Ring Indoor Cam Review

Pros and Cons

You know I tend to get rather verbose in my camera reviews, so let me lay down some basic pros and cons of the Ring Indoor Cam. Let’s start positive:

Necessary Features

Of course, the most important thing about a camera review is from our Necessary Features Test, where we see how the company’s specifications match up to my experience using the product. After personally testing out dozens of home security cameras, I have pretty high standards, and my expectations are particularly high for Ring. Hopefully, the Ring Indoor Cam doesn’t disappoint.

Video

Like I said before, the Ring Indoor Cam has 1080p HD video, which gives you a clear image for remote viewing. You’ll also be able to pinch the screen and digitally zoom in, great for capturing those little details you don’t want to miss. The only slightly disappointing feature is the Ring Indoor Cam’s field of view, which is a bit narrow at 115 degrees. Despite this, I’m giving the Ring Indoor Cam full marks for video.

Night Vision

The Ring Indoor Cam has infrared night vision, which I actually prefer over color night vision from a bright white light. I like my cameras to fly under the radar, especially if I’m recording someone at night, and spotlights are by definition conspicuous. LED sensors, on the other hand, give you clear night vision without anything glaring (pun intended). Full marks for night vision!

Audio Quality

Now, I’m not sure what you’re going to be using the Ring Indoor Cam for exactly, but whatever it is, you’ll appreciate it’s two-way audio. The speaker and microphone let you speak to whoever your doorbell cam is pointed at remotely, so you can greet your mother, tell the delivery guy where to place your package, or scare off a would-be intruder.

Storage

For 60 days of cloud storage, you’ll need to invest in a Ring Protect plan, which will also allow you to download videos straight to your device. If you’re not interested in 24/7 professional monitoring, then go with the basic Ring Protect plan. I’m a little disappointed that Ring doesn’t give you any storage for free, although the prices are among the cheapest I’ve seen. For that reason, I’m going to give the Ring Indoor Cam half marks for storage.

Smart Platform Integration

Amazon owns Ring, so naturally, the Ring Indoor Cam works with Alexa, allowing for voice commands. You’ll be able to have Alexa tell you whenever your camera detected motion, plus, you can have Alexa show you live or past footage on your Echo Show or Echo Spot, along with use Alexa to speak through two-way audio. It works with the exact same way if you have Google Assistant.

Artificial Intelligence

Now, some indoor cameras with artificial intelligence can tell you exactly when your camera detects a person, as opposed to less relevant moving objects such as cars, pets, or leaves falling from a tree. That means that you’ll only receive relevant notifications, as you probably don’t need to be alerted every time your cat saunters around your living room. Unfortunately, the Ring Indoor Cam lacks any artificial intelligence features whatsoever, so I’m going to have to give it no marks for this category.

Convenience

Setting up the Ring Indoor Cam took no more than five minutes, with a helpful setup from the Ring— Always Home app. Now, this camera is kind of unique because you can either mount it on the bottom of on the back of the camera, allowing you to place it on a wall or on a ceiling. Make sure you screw it all the way through, as the port was a bit deep in the back. Overall, this process was super easy.

Value

For an astonishingly low price of $60, the Ring Indoor Cam offers excellent video, audio and night vision, plus an integration with Alexa. If you’re already in the Ring ecosystem, it’s a natural choice that’ll fit right in with your smart home.

Extras

Now, one cool feature that the Ring Indoor Cam has is activity zones, or what they refer to as motion zones. Basically, activity zones let you divide the area your camera views into different sections so that you can get notifications that are slightly more specific. For example, you can get notified of motion in the living room as opposed to the kitchen. This feature is less useful than with outdoor cameras, where you can tell your camera to ignore the street or your neighbor’s yard, for example. Still, it does make the notifications more precise, so it’s definitely not a bad thing.

The Ring— Always Home App

The Ring— Always Home app is where you’ll livestream footage, view cloud storage, speak through two-way audio, change any camera settings, receive notifications and even crime and safety alerts from your neighborhood. While the app has a passable 3.2 rating from iPhone users, Android users only gave it a 2.9, a decrease from previous ratings. When I looked into the user comments, I saw a lot of complaints, including this one from an Android user named Nancy J. Smyth in a one-star review,

“Buggy app. At least once a week it stops giving me mobile notifications, and I have to clear the storage and the cache and sign in again. Of course, I can’t predict when it will stop giving me notifications, so the reality is I can’t trust that I will be notified when someone’s at my door unless I happen to be home.”

Hopefully, Ring fixes this bug soon, as many people have been having issues after a recent software update.

Comparisons

Now I want to compare the Ring Indoor Cam to two top indoor security cameras, the Amazon Cloud Cam (which can be thought of as a cousin to the Ring Indoor Cam, as they all fall under the same Amazon umbrella), and the Nest Cam Indoor, Amazon’s biggest competitor as Nest is owned by Google. It’s a battle of the giants. Who will come out on top?

Ring Indoor Cam vs. Amazon Cloud Cam

Update: The Amazon Cloud Cam has been discontinued.

At $119.99, the Amazon Cloud Cam costs exactly twice as much as the Ring Indoor Cam, but does it have twice the features? First, let’s talk about what these two cameras have in common, which includes 1080p HD video, infrared night vision, two-way audio, and integrations with Alexa.

However, the Ring Indoor Cam actually beats the Amazon Cloud Cam when it comes to storage. First of all, the Ring camera has local storage, while the Cloud Cam lacks it completely. In addition, Ring’s cloud storage options are much cheaper than that of the Cloud Cam, which would cost you more than nine times the cost for half the time. Plus, the Ring— Always Home app has higher ratings than the Amazon Cloud Cam app, which has only a 2.7 on the Apple and Google Play stores. And while the Amazon Cloud Cam only works with Alexa, the Ring Indoor Cam also works with Google Assistant, making it a good choice for those in the Google smart home ecosystem as well.

But overall, the Amazon Cloud Cam has better video and artificial intelligence options, with the ability to zoom in eight times, a field of view five degrees wider than that of the Ring Indoor Cam (hey, I’ll take what I can get), and optional person detection for a fee. However, I don’t think these features are worth the extra money, and there are cheaper cameras available with person detection, like the Wyze Cam. If I’m choosing between the Cloud Cam and the Ring Indoor Cam, the choice is clear— it’s the Ring Indoor Cam all the way.

Ring Indoor Cam vs. Nest Cam Indoor

At $199, the Nest Cam Indoor is over three times as much as the Ring Indoor Cam, which is pretty wild, and it definitely beats the Ring camera in a few aspects. For example, it can zoom in optically eight times, which is going to give you more detail than digital zoom. Its field of view is also 15 degrees wider than that of the Ring Indoor Cam at 130 degrees. Plus, the Nest Cam Indoor is not only integrated with Alexa and Google Assistant but also with Philips Hue light bulbs. But the real kicker is that the Nest Cam Indoor comes with person detection and if you buy Nest Aware, even facial recognition, which should make for super useful and specific notifications.

Unfortunately, when it comes to storage, the Nest Cam Indoor is lacking. It has no local storage and only gives you three free hours of cloud storage. If you want more than three hours, it’s going to cost you a pretty penny, unlike Ring which has incredibly affordable options.

Of course, this price also includes facial recognition I mentioned. Both cameras have excellent infrared night vision, two-way audio, and 1080p HD video. If you’re passionate about having person detection, go with the Nest Cam Indoor. Otherwise, save your money and buy the Ring Indoor Cam.

To learn more, read our full review of the Nest Cam Indoor.

Recap

Overall, I think the Ring Indoor Cam is an excellent choice for an indoor camera for a price that’s way under the industry average. Especially if you already have Ring products or are in the Alexa ecosystem, the Ring Indoor Cam will make an excellent addition to your smart home security. Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s right for every home, so let me break down who I think it would be good for.