Ring has a LOT of security cameras and are continually introducing new ones so it is often difficult to distinguish one from another.   Their most recent release is the Stickup Cam Pro and it doesn’t look all that different to the previous ones.

So what is different?  Read on to find out, and just what we thought of these differences.

Design & features

The Stickup Cam Pro is a new camera, albeit an upgrade on the previous Stick Up Cam and it is safe to say it is the big brother (or sister) of the first gen Stick Up Cam.  It is certainly a lot bigger but inside it also has added features.

The new Stick Up Cam Pro can be used inside or out, with Ring including an extra long extension cable to plug in the camera outside if you buy the plug-in variety.  We were sent the plug-in version.

If you opt for the battery version you can always buy a solar panel for it to power it.  I use these on my outdoor battery Ring cameras and not only are they affordable but offer an easy way to keep your cameras charged.  

Interestingly the Ring cameras in 2023 are powered by a USB-C connection and I actually have turned one of my outdoor battery Ring cameras into a wired camera with a simple Google Pixel USB-C cable and charger plugged into a nearby undercover AC socket.

Also, even though Ring sent us the plug-in version it can easily be used as a battery version – simply add a battery.  The insides of the cameras are exactly the same – the bottom still comes off for the battery to be removed for charging etc.  You just need to buy yourself a battery – most stores that sell Ring cameras will have these.  The Stick Up Cam Pro also includes a new screw that can be tightened making it more difficult for thieves to open the camera and steal the battery.

The camera is a much larger version of the previous Stick Up Cams and as such, has a larger base. The speaker grille is of course larger and although the camera aperture seems larger it is apparently the same as before. 

The base is a big improvement over the older Ring cameras – they changed the base of the new indoor camera recently and I loved the new base – it’s enough to fork out for a new one in many locations too in my opinion.  The same goes for this base/stand which flips out allowing for much more flexibility in difficult locations. 

The camera can be installed on a benchtop or secured to a wall, or ceiling, inside and out.  I still haven’t decided on the final resting place for this camera but with it being able to be battery or plug-in just as easily it could go anywhere.  All the hardware required to install the camera on a wall or ceiling are included by Ring in the box.  For those considering installing it on a brick wall, the masonry bits included in the Ring boxes are not very strong – buy a decent one from your local hardware store.

The new Stick Up Cam Pro includes all the Pro features included in other Ring Pro devices.  Through the addition of new radar sensors inside the Stick Up Cam Pro the camera is able to provide more accurate motion detection.  Amazon states that the radar sensors help the camera to “measure the distance of an object in its field of view.”

This improved motion detection is designed to allow you to detect motion in a more specific area – for example, you could put it on a gate and have only the motion of that gate be detected.  

I tested this using a doorway inside and it was really accurate and I reckon it would be even better outside where you could point the motion zone at a specific area and not have tree movement nearby trigger notifications.

I’m not convinced of the usefulness of the birds eye view, having used it on previous Ring cameras, but it is here again if that is your want.

The new Stick Up Cam Pro also comes with the upgraded “Audio Plus” which uses two array microphones for audio and echo cancellation.  I found the audio to be a lot clearer and less distorted with this camera than the other Ring cameras I had located nearby.  I would like a bit more volume to it but that is a problem I’ve found with all Ring cameras.

Setup

The setup is super simple – simply add the camera to the Ring app, select a security camera, scan the QR code and follow the steps.  I’m not going to go over all the steps but the Ring app helps you set up all the features so don’t stress over how many there are – and there are a lot.

Performance

Ring cameras always perform well. Night time mode is great, daytime even better, as you would expect. Once you set up the motion zones, schedule times, along with all the other features — which you can see more about here — the camera is easy to use. You can have the camera send you notifications when it detects certain types of motion which are great to quickly view what is going on and whether it is something you need to respond to straight away.

One thing Ring refuse to do, is to truly upgrade their camera with improved optics — there are some improvements but mostly incremental. After so many years doing this the Stickup Cam Pro is still only capable of recording 1080P video. Other cameras are recording at 4K and while 4K is likely overkill in most cases, and extremely difficult to fit into Ring’s whole environment given it is distinctly a cloud solution, there surely must be a way.

There are few times when I need to zoom into the picture for better detail but at certain distances, and let’s face it, a lot of the times these videos of intruders (and couriers) are taken at a distance. It would be nice to have the capabilities of better detail if required. One day maybe when storage and data transfer is even cheaper and faster — 6G?

Recording

Unfortunately there is no way to save recordings locally to view later such as an SD card in the camera ir a NAS somewhere in your house. All recording is performed in the cloud and requires a subscription for access remotely.

You can get either a “Basic” subscription (A$4.95/month or A$49.95/year but that is for a single device only) or a “Plus” subscription which is A$15/month or A$150/year but covers every single Ring device at your home – and also gives you extended warranty for all Ring devices.  Personally I have 11 Ring cameras and a Ring doorbell so the Plus subscription is a no-brainer for me.

If you want local recording to a hard drive or SD card then I suggest you look elsewhere.

Should you buy one?

The Ring Stickup Cam Pro offers great features once again, more of the same from Ring, this time with the addition of radar sensors for more accurate motion detection. The Stickup Cam Pro is big but has a big, flexible base allowing to to be installed in variety of locations and positions including the wall or ceiling/roof.

The Ring Stickup Cam Pro can be used indoors or out, battery or powered and is an extremely flexible security camera. The only downside is that its maximum resolution is 1080P. Given all the addiitonal features that is a small downside.

If you want a secutiy camera that is easy to set up, has a vast number of features and motions detection capabilities that can be used in any location inside or out, then the Ring Stickup Cam Pro is for you — especially if you already have existing Ring camera and a Ring Protect subscription.