Ring has solutions for almost any home security concern; whether you need battery powered gadgets for hard to monitor areas, or you need the stability that a wired camera provides they’ve got options. Case in point? The new Ring Floodlight Cam Wired.
Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Pro Review
I guess you could say the name explains it all; is a hard wired security camera that also comes with a dual LED floodlight for adding light to your situation. Unlike some other camera options, this device has no battery, and it takes its power entirely from your home’s AC wiring. If you don’t have existing wiring, you can’t use this device and instead you should shop for one of those Ring battery powered options.
Installing Ring Floodlight Cam Wired
If you are intimidated by fooling with your home’s wiring, you don’t need to be. Ring makes installing this device as simple as could be. In short, cut the power to the light at the breaker, remove your old light, and then connect the wires; black to black, white to white and then attach the ground. If you have any concerns, or aren’t sure, consult a professional electrician. But I had the Ring Floodlight Cam Wired installed in about 10 minutes.
I will also note Ring includes all the tools you need, and even make it easy to hold the heavy light in place above your head, adding a small hook and strap that lets you keep the light in place while you connect the wires. So smart! Plus the included screw driver also doubles as a wrench for the screw caps that hold the light on. Double brilliant!
After it’s installed, you’ll connect it to your home’s Wi-Fi and finish set up in the Ring app. Worth noting, you do need Wi-Fi to reach wherever you’re installing this camera. If you’re not sure, take your phone out to the spot you want to install it and make sure your Wi-Fi is still getting to the phone. You can also add a Ring Chime or extender to boost the signal if you need that.
You do really want to also enable one of Ring’s cloud recording plans
Ring Protect plan
A camera may be only as good as the recordings you can—or can’t access. While you get limited access to snippets of videos with a free Ring cloud recording plan, if you want full access to full length recordings, going back more than a few days (I do recommend this), you need to subscribe to the monthly cloud recording plan. Ring Protect starts at $3USD month and go up to about about $10 per month.
What can Ring Floodlight Cam Wired do?
What can Ring Floodlight Cam Wired do?This device has two key components; it will light up the area when motion is detected, and using the built in camera it will record what’s going on. Most of the settings are customizable (we’ll get to that shortly).
Light up the area
Ring’s dual LED floodlights are bright at about 2000 lumens, and you can adjust and aim each one separately, so it will throw light where you want it. You can also dim the overall power of the light, so you don’t blind your neighbours.
The lights will come on automatically if triggered by motion, or you can turn them on yourself inside the Ring app.
Record and detect motion on camera
The Ring camera is a 1080p HD colour video camera with Night Vision and you can aim the camera where you want it to see, then lock into place for secure visibility over your space.
Adjustable motion areas
One of the great features about this camera is that you can adjust where it will detect motion. You can create quite wide areas or narrow it up. I installed my Floodlight Cam Wired in the alley behind out garage, and I didn’t want every single car to trip it, so I shortened up the motion distance so I only get notified if someone approaches the garage door.
You can also increase or decrease the sensitivity too.
I found the motion settings worked quite well and I was really only getting alerts when a person came to close; usually just the neighbor, or my husband taking out the garbage, but I was happy with the amount of alerts I was getting and their validity.
3D Motion Detection & People Only Mode
If you’ve ever had blowing leaves, squirrels, or a wayward branch trigger cameras around your house, you know that sometimes unimportant motion can just be plain annoying. Ring has been working to solve that problem with two smart motion features. 3-D motion detection will only notify you of motion that, as Ring says, matters.
3D Motion Detection uses radar technology to identify the distance of an object so that the camera only begins recording once someone is within the appropriate range. So 3D Motion Detection should only give you really important alerts, like when someone steps onto your property. The radar that powers 3D Motion Detection also has additional benefits such as better detection of objects approaching head on and it decreases unnecessary alerts while still providing timely notifications.
People only mode
People Only Mode is a special setting in your notifications that will set your Ring app to only alert you to motion caused by people. While all valid motion events will still be recorded by the Ring cloud, People Only Mode can reduce the number of notifications you receive to only those caused by human beings.
I turn the setting on and found that it worked really well, and reduced the total number of alerts the camera was sending me. I’m still learning about this feature and playing with it in practice, but so far it seems quite helpful.
Record what’s happening
Naturally with a camera as part of the package, you’ll get recordings of what’s going on and you can pop in to take a live view any time. As with all Ring security cameras and Doorbells, there’s two-way talk so you can interact with whoever you see, and there’s also a 105dB Siren in case you need to get aggressive.
Connected Devices
With Ring’s Connected Devices feature in the Ring app you can also set up other cameras to record when the floodlight device is triggered, or other lights to turn on too—great for potentially scaring off an intruder.
Scheduling for lights or motion
Using the Ring app, it’s also possible to adjust when the device will trigger, and when it won’t. For example, if you don’t want to be bothered with alerts during the day, you can set the camera not to ping you. You could also set the lights to stay on overnight at all times if you want.
Overall review: Floodlight Cam Wired Pro
Overall review: Floodlight Cam Wired ProOverall, this Floodlight Cam Wired is really great. It’s super versatile, it is a powerful lighting solution for dark areas, and it has the power of a built-in camera that will record what unfolds in front of it so you have video evidence in case it’s ever needed.
Pretty much every setting is customizable to adapt to your own use and space. It’s hard to find fault with this device… Even the set up was quick and easy. If I had one suggestion it might be to add a backup battery, just in case the power goes out.
The Ring app is super easy to navigate and control all your home security devices. In short, if you are looking for a hardwired solution that you don’t need to worry about changing the batteries for, light, security, and peace of mind, I think you will love this device.
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