Ring Outdoor Stick Up Cam - 3rd Gen (2019 release)

The cameras themselves seem to work well enough. They were easy to setup in the app. Just scan the QR code and go. The cameras are small and discreet and mounting was straightforward and easy to do. After a few tweaks they pick up motion and clarity is good and notices are timely. I haven’t had them long enough to comment on battery life but so far that’s seems pretty good. That’s about where the good ends. The app and cameras are pretty lacking in options and functionality. On the surface it looks like it has everything you need. Ability to configure motion zones and delay to avoid repetitive triggering of motion alerts. Modes for disarm, home, and away. Geofencing to toggle modes. Schedules for modes. Notifications for motion detection and ability to get priority notifications on iOS. The ability to go live. Two way communication in live mode and a built in siren. Ability to connect to external chime. But in reality three modes is basically 1 too many. The only options you can configure in the modes are motion detection and motion alerts. So basically on and off for my purposes. I would prefer to be able to control the priority of alerts as well so I can still be alerted during the day without it being a priority alert. I would also prefer the ability to change motion detection frequency settings as well. So in the middle of the day when I walk by it doesn’t trigger again in 10 seconds vs at night or when I’m away having the ability to configure a shorter motion detection delay in case of intruders etc From the device screen or the live screen you can turn on the siren. But it lacks the ability to turn on the siren when motion is detected. This basically makes it useless as a deterrent for intruders or thieves if you’re away from your phone or if you’re asleep. Capturing someone on camera is great after the fact. But scarring them away when they’re in the act would be even better. The Ring community forums have many requests this which is something that seems like a basic feature and something the cameras already have the ability to do. But the requests appear to have gone unanswered. I suspect at least part of the lack of the feature has to do with the fact that they want to sell external sirens / chimes. This would also be something great to be able to configure in a mode if it existed so your could have it sound at night or when your away vs being disabled when at home. As far as chimes go, despite what you might find on the internet you cannot directly connect a google home speaker from the Ring app and it doesn’t appear to be natively supported. I understand the two companies may be competing in this space and that’s understandable but I wish I knew that I couldn’t use my Google home speaker as a chime. Overall the cameras seem fine but if some of these functionality concerns aren’t addressed I may end up returning them and going with another brand.