Ring is putting a flying camera on sale. The Drone Cam, a small indoor drone that takes off when a sensor trips and streams what it finds, ships to customers in the US on 27 January 2027 for $249.99.
It leads a new line called Ring Robotics, alongside the Rover Cam, a $999.99 wheeled patrol robot for businesses that ships on 16 December 2026. Both are for the US only at launch.
According to Amazon’s announcement, you set the drone’s routes and schedule in the Ring app, or send it out on demand. When a Ring camera, sensor or alarm is triggered it flies to patrol points saved in advance. The camera records 2K video with a 148-degree view and can turn through a full circle, two LEDs come on in low light, and the drone can be directed from Amazon’s new Alexa Home Map.
The catch is time in the air. The Verge, which handled the drone at the launch event in New York, was given a flight time of five to eight minutes, with eight minutes on the dock for every minute flown. A five-minute patrol therefore costs about 40 minutes of charging. The demonstration lasted roughly a minute, over a set route in a bare living room, and Ring did not show the stair-climbing or obstacle avoidance it describes. The drone weighs 165 grams.
Navigation comes from a system Ring calls AI Pilot, which maps the space, suggests patrol points and steers around furniture. Much of that work happens in the cloud, which is how Ring got the price under $250 after shelving its earlier Always Home Cam, announced in 2020 and never sold. It also means the drone needs a connection: without Wi-Fi it can only land.
On privacy, the drone sits in its dock powered down with the camera off and starts recording only when a flight is triggered, with an LED showing when it is filming. Footage is protected by a scheme Ring calls Throw Away the Key encryption, in which keys change every five minutes and Ring’s copies are deleted after 24 hours. Scheduled flights and reviewing recordings need a Ring Protect subscription.
The Rover Cam does the same job on wheels. A mast raises its camera over counters and shelves, it records in up to 4K the whole time it is moving, and it carries a siren, a light tower and two-way audio. Amazon says it grew out of requests from owners of its Astro home robot who mostly used it for security.
FCC certification for the drone is still in progress, Ring said at the event.
