Ring Spotlight Cam Pro Review: Radar-Powered Protection

Many people are familiar with the Ring Doorbell – but the company (owned by Amazon), has also made a name for itself with indoor and outdoor security cameras – and the Ring Spotlight Cam Pro is certainly another solid product in that line.

As a long-time user of the original Ring Spotlight Cam, I was excited to get my hands on the Pro version and see what improvements have been made.

After several weeks of testing, I can say that while the Pro model isn’t a major upgrade, it does offer some new features that make it worth considering, especially if you’re new to the world of smart security cameras.

Ring’s Spotlight Cam Pro (There’s a wired version and a battery-powered version – which is the one I tested) ticks even more boxes this time around: Setup and installation are fairly easy, there’s a very wide field of view and a high-quality video feed, two bright lights that can turn on automatically when the cam senses motion (and the video is then in colour), a new, radar-powered 3D motion sensor, and even two-way talking and a siren you can activate from your phone.

As before, the night vision is somewhat limited (but gets much better once the spotlights are turned on), the motion sensing still can’t always separate man from fox, and the whole bundle gets expensive when you factor in the monthly Ring Protect subscription.

Is it a necessary upgrade for existing Spotlight Cam owners? Probably not. But for those looking for a reliable, feature-rich outdoor security camera that plays nicely with Alexa and doesn’t require professional installation, the Ring Spotlight Cam Pro is definitely worth a closer look.

Let’s dive into the details…

Who Is The Ring Spotlight Cam Pro For?

If you’re familiar with Ring, it’s probably because of their incredibly popular Ring Doorbell. However, Ring also produces a range of security cameras and alarm systems for both outdoor and indoor use.

The Ring Spotlight Cam was already a highly rated security camera – but as things go in tech, a Pro version eventually launched – with a few additional features, such as 3D Motion sensing, colour night vision (on the non-Pro model, colour night vision is restricted to the wired model. This time around, it’s available on the battery-powered model as well) and more.

Like its predecessor, the Spotlight Cam Pro is designed primarily for outdoor use. You could technically use it inside, but since it requires mounting and features bright LED spotlights, it’s better suited for the outdoors.

The 1080p HDR video quality is quite good – it may not match the video standards of a modern smartphone, but it’s sufficient for monitoring your property and identifying faces if needed.

The most common use for this camera is as a security device pointed at your garden or back door, but it can also serve as a Ring Doorbell alternative (minus the doorbell functionality), allowing you to see everything happening near your front door.

The Spotlight Cam Pro boasts a cutting-edge 3D Motion Detection system that uses radar technology to precisely measure the distance and angle of moving objects.

This results in more accurate and refined motion alerts compared to the previous model.

Additionally, the Bird’s Eye View feature provides an aerial map view of motion events across your property, giving you a thorough understanding of any activity.

This all sounds very good on paper – but in practice, I’m still getting motion alerts every time a fox or a cat enters my garden – and occasionally they’re even tagged specifically as “Person Detected”. Is there something Ring knows about my neighbourhood fox that I don’t?

It’s possible to lower the motion sensitivity, but then you run the risk of not seeing important notifications – so it’s a delicate balance.

As before, the night vision isn’t particularly impressive (the range is limited, and identifying faces is nearly impossible), even though there’s a colour option now (which is off by default – you need to turn it on in the Ring app’s settings).

However, the two LED lights are quite powerful. You can set them to turn on automatically when the camera detects motion, which significantly improves video clarity.

Battery life can vary from a few weeks to several months, depending on your usage habits and how often you use the bright spotlights.

The cam features a dual battery tray, so you can insert two batteries to extend the time between charges (although the box only includes one battery).

Of course, as an Amazon device, the Spotlight Cam Pro integrates seamlessly with the Echo/Alexa ecosystem (it also supports Google Home).

You can then view real-time video feeds using the Ring smartphone app. If you have Echo Show devices throughout your home, you can simply ask Alexa to display the video feed on the Echo’s screen – this is especially handy if you have a device in the kitchen (like the Echo Show 15) or in your bedroom.

You can even watch the video feeds on your TV with a Fire TV device (such as the Fire TV Cube or the Fire TV Max).

While the camera itself is reasonably priced, the “optional” Ring Protect subscription is practically essential if you want to take advantage of the camera’s most useful features, like cloud video storage.

And unfortunately, its prices keep going up. As of this writing, it starts at £4.99/month or £49.99/year.

If you don’t plan on using the subscription service (see more on its benefits below), you might want to consider cheaper alternatives – while they may not offer the same video quality and features, they could be sufficient for those with more basic needs.

Setting Up The Ring Spotlight Cam Pro

One thing I like about Ring’s cameras, is how easy they are to set up – and the Spotlight Cam Pro is no exception, even though the number of settings can get a bit overwhelming.

The box includes the camera, a Quick Release Ring battery, a Micro-USB charging cable, the mounting base and screws/wall anchors. There’s no screwdriver this time around, so you’ll have to supply one yourself.

Since this is the battery-powered model (a wired version is also available), you don’t need to worry about power cables or outlets in your garden, as the battery provides all the necessary power.

One of the great things about Ring cameras and devices is that the batteries are interchangeable. This is particularly useful if you plan on purchasing multiple Ring devices.

That said, this also means that the battery is still using the ancient Micro-USB port, which is an annoyance nowadays – but at least there’s a suitable cable in the box.

Installing the camera on the wall was relatively straightforward, but it did require drilling holes, which could, of course, be problematic if you’re renting.

Ring offers additional mounting options, such as a gutter mount, which can be purchased separately.

To set up the software, you’ll need to download the smartphone app (available for iOS and Android), scan the unique barcode on the camera’s bottom, and connect it to your home’s WiFi network.

So yes, as expected, you need a strong WiFi signal wherever you intend to place the camera, which reduces your flexibility in choosing a spot.

Remember that the camera doesn’t have any local storage, so it relies on a WiFi connection to send its videos to the cloud.

When deciding on the camera’s placement, consider the height and field of view. You don’t want the camera to be easily accessible to potential burglars, but if you place it too high, you may miss the area directly beneath the camera, which could be a door or window.

Of course, you need to be able to access it easily to replace the battery every few months.

To find the optimal position, it’s a good idea to install the software and check the live video feed while placing the camera.

When you reach this stage, you’ll be presented with a seemingly endless list of settings that require immediate attention.

My partner had to remain on the ladder for quite some time while I navigated through the various initial setup options, such as configuring motion zones, adjusting notification preferences, and setting up the bird’s-eye view feature.

The list of settings felt overwhelming, especially when all I wanted was to access the live video feed to ensure the camera was positioned correctly – but we got there in the end.

Using The Ring Spotlight Cam Pro

Most of your interactions with the camera will be via Ring’s smartphone app – it’s where you watch the live feeds, set up motion notifications, and power up the siren and the lights.

The same app controls all of Ring’s devices, so if you have a Ring doorbell or additional Ring cameras, you can view them all in the main app.

Security cameras used to be pretty basic devices. They recorded videos that could later be viewed when searching for suspicious activities, and that’s about it.

But security cameras have been getting smarter and smarter for two reasons – first, you don’t want to sit and look at hours of boring videos just to find out if something happened.

And then if something happens – you want to know about it right away, or at least be able to jump straight to the important part of the video.

Furthermore, there are special considerations when using a battery-powered device like the Spotlight Cam Pro, as it can’t take videos 24/7 – otherwise, the battery will run out in a matter of days or even hours.

Therefore, motion sensing is a big part of any smart security camera these days – and the Ring Spotlight Pro certainly delivers in that regard… up to a point.

When the camera senses movement, it sends a notification to your phone and starts recording a video (so you’ll be able to watch it later, even if you weren’t near your phone in real time).

You can decide whether you only want to get alerts when the camera senses a person (which will cause a slight delay in getting those notifications), or whether you want a notification for any type of movement.

The Pro model also introduces a new feature that we’ve seen before in the Ring doorbell – Pre-roll recording.

The camera constantly records low-quality video in the background, so when motion is detected, you not only get the footage of the event itself but also a few seconds of what happened just before the motion began.

This can be incredibly useful for understanding the full context of the situation (though it also affects battery life). Once motion is detected, the video quality automatically improves to capture the event in better detail (and the spotlights turn on automatically if it’s dark outside).

The camera boasts a new 3D Motion Sensing feature, which uses radar technology to accurately measure the distance and angle of moving objects. This, combined with the bird’s-eye view feature (which lets you see the direction of the motion with a satellite image overlay), promises to provide more accurate and insightful motion detection.

However, despite all the lofty promises, the motion sensor’s sensitivity hasn’t changed much compared to the previous model.

I’ve been using the non-Pro model for more than two years, and the Pro model for the past few weeks – and, just as before, I’d wake up every morning to 2-3 notifications waiting on my phone, courtesy of the local fox having a party in my garden. And one time, I kid you not, I got a “Person” notification for… a butterfly.

It can also get a bit annoying to receive a notification each time someone steps out to the garden – so you can either set schedules (no notifications during the daytime, for example) – or you can temporarily “Snooze” the camera’s alerts on your phone – when someone you trust walks out to the garden, or when you’re having a BBQ.

The 1080p video quality is quite good during the day, and a bit disappointing when it’s dark.

Previously, only the wired version of the Spotlight Cam had colour nighttime recording – but the Pro version now adds this to the battery-powered version as well.

The colour doesn’t make a whole lot of difference, though – especially if you’re in a very dark area with no ambient light coming from anywhere.

That being said, the two spotlights are very bright, and you can turn them on from the live feed on the app, or have them turn on automatically when there’s a motion event – and once they’re on, the nighttime videos are of very decent quality (and you get the added benefit of scaring the burglar away).

When it’s dark outside, the Spotlight Cam Pro’s night vision has a limited range, as the built-in spotlights can only illuminate a certain distance. This is understandable, given their small size and the fact that they rely on battery power. However, the spotlights do a great job of lighting up the area immediately surrounding the camera, providing a clearer view of anything nearby.

One feature I particularly liked is the automatic activation of the spotlights whenever the camera detects motion in low-light conditions. There were times when I’d hear strange noises coming from the garden at night, and it was reassuring to know that the Spotlight Cam Pro would instantly illuminate the area and start recording.

In the app, you can also set up different modes (Disarmed/Home/Away) and control how the camera behaves in each of these modes: For example, you can tell it to stop motion tracking when you’re at home (it knows that thanks to your phone’s GPS), and reactivate the tracking when you’re in Away mode.

You can also use the app to define different “Motion Zones” – the boundaries of the camera’s motion detection. So if there are areas outside your property you don’t care about, you can exclude them from the motion sensors.

When you’re watching the camera’s live feed, you can also initiate a two-way chat from within the app – so you can talk to your son who’s playing in the garden – or to the burglar standing on your garden furniture.

Watching the camera feeds on Amazon’s Echo devices is quite convenient, and for you Amazon Fire TV fans out there, you can even watch the camera feed on your TV or set up notifications.

But it was a bit scary to see a video notification from my dark garden at night, while watching Fallout...

The Ring Protect Subscription

If you purchase the Spotlight Cam Pro (or any Ring device), you’ll need to consider the monthly subscription, which is officially optional but pretty much essential for regular use.

Without this monthly add-on, you can still receive basic motion notifications and view the live video feed, but that’s about it.

While this can be helpful in some specific situations, a security camera is meant to let you watch videos of events that occurred when you weren’t looking – and you can only do that with the Ring Protect subscription.

When you start using the camera, you get a free 30-day trial. After that, the Basic subscription, which covers one Ring device, costs £4.99/month or £49.99/year.

If you have multiple Ring devices (3 or more is the sweet spot), you can opt for the Plus subscription at £8/month or a whopping £80/year, which covers every Ring device in your home.

With the Ring Protect subscription (either Basic or Plus), you get cloud video storage for up to 180 days per video (just note that the default is 30 days – if you want 180 days, you need to change the settings).

This doesn’t mean your camera stores video 24/7. Instead, a video file is created every time you watch a live feed and every time the camera senses an “event” – even if you don’t act upon the notification and don’t watch it in real-time.

Whenever the camera detects motion, video recording is triggered – either until the motion “ends” or for a predefined set of seconds, which you can control.

These videos are then stored on Ring’s cloud for up to 180 days, but you can download them and save them locally. You can also share videos directly from the cloud with family members or for entertainment purposes (show that fox on social media, for example).

Additionally, you can set up the camera to take photo snapshots at regular intervals (to see what happens even when there isn’t any motion) – and those snapshots are also stored online if you’re subscribed.

Moreover, Person Alerts and a few other smaller features are only available with a subscription (otherwise, you can only use the general motion alerts that detect anything that moves).

While the subscription is not mandatory, the camera’s most important features are placed behind this paywall.

If you’re not planning to subscribe, there may not be much point in buying the Spotlight Cam. There are other security cameras on the market that allow you to store videos locally without any online subscriptions – so those may be a better fit in that case.

Bottom Line: Is The Ring Spotlight Cam Pro Worth It?

While the Ring Spotlight Cam Pro is not a significant upgrade from its predecessor, it’s still a great security camera with good features and a high-quality video feed.

On its own, the Spotlight Cam Pro is one of the best security cameras on the market. It combines “smart” features, ease of use, and a somewhat affordable price, making it an attractive option for many users.

That being said, the competition in the security camera market has become fierce, and there are certainly cheaper alternatives available, some of which don’t require a monthly subscription.

The Spotlight Cam Pro’s two main drawbacks are its overly sensitive motion notifications, which can be frustrating at times, and the cost of the Ring Protect subscription, which is essential for accessing the camera’s most important features.

Despite these shortcomings, the Ring Spotlight Cam Pro still earns our Editor’s Choice mark. It delivers excellent video quality, and the app, while a bit confusing due to its many features and settings, is comprehensive and user-friendly.

If you’re willing to spend a little extra and want a security camera that does all the important things (and more) without requiring you to be a security technician, especially if you’re already invested in the Ring or Amazon ecosystem, then the Spotlight Cam Pro, with its useful spotlights, is an excellent choice.

Note: The product was supplied by the manufacturer for this review. As always, this did not influence my unbiased opinion of it.