As with the Ring Outdoor Cam Pro ($199.99), the Indoor Cam Plus uses AI to provide features such as video descriptions that tell you exactly what is going on during a motion event, smart video search that makes it easy to find specific footage based on its content, and AI single event alerts that reduce notification clutter by combining similar alerts from the same camera and delivering them in a single notification. Unlike the Nest Cam Indoor ($99.99) and the Arlo Essential Pan Tilt Indoor, it doesn’t support face recognition.
The Arlo Pan Tilt Indoor camera’s AI feature, called Arlo Intelligence, provides face and vehicle recognition, as well as event descriptions. It also allows you to request alerts for specific events, such as when a particular light turns on or your dog jumps on the couch. The Arlo camera can also distinguish between motion caused by animals, deliveries, people, and vehicles, and recognize flames in the event of a fire.
(Credit: Ring/PCMag)
The Indoor Cam Plus works with Alexa voice commands and supports third-party devices that utilize IFTTT applets; however, it doesn’t integrate with Apple HomeKit or Google Assistant. It utilizes the same Ring mobile app for Android and iOS as the company’s other devices, and appears on the dashboard screen in a panel that displays the camera’s name and last captured image. When you tap the panel, it opens a live stream that can be viewed in full-screen mode by tapping the box button in the lower-right corner or by rotating your phone sideways. Beside the box button is an icon with two arrows that, when pressed, displays a full-screen zoomed-in camera view but in portrait (vertical) mode.
Below the video panel are buttons for ending the live feed, muting the speaker, and enabling two-way talk. At the bottom of the screen are buttons labeled Controls, Replies, Siren, and More. The Controls button opens a panel where you can turn other Ring devices on and off. The Replies button lets you play default or custom messages. The Siren button activates the siren, and the More button enables picture-in-picture, a premium feature that allows you to continue viewing the live feed even when you leave the Ring app.
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When you end a live feed, the screen will display a scrolling timeline of events. Here you can view the event-triggered video recordings, as well as download, share, or delete them. At the bottom of this screen is a button that opens a Smart Video Search screen where you can use AI to find specific videos. For example, you can type in “dog” to see videos featuring a canine in the clip, or “delivery” to see footage of packages being dropped off.
(Credit: Ring/PCMag)
Tap the gear icon in the upper-right corner to access the camera’s settings. Here you can turn motion detection and alerts on or off, activate the siren, and switch to a live view. There are tiles on the bottom half of the screen for accessing additional settings, including: Mode to control how the camera behaves while you are home, away, or while it is disarmed, Alerts Snooze to disable notifications for anywhere between 30 minutes and 12 hours, Linked Chimes to connect the camera with other Ring devices, and Smart Responses to configure automatic replies. Tap the Motion tile to set up alert schedules and privacy zones as well as enable Smart Alerts (person, vehicle, other) and adjust motion sensitivity. Visit the Event History tile to view an Event Summary for your home and see a list of recorded events with thumbnails and brief descriptions of each activity.
