Ring Pan-Tilt Indoor Cam review

The slick Ring Pan-Tilt Indoor Cam is one of the best indoor security cameras I've trialled. I think Ring are trying to make their cameras seem more luxe, as it came with a piece of Apple-style white tissue paper over its face, which made it feel more high-end (I was reluctant to take it off and bin it).

As you probably know, Ring devices are made by Amazon, which also offers lower-end Blink home security devices. It's best to choose one or the other brand and not a combination, because the payment plans are separate. A Ring Protect Household subscription costs £8.99 per month or £80 per year, and it covers all the devices in your home - so theoretically you could set up 100 cams for the same price, though I don't recommend it (how paranoid would you need to be?!)

Speaking of paranoia, my two lodgers were out at work (they're suspicious of security cameras and have banned them from the living areas) so I took my chance and set up the Ring Pan-Tilt in the living room - mainly so I could take some nice pictures of the colourful decor for you.

The cam would be great for you if, like me, you're not a tech geek and are just the average homeowner wanting to monitor your house when you're out. It doesn't have loads of confusing functions - the main one you'll use is rotate, which allows you to pan up to the ceiling and down to the floor (it offers 169°) and of course all around the room (360°).

Ring Pan-Tilt Indoor Cam: Specifications

Ring Pan-Tilt Indoor Cam: Price

The cam retails at $79.99 / £69.99, which feels a fair price for showcasing the length and breadth of your room (and, being an Amazon-owned brand, it's well worth checking for a deal – even as I was doing this review the camera was $20 off!)

Its static Ring equivalent is less at $59.99 / £34.99 – I've bought two of these to train on the front and back doors, but the Pan-Tilt is no doubt very useful if you want to follow your toddler, spouse, or pet around the place. I have none of these people or animals in my life and few possessions worth stealing, but I imagine it's also helpful if you have a lot of valuable stuff in a particular room and want to check it's all still present.

Ring Pan-Tilt Indoor Cam: Design & Handling

The Ring Pan-Tilt indoor cam feels sturdy and solid. The privacy guard is easy to open and shut, immediately canning all video and audio if, for instance, you want to 'get down to business' with your partner (chance would be a fine thing in my life). Like most of the cam, it's made of durable white plastic. The stand sits neatly on a tabletop and there's no chance of it falling over. You can mount it to the wall with the mount and screws provided if you want to, or if you don't have a suitable surface to place it on, but I placed it on my sexy living room coffee table, which I'm pretty sure has never seen a coffee in its life.

The cam looks pretty slick and will blend into the decor in most houses. Its white casing is matt, its black lens is glossy and it's slim and attractive – what's not to love?

The cam was super-easy to set up - I just clipped it firmly into its stand, plugged it in, scanned the QR code on the back in the Ring app, and added it to my ever-swelling collection of Ring devices. It immediately connected to my Wi-Fi (without me putting in the password) and Alexa. It then took me through setting its default position, customising motion zones, and setting the mode (any of this can be changed at any point in Settings, of course).

At first, I thought the cam was haunted by the ghost of Patrick Swayze, because when I installed it, it danced and swivelled on its stand – and it repeated its little dance routine a while later. But it hasn't done so since, so I think Patrick's been exorcised. It was probably just stretching its legs after being in the box for so long (don't take this literally – it doesn't have legs, merely an axis). Because of this 'dance', watch that you don't put it very near the edge of a table, as it nearly fell off mine.

Ring Pan-Tilt Indoor Cam: Performance

The cam was reliable and did everything it claimed to. I had prematurely labelled it 'Upstairs' because my lodgers would eventually insist on it being confined to my bedroom, so it kept sending me notifications saying ungrammatically, 'There is a person at your Upstairs'. ('There is a person at your Downstairs' would perhaps be more exciting.) It promptly sent me the alerts I'd asked for.

The images are only 1080p but looked sharper and more accurately-toned than the images from the Blink Mini 2 I tested recently, so I was impressed by their quality. There was still a fish-eye lens effect going on, but it wasn't as pronounced as with the Blink.

The two-way audio function worked fine - when my adorable Korean lodger got home from work, I took the cam upstairs and asked her to speak into it while I spoke to her from downstairs. There was a tiny delay but the audio was incredibly crisp and clear. 'Wow, that's amazing!' she said as she heard my voice through the speaker.

Speaking of audio, the remotely-activated siren had a shrill tone but was hardly startling, let alone deafening. I would have liked it to be a lot louder.

Ring Pan-Tilt Indoor Cam: Samples

Ring Pan-Tilt Indoor Cam: Verdict

I really liked this cam. The two-way audio was great, the images and video were crisp for 1080p and it looked sexy. I could see pretty much every inch of my living room and the 'person detection' alerts were reliable and prompt. Yes, I would have preferred the cam to follow movement around the room, but that would have made it more costly. It was easy to set up and control from the app, and its siren was reasonably effective though it could have been a lot louder. Overall, it's a good addition to my collection of Ring devices, and I can't wait for them to bring out a cam which follows a potential intruder around the room.

Alternatives

The Eufy Indoor Cam 350 follows people and pets around the room and it also looks like a cute little robot.

The basic Ring Indoor Cam is a lot cheaper if you decide you can cope with only having a static view.