For a long time, I’ve been considering getting a security camera for the surroundings of my house for peace of mind.
But until recently, I didn’t know just how easy it was to get a weather-resistant security camera that was easy to install and without needing to mess around with installing it into my house’s electricity system.
Ring’s Stick Up Cam brings that versatility and its newest Stick Up Cam Pro – which launched in October 2023 – hopes to bring even more features so you can keep a close eye on what happens in or around your home.
But does it do a good job and does its new ‘radar-powered’ features help or is it just a gimmick?
Ring’s Stick Up Cam has always boasted versatility – allowing you to easily set up a camera anywhere you want without needing to worry about spending a long time installing the product.
And with the Stick Up Cam Pro, it certainly didn’t take me long to get it up and running. When taking it out the box, I was greeted with all the instructions I needed to follow along with screws and plastic wall plugs if I wanted to get down with DIY.
One of my biggest gripes was setting up the camera with my iPhone through the Ring app. For some reason, the app didn’t want to scan my camera’s barcode multiple times.
I feel that’s more of a problem with the Ring app rather than the camera, but the app just wouldn’t focus. Eventually, after 10 minutes of fiddling, it worked.
I opted for putting the camera up on the side of my house on top of the shed which gave me coverage of my garden gate in case anyone wanted to sneak through to the back of my house.
Stick Up Cam Pro boasts its Bird-Eye Zones which allows you to choose your home from a satellite view, choose the position where your camera is set up then choose the area that you want the camera to observe.
This allows the camera to track motion on a path so you can see where the person or object is going or has been.
It’s a neat feature and worked well during testing but every time I asked myself how much I actually need it. Spoiler: It isn’t very important – and if I never had it – I don’t think I would miss it.
Camera quality is great, and I never had a problem with the live-view picture or recordings. All recordings and snapshots come through very clear, and I never struggled with telling who or what was on my camera.
I also tested the speaker on the camera and was extremely impressed on just how loud and clear it was. The speaker sound stretches far and feels bassy and intimidating – perfect for any strangers which could be knocking around.
One of the best things about the camera was the lack of delay it had – despite it being quite far away from my router.
The Ring app lets you know the signal strength between the camera and the router, so you know whether your camera placement is good or poor. My signal strength was strong and there was virtually little to no delay when I tested out the live camera view.
Battery life on the Stick Up Cam Pro is also good with my battery only losing 10 per cent in a week with quite heavy usage and testing. Ring also allows you to buy a solar-powered version of the camera as well so you don’t have to worry about charging the battery every few weeks.
The camera’s weather resistance is also strong after the Stick Up Cam Pro weathered an amber weather warning without flinching or any problems whatsoever.
My biggest gripe with the Stick Up Cam Pro is the price.
At a staggering £159.99 for the battery-powered version, it’s an expensive investment. It will set you back even more for the solar-powered camera and when you can get a £89.99 version of the Stick Up Cam, it makes you wonder which camera is better value.
But if you really want better audio and noise cancellation as well as 3D motion technology built-into the device, the Stick Up Cam Pro might be one of the best security cameras on the market.
