Ring Spotlight Cam Plus Solar - 1080p HD Security Camera with Two-Way Talk, Color Night Vision, LED Spotlights & Siren Alarm | Wireless Outdoor Home Security System for Front Door, Backyard & Garage Protection (2-Pack)

I have built up an array of 6 ring devices connected to perform various camera/doorbell variations. For this review I will focus on just the Spotlight camera.As stated on my other Ring reviews, unless your needs are urgent, wait for the inevitable sale in January, Black Friday, Amazon Prime Day, Full Moon Day, Rainbow in the Sky Day or whatever the marketing types have cooked up.This camera is for outside and is weather resistant. I have mounted it below a hanging basket to give it a little more protection. To mount it you need to drill a few holes for the mount. I was new to doing this but a few YouTube videos and a careful drill purchase instructed me how to do it.The camera comes in two variations. Wired and battery. I bought the battery version.This model is unusual to the other Ring cameras in that it can hold two batteries.They are the quick release batteries common to Ring camera range.It works just fine for me with one battery.If you are going to use just battery power make sure you place the camera where you can easily change them without resorting to ladders every time. The downside of making it more accessible of course is that it could be tampered with or stolen.There is a USB connection at the back that can be connected to a Ring Solar Panel. I bought one of these as well and from May the 1st to the 1st of January in the UK I have not had to change the battery once. It has just the one battery in it. The cameras charging will depend on factors such as the solar panel placement, how much activity is recorded by the camera and how you configure motion recording plus how you configure the light usage.All the standard ring camera configuration options are there with the standard user-friendly application on your smart phone. You can then fine tune configure it.Multiple motion detection zones, audio recording on/off, infrared on/off, night vision colour option recording time up to 120 seconds, on/off, smart motion detection for motion detecting just people and motion detection sensitivity are all standard. You can connect it to your Amazon Alexa Echo to give you a verbal ‘Motion Detection’ alert if you want as well.You can also configure it to determine if the lights switch on when movement is detected. You can also set them to not come on for periods of time via a schedule. The motion detection will work even if the lights do not come on during the day or by schedule selection at night.The light does not significantly improve the recordings in my experience over the standard outside Stick up cameras I have. The spotlight camera is however much more expensive that the versions without the lights.If you want somebody to be under no illusion the camera is recording the lights will do that.Note it additionally has the little pinhole blue light. This comes on when recording on all Ring cameras. The only way to stop the little blue light is to put a bit of black tape over it. Doing this does not impact the performance of the camera.I bought the Spotlight version because I have a black patch at the rear of my house that I want to be able to see clearly when walking through it and check the area before venturing out.At night it is very dark and I felt this option would save me fitting a separate solar light to illuminate the area. It does this well. If you have limited space for an array of devices on your walls or are just plain tired of having so many devices cluttering up the side of your house this might be for you. Overall I think I could have managed with a separate solar light but that would have still have meant another mount with drilling. Due to the location of the camera the solar panel needs to be connected round the corner to pick up enough sun. I’d therefore have to have a separate solar light with a long cable to the separate solar panel which would be two more mounts. Be aware you can get solar lights with built on solar panels ( one mount in total ) for cheaper than the cost difference between a stick up camera and the spotlight camera. It depends on your needs.As with all Ring cameras make sure you choose the right model for the need you are Ring to satisfy. There is a wired Floodlight version that looks to be a more powerful light source.So yes it does the job for me.It’s reliable, saved me an extra pair of mounts, works well with the separate Solar Panel I bought, is easy to configure and gives a good picture with a wide angle.