I never accept a product for review with the assumption that I will not be able to use it. although we have doubts about the ring and their association with law enforcement, I have generally found their products to be Easy to use and they serve their intended purpose, which is to help keep you and your family safer.
With that in mind, let me say that Ring’s Car Cam falls short of its intended purpose as a dash cam. Cars are ridiculously expensive pieces of property that we leave outside, unattended. I’d love to have stored video footage of a hit-and-run that put my car out of commission for a month last year, or to have received an alert when someone broke into my car at night while it was parked in my driveway.
Unfortunately, Car Cam just doesn’t work that way. The first day I installed it, the Ring app told me that the camera had drained my car battery. I flew downstairs in my pajamas and immediately switched it off. A camera that doesn’t help keep your car safe and also makes it unusable not worth having at all.
easy rider
Photography: Ring
But first, the installation. The Car Cam itself feels relatively sturdy: It has two cameras, one front and one rear, mounted on a curved wedge that sits in the gap between the dash and the windshield. One of the main reasons Ring cameras are so ubiquitous is that installation can be so easy. The first indication that all was not well here was when the company asked me for the make, model and year of my car.
The Car Cam plugs into the OBD-II port on the left side of your vehicle, so if your car doesn’t have the port there, you may not be able to use it. You can check the list of incompatible cars here. Incompatibilities may not always be obvious. For example, I have a 2018 Kia Sorento, but the Kia Niro and Cadenza in the same date range are incompatible because a security light causes false motion events.
Second, it is, and I’m sorry, cops, illegal for me to use the Car Cam. In Oregon, where I live, and in fact in several states, you are not allowed to put anything on the windshield or other windows that could obstruct your view or prevent other people from seeing inside. I installed it anyway, but if I had been pulled over, I would have sent WIRED an expense report for my ticket.
So let’s say you still decide to use it. In the box, Ring includes the tools to push it into the barely noticeable crack between the windshield and the dash. I checked the reviews online before doing this, apparently some people they have broken their windshields in the process.
The process was bewildering. The USB port is on the right side of the camera, but Ring specifically states that the camera should be used in cars with the OBD-II port on the left side. Why is the USB port on the wrong side? You have no choice but to twist the cable when you are passing it. Can see the little kink under your windshield, and makes it easier for the cable to slip out and come loose.