Ring video doorbell owner already, then a Stick up camera to the mix is a perfect extension. It takes all the features you love from the doorbell, like motion-activated push mobile alerts and puts them in a portable security solution.
With a doorbell, security camera, spotlight camera and more, it’ll be interesting to see where Ring goes next.