In the past few years, security cameras have grown immensely in popularity. There's a ton of options to decide between, and so many of them can be installed with little to no experience required, but some are held back by their powering options.

Ring has made quite a name for itself, and the company that was once known for just its video doorbells now has branched out into floodlight cameras (opens in new tab), spotlight cameras (opens in new tab), alarm systems (opens in new tab), and most recently smart lighting (opens in new tab). The original Stick Up Cam didn't do so well for the company, and Ring recently revamped it. We took a look at the wired version, and while it was a great camera for those who are in the Ring ecosystem, it was hard to justify buying as a standalone option.

After playing around with the battery version of the camera attached to Ring's solar panel, we've come to a different conclusion. The company has made some minor improvements to areas that are meaningful, and it makes the experience of the Ring Stick Up Camera battery a better one than that of its wired counterpart.

Pros

• Easy to set up
• Can be installed nearly anywhere
• Box includes almost all tools needed to install it

Cons

• Need to be able to access battery to recharge it
• Annual fee in order to see previous video clips

Ring Stick Up Cam Battery What I love

I've used just about every product Ring has released and loved each one for a different reason. The Stick Up Cam Battery is a great camera that can be installed just about anywhere since you don't need to have power to get it going. The rechargeable battery inside allows you to get creative with the install location, which was what made it the perfect camera for my patio. The included base can mount the camera from a ceiling to a wall, or allow you to set it on a shelf, depending on your preference. Ring includes everything you need to install the camera (except a drill), which makes the process that much easier.

When I mounted my Stick Up Cam Wired, I noted that the camera got in the way during the mounting process, and when installing the battery version it became clear that it was actually user error, and that I just didn't follow the instructions. Within just a few minutes, I had the camera mounted where I wanted, and I ended up connecting it to the Ring Solar Panel so I didn't have to worry about recharging the battery.

You can install the camera inside or outside, depending on your needs. It works great in both locations, though you'll want to indicate where it's installed during the setup process within the app. After it's all set, you can customize your notification preferences, motion zones, and more. One of the biggest perks here is video quality. Ring has made vast improvements over the past year to both daytime and nighttime video quality. Even in the darkest times of the night, you can still see things pretty clearly, and if you want you can enable a color night mode, which could be potentially helpful for identifying random characteristics of cars, people, and more that are up to no good. I noticed no decrease in quality in this battery-powered camera versus my other hardwired options from Ring.

Ring Stick Up Cam Battery What I didn't care for

Before adding the solar panel (opens in new tab) into the mix, I wasn't overly thrilled by the battery life. With several options on the market that boast one to two years of performance per charge, I was not happy with having to recharge it after less than two full weeks of use. After digging around online, I noticed maybe it was due to the number of notifications, but I didn't want to receive fewer notifications for more battery, so I just added the panel. It was an added expense, but now I just don't have to think about it anymore.

Ring says that the battery is designed to last for three to six months depending on your usage, but these were not the results that I experienced. It takes five to 10 hours for the battery to fully charge as well, so that's quite a bit of downtime unless you buy an extra battery (opens in new tab) for it. The battery life is dependent on the number of notifications you set to be alerted for, and the number of times you enable the live view. I prefer to be alerted for every motion where I have this camera installed, and at least once per day, I tend to check the live view just to make sure everything is OK. With this setup, I was only able to squeeze two, maybe three, weeks out of the battery on each charge.

Unfortunately, Ring doesn't offer the same features on both its battery and hardwired equipment, and after having a taste of it on my Ring Video Doorbell Pro, I miss it every time I use a battery powered camera. Stuff like the pre-roll feature, which shows you a few seconds of recording from before the motion event, which is great because you can see where someone walked from, or which was a vehicle was headed. It's a small thing, but a nice feature to have and something that I wish Ring could add to all of its devices.

Loading motions from notifications can be a bit slow, and at times connecting to Live View would not connect. These issues are more prevalent on the battery-powered devices, but if you don't have a wired one to compare to you probably won't notice.

Ring Stick Up Cam Battery Should you buy it?

With the Ring Stick Up Cam Battery, I don't think you need to be invested into the Ring ecosystem to purchase it. The camera offers a ton of features, customizable motion zones, notifications, and more, and can be used inside or out. It's priced a little higher than some of the competition, but you are also purchasing something that's well-made, and designed to last. Ring has continued to push new features and make software improvements for its entire lineup, so this is a great addition to any system or a perfect place to start.

4 out of 5

Overall, the Stick Up Cam Battery is a great device that brings a lot of features along with it. The lack of power cord makes it easy to install it virtually anywhere that you want, from above your front door to your hallway, foyer, and more.

Ring Stick Up Camera Battery

Set it up anywhere in just minutes.
Ring's new Stick Up Camera is a huge improvement over the previous version in so many ways. It's a small camera that mounts easily, comes in both a battery-powered and wired version for maximum freedom of where to install it, and the video quality actually allows you to see what's happening in great detail.