Ring launches $249.99 indoor drone and $999.99 patrol robot

By Sophie Lindqvist

Amazon’s Ring launched two security robots on Tuesday: a $249.99 indoor drone camera and a $999.99 wheeled rover for businesses.

What can customers buy, and when?

The Drone Cam carries a stated U.S. shipping date of Jan. 27, 2027, but Amazon says it has not received the authorization required by FCC rules. Ring cannot sell or lease the drone until clearance arrives. The Rover Cam is on preorder, with shipments scheduled for Dec. 16.

Both products use AI Pilot to map a home or office on their own. Customers need a compatible Ring Protect plan for scheduling and video review.

How does the drone patrol?

The Drone Cam sits in a dock with its camera off and starts recording only when a flight begins. Owners can set custom routes, schedule patrols or launch it on demand.

A Ring camera, sensor or alarm can trigger the drone to fly on its own to preset patrol points. The camera records 2K video across a 148-degree field of view. Two LEDs illuminate low-light scenes, and Alexa Home Map can steer the drone.

Engadget reported a weight of 165 grams and flight time of about 8 to 10 minutes, while CNBC gave the upper limit as eight minutes per trip. The drone lands in or returns to its dock when its battery runs low or its Wi-Fi connection drops.

Siminoff told customers not to fly it outdoors and said guardrails prevent that. Ring also says the propellers are not quiet, which the company treats as a deterrent.

Ring founder Jamie Siminoff said customers had wanted “eyes in the places a fixed camera couldn’t reach.” He also argued that a burglar would likely turn away after a nighttime doorbell alert revealed spotlights and a drone crossing the window.

Ring first showed the drone in September 2020 as the Always Home Cam. It priced that model at $249 and promised delivery in 2021. Siminoff acknowledged that earlier versions “just didn’t work well enough,” without providing reliability figures for the new product.

How does the rover patrol, and why does it exist?

The Rover Cam has two wheels and targets warehouses plus small and medium businesses. It streams and records up to 4K video while patrolling. A periscope camera rises above counters and shelving, and the rover performs a 360-degree scan at each patrol point.

While docked, the Rover Cam continues watching for people. It carries a siren, two-way audio and a light tower that projects a ring on the ceiling. Sleep Mode retracts the periscope and switches off the microphone.

Ring says the concept grew from feedback from owners of Amazon’s Astro, who valued its roving security feature most. The company used Astro to build a dedicated security robot rather than a home robot with a security add-on.

CNBC reported that Astro launched as a home robot in 2021, Engadget reported that Amazon discontinued its $2,350 business version in 2024, and TechCrunch placed that shutdown about seven months after the business repositioning.

What does AI Pilot do, and what privacy caveats remain?\n

Ring describes AI Pilot as a custom system that combines cameras, specialized vision models, on-device sensors and cloud processing to map a home or office into a floor plan. It labels rooms, suggests patrol points and routes around obstacles in real time.

Engadget reported that the drone depends mostly on Wi-Fi and runs navigation in the cloud rather than on the device.

Ring calls its Throw Away the Key encryption, or TAKE, its strongest default encryption for video from both products. Both devices show LED indicators when active. Ring requires a compatible Ring Protect plan for scheduling and video review.

Ring’s police partnerships have drawn years of criticism, according to CNBC. CNBC also reported that Ring canceled an integration with license-plate-reader maker Flock Safety this year, after renewed scrutiny triggered by a Super Bowl ad for its AI pet-finding tool Search Party.

What does the launch mean for buyers?

Ring’s immediate commercial test is whether FCC clearance arrives before the stated Jan. 27, 2027 U.S. date, because until then the $249.99 Drone Cam has a price and a schedule rather than permission to sell. The $999.99 Rover Cam reaches businesses first, with its commercial case tied to owner feedback from the discontinued $2,350 Astro.