Ring Indoor Cam (1st Gen), Compact Plug-In HD security camera with two-way talk, Works with Alexa - White

I’m not too good with technology so I was worried about trying something like this out. Now I’m in love! I got this to put in my elderly fathers home so that I can see him and talk to him when I’m unable to be there. I am also able to keep an eye on the nurse to ensure he’s being properly cared for. This was so incredibly easy to set up thankfully because I’m not too good with all this new technology.I am able to see and speak to my dad, and he understands it’s coming from the camera, however, he can not see me. Would be nice if I could find something where he can see me too? But besides that, this camera has been amazing and reliable. To see the smile on my dads face when I speak puts a smile on my face. He told me he feels like God is speaking to him haha. His nurse said said that I can be heard loud and clear as if though right there speaking to him. My dad is hard of hearing, yet has never had a problem hearing me. And his television is usually blasted!There are a couple great features with this camera. When you go on to check the live feed, you can remain mute allowing for a quick easy check and not interfering with anything. Nothing lights up that I am aware to show I am peeking in on the nurse or my dad. The viewing is crisp and clear and a great wide angle to see wherever you want to see that you’ve placed the camera. We put ours in the living room as to he only has a one bedroom apartment. There’s a microphone button you push to unmute so you can speak, whether muted or not, you can hear everything going on there and the volume is crisp and clear incoming as well. This has been very handy when I DoorDash him and I need to tell him to open his door!The 2nd feature I love!! Is the alarm. I ran into an issue where my dad had not locked his door, and a random homeless person entered his home. I pushed the alarm button and it is so incredibly loud, it frightened the person out of his house AND got the neighbors attention (he’s in an apartment) who was over within minutes to make sure everything was okay. When the person left, and I seen the neighbor enter, I stopped the alarm and explained why I had set it off. This was my first time using the alarm, and even on my end it was so loud it startled me haha. It’s a wailing deafening siren alarm. One time I thought he had fallen, and did the alarm and the neighbor came again. He was okay, but to know I have that alarm gives me peace of mind when I can’t be there.All in all, I highly highly recommend this to anyone in a situation as mine. My dad, despite being elderly, uses a walker/wheelchair and has beginning stages of dementia, is stubborn and doesn’t want to live in a home or with me. This camera has made it possible to allow him his independence and I wish I had known about it A LONG TIME AGO! I was scared of being able to figure it out and it was so easy! There’s also a chat where they can help walk you through any questions or concerns. Again.. highly recommended!! We can allow our loved ones to remain at home and it’s almost as though you’re there with this camera. I can work, my dad can be independent and this camera has saved us and kept our situation stress free!!For his privacy, we don’t have the camera angle to where you can see his bedroom or bathroom. We can see his full living room, kitchen and dining room which includes his front door so we know who is entering and when.

Easy peasy. Use to watch the cat when away

Very useful

Updated Review----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------A criminal who had been released from jail on probation because COVID, robbed my garage 2 nights in a row. I got a crisp and clear video, posted to the Ring app, other neighbors checked their video and found the same man on their property, the police were involved immediately and the perp was taken back to jail.From the press release of our local PD:"On 5/11/20, [city] Police Department Patrol responded to a residential burglary that occurred the night before. The victim had left their garage door open and went for a walk around the neighborhood. During that time, from about 8 pm to 8:30 pm, an unknown subject later identified as [nam,e] entered the garage, rummaged through the cars and stole the victim’s mountain bike. While [name] was in the garage, the victim’s family was at home in the house....When the victim realized his bike had been stolen, he checked his Ring Camera video and saw that the suspect had been inside his garage. He posted the video onto the Ring Camera Neighborhood App, warning others in the area.Many community members had seen the video of the suspect and had been in contact with the [city] Police Street Crimes Unit (SCU). SCU and PROS (Post Release Offender Supervision) Detectives along with Patrol officers began looking for the suspect....This was an excellent example of the community working together to put a criminal back into jail....A review of the [city] Superior Court website shows that [name] has prior convictions for stealing a vehicle, robbery, using pepper spray to commit a violent felony, being under the influence of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, and possession of narcotics. [name] is currently on PROS/AB109 and was in custody and had recently been released from jail on May 8th by Probation due to Covid-19 concerns."For a $60 camera, this was a great investment.Original Review----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I had 5 of the Amazon Cloud Cams, purchased about 18 months ago. Amazon then acquired Ring and Blink, and discontinued the Cloud Cams, although they still provide support (for now).I needed two new cameras, so I went with the Ring. Primarily because I heard nothing negative about the security, as opposed to Wyze. However, Ring has some real downsides relative to the Amazon Cloud Cams.1. More latency.I have great WiFi. I have multiple wi-fi mesh routers throughout the house with no dead spots. Still have to wait ~5-7 seconds to connect to live view. Cloud Cams was 3-5 seconds.2. No zoomI could tap and zoom on Cloud Cams. Can't do that with Ring.3. No live view via Web Browser.Apparently you can download an app on Windows 10, but I'm on a Mac and wonder why I can't view the video in a browser. I could go with Cloud Cams.4. I can't see multiple Cameras at once.With Cloud Cam, I could stream audio and video from all five cameras at once over the web. It was great. Having to switch between cameras, one at a time, and having to wait 5-7 seconds per camera, is a big downside.I get that Amazon needed to simplify its product portfolio after their two most recent acquisitions in this space, but it's a shame the Cloud Cam isn't sold anymore. It was a superior product offering in this space.Design, Packaging, Ease of Setup, and from what I can understand, Security is all excellent in Ring, and I have no complaints. The app, in spite of the one camera at a time limitation, is well-designed too.*** UPDATED 3-Jan-2020 ***I found the Rapid Ring app. It works in conjunction with the regular Ring app. Rapid Ring has limited functionality, but it does everything I need. Somehow, it manages to reduce latency to connect to the cameras. When I pull up the Rapid Ring app, I can connect to anyone of my cameras in <1 second. The app will also continuously reconnect to the camera after the 5 minute timeout period, so I can stream a camera indefinitely. I have upgraded my review to 4 stars. If Ring ever develops a generic web interface to view all cameras simultaneously, I will give 5 stars.