Ring Floodlight Cam Delivers Serious DIY Protection

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When we replaced our front door over a year ago, I purchased a Ring Doorbell; I love it. I love knowing who is there, being able to “answer” the door while away from the house, and the extra sense of security it gives me. When Ring offered a Ring Floodlight Cam for review I was, and continue to be, thrilled.

The Ring Floodlight Cam has an MSRP of $249, but during this holiday season, we have already seen some discounts.

It is available in your choice of white or black and, even at full MSRP, I think it is a good investment. Here’s why.

 

The Ring Floodlight Cam is not just about floodlights. Like the doorbell, it has a motion-activated security camera. In this case, it is an HD camera. The floodlights can be set to illuminate a specific area at set times during the night or, if you prefer, they can stay off and turn on when motion is detected. That saves on electricity, and it keeps neighbors from complaining that lights are on all night. Also, the Floodlight Cam has a siren and provides two-way talk so you can communicate with someone who has triggered the motion detector from the comfort and safety of your home.

The Evolution of Outdoor Security: Protect your home with the world’s only motion-activated security camera with built-in floodlights, a siren alarm and two-way audio, so you can see, hear and speak to anyone on your property from anywhere.

Ring promotes the Floodlight Cam as being able to “Watch over your entire property.” Of course, that will depend on the size of your property, but the floodlights can cover a fairly sizable area thanks to the dual 3000-degree Kelvin floodlights. (We’ll get to how we are using the camera in a moment.) The bright floodlights work in tandem with a camera lens that can cover a 140-degree wide field-of-view. Of course, this can be adjusted using the excellent Ring App. Combine this with advanced motion sensors that have an amazing 270-degree field-of-view, and you can both illuminate and monitor a significant area. The Ring Floodlight Cam delivers 1080p HD video, offers “Live View” so you can look outside whenever you want and night vision so you can know what is going on even in the darkest of nights. Add in Facial Detection and Object Detection, and you can see why Ring refers to this as “the most advanced motion sensors in home security.”

For many homes, one Floodlight Cam will be sufficient, but if you buy more than one Ring Floodlight Cam, you can install them in strategic locations that leaves little to no blind spots along your property.

The Floodlight Cam is, of course, weather-resistant and can operate in a range of -20 degrees F to 120 degrees F.

Features:

  • Crystal-clear HD video
  • Two ultra-bright LED floodlights
  • 110-decibel siren alarm
  • Dual sensors with object and facial detection
  • Ultra wide-angle motion sensors
  • Customizable motion zones and scheduling
  • Motion-activated camera and floodlights
  • App-controlled camera, lights, and siren
  • Smart zoom with panning

The Ring Floodlight Cam is designed to be placed on a vertical wall. It needs to be hardwired into a power source and needs 2Mbps upload speeds to deliver optimal performance. Initially, I thought I would replace the floodlights on the back of my house but, since the backyard is gated, we decided it made more sense to use the device to monitor the area around the garage doors. We already had a light over the garage but it, unfortunately, is set horizontally not vertically., That meant I would not be able to install the Floodlight Cam in the most ideal way but, since I didn’t want to bring in an electrician, I was okay with that.

The installation instructions provided by Ring are excellent and offer a step-by-step process.

I removed the Haiku Light I had installed last year and set about installing the new lights and camera.

Admittedly it ended up taking far longer than I expected since setting up a camera designed for vertical mounting under an eave was awkward. That was not, however, Ring’s fault.

Then I discovered that the electrical box I had an electrician install last spring was not oriented property for the Ring Floodlight Cam.

The result was that the camera points down at too steep an angle and I’m not able to direct the floodlights in exactly the way I intended. In the end, I will still need to bring in an electrician and have him reset the box, so I get optimal coverage of both the camera and the lights.

Even so, I’m thrilled to have the lights and camera where they are. Yes, once I pay the electrician to do his/her thing it will be even better but, for now, it is a far better solution than what was there previously.

Simple Setup With Advanced Controls: Floodlight Cam easily replaces existing wired floodlights and connects to standard junction boxes. With the app, you can flash the lights, sound the alarm and zoom-in to focus on your most important areas.

Once the camera was in, I followed the step-by-step instructions for adding the Floodlight Cam to my Ring app. I already had an account thanks to the Ring Doorbell, so this part was easy. I tested the alarm and was impressed. It turns out 110 decibels is pretty damn loud. Raina and I tried out the two-way audio. It worked well too.

I then used the app to set the lights to come on at 5 pm each evening and go off at 10:30. After 10:30, however, the motion detector steps in and, if there is motion, turns the lights back on for a length of time I set in the app as well.

Like the Ring Doorbell, I was able to determine the area I want to be covered by the motion detection. In my case, however, I’ll have to wait for the electrician to do his thing before I can take full advantage of this.

Still, in spite of these caveats, I’m thrilled with this product. Between the Ring Doorbell on my front door and the Ring Floodlight Cam between the two garage doors I now have most of my house’s front covered by Ring’s “Ring of Security.”

The Ring Floodlight Cam is a fantastic product. Setup can be quite simple if you are merely replacing existing floodlights but becomes a bit more complex if you need to run power to a place that previously had none. Once the hardware is set up their app makes it easy to take full advantage of the device’s power. I know that I feel a bit more secure now that the Floodlight Cam is set up. And, since I work a lot of nights, I have peace of mind when Raina is home alone. I highly recommend it and will, in the end, likely pick one up for the backyard too. After all, in today’s world, you can never be too safe. Check it and all of the Ring’s great products here.

Source: Manufacturer supplied review sample of the Ring Floodlight Cam

What I Like: Powerful lights; Two-way audio; Loud alarm; Excellent camera; Highly customizable; Good motion-detection

What Needs Improvement: Designed for vertical installation and not as ideal for placement under eaves; Needs a wired power source and access to decent WiFi

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About the Author

Dan Cohen
Having a father who was heavily involved in early laser and fiber-optical research, Dan grew up surrounded by technology and gadgets. Dan’s father brought home one of the very first video games when he was young and Dan remembers seeing a “pre-release” touchtone phone. (When he asked his father what the “#” and “*” buttons were his dad said, “Some day, far in the future, we’ll have some use for them.”) Technology seemed to be in Dan’s blood but at some point he took a different path and ended up in the clergy. His passion for technology and gadgets never left him. Dan is married to Raina Goldberg who is also an avid user of Apple products. They live in New Jersey with their golden doodle Nava.