Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Pro review: Going for pro as a team player

If you're looking for a spotlight that can do quite a bit more than just light up, Ring has long made one of the best outdoor security cameras. However, the original Ring Floodlight Cam launched well over 3 years ago and has been due for an upgrade. That upgrade now comes in the form of the Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Pro, a product name with a convoluted name but, as our Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Pro review shows, is simple to use.

The Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Pro packs in the same 3D motion features as the Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2, but with the added bonus of having two giant LED spotlights built into its frame. These lights are bright, and the camera packs in an unbelievably loud 110dB siren that can be sounded automatically when motion is detected or manually through the Ring app whenever you'd like.

The new 3D motion detection is even more useful in this form factor when compared to the Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2, as it has a wider view of your yard and can be placed in more versatile spaces — so long as there's a wire there to power it, of course. The problem is that the camera itself is seemingly identical to the Ring Floodlight Cam, a product that we reviewed at the beginning of 2018 and, even then, remarked about its lackluster video quality. While Ring has made a superb product in the Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Pro, there's no doubt they could have gone further, especially for the price.

Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Pro: Price and availability

Ring released the Floodlight Cam Wired Pro in two colorways: black and white. Our review unit is the black model, but white might fit your home's style a little better. The floodlight camera retails for $250 and requires hardwired power to run it. Most likely, you'll be replacing an existing outdoor light with this one.

You can find the Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Pro anywhere Ring products are sold, including Ring's own website, Amazon.com, and major retailers. Many features require a Ring subscription plan in order to use, including recorded footage and advanced people detection.

Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Pro: Bright design

Like most Ring products, the Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Pro is impeccably packed and presented from the moment you open the box. I replaced my existing outdoor light with this floodlight without making any changes at all, which will be a huge relief for folks who might be nervous about electrical work.

Ring seems to have anticipated everything you'd need along the way. From the wiring and electrical nuts to the Philips' head screwdriver needed to install the mount — even including a handy hook on the back of the floodlight that holds it in place during installation (see image above) — installation simply couldn't be any easier unless it was battery-powered. I wish all fixtures that required wiring included something like this. Here's looking at you, ceiling fans!

Once I booted up the camera and connected it to the Ring app, everything worked as I expected. If you've already got Ring cameras, whether it's an indoor cam or a video doorbell, you'll be familiar with the Ring app and how it works. The new 3D Motion feature is the same as what I had already configured during the Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2 review.

If you're not familiar with that feature, the setup is a little more involved than you might be used to on a Ring camera, but it's not overly complicated. First, you'll enter your address, and the Ring app will bing up an overhead satellite view of your home, taken from the usual sources that modern mapping software uses. You'll then drag the camera icon to the exact location — or thereabouts, of course — where your camera is installed, complete with the cone of vision for the camera.

This map is used to approximate the location of any movement spotted by the camera while in use. That's the radar-powered 3D motion feature, and it works extremely well. Of course, this won't be the most useful feature for everyone since it can only "see" 30ft out from the camera. But, if nothing else, it helps to significantly cut down on notifications from road traffic or other similar sources. 3D motion is also significantly more sensitive than previous methods, and I found that even poking my fingers out from the side of my house resulted in the lights turning on. It was incredibly impressive!

If you're a Ring Protect subscriber, you'll receive rich notifications that include a thumbnail helping you to identify motion sources without having to click into the app. Likewise, if your kids are playing in the yard, or if your pets are running around setting off alerts left and right, it's easy to snooze notifications right from your notification shade for preset periods of time. This is something I wish every smart home device had.

As this is a floodlight camera and not just a regular home security camera, it's great that these lights can be physically rotated from several axes to get the best coverage. In addition, the diffused LED lighting is incredibly bright and will illuminate even the darkest locations with beautiful, full light, enabling proper color night vision footage from the onboard camera. That camera, too, can be rotated, but its movement range is much more limited than the lights themselves.

The lights themselves can be customized from within the Ring app. Brightness and light schedules are easy to adjust in the app, and you can even adjust light activation based on how far away motion is detected, up to 30ft. Like other Ring products, Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Pro can be linked to other Ring devices on your account, activating the light, starting a video recording, or even sounding the siren when other devices are triggered.

For instance, if you've got a Ring Security System and your alarm goes off, you can simply link the Floodlight Cam to these products within the app, which will cause the Floodlight Cam's siren to sound when the indoor alarm sounds. That's some brilliant product design that makes these smart home products feel like an actual "smart" product.

And let me tell you, that alarm is loud. At 110dB, it's roughly the sound level of a concert and ensures that all of your neighbors will hear it. If the alarm is a bit too much and you'd rather just yell at someone, you can easily do that — and toggle the floodlights on — right from the camera live view in the app.

Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Pro: Ring forgot a few things

While Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Pro is mostly a "pro" upgrade, two things stick out to me as oddly limiting. First, despite the relatively high price and the "pro" moniker, Ring didn't update the resolution of the camera or include more advanced object identification features. Second, back in our original Ring Floodlight Cam well over 3 years ago, we commented that the general quality of the camera could be improved. That holds even more true today, and the overall quality of the camera could really use a big upgrade.

Don't get me wrong, night vision looks good enough in both color and black & white modes, but the quality is obviously compressed and not great. That's even accounting for relatively low expectations from a 1080p camera. Given that this is a wired camera, I expect it to present me with much higher bitrate footage that doesn't look like a YouTube video and wake up more quickly.

On average, this camera takes 4+ seconds to initialize from the time I click the thumbnail in the Ring app to the time the live feed starts. If you're not a Ring Protect subscriber, this means you'll likely miss at least 5-10 seconds of important footage before being able to view the live video since you'd need to see the notification, click it, then wait for the video to initialize. Of course, initialization isn't any faster with a Ring plan, but that pre-roll footage comes in handy to help fill the gap.

On top of the low video quality and slow initialization speed, Ring doesn't offer much in the way of advanced object identification features. Sure 3D Motion offers much more sensitive detection when compared with what Ring used in the past, but I wish I could tell it to stop notifying me every time a rabbit crosses my lawn or a bird pecks through the leaves. Arlo lets me do that, and it would make the subscription feel so much more valuable.

You'll also find no battery backup or local storage of any kind with this camera — or any other Ring camera, for that matter. Of course, both of these features need to be present to deliver true value, but having even one would make the $250 investment feel more worthwhile.

Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Pro: Competition

Arlo Pro 3 Floodlight Camera is the most direct competitor to Ring's latest and offers better 2K HDR video at $230 ($20 less than Ring). That gives better zoom detail than Ring, and the whole thing can be 100% wireless, too, thanks to the built-in rechargeable battery. You can, alternatively, wire it up or get a solar panel to keep it forever changed, too. Additionally, Arlo Smart Plans deliver advanced object detection that's way better than what Ring offers, as the camera can identify people, animals, vehicles, and even packages.

The Eufy Floodlight Cam 2 Pro is pictured above and, at least for me, fits the bill for what I would expect a "pro" camera to look like. Three massive LED lights and a camera that can rotate 360-degrees right from the Eufy app make this one feel like an actual professional-grade camera rather than just a slight upgrade to a consumer-level product. Eufy also offers local storage and onboard people detection without needing a subscription, which helps offset the extra $50 you'll need to spend to get one.

The original Eufy Floodlight Cam was a great alternative to the original Ring Floodlight Cam and continues to be a great alternative to the new Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Pro at $100 less. You'll get a nearly identical experience as far as lights and camera quality are concerned, although it's missing HDR video (which Ring has). You'll never need to subscribe to a monthly plan thanks to local storage support, and that 100dB siren is plenty loud to scare off intruders. Just don't expect people detection or the level of polish that Ring has from this product.

Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Pro: Should you buy it?

If you're already invested in the Ring ecosystem, Ring's latest floodlight camera is a great buy. It's a bit on the expensive side, but that's nothing new for Ring's best products. The new 3D Motion feature is more accurate and sensitive, even if its notifications can get annoying if you regularly have animal or vehicle traffic in the viewing area. Ring's polished presentation means you'll have an easy time getting this camera installed and set up, and configuring Ring products to work together is a breeze.

You should buy this if ...

• You have other Ring products.
• You want a floodlight that can also record video.
• You need a camera with the most accurate and sensitive motion detection.

You shouldn't buy this if...

• You want the best camera quality there is.
• You need a camera that can digitally tilt and pan.
• You don't want to pay for another monthly subscription.

Oftentimes, Ring's products are best when considered as part of a broader ecosystem. While the Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Pro doesn't check all the boxes that I expected it to, it's a notable upgrade that delivers a better experience than its predecessor. When combined with other Ring products, the Floodlight Cam Wired Pro is even better because of how easy Ring makes it to link to its ecosystem.

4 out of 5

There's no doubt that Ring could improve its object detection to better match what competitors like Arlo bring. For example, Eufy offers near-identical object recognition (people only) without the cost of a subscription, and Arlo offers better detection and better video quality with the ability to go fully wireless. Still, Ring's excellent presentation and better-than-average app make this an easy recommendation, so long as you don't mind adding on a monthly subscription.

Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Pro

Bottom line: Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Pro offers the same 3D Motion upgrade that Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2 added this year, delivering incredibly accurate and sensitive motion detection. It won't miss a beat, even if it's just the beat of a bird's wings. It's a good upgrade over the original, even if it doesn't improve camera quality.

• $250 at Amazon
• $250 at Best Buy
• $230 at Dell