The Ring Stick Up Cam Pro: flawless performer

I’ve got Alexa everywhere throughout my house and a Ring doorbell as well as several Ring cameras keeping an eye on things, so I was naturally keen to check out the latest Ring Stick Up cam. The Stick Up Cam Pro plugin is an indoor/outdoor surveillance widget that delivers 1080p video and supports Alexa voice control.

While it sports the same cylindrical design as earlier Stick Up cams, it has a steroid habit, as it is much larger to house its built-in radar (more on this later). The review unit was finished in white and is mounted on a round base with a clever integrated hinge of 45 degrees of tiltability. The clever part is that the base can also work as a standard desktop stand or as a wall/ceiling mount using bundled mounting hardware. Around its rear, the camera is uncluttered, with just a single USB-C port for use with the bundled power adapter.

The adaptor comes with a generous cable length to the camera, and the Ring has also thoughtfully bundled an additional extension cable. However, lacking an outdoor power socket meant that I tested the Stick Up Pro inside.

Around the front, there’s the camera lens image sensor and radar motion sensor, as well as both a speaker and mic, which are discretely tucked away behind a grill. Speaking of audio, Ring baked noise cancellation into the camera’s mic set up for clearer two-way talk using the Ring app on a mobile device, PC or Mac. The camera is 1080p and HDR capable. This means it can deliver more detail in dark shadows, and video is less likely to be blown out by highlights. A 155-degree field of view ensures it gives plenty of coverage, and two infrared LEDs illuminate its night vision. When there’s enough ambient night illumination, colour night and video are also possible. Last but by no means least, it’s also dual-band Wi-Fi capable.

The Stick Up Cam Pro’s radar confers it with 3D Motion Detection and the same Bird’s Eye View that’s used in the Ring Video Doorbell 2 Pro. 3D Motion Detection uses the built-in radar to detect objects for fewer false alerts. It also drives the Bird’s Eye View feature, which shows where anyone has moved around as dots overlaid on an aerial map shown in the camera footage in a picture-in-picture format. Another nice feature is colour pre-roll footage, which comprises six seconds of video recorded before any motion events are detected.

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If that’s the good stuff, the downside comes in the form of no local video storage capabilities, leaving you reliant on subscribing to a Ring Protect plan if you want access to recordings. Ring Protect also allows you to share recorded video and has the ability for Stick Up Cam Pro to intelligently detect people and packages, which reduces false alerts and allows you to see when a courier shows up. You also get rich notifications in the form of a photo preview. If you’re unwilling (or unable) to pay a subscription, all these nifty features are gone, leaving you with just the ability to view live video from the Stick Up Cam Pro. This is a huge shame as other manufacturers, such as Swann, offer cameras with local recording capabilities that don’t force you into paying to get access to what should be standard features.

As Amazon owns Ring, the Stick Up Cam Pro also plays nicely with Alexa voice commands and third-party smart home gear via IFTTT support. Being able to say to the Echo Show in my kitchen, “Alexa, show me the Ring at the front of the house” brings up a live video feed which feels very Jetsons-like. Unfortunately, if you’re an Apple or Google user, there’s no support for HomeKit or Google Assistant. That said, Amazon is migrating all their gear to the upcoming Matter standard, which will provide a common standard for all smart home gear regardless of its manufacturer, so this incompatibility is unlikely to remain an issue for much longer.

The Ring app is intuitive and elegant, especially if you’ve coughed up for a Ring Protect Plan. Once set up, I was immediately impressed by the Stick Up Cam Pro’s video. Colours and image detail were well-defined, crisp and accurate in daylight. Night video was also detailed in black and white and passable in colour. Impressively, I have yet to record any false positive alerts either.

Packing HDR video and dual-band Wi-Fi, the Ring Stick Up Cam Pro was dead easy to set up and performed flawlessly once operational. If you’re an Alexa user, already have a Ring Doorbell and are okay with paying an ongoing fee for required functionality, the Stick Up Cam Pro is a good choice. Unfortunately, the lack of functionality without a Ring Protect Plan prevents it from scoring a 10 out of 10.

https://ring.com/au/en/products/stick-up-cam-pro-plug-in