Ring Floodlight Pro vs Nest Floodlight: 4 Key Aspects
Naila Syifa
Updated December 2024
Ring and Nest are well-known names in the smart home security camera market and their floodlight camera models are among the top choices for outdoor surveillance. In this article, we'll break down the key differences between the Ring Floodlight Pro and Nest Floodlight across 4 important aspects: design, video quality, smart features, and installation.
Key Takeaways
Ring Floodlight Pro offers advanced monitoring features like Bird's Eye View and Pre-Roll Video, but many essential features are locked behind a subscription paywall. Nest Floodlight is more generous with its free features, offering smart detection, 3-hour video history, and home/away routines without requiring a subscription. However, Nest lacks the siren and color night vision that Ring provides.
Ring Floodlight Cam Pro
Next-Level Security
✓ 1080p HDR with Color Night Vision
✓ Bird’s Eye View
✓ Advanced Pre-Roll
✓ Dual-Band Wi-Fi
Nest Cam with Floodlight
Smart Outdoor Security
✓ 1080p HDR with Night Vision
✓ Person, Animal, Vehicle Detection
✓ 3-Hour Event Video History
✓ 1-Hour Local Backup Storage
Design
Ring Floodlight Pro
Nest Cam with Floodlight, which we'll refer to as Nest Floodlight, is basically a Nest Cam (outdoor) mounted between two powerful LED floodlights. Ring Floodlight Pro has a similar layout with the camera unit in between the two adjustable floodlights, but it is a single, integrated unit rather than a separate camera mounted to a floodlight fixture.
The floodlights of the Nest Cam are brighter, producing 2400 lumens compared to Ring's 2000 lumens. That makes the Nest model slightly better for illuminating larger outdoor areas.
Both floodlights also have different color temperatures. At 3000K, Ring Floodlight Pro produces a warmer, more yellow light compared to Nest's more natural 4000K white light. Ring is the more suitable option if you want a softer ambiance, while Nest provides clearer visibility with its brighter, whiter illumination.
Both models look sleek and modern with weather-resistant construction, but the Ring Floodlight Pro comes in white and black color options while the Nest Floodlight only comes in white. If you want a black security camera to blend in with your home's exterior, Ring is your only option.
Video Quality
Nest Cam with Floodlight
Offering the same 1080p video resolution with HDR, the Ring Floodlight Pro and Nest Floodlight are head-to-head when it comes to video quality.
However, what makes the Ring Floodlight Pro stand out is its color night vision, which provides more vivid color footage in low-light conditions compared to Nest's standard black-and-white night vision.
Both cameras also differ in their coverage area, with Ring providing a 140-degree horizontal field of view while Nest offers a 130-degree diagonal viewing angle. It's not straightforward to compare these directly since they're measured differently, but both models are clearly losing to a competitor like eufy, which offers a full 360-degree field of view with its panning and tilting capabilities.
Read also: Ring Floodlight Pro vs eufy Floodlight S330
Smart Features
Ring Floodlight Pro
While they share basic smart features like live view, two-way talk, motion detection, and app control, Ring and Nest Floodlight each offer unique capabilities that set them apart.
Ring mainly stands out with features that give a better understanding of motion events, including Bird's Eye View and Pre-Roll Video Preview. Bird's Eye View provides an aerial map view of motion events, that is how people moved across your property. Pre-Roll Video Preview shows 6-second footage before the motion event, helping you understand what triggered the camera's motion detection.
Ring Floodlight Pro is also equipped with a built-in 110 dB siren, which can be triggered to deter intruders or unwanted visitors.
Nest Floodlight, on the other hand, stands out with the numerous free features that Ring requires a paid subscription to access. These include home and away routines, smart alerts, and video history.
So, while the home and away feature on the Ring Floodlight Pro requires a Ring Protect subscription, it can be accessed for free with the Nest Floodlight.
While person alerts require a subscription on Ring, Nest Floodlight offers it for free. Nest can even identify animals and vehicles besides just people. If you want to take it further, familiar face detection is also available with the Nest Floodlight, but this time with a subscription.
The last Nest Floodlight's free feature I want to talk about is video history. Nest offers 3 hours of event video history stored in the cloud as well as 1 hour of local backup storage during Wi-Fi and power outages. These are provided for free, but if you need a longer storage duration, the Nest Aware Plus plan gives you access to 60 days of event video history.
Ring Floodlight Pro has a much longer 180 days of cloud storage option, but it requires a subscription and there are no free storage options at all, not even for backup during outages. That means, if you don't subscribe to Ring Protect, you won't be able to see motion clips and will only have access to live viewing. What's the use of a security camera if you can't review what happened when you weren't watching?
Installation
Nest Cam with Floodlight
Both Ring and Nest Floodlight require hardwired installation, but the camera unit on the Nest model is battery-powered, so you may need to recharge it periodically while the floodlights remain hardwired.
Both floodlight cameras support 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Wi-Fi networks, making either option suitable for homes with dual-band routers.
Ring Floodlight Pro vs Nest Floodlight
Final Thoughts
Ring Floodlight Pro
After comparing these two floodlight cameras, it's clear that each has its strengths. Ring Floodlight Pro offers superior color night vision and innovative monitoring features like Bird's Eye View and Pre-Roll Video, but it requires a subscription to access even basic recording capabilities.
Nest Floodlight, on the other hand, provides essential features like a 3-hour event history, backup storage, smart AI detection, and home and away features without a subscription. It also has a smarter AI detection that can distinguish between people, animals, and vehicles right out of the box.
If you're willing to pay a monthly fee for subscription features, Ring Floodlight Pro is an appealing choice. But if you want to save money in the long run, Nest Floodlight offers more value with its generous free features and capabilities.
If you like to read more about Floodlight Cameras, check out our other relevant guides here:
Best Floodlight Cameras
eufy Floodlight E30 vs E340
eufy Floodlight E340 vs S330
Ring Floodlight Pro vs eufy Floodlight S330
Arlo Pro 3 Floodlight vs Ring Floodlight Pro
Ring Spotlight Cam Pro vs Floodlight Cam Pro
Ring Spotlight Pro vs Nest Floodlight
Author
Naila Syifa
Content Manager at Synced. She crafts insightful content on the latest trends in technology, consumer electronics, and smart home gadgets.
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