The Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Pro impressed us in 2017 with its sharp image quality and ability to work with other smart devices, but at the time the companion app was a bit buggy. With the Floodlight Cam Wired Pro ($249.99), the app is no longer a hindrance, and Ring has expanded the camera with welcome features like HDR video, dual-band Wi-Fi, 3D motion detection, and a bird's-eye view of motion events. The $199.99 Arlo Pro 4 Spotlight Camera remains our Editors' Choice winner thanks to even sharper 2K video and greater third-party compatibility, though the Ring is a good alternative if you want to light up your entire yard.

Weatherproof housing with dual-band Wi-Fi

Available in a black or white finish, the IP65 weatherproof Floodlight Cam Wired Pro measures 7.7 by 12.8 by 8.5 inches (HWD). It uses two adjustable LED lamps that each emit 2,000 lumens and have a color temperature of 3,000 K. For comparison, the lights on the Eufy Floodlight Camera each have a brightness of 2,500 lumens, while the lights on the Arlo Pro 3 Floodlight Camera each reach 3,000 lumens. Regardless, the Cam Wired Pro's lights were bright enough to illuminate my backyard during testing. The Arlo Pro 4 Spotlight, meanwhile, is aptly named because it shines a spotlight on anything moving on your property, but it won't illuminate the entire area like a spotlight does. The camera housing sits just below and between the two lights. It houses a 1080p HDR sensor with a 140-degree horizontal field of view; a speaker and microphone; a 110 dB siren; and six infrared LEDs for black and white night vision. When the spotlights are on, the camera can also provide color night vision. It uses a dual-band Wi-Fi radio to connect to your home network. The camera communicates with other Ring devices, supports Alexa voice commands, and connects to many third-party smart home devices via IFTTT. That said, it doesn't support Apple's HomeKit platform or Google Assistant.

The Floodlight Cam Pro uses the same 3D motion radar technology that Ring first introduced with its Video Doorbell Pro 2. In short, the 3D motion detection feature lets you create custom motion zones with distance thresholds. When the sensor detects an object, it measures the distance between the object and the camera and sends an alert if that distance exceeds the threshold. This technology also takes advantage of Ring's Bird's Eye View feature, which allows you to see where visitors to your home went while on your property. These events appear as dots on an aerial map, showing the visitor's path. As with any other Ring camera, the Pro 2 requires a Ring Protect subscription to view recorded video and access some of these more advanced features. The Basic plan gives you 60 days of continuous storage for one camera and costs $3 per month or $30 per year. The Plus Plan costs $10 per month or $100 per year and offers 60 days of storage for all your Ring cameras.

App Settings

The Floodlight Cam Wired Pro uses the same mobile app (available for Android and iOS) as any other Ring device. The app opens to a dashboard screen showing all your Ring products; This section also shows shortcuts for Neighbors (the community app that lets you share photos and videos of recorded events), History (a list of event-triggered videos that you can view by tapping them), and more. Touch the Edit panel to add or remove shortcuts. To view a live video feed from your camera, tap the Floodlight Cam Pro panel and then tap the "Go Live" arrow. Just below the video panel, the app displays the time of day, an End Live button that ends the stream, a microphone button, and a speaker mute button. To view the video in full screen, press the square icon in the lower right corner. Once the live stream ends, a timeline of motion events will appear below the video panel. Easily scroll through the timeline to find and view event clips; the Bird's Eye View feed appears in the upper left corner. Tap the gear icon in the top right corner of the screen to access the settings menus. Here you can turn the lights on and off, sound the siren and enable motion detection or motion alerts. A motion alert button lets you play a recording through the camera's speakers to alert anyone (or anyone) that it's being recorded. Additional tiles provide access to specific categories of settings. For example, mode settings allow you to enable geofencing and configure Home, Away, and Disarmed status. Motion settings let you configure motion sensitivity, enable 3D motion and smart alerts, and set motion alert schedules. Go to the Device section to adjust light settings (such as brightness and motion zones), enable color night vision, set the default video recording duration, and configure notifications. Other settings let you connect the floodlight to other Ring devices, configure network settings, and update the firmware.

Standard installation and solid video quality

To install the Floodlight Cam Wired Pro, you'll first need to download the Ring app and create an account. The installation process is relatively simple, but requires working with high-voltage electrical wiring. If you are not comfortable with it, you should hire a professional to install it. I got started by tapping the three-bar icon in the top left corner of the app's dashboard and then selecting Set up a device. I then selected the Security Cameras tab, scanned the QR code on the bottom of the box and gave the camera a name. At this point you can review the installation instructions or skip them if you have already installed the device. Before removing my existing floodlight fixture, I turned off the circuit breaker. Once the old fixture was removed, I installed the metal ring mounting bracket on the junction box and attached the plastic mounting plate to the metal plate. I used the included fabric strap to hang the unit from the mounting plate and the wire nuts (also included) to connect the camera wires to the wires in the junction box. I slid the fixture onto the plastic plate, secured it with the supplied cap nuts, and restored power to the circuit. After the LED started blinking, I followed the instructions to connect the fixture to the Ring app and my Wi-Fi network. The app immediately connected to my network as soon as I entered my Wi-Fi password, and the camera immediately appeared in the app and my Alexa device list. During the installation process, the app also installed a firmware update for the device.

The Floodlight Cam Wired Pro delivered sharp 1080p video with excellent contrast, rich colors and fine image detail during testing. I didn't notice any obvious barrel or pincushion distortion, and the wide viewing angle covered most of my backyard. Black-and-white night video looked sharp and well-lit, as did color night video, but as expected, colors in the latter mode weren't as vibrant as those during daytime shooting. The two LED lights were more than bright enough to illuminate my backyard. Both the 3D motion detection function and the Bird's Eye View sky map worked flawlessly. When I enabled the Smart Alerts setting, the camera correctly identified motion caused by human movement and ignored everything else. I also created an Alexa routine to have the camera activate a U-tec Ultraloq U-Bolt Pro smart lock when it detects motion, and the lock always fails. Additionally, the Floodlight Cam Pro responded quickly to Alexa voice commands to stream video to an Amazon Echo Show.

A Topflight Floodlight Camera

We're excited about many aspects of the Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Pro: the HDR camera delivers excellent video quality, while both the 3D motion detection and Bird's Eye View features work flawlessly. The light may not be as bright as some competitors and the camera doesn't work with Google Assistant or HomeKit, but it was still bright enough to light up my backyard during testing and you do get Alexa and IFTTT support. Ultimately, the Arlo Pro 4 Spotlight delivers more functionality for a lower price, earning it our Editors' Choice award, although it won't light up your entire yard.…