Amazon's Ring is launching a flying indoor security camera and a $1,000 patrol robot

Amazon's Ring is betting that some customers want security cameras that move. The company announced two "Ring Robotics" devices on November 10: a small indoor drone for homes and a wheeled robot aimed at businesses.

How they work

Both devices rely on what Amazon calls AI Pilot, which combines the onboard cameras, sensors and vision models with cloud processing to plan routes and steer around obstacles like furniture. During setup, AI Pilot builds a map of the space. For the drone, you carry it through your rooms; the rover explores on its own. Amazon says the system can then identify rooms and suggest patrol points, such as a side door, a window or the cash register in a shop.

Either device can respond automatically when another Ring camera, sensor or alarm sends an alert, flying or rolling to the spot to look.

Ring Drone Cam: $250

• 2K video with a 148-degree field of view and a camera that rotates 360 degrees
• Two LED lights for dark rooms
• About 8 minutes of flight on a fresh, fully charged battery, with a charging dock
• Scheduled patrol routes require a Ring Protect subscription
• Target release of January 27, 2027, but it still needs FCC authorization before it can go on sale

Amazon's product page warns the drone may struggle around reflective surfaces like polished marble or wet tile, featureless matte walls, and glass or mirrors. It's effectively a successor to the Ring Always Home Cam, which Amazon offered by invitation only in 2021 at the same $250 price.

Ring Rover Cam: $1,000

• Pitched as an autonomous security robot for businesses, and available to preorder now, shipping December 16
• Livestreams and records in up to 4K, including 360-degree scans at set locations
• A mast that raises automatically to see over counters and shelves
• Covers up to 5,000 square feet, but on a single indoor floor only, because it can't climb stairs
• A siren, a light tower and two-way audio so you can talk to whoever is near it

The rover can't handle floor transitions taller than 1.375 inches, sunken areas or black glossy floors. Amazon says it grew out of feedback on Astro, its invitation-only home robot.

The privacy question

A camera that can go anywhere in your home raises bigger privacy stakes than one bolted to a wall. Amazon says recording is signaled with LED indicators and on-screen notices, and that video from both devices will be protected with Ring's "Throw Away the Key" encryption, introduced in September 2026.

Ring's track record will make some buyers cautious. In 2023 the Federal Trade Commission accused the company of letting employees and contractors watch customers' private videos and of security so weak that hackers got into roughly 55,000 US customers' accounts. Before buying a roaming camera, it's worth checking which encryption settings you can turn on and who can view the footage.