****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
This motion detector helps start my camera to record sooner than normal to record the motion whatever it might be.The whole “Ring Lighting” system is pretty bad, if you want independent or custom lighting control. These particular components are no different then the rest of Ring’s “ecosystem”. The are compatible with all Ring lighting, and ring systems of course. But like other Ring components, they don’t work like you’d want them to.These are motion sensors. They have 1 job, but they can’t do that 1 job reliably. Basically, you set it up and you’ll realize one or 2 things, A: It’s not sensitive enough, or B: it’s too sensitive. So you adjust the “customizable” sensitivity, and what happens? Instead of it working like you’d imagine, it just goes the opposite way.I’m actually writing this review, because 8+ months later, I just walked out into the dark, because the sensor isn’t working. I walked back inside, and viola! It worked as intended. It’s a 50/50 in my opinion.But the bottom line is that Amazon has you by the…, ya know, because you can’t use 3rd party components with their system. So ya. ?I doubt Ring would endorse my statement that the Ring Smart Lighting Motion Sensor can survive a 12 foot drop but in my experience they can! Keep reading for how to best use these very versatile sensors and how NOT to use them! And Ring if you're listening, I'll change my review rating from three stars to five stars once you address my "Linked Device" concerns.The basics: These sensors use "passive infrared" or "PIR" to detect motion. They do not use the super-smart camera image motion detection you get with Ring's non-battery security cams. According to Ring's own documentation, which I confirmed with testing, PIR sensors have some important limits. If the sensor is pointing at bushes, trees, grasses, or other things that sway in the wind, it will trigger. If the sensor is pointing towards a spot that has quickly changing light (such shadow and light changes from partly cloudy day), it will trigger with the light changes. Lastly, if the sensor itself is exposed to sunlight, clouds passing by will change the light and cause it to trigger.Got it? So: (1) Don't point the sensor at trees, bushes or grasses that move. (2) Try not to point it at a spot where there are lots of changes in sunlight. (3) Try to not to mount it where it gets direct sunlight. Once you get past that, the possibilities are quite good! Ideal uses are: A stairwell or hallway that you wish to monitor. A desk drawer, cabinet or room you wish to monitor. Any place that will not see movement from the wind and lots of light changes is ideal for these little sensors. Height matters too: If you want to pick up rats and mice, mount it near the ground. If you want to pick up people only, mount it higher up.I use them in places like my front and back doors where I link them to my Ring Solar Pathlights and Steplights. The moment you step out through the front or back door, the lights go off and I get an alert. The liquor cabinet is secure from teenage curiosity by one of these motion sensors. I know when my dogs are ready to come back in from the back yard. And I have the piece of mind of always knowing when a person approaches either door. Depending on timing, these can be really nice because there are certain times of the day (mostly night) when certain sensors should not EVER trigger. They really do extend your ring of security.My review will change from 3 to 5 once Ring makes a couple of key changes to the Ring app:Under "Linked Devices" you can link these sensors to trigger lights. That's great! If you choose to trigger the lights, you get the option to schedule when the link will trigger. That's nice BUT WE NEED A DUSK-TO-DAWN feature so we don't have to constantly change the schedule as the seasons change. Ring should add a light sensitivity slider to any dusk-to-dawn option, identical to the "Light Settings" page where there is the "Light Sensor" and the "Light Sensor Threshold" option. Under "Linked Devices" you can also trigger camera recording events. Unlike linking to lights, there is no schedule option to schedule recording event triggers. WE NEED A SCHEDULE OPTION AND A DUSK-TO-DAWN feature just like the "Light Sensor" and the "Light Sensor Threshold" options under "Light Settings". With these updates, PIR sensor devices can be limited to night time linking which is when the PIR sensor works best in most cases.I purchased this to work in conjunction with a battery powered Ring solar floodlight, both of which are mounted to trees halfway down my driveway.I was worried that the sensor would not be able to serve my needs due to the distance of its placement from the bridge and also its being powered by only 3 AAA batteries.After more than a month of daily heavy use with all settings on the most power demanding option, I can report that the batteries (rechargeables) are reading 54%, the connection strength to the Ring bridge is "fair", and that the floodlight activates very quickly after motion is detected.Additionally, the senor detects motion of the type and distance that I would expect without giving me too many unnecessary alerts. Vehicles and people are detected at approximately 15 yards but it is not triggered by leaves falling etc. This product is highly recommended and may resolve any detection issues you may be having with another Ring product.I have included a screenshot from the satellite view of my property which is in a rural and heavily wooded area. The "o" denotes the location of the bridge with each "x" being the floodlight and sensor, the latter of which is farthest from the bridge.One of these died by the time I had it for 9 months. The motion detection is not always reliable. It has missed actual activity in my yard, and at other times it has gone off because the shadows from the sun were too strong. Go figure.Motion detection seems a little inconsistent.So…I purchased this for my driveway. Our ring camera picks up the entire driveway but for some reason doesn’t activate for about 30% of it.So this little device tells the camera to record when it senses motion.Typically with devices like this I expect 6months of battery life. I’ve gotten 3 out of this one.Use it to alert us when someone comes up our driveway. Some days it works as intended. Other days, it goes off when no one is there or doesn’t bother going off at all when you drive right past it. Has a mind of its own.Works perfect! just what I needed in the backYard.
