Ring Spotlight Cam Pro Review

About the Ring Spotlight Pro

• Color: Black, White
• Connectivity: 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi connection @ 2.4GHz and 5.0GHz
• Power Source: Plug in USB-C power adapter.
• Resolution: 1080p HDR, HDR
• Field of view: 140° horizontal, 80° vertical
• Audio: Two-way talk
• Brightness: Two 3,000° Kelvin spotlights
• Smart assistant support: Alexa
• Operational temperatures: -5°F to 120°F

What we like

It’s one of the easier spotlights we’ve installed yet

Part of why the Ring Spotlight Pro’s ridiculously easy installation process is this particular version’s power source—as long as you have an outlet within about 15 feet of where you want it to be, you’re four screws away from being mounted and ready to go.

If you don’t have an outlet nearby, then one of the Ring Spotlight’s three other iterations (battery, solar, wired) might be a better route.

It’s not just the power source, though. Ring has streamlined the in-app setup of new devices, to the point where I had the Spotlight Pro up and recording roughly five minutes out of the box.

A tip from me to you: Set up the Spotlight Pro before installing it in your preferred location around your home. Between scanning a barcode found on the spotlight and establishing a Wi-Fi connection, it’s just that much easier to plug into power and set things up in the confines of your living room, then venture out into the elements to secure the device into place.

It records detailed video with clear audio

Bluntly speaking, the Spotlight Cam Pro checks the boxes when it comes to performance. It records 1080p HDR video that fell short of knocking my socks off, but was still sharp enough to be satisfied.

The spotlight offers Two-way talk with what Rings describes as “advanced noise cancellation,” which pairs well together to generate a solid audio experience.

The two 3000° Kelvin spotlights built into the Ring Spotlight Cam Pro, I was wowed by the brightness that such a (comparatively) compact spotlight could produce.

Oddly enough, the Spotlight Cam Pro had a few somewhat essential performance features that were toggled off by default. I had to venture rather deep into the app to switch both HDR and Color Night Vision on, two features that probably should have been activated out of the box.

As weird of an omission as it is, it’s a relatively quick fix if you know where to look.

First, tap on the Spotlight Cam Pro from the home screen of the Ring app. Then, tap the Settings icon and scroll to Device Settings.

From there, tap Video Settings, which brings up a screen with features that you can toggle to your tastes.

The spotlight is anchored by excellent features

The beauty of the Ring Spotlight Cam Pro lies beyond its audio and video performance which, while undoubtedly good, doesn’t tip the scales towards excellence the way competitors like the Eufy Solocam S40 do.

However, the Spotlight Cam Pro makes up for it with some intriguing features, starting with Bird’s Eye Zones.

To use this feature, you will pinpoint where the Spotlight Cam Pro is on your property with a Google Earth-like view, then draw a coverage zone that you’d like the spotlight to monitor. This zone isn’t limited to the Spotlight Cam Pro’s 140° field of view, though.

Using radar-powered detection, the Spotlight Cam Pro’s zone covered my entire (admittedly small) backyard even though it was pointed squarely at my patio. The zone had a 30-foot radius, meaning I could have extended coverage into my neighbors’ yards if I so chose. But I was able to mold the zone to end at my fence line.

There are several additional features to speak of, but the other one I found most useful was Mode Settings and the ability to automate them with geofencing.

Ring has three available Mode Settings: Disarmed, where all indoor and outdoor cameras are not detecting motion; Home, where just outdoor cameras are monitoring; and Away, where all cameras are active.

I set up a geofence based on my phone’s location that would enable Home mode when I got back from work, and Away mode when I left the premises, which I found really handy.

It’s a somewhat subtle feature, but it does well to cut down on unnecessary notifications when you’re hanging out at home.

What we don’t like

There's a subscription fee

As popular as the Ring lineup is, the brand’s defining handcuff is its insistence on requiring a monthly subscription to access the best aspects of a device. To record video on a Spotlight Cam Pro, a $3.99/month Ring Protect Basic Plan is required.

To put it another way, you can’t execute the most core functionality of this device (recording motion) without paying an extra $50 a year on a subscription.

And if you have, say, a Ring Video Doorbell 4 sitting next to your front door, you’ll have to upgrade to Ring’s Protect Plus Plan, which covers video recording on all Ring devices for $10 per month.

There’s other settings you unlock as well with these plans, such as Snapshot Capture and Person Alerts.

My main beef is the concept of buying a $230 security camera, then having to tack on $50 a year just to be able to use the one feature you buy a security camera for.

It only works with Alexa (for now)

It won’t necessarily matter for someone like me, who is fully engulfed in Amazon’s smart home ecosystem.

Google and Apple smart home owners of the world, however, will find that Google Assistant and Siri don’t directly integrate with the Spotlight Cam Pro.

There are cameras that cater to those demographics, like the Google Nest Cam with Floodlight or the Eve Cam Outdoor, respectively. The Spotlight Cam Pro just isn’t one of them.

Privacy

Wi-Fi-connected cameras are, purely by default, a privacy risk. That being said, most of the major smart security brands are actively taking measures to mitigate that risk.

Ring, for example, expanded its implementation of end-to-end encryption in hardwired and plug-in cameras and video doorbells.

Essentially, the measure is designed to stop anyone without your smartphone or mobile device from viewing your recorded video footage.

End-to-end encryption can be enabled in the Ring app’s settings. The Ring app also has mandatory two-factor authentication to help keep your smart home safe and secure.

Should you buy the Ring Spotlight Cam Pro?

Yes, especially if you already have a Ring security ecosystem

Part of the appeal of Ring devices in general is how effortless it is to string them together into an ever-expanding security system around your home. All at once, you could have a Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Pro watching over your driveway, a Ring video doorbell covering your front door and the Ring Spotlight Cam Pro monitoring action in your backyard. That’s when Ring devices make the most sense, as an ensemble.

That’s not to say the Ring Spotlight Cam Pro isn’t a respectable standalone camera. It is, especially when you consider how easy it is to install, its stellar audio and video performance, and its exciting security features.

But if I didn’t already have a Ring system to build off of, I’d probably be more intrigued by something like the Eufy SoloCam S40, since it can do most everything the Spotlight Cam Pro can, runs on solar, and doesn’t charge you a monthly premium to record video.

At the end of the day, finding a security camera that meets your needs is the most important thing to consider. For many folks, the Ring Spotlight Cam Pro meets those needs.

By design, though, it just makes more sense if it already has a few Ring peers to partner with.