Today we will compare the 2 Ring spotlight cameras that I have. The wired version and the battery version that you can also add the optional solar power kit.
I’m installing them side by side so that we can do a size comparison which I thought at first that they should be the same in size which would make sense if Ring wants to be cost effective in producing them then I realize that they are different on all angles. The battery powered spotlight camera is a bit wider but shorter and is longer front to back as compared to the plugged in version. I’m pretty sure there are no interchangeable parts on both units. Just imagine how Ring is able to separate the manufacturing and assembly of these 2 products because they look the same at a distance and when you compare them side by side that is the only time you will then notice the difference.
As, I mentioned in my first video, I decided to not install the Solar power kit mostly because I really don’t have a place to install it without the wires dangling around. I did purchase another battery pack as a backup as you can see here. You will also notice 2 little red LED lights that are on. I don’t know what’s that for, I guess to know that both batteries are working…with 2 batteries, then you will notice that the camera has some weight to it now.
And you will see in the app the charge level of both batteries. So, the camera will use up one battery first then will switch to the backup. When it switches, I can remove the depleted battery to be charged and put it back in where it will then be the backup. Ring stated that a battery can last 6-12 months so I should be good for a year or 2 but we will see in the long term video eventually.
To get a good comparison video and also on to demo their motion detection effectiveness, we need to compare the 2 cameras side by side. So, I have to install the battery version near the wired one which makes sense because it is easier to move the battery version from 1 position to another and one benefit of having a true wireless outdoor WiFi camera.
But before we go to the comparison video, I’m going to install the solar power kit just for this video. I’ll install it in my fence where it will get at least 2-3 hours of direct sunlight a day which is what Ring is recommending.
You will be able to tilt the solar panel up or down to get the full sunshine. I also needed to roll up some of this wire so that it will not be in the way.
We just need to plug the other end of the cable to the camera and to make it weatherproof and secure, it needs to be screwed in with 2 small screws that are included in the solar panel kit.
When everything is secure then we will reinstall the spotlight camera to it’s mounting base and lock it in.
This is how it looks like. The battery powered spotlight cam is hooked up on the solar panel. Now, it is not powered by it. It only charges the battery and keeps it charged. The battery is still needed to power the camera and as you can see here, the sun is directly shining on the panel so it will keep the battery topped off.
Going to the app, you will see that the new battery that I put in is 100% charged and the one that I’ve been using with all the testing for 2 weeks is now 81%. We will see how soon the battery will be charged by the solar panel. There is nothing here in the app that states that the solar panel is hooked up and is charging the batteries but I’ll give it a few days and see.
You can only access the light and the siren for the battery version when you are in Live View. You click the plus button on the right and turn the light on. Now, it works. The malfunctioning light on my original video only happened that day of the install and the next day it was working fine.
Let’s check out the motion detection and see how soon we get an alert. Both of the cameras alerted me.
Let’s checkout going left to right and see how soon the battery version starts recording.
And the Wired version. You will see that there is a difference and the spotlight cam wired version records earlier than the battery one.
You will see the biggest difference if a subject is going straight to the camera.
The wired spotlight already started recording and the battery version way later.
This is a weakness of the PIR sensors which most outdoor cameras have and including these 2 spotlight cams but because the wired version records 2-3 seconds before the motion detection is triggered, then it will show the video of me walking and you will only hear the notification when I am already 10 feet from the cameras and this is when the spotlight cam battery started recording.
The battery version records video for around 30 seconds and the wired one for 1 minute. During continuous motion, the wired spotlight continues to record while the battery version will record for 30 second increments then will have a cool down period depending on how you set up the smart alerts. I’m assuming this is how it is setup so that it will save battery.
During testing at night, I wasn’t succesful in triggering both cameras to turn on their lights at the same time. I guess when one camera’s lights are on then the other one’s sensor thinks it is daytime and it will record but not turn on their lights. I tried this multiple times and both cameras just alternate in turning on their spotlights.
This is night vision with the spotlights on. The wired spotlight triggered first and turned on the lights. The battery version didn’t get triggered and started recording until I went around the table. The night vision of the spotlight cam battery though is way better than the wired one…Actually both cameras on night vision with infrared on and lights off is way too blurry but when the lights are on and the camera is still in night mode then the battery powered spotlight cam is clearer than the wired one. Ring, you need to work on the night vision on these cameras.
The opposite is true in daytime. The wired spotlight camera is a little bit clearer and sharper than the battery version.
Here is what the LED lights look like at night on both of these cameras. The battery version has the infrared LEDs inside the white diffuser cover for the lights or it might be using the spotlight LEDs as infrareds but I’m not sure unless I open it up. You can see 6 LEDs for the wired version and 4 for the battery version.
Now, let’s take a look at the app itself and see what are the differences between their user interface. You will see that the battery version has the batteries status on the upper right where the wired one has the lights on and off toggle switch. The battery doesn’t have a manual siren switch or the light settings option. On device health you will see the subtle differences like the battery levels in which on mine are both 100% due to the solar panel charging. All other information are the same on both cameras.
On the motion settings you will see the bigger difference especially on the motion zones. The battery powered one only shows a slider with a drawing of the zone divided into 3 then you can adjust the slider on to which zone and up to how far you want the motion to be detected.
On the wired one, it is more flexible and it uses the snapshot of the camera’s view and you can customize your zones using the blue dots. So, it is more customizable.
Their motion scheduling are the same.
The battery version has the smart alerts in which you can choose the cooling off period of the camera.3 choices light standard and frequent. The wired version has the motion sensitivity option so that you can tweak the settings to minimize false alarms.
As you can see here at the bottom on the wired version, there is the light settings option in which you can choose the motion zones for the spotlights and then you can also set on how long the lights will be on when triggered. Then, you can also set the brightness of the LEDs…which I don’t know why it is an option because the lights are not that bright anyways so it will be at a max setting on mine.
On the battery version, instead of the light settings, we have the live view settings.
So, when we push live view, let’s see which one comes up first…on Live view , both cameras have the same interface like their 2 way communication and also when you click the plus button you will be able to access and turn on the siren and the lights…
One thing I notice and it might not show when I upload to Youtube is that daytime footage on the wired spotlight cam is clearer and sharper as compared to the spotlight cam battery footage.
Overall, both cameras have their own pros and cons and both of them can definitely be made better. The app and firmware can be and will be updated by Ring so I’m hoping that they will add the light settings on their battery spotlight cams pretty soon.