Ring Floodlight Cam 4K Pro (newest model), Wired, Retinal 4K with wide-angle video, 10x Enhanced Zoom, and 2000 Lumen Floodlights, White

Why it's worth it

The Floodlight Cam Pro is a hardwired floodlight and a 4K camera in one housing, with depth-aware motion zones that keep the alerts meaningful. It's the most complete package here if you already have a wired fixture to replace and you don't mind paying monthly to keep footage.

The video quality is the whole reason to spend this much. Ring's Retinal 4K sensor with 10x Enhanced Zoom is built for the details that matter after something happens — a plate at the end of the driveway, a face under a hood. Older cameras hand you a blurry shape and a shrug. This one gives you something you can actually show a police officer, assuming your internet keeps up.

3D Motion Detection cuts down the alerts you don't want. Rather than one flat heat-sensing zone, it maps distance across your property, so you can tell it to ignore the sidewalk and watch the driveway. If you live on a street with traffic, that's the difference between useful alerts and a phone that buzzes all night. Owners of older PIR-only floodlight cameras complain about exactly this.

From our review of 11 outdoor motion sensor lights, by David Sinclair, Managing Editor

What we like

• +The video quality is the whole reason to spend this much
• +3D Motion Detection cuts down the alerts you don't want
• +Two thousand lumens covers a standard two-car driveway evenly
• +It plays well with everything else in the Ring and Alexa world

What to know

• –You have to hardwire it, and there's no battery backup
• –The recording history lives behind a subscription
• –4K asks a lot of your network