Ring Stick Up Cam vs Nest Cam Outdoor: Pros & Cons and Verdict

Today, lots of companies manufacture security cameras and claim that their products are top-notch, durable and reliable devices. Sadly, we can’t trust all those statements since the majority of those brands advertise poorly-built products that are disappointing.

On the bright side, Nest and Ring are two reliable smart home brands that are well-known for being reliable. Nest and Ring have released several best-selling devices that are highly-trusted products on the market.

Two notable creations of these manufacturers are Ring Stick Up Cam and Nest Cam Outdoor. Let’s find out how these two compare and which one takes the top spot.

Ring Stick Up Cam vs Nest Cam Outdoor: Pros & Cons and Verdict

Ring Stick Up Cam and Nest Cam Outdoor are best-selling, highly-rated and reliable security cameras that have thousands of satisfied customers. In this comparison article, we’ll review, compare, evaluate and rate the most important aspects of both devices.

We’ll also present detailed charts, and lastly, we’ll come up with a reasonable verdict and crown one of these two as the leading product.

1. Installation Process

The first topic we need to write about is the installation process for these security cameras. Today, people don’t buy devices that take hours to activate. People love purchasing DIY products with simple setup processes.

So it’s important to know if Nest Cam and Ring Stick Up Cam are easy to activate. If they require professional assistance or hours of reading and surfing the web to complete a simple task like this, people won’t be purchasing Nest or Ring.

Ring Stick Up Cam

Ring is a DIY security camera that is easy to activate. I won’t write a step-by-step guide since Ring has uploaded an excellent video that perfectly explains the installation process.

The setup process of Ring Stick Up Cam is so simple that there’s no chance of messing up. If you somehow get lost during the installation, kindly check the user manual included in the security camera package. As a last resort, reach out to Ring’s support team. Those guys are superb and always provide professional answers and tips.

Nest Cam Outdoor

Nest Cam is another DIY security camera that is quite easy to install. Since Nest Outdoor requires a power source to function, it might take a bit longer to set up this device. Luckily, Nest has uploaded a fantastic video that’ll guide you through the whole process.

So setting up Nest Cam Outdoor might take around 10-20 minutes. If you follow the instructions from the video, you’ll have zero trouble activating your security camera. In case you find it hard to complete the setup process, Nest’s package includes a well-written user manual that perfectly explains everything in detail.

Alternatively, you can reach out to Nest’s support team. The customer care area of Nest is superb, and they’ll help you solve any issues you might be facing.

2. Design

Another topic we need to write about is the design of Nest Cam Outdoor and Ring Stick Up Cam. Today, people mostly shop for products that are both functional and visually attractive. Everyone tries to purchase smart home devices that improve the overall looks of their houses.

So it’s crucial for Nest and Ring to have beautiful designs. Otherwise, people will look for products that are more eye-catching.

Ring Stick Up Cam

Ring Stick Up Cam is a well-built, eye-pleasing security camera that is one of the most beautiful products on the market. Visually, Ring doesn’t look like a traditional security camera. They wanted to maintain the original look of the Ring Doorbell and focused on making all of their products visually similar.

I’ve talked with a lot of Ring Stick Up Cam owners and saw how the security camera is mounted. The dimensions of Ring are 2.43 x 1.45 x 4.98 inches, and it weighs 9.1 ounces.

Nest Cam Outdoor

Nest Cam Outdoor is the most beautifully-designed security camera. Nest looks more like a high-end spotlight rather than a traditional security camera. Compared to its competitors, Nest Cam Outdoor easily takes the top spot regarding visual appearance.

The dimensions of Nest Cam Outdoor are 3.5 x 2.8 x 2.8 inches, and it weighs 0.7 pounds. I own the Nest Cam, and it perfectly blends with the outdoor environment. The white colour and the shiny design make the security camera exceptionally beautiful and eye-pleasing.

3. Features

Generally, in order to find out what a security camera is capable of, it’s essential to know its features. Otherwise, we can’t know what to expect from a particular device.

So we need to know what features these devices offer and if there are any meaningful differences between Ring and Nest Cam. It can be confusing for customers if they buy a device without knowing its exact capabilities.

So, to avoid any uncertainty, we’ve created a detailed chart that shows the features of both security cameras.

RING STICK UP CAM	NEST CAM OUTDOOR
Rechargeable Batteries	24/7 Video On Demand
Two-way Audio	Alerts and Snapshots
FREE 30-day Cloud Storage	Nest Aware
720p HD Video	1080p HD Video
Motion Alerts	Rain or Shine
Activity Zones	FREE Cloud Storage
Web Application	Talk & Listen
Live Streaming	Night-Vision
Night-Vision	Sightline

So both security cameras have excellent features. Nest and Ring are top-notch products with incredible features and capabilities. Judging from the chart, these two are quite similar, but there’s a significant difference regarding performance.

While Ring offers similar features to Nest, it’s not a standalone security camera we’d rely on. It lacks crucial elements that make a security camera powerful and durable.

4. Performance

Knowing the performance capabilities is the most critical aspect of our comparison article. The main reason why people purchase security cameras is for their performance capabilities. If Nest and Ring can’t perform at an acceptable level, there’s no incentive for us to invest in such products.

Ring Stick Up Cam

The primary concept behind Ring Stick Up Cam was to complement your Ring video doorbell and cover additional ground. In other words, Ring Cam was never meant to operate as a standalone security camera.

Since Ring Cam offers exciting features and can easily compete with other top-notch security cameras, you might wonder why it can’t function as a standalone camera.

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First of all, Ring Stick Up Cam fails on several key DIY security camera aspects. Every high-rated and best-selling security camera offers a free cloud storage with the option of upgrading to a better one.

Well, Ring doesn’t offer anything similar, and we have no choice but to subscribe to their cloud storage. Some (literally, everyone) don’t like the idea of paying for something they could’ve got for free. So Ring Stick Up Cam might not be a good fit for the majority of buyers (if you already own other Ring products, it can be a great buy though).

Ring charges every customer $3 per month or $30 per year for its event-based cloud service. While $30/yearly won’t break the bank, it’s still unpleasant that a company this big doesn’t offer a free cloud storage plan.

As for the recording capabilities of Ring Stick Up Cam, take a look at the picture below taken from the live feed of the security camera.

Surprisingly, Ring only offers an 80-degree field of view, which was unexpected. If people have trouble monitoring the outdoor activity with other security cameras, imagine the hassle you’ll have with Ring Stick Up Cam.

The 720p camera of Ring Stick Up Cam is quite good. As you see in the picture above, it’s clean, clear and the quality is acceptable. Ring announced that the quality of the live feed depends on the Wi-Fi signal. While doing tests, the mobile app of Ring showed the signal as ‘very good’, but the 720p camera seemed like a 640×480 VGA SD feed.

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The night-vision of Ring Cam isn’t good. We’ve seen other security cameras record in much higher quality. If someone comes by, you might have trouble figuring out who is standing there. If someone tried to break in, they’d probably be able to so unobserved by the camera since Ring’s field of view is quite narrow.

The two-way audio of Ring was another disaster. We couldn’t hear what our guests were saying, but they informed us later they clearly heard our voice. 

The third-party integrations of Ring are quite good. It integrates with other Ring devices and famous smart home companies like IFTTT and SmartThings (not as a direct integration though).

Nest Cam Outdoor

Nest Cam Outdoor is quite similar to the Indoor model. Nest wanted to create something new, to offer a functional device for those looking for outdoor monitoring improvements.

So they wrapped the Indoor model with a weather friendly finish and started offering a DIY security camera for outdoor usage. Nest Cam has turned out to be a huge success, and it’s a best-selling security camera with one of the highest ratings.

The 1080p HD camera of Nest Cam is outstanding. It captures flawless vids and pics. To give you a brief understanding of what the capabilities of the security camera are, take a look at this:

Unlike the majority of its competitors, Nest Cam records for 24 hours a day. If you purchase the Nest Aware subscription, it unlocks several exciting features that make the security camera smarter and more capable. With Nest Aware, the motion detection system of Nest Cam becomes better; you’ll have access to activity zones and the ability to create, save and download recorded footages.

Without the Nest Aware, Nest Cam isn’t that powerful. You only get access to basic motion alerts, live stream and recorded clips (that are viewable for 3 hours). Plus, there’s no local storage and Nest doesn’t allow extracting recorded activity so there’s no chance of saving them on a different drive.

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Nest Aware is a bit expensive, and there are several plans for you to choose from. If you own several Nest devices, prices increase since additional cameras require their own ‘video history’ plans.

The motion detection system of Nest Cam is superb. If you’re interested in how to set the motion zones, we’ve included a picture taken from the web app that’ll help you understand how it works.

If you don’t plan on using the web app frequently, don’t worry, motion zones can be set from the mobile application too. In short, if you want to have the best outdoor security camera with enhanced sensing abilities that has the power to differentiate human activity from, for example, animals, Nest Cam is the way to go.

But purchasing the Nest Aware subscription might be inevitable since it’s the only way to unleash the full capabilities of the security camera.

5. Mobile Application

It’s essential for popular smart home products to have functional mobile applications. Today, we use those apps to control, navigate and monitor our smart devices. If Nest and Ring don’t have easy to use mobile apps, the user experience will be low, and people might start looking for alternative security cameras.

Ring Stick Up Cam

Ring Cam uses the well-known Ring’s application, and you don’t need to download any additional apps to control your security camera. Ring’s mobile app is terrific and free of bugs. It works flawlessly, and I’ve rarely heard people complaining about it glitching, freezing or crashing.

Below, I’ll drop a few pictures that show the insights of the app. It’ll help you understand the simplicity of the program. There’s no chance of not finding what you came looking. It’s one of the most intuitive apps we’ve ever seen.

So we have a dashboard with all the triggers, activities and notifications. If you click your security camera, a whole bunch of features will deploy. You can check the recent activity, change motion settings, monitor your device’s health and configure motion zones.

If you think that Ring is sending a lot of false alerts, try adjusting the motion zones so it can focus on areas that are more relevant. 

Notifications are sent directly to your smartphone. Alternatively, if you purchase the Ring Chime, you can receive alerts there too.

Nest Cam Outdoor

Nest Cam’s mobile application is the same as other Nest products use. It’s reliable, clean, functional and easy to use. It’s well-known as being the most intuitive mobile application in the smart home industry.

The homepage of Nest’s mobile app shows all the connected Nest devices. The features of Nest allow accessing the live feed, setting motion zones, reviewing recorded footages, adjusting sensitivity levels and talking directly to your visitors (Talk & Listen). The main drawback of the ‘Talk and Listen’ feature is that you can’t use the microphone and the speaker at the same time.

The volume of the speaker isn’t adjustable, and the intruder might have a hard time hearing your warnings. 

The mobile application has a few exciting features called:

• Home/Away Assist – It’s similar to geofencing. You allow the security camera to track your smartphone’s location so that it knows when to arm or disarm.
• Night-Vision – There’s a button for activating or deactivating the night vision.
• Quality Settings – There might be cases when the mobile app lags while loading the live feed. That’s the most persistent and wide-spread application bug that isn’t solved yet. If you encounter it, the recording quality is being faulty. So make sure to go lower than 1080p. For example, 720p will make the app work faster.
• Scheduler – There’s also an on/off scheduler feature.

What I don’t like about Nest Cam is that you don’t get notifications when activity is detected. As the company explained, it’s a way to protect users from false alerts since they’ve had cases when people started ignoring warnings after receiving a bunch of false ones.

Sightline is the newest algorithm that determines which activities are important and which aren’t. It’s somewhat creepy that you have to rely on an algorithm, but it works nice and mostly gets everything right.

Pairing Nest Aware with Sightline is a neat idea since you get access to new features like:

• Time-lapse videos of events
• Images of important moments
• Activity Zones

Nest has also introduced ‘Person Alerts’, but it doesn’t work as supposed. We hope that it’ll improve in the coming months.

6. Advantages and Disadvantages

What we need to write about now is the advantages and disadvantages of these security cameras. To avoid any misunderstandings before purchasing either of these two, we need to know the pros and cons of Nest and Ring.

Ring Stick Up Cam

PROS	CONS
Motion Zones	Cloud Storage Subscription Required
720p HD Video	80-degree Field of View
Rechargeable Batteries	Weak Two-Way Audio
Flexible Mobile Application	Weak Camera Capabilities
Two-Way Audio
Motion Detection
Mobile Notifications
Live Stream
Night-Vision
Easy to Install	Purchase Ring Cam

Nest Cam Outdoor

PROS	CONS
Motion Zones	Largely Depends on Nest Aware
1080p HD Video	Expensive Nest Aware Subscription
FREE Cloud Storage	Can’t Use Microphone & Speaker Together
Flexible Mobile Application
Two-Way Audio
Motion Detection
Mobile Notifications
Live Stream
Night-Vision
Easy to Install	Purchase Nest Cam

So both security cameras have interesting pros and a few cons. As a whole, both devices can meet your expectations since Ring and Nest are top-notch products with huge potential.

7. Support

Nest and Ring have outstanding support teams, and that’s important for a company working in the smart home industry. People often get lost during specific processes and can’t find answers on their own.

So if a company has a weak customer care area, it’ll be a serious disappointment.

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Luckily, both Nest and Ring are well-known for their excellent customer services. I’ve reached out to both and always received professional answers and tips.