If you’re shopping for a reliable and reasonably priced outdoor security camera, you’ve probably stumbled upon the Ring Outdoor Cam and the newer Ring Outdoor Cam Plus. Both offer excellent price tags and a long list of useful features that make them perfect for most households. However, there are also a few big differences between the Outdoor Cam and Outdoor Cam Plus — including resolution and the quality of footage captured at night.
Ready to add one to your home? Here’s a comparison of the Ring Outdoor Cam Plus and Ring Outdoor Cam to help you decide which is the better purchase.
The Ring Outdoor Cam is $80 and often on sale, while the Ring Outdoor Cam Plus is $100. Both also benefit from a Ring Home subscription, which costs $5 per month or $50 per year and unlocks useful features like extended video history, smart alerts, and more. Regardless of which security camera you purchase, a membership to Ring Home is highly recommended. If you don’t sign up, you’ll only have access to the cameras’ most basic functions.
It can be hard to distinguish between the Outdoor Cam and Outdoor Cam Plus at a distance, as they both feature a cylindrical, black and white design. Both look great, though most shoppers will find the newer Outdoor Cam Plus to be a bit more stylish when viewed up close. Its front is largely consumed by a black faceplate that holds both the camera and two-way audio speaker, and fewer seams and lines run throughout the device.
The Outdoor Cam doesn’t look bad, but you can tell the Outdoor Cam Plus builds on the design of its predecessor and smooths out some of its quirks.
Installation is simple for both, as they’re available as battery-powered devices that can be mounted just about anywhere. The Outdoor Cam Plus is also available in a wired format if you’d prefer to have a constant power supply and negate the need to recharge batteries.
The Ring Outdoor Cam Plus offers Ring’s best image quality to date, thanks to its 2K resolution and impressive low-light performance. As long as there is a bit of ambient light in the frame, the Outdoor Cam Plus can record brilliant color footage. This is due to its new Low-Light Sight technology, allowing it to record some of the best night-time footage in the entire Ring lineup.
Things aren’t quite as impressive on the Outdoor Cam, which records 1080p footage and color night vision that’s not nearly as crisp as that of the Outdoor Cam Plus. Still, its images are easy to parse when viewed on your smartphone, and it’ll likely be enough for most scenarios.
Both products are rated for outdoor use, feature two-way audio, allow for customizable motion zones, and send smart alerts to your mobile devices when motion is detected. Beyond the improved footage of the Outdoor Cam Plus, it also supports advanced Pre-Roll. This allows the camera to capture a few extra seconds of footage at the beginning of a motion event, giving you a better picture of what’s happening on your property. This feature is limited to the wired version of the camera, but it’s a great addition, nonetheless.
Considering it’s just $20 more than the Outdoor Cam, the Outdoor Cam Plus is an easy recommendation. The jump from 1080p to 2K footage is quite dramatic, and the Low-Light Sight technology gets you enhanced images when filming in the dark. And if you opt for the wired model, you’ll get Pre-Roll footage that captures more of each motion event.
If you’re shopping on a budget, the Outdoor Cam is a good alternative. Its 1080p footage is starting to look dated, but since Ring often discounts the camera to around $60, it’s a solid choice for frugal shoppers. And because it benefits from a premium design and the same robust Ring mobile app, there are plenty of ways to customize its performance for your home. Be sure to also check out our roundup of the best outdoor security cameras, which offers products for all budgets and needs.
This post is brought to you in paid partnership with Best Buy.
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