Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsAll Round Excellent Solution
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 24 December 2023
I started with a Ring doorbell in late 2022 and in the subsequent 12 months I have built up an array of 6 ring devices connected to perform various camera/doorbell variations. In 2017 I started out with two cameras from a rival firm which served me well for 8 years.
For this review I will focus on just the power cabled indoor camera.
I bought this model on one of Amazon’s discounted cycles for £30.
Unless your needs are urgent, wait for the inevitable sale in January, Black Friday, Amazon Prime Day, Full Moon Day, Rainbow in the Sky Day or whatever the marketing types have cooked up.
The indoor wired camera is easy to set up. It follows the same standard steps as all the other ring cameras.
Scan the code on the back of the camera with your phone, join your local wi-fi and sign in or create your ring account on the website. This is much easier than the rival cameras I setup in 2017.
You can then fine tune configure it.
Multiple motion detection zones, audio recording on/off, infrared on/off, night vision colour option on/off, smart motion detection for motion detecting just people and motion detection sensitivity are all standard.
There are subscription fees to view your recordings.
Without the subscription fee you can just view live/current events through the camera.
Subscription charges are per unit for the first two cameras at £3.49 each. After that you will pay no more than £8 in total a month for any number of cameras at the same location. So for my 6 it costs me £8 a month but if you pay a year in advance you can reduce that cost further. All Ring pricing options are cheaper than the rival cameras I used to have.
When choosing a ring camera make sure you select the right model.
They all do slightly different things in practice.
The indoor camera is powered only by a wall socket.
It is the only model I have encountered that you can place indoors looking outside through a window to detect motion outside through the window. The outdoor cameras on the other hand are battery or solar powered and are weather resistant but cannot be used indoors to look outside through a window to detect motion.
I use my indoor cameras to look out the window and detect motion. They work well but of course if you get heavy rain or condensation on the window this will reduce what the camera can see.
The camera can have infrared switched off – pretty much essential when using it through a window.
The camera also shows a blue light when recording activity. The only way to hide this is to put a black sticker or bit of tape over it. It does not effect the camera performance. The angle visible is very large. The picture is clear. The motion detection is good with zones that can be selected for movement although there is no independent motion sensitivity for each zone. It’s one level for all. The indoor camera is fixed position so there is no pan and tilt but with the wide angle of visibility there is no need for it indoors and even looking out from a window it covers a large area. They can also be configured to work with Amazon Echo Alexa but I have not gone for that option with the indoor cameras.
I am very happy with my Ring Indoor cameras.
They are well priced.
They are easy to setup.
They have a wide viewing angle.
The application to view recordings works pretty well but could do with a little activity graph per camera instead of a list of motion recordings.
The picture quality is good.
They are reliable.
Subscription charges are reasonable and certainly cheaper than my previous make.