Ring Pan-Tilt Camera review — compact and versatile

Home security cameras are normally fixed to a certain projection and to change where they are viewing you have to physically move the camera itself.  Now Ring has released a camera that can pan a full 360 degrees and tilt vertically 169 degrees.

Unsurprisingly called the Ring Pan-Tilt Camera, the new camera has been front and centre in my kitchen for the past few weeks and although it’s a breath of fresh air when it comes to Ring home security cameras, Ring could have, and should have, done so much more.

At just $129 it is not expensive so you shouldn’t expect it to be perfect but at $129 it does represent good value for money.

Design

The Ring Pan-Tilt Indoor Camera is very reminiscent of the Ring Indoor camera and it looks exactly the same as one, except it has a pan-tilt base underneath instead of a simple stand.

The footprint is nearly as compact as that of the Ring Indoor Camera so it takes up very little room wherever you end up placing it.  Ring has also included a base mount that you can use to easily mount the Pan-Tilt Indoor camera on your wall or ceiling.

The Pan-Tilt Indoor Camera includes the manual shutter that debuted on the Ring Indoor Camera refresh last year and although it is incredibly flimsy it does the job it is designed for.  There is no remote control over it of course, just a physical movement of the shutter itself by you.   Simply slide it into position and the camera lens is physically blocked.

The rest of the Pan-Tilt Indoor Camera is extremely well built and solid, as we have come to expect from Ring cameras.  Installation is easy with all the screws and mounts required for full installation included, as well as easy step by step instructions for those of you like me who struggle to know which end of the hammer to hold.

The Pan-Tilt camera from Ring includes all of their usual features which are great and easy to use.  One of my favourites is the colour night vision.  Don’t expect the colour to look like daylight but that addition of a small amount of colour adds a lot of useful information when viewing captured vision.

The two-way intercom works great with both sides of the conversation able to hear each other easily — being an inside camera only does help with the clarity of reception of course.

Ring introduced GPS geolocation reminders for changing the Ring protection status which I love but it would be even nicer to have them automated.

I love the GPS geolocation reminders for changing the Ring protection status but it would be even nicer to have them automated and not have to think about changing it yourself.

Pan and Tilt

To pan and tilt the camera you just need to open up the camera in live view and tap on the rotate link/menu button at the bottom of the page.  Up pops the left/right, up/down arrows to allow you to move the camera as you wish.  It moves smoothly allowing for a non-stuttering video.

The downside is that it will not move without you.  While some smart displays have auto person tracking the Ring Pan-Tilt Indoor camera does not.  In other words, if you don’t jump into the app and follow the intrusion yourself you will not get the entire field of view possible and the pan-tilt function of the camera will have been for nought.

But what about…

Ring cameras are very good at recognising packages, people, and pets with their camera software, so I hope they harness this to then follow those that are human faces — as mentioned above.  This is essential in my opinion if they are to maintain their market share, and if we are talking about removing blind spots with this camera, face and person tracking would really remove the blind spots!

1080P HD recording used to be a selling point for security cameras but that has long passed.  Many cameras are now 2K and 4K but Ring continue to bring the same optics and 1080P to their cameras.  It is time for an overhaul.  Most of us have faster home Internet and 5G now so we can handle 2K and 4K streaming of a security feed, time for Ring to step up.

My final bug bear, which isn’t an issue for me but could be for others.  There is no local recording in the form of SD card and to get full use and functionality of your Ring camera you need to have a subscription to Ring Protect or Protect Plus.  They are far from the only company to do this though so my advice to everyone is, find a camera system you love and stick with it.

I have over 10 Ring cameras in and around my house and thus the subscription is relatively affordable for me because once you hit more than three cameras it becomes cost effective to get the full Ring Protect Plus subscription.

Final Thoughts

I love the addition of the pan and tilt functionality to the Ring cameras. I have so many of these types of indoor cameras around my house that I now wish many of them also had this functionality.

For me, I cannot see myself replacing any of my current Ring indoor cameras with an exact same camera only with pan and tilt. Now, were I to need another location covered and needed another camera then yes, definitely, it’s a purchase I would consider in a heartbeat — $129 is not much more that the standard Indoor Camera but with so much more functionality.

I sincerely hope that Ring are working on new optics for their cameras as their current ones are getting a bit old in the tooth and run the risk of falling behind their competitors. If Ring introduced a new camera of this size with pan and tilt but with NEW optics and 4K recording then hell yes I would start replacing my older cameras when the funds deemed it possible.

Should you buy the Ring Pan-Tilt Indoor Camera

The Ring Pan-Tilt Indoor Camera is a good camera that could be great.  If you are in the Ring ecosystem already and need a new indoor camera then it is a no brainer.  Buy the camera and pair it with your Ring Protect subscription for full functionality.

If you are not in the Ring ecosystem yet and want to get into a security system you could do a lot worse than Ring.  I would be careful investing too much money at this early stage until we see what Ring do to improve and modernise their cameras in the next year or two.  If Ring add in automatic person tracking and 4K video then it sells itself, to anyone and everyone.

The Ring Pan-Tilt Indoor Camera is available now in white and black colours for $129 from Ring.com and all the usual Ring retailers.