Ring has long been a household name in the smart doorbell market, but it seems the Amazon subsidiary wants to go beyond making your home more secure, so it set its sights on car security. It initially announced plans for a series of products designed to protect your car in 2020, but it’s only now that we see those plans come to fruition.
The long-awaited Ring Car Cam debuted during CES 2023, and its name is quite self-explanatory - the product is a dash cam that attaches to your car’s dashboard and is meant to offer you peace of mind both when the vehicle is parked in your driveaway and when driving around.
The dual-facing new device can easily be installed inside your car and is mounted on an arm that ensures the right height for optimized recording inside and outside of your vehicle.
It comes equipped with two wide-angle HD cameras, so it is able to capture both the interior of your car and its surroundings. The cameras feature Night Vision, meaning they can capture vivid driving footage even at night.
Its built-in sensors will help it detect motion within the vehicle, if someone breaks into your car, for instance, and disturbances outside, like unfortunate situations when your car gets into an accident or is hit by something. There is also the Traffic Stop command that can be used to record several minutes of footage regardless of whether motion is detected or not.
The dashboard cam also has hands-free voice controls, so if you tell it, “Alexa, record,” it will automatically start recording. This is an excellent feature for those situations when you get pulled over or are involved in an accident.
By connecting the device to the Ring app, owners will be able to view a live video feed and communicate with whoever is inside the car with two-way audio, thanks to the monitor's built-in microphone and speaker. This interactive feature works much like the company’s doorbell and could prove to be a safe alternative to talking on the phone while driving.
An optional 4G LTE connection is also available, albeit for an extra charge of $6 per month or $60 per year with the Ring Protect Go subscription. However, it seems the price is well worth it, considering it offers access to the camera 24/7, even if the vehicle is away from home, with the recorded footage accessible anywhere from the Ring app or the cloud. Owners can also receive alerts on the Ring app in case the sensors are triggered.
The Ring Car Cam comes with a built-in privacy cover for the inside-facing camera, which also turns off the device’s microphone.
What’s more, you won’t have to worry about changing the device’s batteries or recharging them, as Ring’s product draws power from the car’s battery through the OBD-II port.
The company is already taking pre-orders for the Ring Car Cam and offers an introductory price of $199. The device will start shipping in February.
After spending a few years as a copy editor, Ancuta decided to put down the eraser and pick up the writer's pencil. Her favorites subjects are unusual car designs, travel trailers and everything related to the great outdoors. Full profile
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