Ring, the smart home device company best known for its video doorbells, is taking security to new heights with the Ring Always Home Cam. It’s not just another security camera to place in your living room; it’s a drone. A drone with a camera that patrols the house while you’re out and docks at a home base when not in use. It looks like a flying Ring Video doorbell attached to a small drone.
The flying camera, according to Ring, becomes the only security camera you need. It will go from room to room to check on things, so you don’t have to purchase a separate security camera for each room. This is especially useful is you want to make sure you didn’t leave your curling iron plugged in or ensure that you closed the windows before you left. It can get into places stationary cameras can’t.
The device will fly a pre-determined path set by the homeowner, and the camera records only when in flight. You can include whichever rooms you like and ignore other areas of the house. There are sensors on the drone to keep it from bumping into lamps and furniture, and it returns to its dock to recharge when the security round is complete.
The Always Home Cam integrates with the Ring Alarm home security system and will fly to specific locations when an alarm sensor is triggered. The video can be streamed and viewed on your smartphone using the Ring app, so you know exactly what’s going on at home.
Before you start thinking this would be great fun for the kids to fly the drone through the house with their phone, it can’t be operated in manual mode, and battery life is only about 5 minutes.
The camera is off and won’t record when the drone is docked, so if you want an always-on camera that you can check on during the day to see if the dog is sitting on the couch, this is not it. It only records when it leaves the dock to fly it’s set path. For privacy purposes, it makes a humming sound, so you know when it’s flying and recording.
The Ring Always Home Cam will be available in 2021 and cost $249.
[Image credit: Ring]
