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Ring Stick Up Cam Battery review

Posted on 8-May-2019 11:08 by M Freitas | Filed under: Reviews


Ring Stick Up Cam Battery review

Having installed quite a few Ring devices around the house (including the Floodlight Cam and the Spotlight Cam outside), I was interested in seeing what the new Ring Stick Up Cam offered.

 

Although similar in that both the Stick Up Cam and the Spotlight Cam are... cameras you soon realise they are quite different. The Stick Up Cam is really a slightly smaller device when compared with the Spotlight Cam. It also doesn't have the LED light strips like the Spotlight Cam. But that's not all that is different. The Stick Up Cam is a device for use both indoors and outdoors and its flexible design allows it to be used on a flat surface or attached to a wall or ceiling, while the Spotlight Cam is really intended as an outdoor-only device.

 

Because of this, the Stick Up Cam also looks very different from the Spotligh Cam in that it doesn't look "chunky" as its outdoor-only sibling model - although this also translates in being powered by a single battery instead of the dual-battery option on the Spotlight Cam (which needs more power for its LED lights).

 

Thanks to its rechargeable battery you have the flexibility to install it in locations where power is not readily accessible. But in case you want, there are other models with support for Power over Ethernet (POE) and USB as power sources, as well as a solar panel option.

 

From my testing the battery life is really good but your experience may be different - depending on which features you have enabled. I have the Stick Up Cam setup to allow for Live View (so I can watch the covered area at any time) but I decided to not have the option to detect motion activated. This means the camera is not constantly monitoring its covered area for movement, thus saving power. I did this first because there's constant movement inside the house (with family and pet) and because the external areas are covered by the Floodlight Cam and the Spotlight Cam so if any of those set an alert then I can watch the inside of my lounge live, knowing the cameras in the exterior area have already recorded whatever set the alerts on.

 

Unlike the Spotlight Cam, the Stick Up Cam doesn't have an HDR option for video recording, but the HD video quality is still great. Its Field of View is just a bit smaller (115° horizontal, 65° vertical vs 140° horizontal, 78° vertical) while still giving good coverage of a wide-area with quality - I found it to be really good indoors with a good light source.

 

The motion settings allow you to individually turn on and off three different sectors in the covered area, which are then monitored for movement (if the motion recording option is set). In case you have the Ring Chime you can also link that device for motion alerts, like the other cameras.

 

The Stick Up Cam has two-way audio with noise cancellation so you can at any time talk to anyone in the covered area, while watching it live.

 

Motion events can be recorded to your Ring account and require a Ring Protect Plan. With those plans the videos are stored for up to 60 days and you can share the videos or download them. There are two different plans: the Ring Protect Basic for individual cameras and the Ring Protect Plus Plan for an unlimited number of cameras and doorbells.

 

The service setup is really simple and I think it was even easier than the other versions - including the QR code to scan during the setup, which makes things a lot simpler.

 

Similar to the other Ring devices you will find inside the box all you need to install your Stick Up Cam, including a small screwdriver and screws to use if setting the camera on a wall or ceiling. You will also find security-type screws, in case you want to make sure the camera is securely attached to a wall or surface and can't be moved by would-be Bad People (TM).

 

All-in-all, I think Ring managed to make a new camera that looks good and is easier to use than before.