SECURITYCAMERAS
106 AUGUST 2019AUGUST |COMPUTER SHOPPER|ISSUE 378
RINGISPROBABLYbest known forits
video doorbells, which can themselves act
as smart security cameras –albeit small,
static ones with alimited view.
Expanding intodedicated security
cameras therefore makes alot of sense for
Ring. However,while the Stick Up Cam is
generally afine effort, it falls down on its
subscription prices.
That’s apity,because there’s ahuge
amount to be positive about with the Ring
Stick Up Cam, from the brilliant design to the
quality of the footage it can capture.
First, the design: the camera itself is a
small, cute-looking cylinder with astand that,
out of the box, sits below it. Popitonashelf
and it’s ready to go,and you can adjust the
angle to your liking.
The clever bit is that the stand can be
adjusted with the bundled screwdriver to
stick out of the back forwall mounting, or
rotated afull 180° formounting to the ceiling.
The base even has abuilt-in spirit level to
make sure you’re attaching it on the level.
It’s extremely versatile and can be set to point
wherever you want it.
The fact that this version is wired may
impose some limitations, depending on how
busy you want to get with adrill. There is a
battery-operated version available forthe
same price but, forsome reason, it has a
slightly narrower field of view: 115° compared
with the wired version’s 150°. It also lacks the
ability to set custom motion-detection zones,
which the wired model can.
FUEL LINE
Being IPX5 rated, the Stick Up Cam can be
installed indoors or outdoors, and you don’t
need to worry about good lighting as it
switches to night vision when in the dark.
Setup is acinch: you can either power it via
Micro USB or,ifyou need abit more range,
Power over Ethernet (PoE). The latter is a
great little bonus feature: not only does it
mean you can power the camera from an
improbably long distance (PoE works over
distances up to 100 metres, so practically
speaking the only limit is the length of lead
you’re willing to buy), but you only need one
cable,and you don’t need to worry about
Wi-Fi signal strength, either.
Once set up,the Stick Up Cam will detect
motion and alert you via the app.You can
adjust these alerts to your own schedule,so
you only get aprod at night or when you’re at
work, and motion sensitivity can be adjusted
RING
StickUpCam
★★★★★
£179•From http://www.amazon.co.uk
VERDICT
TheStickUpCamisaversatileandhigh-qualitysecurity
camera,butthelackoffreevideostoragedisappoints
to the point where it
reacts only to human
movement and not
small pets.
The 1080p footage
quality is very good, and
as with Ring’s doorbells
you can use two-way
communication with a
tap of the app,allowing
you to warn intruders
they’re on camera.
Youcan also trigger
asiren, although since
there’s no base station
the sound comes
straight from atiny
speaker in the camera, and as such
sounds atouch reedy.The app warns you
when you trigger it that it’s loud enough to
alert neighbours, so it was something of a
let-down to find that it’s barely loud enough
to be heard in the next room.
SQUEEZED OUT
Mostly,however,the Stick Up Cam is an
admirable attempt on the hardware and
software sides. Where things start to get
offputting is the Ring Protection Plan
subscriptions or,tobemore specific, the
value theyrepresent.
There are three tiers: free,£25 per year
and £80 per year.The most expensive option
supports an unlimited number of Ring
products and automatically stores motion-
triggered video recordings for30days, which
is fine,but not terribly
tempting when D-Link
and Neos give you
two weeks forfree.
The £25 option is
cheaper,and still
provides 30 days of
storage,but only fora
single camera –
potentially aserious
limitation if you want
to watch more than one
room. The free
model sends you
motion alerts, lets
you watch a
livestream of the
camera and use the two-waymicrophone,but
it doesn’t record or store footage,orlet you
do anything with that footage.
The free version is probably fine fora
doorbell, as the two-waycommunication and
live alerts are all you need, but asecurity
camera is pointless if you can’t save
recordings. If you were at work and got a
motion alert showing aburglar wandering
around your living room, you can call the
police or remotely set off the alarm but if they
run awaybefore the police arrive,you’ll have
no footage to help them apprehend the
perpetrator.Even the Nest Cam IQ Outdoor
offers afew hours of after-the-fact playback.
Second, you need at least three Ring
devices to make the £80 per year plan worth
buying; otherwise,it’s cheaper to buy three
individual plans at £25 each. That’s bizarre,
and even though the Arlo Pro 2and D-Link
DCS-2802KTare both more expensive
systems to buy outright, their free cloud
storage allowances are farmore generous.
UP IS DOWN
The Ring Doorbell range is excellent and
very easy to recommend, because you don’t
really need the subscription service to get
the most out of it. Forthe Stick Up Cam,
the oppositeistrue: compared to the
competition, Ring subscriptions start to
add up very quickly indeed.
That’s areal shame,because there’s really
nothing toonegative to sayother than that.
The Ring Stick Up Cam is aneatly designed,
versatile product with agood app and
high-quality footage.Just be aware that to
get the most out of it, you’ll need to paya
lot more than the £179 asking price over
the lifetime of the product.
