Ring Drone Cam costs $250 and Rover Cam costs $1,000 in US launch
Amazon’s Ring unveiled two new security devices on Tuesday (10): the Ring Drone Cam, an indoor flying camera priced at $250, and the Ring Rover Cam, a patrol robot for businesses priced at $1,000.
The drone flies from room to room, including upstairs, and records during the day and at night. It launches when an alarm or a sensor on windows, doors or other security devices is triggered, and the user can also send it out at any time.
At a demonstration in New York on Monday (9), Jamie Siminoff spoke about the drone’s use as a home monitoring tool and as a crime deterrent, which the company attributes to its built-in LED lights. “If someone is going around your house at night, and your motion detector goes off on your Ring doorbell, imagine if you see spotlights and something flying across the window,” Siminoff said. “You’re probably not going to go into that house.”
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No independent evidence confirms that the drone reduces crime. Ring presents the noise and the lights as elements of deterrence, and the company’s claim has not been tested by outside research.
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Ring Drone Cam: flight limits and privacy mode
Reports differ on how long the drone stays in the air. One report says it flies up to eight minutes at a time before returning to its charging dock on its own. Another estimate puts the flight time at about five to eight minutes.
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The drone has two plastic-encased propellers that make a loud buzz when it is airborne. Ring says privacy is the default mode for both devices, and an LED light turns on whenever they record.
Siminoff said the drone cannot fly outside under rules from the Federal Aviation Administration, which restrict drone flights beyond a pilot’s line of sight. “We have told our customers not to do that because it’s illegal,” he said. “We’ve also put guardrails in there to make it so it doesn’t fly outside.”
Ring Rover Cam: an Astro robot repurposed for offices and warehouses
The Rover Cam was built from Amazon‘s Astro home robot, which was released in 2021, had a short life as a business device and has received few upgrades since then. Ring said it “leveraged the best of Astro” to build the new product, which it describes as a “purpose-built security robot” for companies that want to patrol offices, warehouses and other workspaces.
Like the Astro, the Rover Cam has a display mounted on a two-wheeled base, with an extendable periscope camera. Siminoff said in an interview that both devices let users monitor several areas of a home or business with one device. “People like indoor cameras, but they don’t necessarily want them everywhere around their home,” he said.
- Price: $1,000
- Resolution: up to 4K, according to Ring
- Coverage: up to 5,000 square feet, according to Ring
- Features: built-in siren, two-way audio, extendable periscope camera and a light tower that shines onto the ceiling
Ring Robotics and the AI Pilot system
Ring presents both devices as part of a new division called Ring Robotics. The division uses the AI Pilot system to map spaces and avoid obstacles. The company’s move comes as Ring devices give Amazon another way to grow in the smart home market, beyond its Echo speakers and Eero routers. Grand View Research estimates that this market will top $200 billion in sales this year, according to CNBC, a figure that also makes the category attractive to Amazon rivals Apple and Google.
Ring Drone Cam: FCC approval and shipping dates
The Ring Drone Cam cannot be sold until the Federal Communications Commission, the US regulator for communications equipment, authorizes it. The company said the Rover Cam will begin shipping to users first, while the drone’s shipping depends on that approval.
- December 16, 2026: planned start of Ring Rover Cam shipments to customers in the US
- January 27, 2027: planned start of Ring Drone Cam shipments in the US, pending FCC approval
The source material does not confirm prices in reais, release dates or availability in Brazil. The prices and dates above refer to the US launch.
Privacy criticism follows Ring’s police partnerships
Ring, which Amazon acquired in 2018 and is known for its doorbells, has faced privacy concerns, mainly because of its partnerships with police. Earlier this year, the company faced renewed scrutiny over a Super Bowl ad for an AI pet-finding tool called “Search Party.” It then canceled an integration with the police technology provider Flock Safety, which has also faced criticism over its automated license plate readers.
Ring first previewed the drone in 2020, under the name Always Home Cam. Siminoff said the company delayed the launch until Amazon could perfect the design, sensors and data processing. In a quote attributed to him by Fox Business, he said: “The honest answer wasn’t more cameras; it meant reimagining what a security device could be.”
The company’s privacy and police-partnership debate is still open. The FCC decision on the Ring Drone Cam has not yet been made, and the shipping date for that device depends on it.
