Ring Stick Up Cam Battery Review

First Impressions

When the Stick Up Cam line first came out in 2016, it copied the design of Ring’s rectangular video doorbells. It was a bit weird to look at – like it was a video doorbell ripped from the front door and given a new mounting stand.

Fortunately, Ring made wise design changes to the Stick Up Cam to completely distinguish it from its video doorbells. The Stick Up Cam Battery now features a white cylindrical design with a noticeable black rectangle that houses the camera lens. Against our brick exterior walls, it now looks more like a security camera than a repurposed video doorbell.

Another notable thing about the Stick Up Cam Battery is that it’s battery-operated, hence the name. The good news is you won’t ever have to go to the store to buy new batteries, unlike the AA battery-powered Blink Outdoor that we tested. The Ring outdoor camera runs on rechargeable batteries that can last six to twelve months on a single charge.

By the way, it takes five to ten hours to recharge the battery, so you should have contingent security measures while the camera is out of operation. One option we found useful is to have a spare battery pack so you can just swap out your batteries.

Or, if you want to be as environmentally friendly as possible, you can use solar power with your Ring Stick Up Cam Battery. This is especially useful if you’re using the camera outside, as it is an indoor/ outdoor camera that works in temperatures from negative five to 122 degrees Fahrenheit. With an IP rating of X5, it can handle low power water jets, making the camera weather-resistant.

It’s worth noting, however, that the Ring Stickup Cam Battery (and all Stick Up Cam versions, for that matter) isn’t designed for complete exposure to the elements. While its IP X5-rated housing does provide protection against water splashes, it doesn’t make the camera completely waterproof.1 The electronics inside are also not protected at all against dust and other small particles.

That’s one of the downsides of the Stick Up Cam. It’s an indoor/outdoor camera, but it’s not as rugged as the ones we tested from Lorex. The Lorex cameras we reviewed had an IP rating of up to 67 (highest). So just because the wire-free nature of the Stick Up Cam Battery allows for free placement, it doesn’t mean it can truly go anywhere.

Necessary Features

Now that we’re done with the first impressions, let’s delve deeper into the Ring Stick Up Cam Battery’s features. Ring provides a bunch of technical specifications on its website, but those details don’t tell the whole story. We set up the camera ourselves and lived with it for almost two weeks to see how it performs in various scenarios. Let’s take a closer look.

Video

The Ring Stick Up Cam has the markings of a good security camera, video-wise. It has a promised 1080p HD resolution and a 130-degree diagonal viewing angle. It delivered for the most part, but we’d say that it’s better suited for outdoor use. Even when surroundings are well-lit and captured in detail, faces can show up shadowed in the frame.

Compared to the indoor image quality, things were much clearer when we took it outside. Small details like license plates became blurry from a distance (we’re on the third floor), but we could clearly see what was taking place even from the screens of our iPhones.

Overall, we’re quite happy with the video quality. It wasn’t as impressive as the Nest Cam (battery), another battery-powered outdoor camera we reviewed. That one had HDR, which helped balance the lighting and keep everything discernible, but Ring’s outdoor camera performed decently. Full marks!

Night Vision

The camera also has infrared night vision to give you a beautiful image even in the middle of the night. That’s obviously key for a security camera, as many robberies happen at night. And unlike color night vision from a spotlight, like with the Ring Spotlight Cam Battery, the Ring Stick Up Cam Battery’s LED sensors are very subtle, so only you will know about the camera’s presence. Full marks for night vision!

Audio Quality

Not only does the Ring Stick Up Cam Battery have two-way audio, allowing you to speak to people through your camera from anywhere in the world, but it also has noise cancellation to cut out extraneous background noises. This creates a beautiful sound so you can clearly talk through the security camera.

One minor gripe that we have, however, was the slight delay compared to the live video feed. We’d say that there’s about a two-second delay. We noticed the same problem with some of the Ring video doorbells we tested, and since two-way communication is one of the main functions of Ring doorbells and cameras, we hope Ring fixes the issue soon. Still, full marks for audio.

Storage

When it comes to cloud storage, Ring has pros and cons. The downside is that it doesn’t include free cloud storage in any of its cameras. That means you’ll have to invest in a Ring Protect (cloud storage) plan, which requires a monthly fee.

On the bright side, Ring offers some of the most affordable cloud storage plans. For as low as $3 per month (or $30 if you pay yearly), you can give your Ring Stick Up Cam Battery 60 days of cloud storage. You’ll be able to download and share clips and even access your video history on demand.

If you have multiple cameras, there’s also the Ring Protect Plus plan that costs $10 per month or $100 per year. This plan offers the same features as the previous subscription, but it covers any and all Ring cameras installed in the same address.

Smart Platform Integration

If we haven’t mentioned it enough already, Amazon owns Ring, so it comes as no huge shock that the Ring Stick Up Cam Battery works with Amazon Alexa, allowing for voice commands. Completely hands-free, you’ll be able to tell Alexa to play the camera’s footage on your Echo Show or Echo Dot, or view previous footage. The same goes for Google Assistant, making the Ring Stick Up Cam Battery a great choice whether you’re in the Amazon or Google ecosystems. Full marks for smart platform integrations!

Artificial Intelligence

Gone are the days when motion detection was a novel feature in a security camera. Now, it’s all about AI – more specifically, a camera’s ability to use artificial intelligence to discern between important movement and a branch blowing in the breeze. Some high-end cameras can even tell the difference between people, vehicles, and animals, and some can even learn the faces of your friends and family. For more on that, read our review of the Google Nest Cam.

Unfortunately, the Ring Stick Up Cam lacks any of those smart features out of the box. The only way to smarten up motion alerts is to set up motion zones, which limit the detection range of the camera to certain defined areas. That should be enough for some users, but you’ll still receive false alarms from branches moving or squirrels scurrying across your lawn.

Convenience

The Ring Stick Up Cam earned several convenience points from us due to different reasons. One was the app, which holds a 4+ star rating from both Android and iOS users.

Another reason is of course the battery. Since it’s fully wireless, it can go in areas where it could be difficult to set up a camera. At one time, we had it installed outside a bedroom window on the third floor of our apartment by simply screwing the mount into the wall. With a plugged-in camera, we’d have needed to drill through the wall or snake the power cable through the window (not good for Brooklyn’s unpredictable winters).

Value

At under $100 for an outdoor camera with great video and a rechargeable battery, we think this is a good deal, even without the AI features we’re looking for. Full marks!

Extras

Since Amazon has had its fair share of privacy issues, the Ring Stick Up Cam Battery comes with some additional privacy features. Privacy zones, for example, are basically activity zones that tells the camera to ignore some areas and focus on others.

You can also disable motion recording, alerts and audio with the Ring Stick Up Cam Battery. So if you’re paranoid about Big Brother always watching you, you don’t have to be with Ring’s latest updates.

The Ring— Always Home App

The Ring app is where you’ll livestream footage, view cloud storage, receive notifications, speak through two-way audio, change camera settings, and even get crime and safety alerts from your neighborhood.

The app has had its up and downs, but after several improvements, its ratings went up to over four stars on both the Google Play store and Apple App store.

We had no issues using the apps either, although it’s not completely perfect. There were instances, for example, when the app just disconnected out of nowhere, leaving us with no access to our cameras. And this issue didn’t seem like an isolated case. One user wrote, “When it connects [it] works good. That’s the problem, you never know when it’s going to connect. Open app, refresh, close app [and] do it over again until it finally connects. Sometimes it takes 10 minutes to connect and by then you don’t need it.”

Hopefully, Ring will fix this bug soon so that Android users can more easily control their Ring Stick Up Cam Battery. Be sure to check the app ratings before you buy, as these tend to change over time.

Comparisons

A camera is only good if it can compare to the toughest competition, so I’m comparing Ring’s latest outdoor camera to its predecessors, namely the Ring Stick Up Cam Wired and the Ring Spotlight Cam Battery. Believe it or not, there are some major distinctions between the three cameras that could greatly influence your buying decision. Let’s take a closer look.

Ring Stick Up Cam Battery vs. Ring Stick Up Cam Wired

The biggest difference between the Ring Stick Up Cam Battery and the Ring Stick Up Cam Wired is pretty obvious: the former is battery-operated while the later is wired. Plus, the Ring Stick Up Cam Wired includes a siren, which the battery version lacks. But as far as commonalities go, both are indoor/ outdoor cameras with 1080p HD video, infrared night vision, two-way audio, integrations with Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa, and the same storage options, with no person detection among them.

In terms of durability, the new battery cam has a temperature range two degrees hotter than the wired camera. However, it’s field of view is much more narrow by 40 degrees. Of course, you’ll control both cameras using the Ring— Always Home app. Overall, I’d go with the Ring Stick Up Cam Wired if you want a wireless camera and the Ring Stick Up Cam Battery if you want a battery-operated one. If power source isn’t important to you, then definitely go with the battery camera, as it’s cheaper and only slightly lower quality in terms of video.

For more information, read my full review of the Ring Stick Up Cam Wired.

Ring Stick Up Cam Battery vs. Ring Spotlight Cam Battery

The Ring Spotlight Cam Battery has a ton of cool features that the Stick Up Cam Battery lacks, which might explain why it costs twice as much. First of all, it has a motion-activated spotlight as well as an 110-decibel siren built in. That means that night vision can be color or infrared, as opposed to just infrared with the Stick Up Cam. The Spotlight Cam also has a larger field of view by 30 degrees.

But aside from that, the cameras are similar in terms of their rechargeable batteries, 1080p HD video, two-way audio, storage options, smart platform integrations, lack of person detection, and of course, the Ring app. Now personally, we’re not a fan of color night vision stemming from a bright white light, as we think it makes the security camera incredibly conspicuous. Therefore, we don’t think the extra $99 is worth it for the Spotlight Cam Battery, unless you’re really gunning for a camera with a built-in security light.

To learn more, read our full review of the original Ring Spotlight Cam Battery.

Recap

Overall, the Ring Stick Up Cam Battery is a fantastic choice of outdoor security camera, for only $100! We love that it works with Alexa and Google Assistant, that it has infrared night vision and two-way audio, and that it has cloud and local storage, despite the paywall. But like anything, the Ring Stick Up Cam Battery isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution for your home’s security, so let us tell you who we think it would be best for (and vice versa).

That’s all we have! For more options, check out my review of the best outdoor cameras of 2024.