Ring Spotlight Cam Plus review

Will this security camera with motion-activated lights ring your bell?

Ring Spotlight Cam Plus review
(Image: © Adam Juniper/Digital Camera World)

Digital Camera World Verdict

A good – but not perfect – camera which lets down top quality product design and brilliant software with a merely adequate 1080P camera, no local storage and slightly disappointing wi-fi. Great features like battery-backed continuous power, a cool timelapse-like playback option and tamper-proof setup still make this an appealing camera, but unless you’re a Ring user already there are better choices.

Pros

  • +

    Dual battery or wired continuous power

  • +

    Cunning vertical or horizontal mount design

  • +

    Alexa integrations

  • +

    Snapshot feature for timelapse-like event history

  • +

    Quick light sensors

  • +

    Option for Ring Chime integrations

Cons

  • -

    Mixture of USB sockets

  • -

    No HomeKit or Google Assistant support

  • -

    Ring Protect cloud service relatively expensive

  • -

    No on-board storage

  • -

    Only 2.4GHz wi-fi

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Motion-activated security cameras with and without lights are a growing trend, and they make a lot of sense when we have to content with porch pirates amongst other worries. Amazon are especially interested since the security of deliveries concerns them and the company also owns both Ring and Blink, smart security firms with ever-broadening product lines. Both firms work via iOS and Android phones, but neither offer extra features vie HomeKit or Google Assistant – oddly they both support Alexa though, and this camera is no exception.

The newest Ring Spotlight Cam Plus was announced in late September 2022 alongside the Spotlight Cam Pro, refreshes to a product line over 4 years old. The Pro includes tech Ring call ‘3D motion detection’ and ‘birds-eye view’, which (in some circumstances) help avoided false alarms triggered by people at some distance. The Plus leaves out this extra to shave a bit off the price, but retains two-way talk, color night vision, live view and a siren, putting it at the higher end of the category. Both new Spotlight Cams, however, have both battery compartments and sockets for USB-C.

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Adam Juniper
Managing Editor

With over 20 years of expertise as a tech journalist, Adam brings a wealth of knowledge across a vast number of product categories, including timelapse cameras, home security cameras, NVR cameras, photography books, webcams, 3D printers and 3D scanners, borescopes, radar detectors… and, above all, drones. 

Adam is our resident expert on all aspects of camera drones and drone photography, from buying guides on the best choices for aerial photographers of all ability levels to the latest rules and regulations on piloting drones. 

He is the author of a number of books including The Complete Guide to Drones, The Smart Smart Home Handbook, 101 Tips for DSLR Video and The Drone Pilot's Handbook