Friday, March 29, 2024

Ring Stick Up Cam Plug-in vs. Amazon Cloud Cam: Which should you buy?

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We want nothing but the best in our home security cameras, but manufacturers trying to balance price, quality, features, and flexibility always seems to leave something lacking. Nowhere is this as clear as the stark contrast between Amazon’s Cloud Cam and Ring’s new Stick Up Cam, which makes the choice easy for buyers like you!

Ring Stick Up Cam Plug-In

The all-arounder

ring-stick-up-cam-plug-in-fall-19-render

$100 at Amazon

Pros

  • Works indoors and outdoors
  • Also availble in battery variant
  • Available in white and black (soon)
  • Works with Alexa

Cons

  • No video recordings without subscription
  • No 24/7 recording option

Ring makes great video doorbells and security cameras, and the new Ring Stick Up Cam continues the tradition with a powerful indoor/outdoor camera that’s flexible to power and place. It also integrates with the entire Ring line of home security products for a premium experience.

Amazon Cloud Cam

Short-term savings

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$90 at Amazon

Pros

  • 33% cheaper than Ring
  • Ties in seamlessly to Alexa and Echo devices
  • Slightly smaller device

Cons

  • Indoor-only camera
  • No Ethernet support
  • Smaller field of view
  • Only works with Alexa

Amazon’s first branded security camera is certainly more affordable than the Ring Stick Up Cam, but that cost-cutting left the Amazon Cloud Cam with significantly fewer features. This camera is just okay for indoor security monitoring, but it can’t tie into extra sensors and lights the way Ring can.

The Amazon Cloud Cam can look like quite the deal at $90, but once you go beyond the basics, the divide between the two cameras only grows more dramatic — and everything breaks in Ring’s favor.

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Running rings around the Cloud Cam

The Ring Stick Up Cam and Amazon Cloud Cam are both wired home security cameras with 1080p video recording that is stored and shared through a internet service. Both use motion detection to trigger push alerts and video recording, both can see in the dark thanks to Infrared Night Vision, and both have a speaker and microphone for two-way audio, should you have some choice words to share with the moron breaking into your hunting cabin.

Outdoor durability “weather resistant” Indoor use only
Power options Plug-in Plug-in
Internet options Wi-Fi Wi-Fi
Camera field of range 130° diagonal110° horizontal57° vertical 120° diagonal
Video quality 1080p 1080p
IR night vision ✔️ ✔️
Two-way audio ✔️ ✔️
Assistant integration Google Assistant (limited)Amazon Alexa Amazon Alexa

The Ring Stick Up Cam may be slightly more expensive, but the flexibility of being able to mount it indoors or out is more than worth the upgrade. Ring’s camera can also see more thanks to its larger field of view, and you can add a Quick Release Battery Pack as a bit of power insurance in case the electricity goes out for an extended period of time.

You also need to consider the cost of the subscription plans that enable most of the advanced features on these cameras, too, because the camera’s no good if you can’t use it the way you want to. While Amazon Cloud Cam takes an edge on free features, if you intend to pay for a plan — or have more than 3 cameras at some point down the road — Ring’s plans come out cheaper in the long run, for a single camera or multiple cameras.

Ring Free Free ✔️
Ring Protect Basic $3/mo$30/yr 1 cam ✔️ 60 days
Ring Protect Plus $10/mo$100/yr All @ single address ✔️ 60 days
Cloud Cam Free Free 3 cams 1 day
Cloud Cam Basic $7/mo$70/yr 3 cams ✔️ 7 days
Cloud Cam Extended $10/mo$100/yr 5 cams ✔️ 14 days
Cloud Cam Pro $20/mo$200/yr 10 cams ✔️ 30 days

Without even a Basic plan, a Ring Stick Up Cam won’t give you access to video recordings, so if you don’t open the app in time, you’ll miss whoever or whatever set it off, but a Ring Basic plan is $30 bucks a year, less than half the price of Amazon’s Basic plan. Amazon also has a 10-camera limit for its Pro plan, while Ring Protect Plus will cover every Ring device at a single address — and at half the price.

Ring Stick Up Cam Plug-in

Cheaper than ever

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$100 at Amazon (Plug-in)

Same great features, considerably lower price.

The new Ring Stick Up Cam is the kind of upgrade we like. It has all of the same great features of its predecessor, like 1080p HD video, two-way talk, and real-time notifications. The best part? It’s 30% cheaper than before, making it even more accessible for everyone.

Amazon Cloud Cam

Short-term savings

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Affordable security for those looking to skip the subscription.

$90 at Amazon

Amazon’s camera can’t play outside and its subscriptions can offset the hardware savings, but if you’re looking for a basic security camera that won’t break your budget, the Cloud Cam might be a perfect fit for your dorm room or apartment.

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