This Professional-level safety digital camera is unexpectedly spectacular and $50 off this Prime Day

What is the deal?

The Ring Highlight Cam Professional is discounted by 22%, presently priced at $180 for Amazon Prime Day.

Additionally: One of the best Amazon Prime Day 2024 offers

ZDNET’s key takeaways

• The Ring Highlight Cam Professional Battery is on the market at $230 however presently all the way down to $180.
• This Professional-level Ring digital camera has a detachable rechargeable battery pack, top-of-the-line audio efficiency, and helps dual-band Wi-Fi, 2.4 and 5.0 GHz.
• Sadly, the Ring Highlight Cam Professional falls quick on picture high quality, topping out at 1080p, the spotlights solely attain 300 lumens in brightness, and the Professional options are solely obtainable with a subscription. 

The Ring Highlight Cam Professional was launched in 2022 as a part of the corporate’s high-end lineup of merchandise. Ring cameras from the Professional line are likely to help extra superior video qualities, dual-band Wi-Fi and provide bonus app options, like Fowl’s Eye View and 3D Movement Detection. 

Additionally: I am constructing my dream good house – listed below are the 5 issues I made a decision on first

On high of those options, the Ring Highlight Cam Professional additionally has Audio+, 1080p HDR video high quality, and two LED panels on both aspect of the digital camera lens that gentle up when movement is detected. 

View at Amazon

Organising the Highlight Cam Professional is as straightforward as discovering a spot for it. As a result of it is battery-powered, you needn’t set up it close to an influence supply or a spot with direct daylight entry – although you may get a separate photo voltaic panel for it. The included detachable Fast-Launch Battery Pack ensures you do not have to take down the digital camera when it is time to recharge, making that course of simpler in comparison with different manufacturers.

I arrange the Ring Highlight Cam Professional on the again fence to look over one-half of my yard. My yard could be very darkish and solely has a light-weight fixture on one aspect, the place I’ve a floodlight digital camera, so I respect any further gentle I can get when taking the canine out earlier than mattress. 

I already had an Arlo Professional 5S protecting this space however determined to swap it out for the Ring Highlight Cam Professional to get extra gentle on that aspect. I even have a Blink Outside 4 Floodlight Digicam protecting a big a part of this aspect of the yard, however the space the place I put in the Ring Highlight Cam Professional is additional again and one which the Blink does not attain.

Additionally: How these versatile gentle strips took my good house to the following stage

The highlight on the Highlight Cam Professional has two small LED panels flanking the digital camera that come on when movement is detected. I favor a stronger highlight characteristic for the value, however this is not a floodlight digital camera, so I am unable to complain about 375 lumens as a secondary characteristic on a battery-powered gadget. The lights on this Ring Highlight Cam Professional cowl not more than 30 ft of space in the course of the night time.

This Ring Highlight Cam Professional additionally shines a light-weight on the hotter aspect, at 3000° Kelvin, an equal of a heat white tint. I favor the hotter coloration for outside illumination, however in the event you favor daylight or cool white outside lights, very similar to conventional floodlights, this Ring Highlight Cam might be not the only option for you. Sadly, you possibly can’t alter the colour of the lights, although you possibly can alter brightness and set a schedule for the lights to activate. 

Additionally: A battery-powered floodlight digital camera was precisely what my darkish yard wanted

The spot the place I arrange this Ring Highlight Cam Professional is an efficient 50-60 ft from my again door, so I used to be nervous the digital camera would not be shut sufficient to take care of a steady Wi-Fi connection, however that hasn’t been the case. The digital camera stays responsive and linked, and is fast to inform when movement is detected. 

The high-quality audio is considered one of this digital camera’s finest options, bar none. I used it to speak to my husband from 40 ft away and will have a traditional dialog with out yelling or struggling to listen to him, with no background noise interruptions. 

Additionally: Ring’s Battery Doorbell Professional is likely one of the finest safety methods I’ve examined (however there is a catch)

Some Ring Highlight Cam Professional options are solely obtainable with a Ring Shield plan, which you’ll be able to’t get round by utilizing your individual microSD card like you possibly can with different manufacturers. The Ring Shield subscription provides customers entry to cloud storage to view and share recorded video clips and previous occasions, together with further options equivalent to coloration pre-roll video, Fowl’s Eye View, and 3D Movement detection. 

The Ring Shield plan ranges from $5-$20 month-to-month, and except for the talked about options, it consists of particular person alerts, the flexibility to arm and disarm the Ring system digitally, wealthy notifications, snapshot seize, and video historical past saved within the cloud for as much as six months.

ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation

After utilizing the Ring Highlight Cam Professional for a couple of weeks, I discovered it to be a dependable house safety digital camera with all the additional options definitely worth the value. The 2-way speak audio high quality was essentially the most spectacular I’ve ever tried, delivering crystal clear audio with out echo. 

Nonetheless, I used to be barely upset by the video high quality, which solely goes as much as 1080p. 

Additionally: Do not buy these ‘Amazon’s Selection’ video doorbells except you need to get hacked

A safety digital camera of that decision shouldn’t be disappointing by itself, nevertheless it’s a noticeable distinction in comparison with the 2K-resolution Arlo Professional 5S that I beforehand had overlooking that space of my yard, although the Arlo is somewhat pricier, at $250. To high it off, the floodlight digital camera on the opposite aspect of my yard can go as much as 3K decision and is $10 cheaper than this Ring digital camera. 

Moreover, many good house customers aren’t ready to pay month-to-month subscription charges to entry plan-exclusive options, however loads of customers favor the comfort of not having to fret about native storage and revel in the additional perks a paid plan affords.