Lorex makes a lot of great outdoor security cameras, and among them, the Lorex 4K Nocturnal Smart IP Camera is one of the best. As the name implies, the Nocturnal camera works great at night. It has a night vision range of up to 90 feet in total darkness, and when aided by ambient lighting, it can see as far away as 130 feet. That’s impressive and particularly great for an outdoor camera.
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This camera also had the highest resolution on our list. It captured videos in 4K HD at 30 frames per second. For outdoor cameras, details are everything, so we loved that we could zoom in the image and still get a clear picture. We knew that in case of a break-in, we could use the camera’s footage as evidence to gather information about the perp.
As an IP camera, the Lorex 4K Nocturnal camera needs an NVR in order to work, but that’s not an entirely bad thing. The NVR served as the camera’s local storage, allowing it to record rolling videos without expensive monthly cloud storage fees. Better still, with a Lorex NVR with smart detection technology, the camera was able to tell apart people and vehicles from other moving objects.
The Google Nest Cam (indoor) is a superior indoor camera with exceptional video quality. It may not be a 4K camera, but it has HDR which makes its 1080p HD videos even more cinematic.
HDR, or High Dynamic Range, is a feature that enhances videos by adding life and color to them while reducing glare and highlighting shadowy areas. Even if the camera faces a window or a television, it can eliminate distracting glares.
The Nest Cam (indoor) comes equipped with a set of two high-powered 850nm infrared LEDs. This type of infrared LEDs provides better illumination than the other type, which is 940nm. In Nest’s case, the indoor camera can see up to 15 feet away in total darkness.
Now, that’s not nearly as good as Lorex’s outdoor cameras, but being an indoor camera, the Nest Cam’s night vision range is sufficient. In fact, you don’t want to go overboard with indoor camera night vision. Narrower indoor spaces often have lots of reflective surfaces that could create glare if your night vision LEDs are too strong, so in this case, sufficient is better.
FYI: In addition to the red infrared lights that glow up on the camera’s face, the Nest Cam Indoor has status lights, which are visible and easy to spot. This might become a problem if you plan on using the camera as a hidden cam.
The icing on the cake was the Nest Cam (indoor) artificial intelligence. The camera came with person detection built-in, so we only received notifications of events that truly mattered, when people walked by. And when we finally decided to get a Nest Aware subscription, the camera got even smarter. It started recognizing familiar faces, which we later named in the app, it alerted us of the sound of people talking and dogs barking, and it allowed us to set activity zones. With the activity zones, we were able to tell the camera which areas mattered most to us, which significantly reduced the number of false alarms we received.
The Blink Outdoor is an affordable but very capable outdoor camera with superb night vision. It’s also pretty easy to install, thanks to its wire-free set up. It runs on battery power, so you don’t have to worry about running power cables through your yard. That also means that you can install Blink Outdoor in secluded and dark areas where intruders might try to hide. If you have a spacious back yard or an outdoor shed where you keep your tools, this could be a good camera to place there.
Unfortunately, we can’t monitor our cameras 24/7, especially not at night. That’s where the free local storage comes handy. Unlike most available options today, Blink doesn’t require a cloud subscription. All you need is a Sync Module 2, which is a hub-like device for Blink cameras, and a USB flash drive. If you connect Blink Outdoor to a Sync Module 2, it will be able to capture, record, and store motion videos locally without ongoing monthly costs.
Although the Blink Outdoor was battery-powered, it didn’t require much attention from us. That’s because it has a long battery life that can last up to two years before needing a replacement. Of course, given how much we used the Blink Outdoor during our testing, we had to replace its batteries after a year, but that’s still impressive.
The Arlo Pro 3 offered both infrared and color night vision. We used the infrared option when we wanted the camera to be less conspicuous and also when we wanted it to have a better night vision range. As for the color option, the Arlo Pro 3 utilized its built-in 6,500 K spotlight to see things in clearer detail, colors and all. This night vision mode proved useful when we wanted to identify the color of the van suspiciously parked out front in the middle of the night, just in case it was a burglar surveying our place.
Contrary to what many believe, most burglaries actually occur during the day.2 Fortunately, the Arlo Pro 3 not only captured clear nighttime videos but also high-definition daytime videos. With a 2560p HD resolution that is significantly higher than the standard 1080p HD, 160-degree field of view, and up to 12x digital zoom, the Arlo Pro 3 protected our apartment day and night.
Thanks to its IP65 rating, which meant it’s sealed shut and protected against dust and water jets, we were able to install the Arlo Pro 3 almost anywhere. And because it’s powered by batteries, we didn’t need to run a wire to keep it plugged in; although we did have to charge its batteries every three to six months. For those reasons, the Arlo Pro 3 also made our list of the best wireless cameras.
Made by the alarm company Vivint, the Vivint Outdoor Camera Pro is the only one on this list that offers proactive protection. Whenever someone approached our front door or lurked too long within the surveillance zone that we defined, the camera issued warning lights and tones to let them know they’ve been spotted. The red warning light was particularly intimidating at night, as it glowed like an eye watching from the shadows.
The Outdoor Camera Pro was also pretty smart. It didn’t bother us with alerts involving pets or vehicles passing by. It only alerted us when it saw people, which was incredibly useful considering that it’s professionally monitored. We wouldn’t want to receive a call from our alarm company every time a dog walks by, especially here in Brooklyn.
As a part of the Vivint security system, the Outdoor Camera Pro integrated well with our alarm system. There’s a setting that let us use the camera as a siren for our Vivint system. In case we weren’t home, the camera could tip off passers-by and our neighbors that there was something going on. In fact, we asked our friendly neighbors to call the cops if they ever hear the outdoor camera’s siren go off.
Tip for Video Storage: Vivint charges $5 per month for cloud storage of each camera. If you’d rather not pay the cloud storage fee, you can purchase a $249 Vivint Smart Drive with one TB of storage space, which is enough to store about 30 days of continuous video history for up to four Vivint cameras.
We recommend the Arlo Pro 4 Spotlight Camera because it’s completely cord-free, it captures sharp 2K video, and it can accurately distinguish between people, pets, vehicles, and packages. It also works with more smart-home platforms than our other picks, including Amazon Alexa, Apple Home, and Google Home.
However, after reviewing dozens of cameras over the past seven years, we have yet to find a perfect model. Some are hard to place, some need frequent charging, and others require a paid subscription to be most effective.
An outdoor security camera can keep tabs on welcome (and unwelcome) visitors, package deliveries, and furry creatures helping themselves to a midnight snack in your garden. They can also be a powerful deterrent to prospective mischief-makers.
This 2K camera offers excellent battery life, the option to store recordings locally or in the cloud, and the best array of customizations for the money.
All smart cameras can detect motion, but some can also tell the difference between a person, pet, car, or package, and record or send notifications on which of those matter to you.
Wi-Fi cameras can catch action close to your house, but faces and license plates may be unclear—even great cameras may be fuzzy around 20 feet away.
Being able to store recordings in the camera is common, however we recommend saving video to the cloud so it can be accessed if power goes down.
Compatible with: Amazon Alexa, Apple Home (with a compatible base station), Google Home, IFTTT, Samsung SmartThings
The Arlo Pro 4 delivers the best combination of detailed video performance, specialized alerts, and easy installation. It requires a subscription to Arlo Secure (starting at $8 per month) in order to record clips and distinguish between people, pets, packages, and vehicles. However, it delivers clear 2K video (2560×1440) day and night, including color video in the dark. The Pro 4 can record up to five minutes of continuous motion, though if the camera does that often, it can quickly drain the battery—we found that it needs to be charged about once a month. The Arlo Pro 4 also offers a 24/7 recording option, but enabling that feature entails a higher subscription fee, requires an extra $150 to $200 in equipment, and is separate from Arlo Secure.
Compatible with: Amazon Alexa, Google Home
The TP-Link Tapo Wire-Free Magnetic Security Camera is cheaper than any other camera on our list, and it offers the option for free local storage via a microSD card or a cloud subscription that can provide 30 days of storage for $3.50 per month or $35 per year. Even without a subscription, this camera can distinguish between motion, people, vehicles, and pets. And to limit the volume of nuisance recordings, you can create Activity Zones that tell the camera what it should and shouldn’t record—for example, you might have one zone triggered by vehicles and animals, and another zone that records only people. This TP-Link model also has notably strong battery life of up to 300 days, depending on use. In our tests, its image quality wasn’t as sharp as what we got from the Arlo and Eufy cameras. In addition, this TP-Link model is compatible with fewer smart-platform apps and doesn’t support geofencing.
Compatible with: Amazon Alexa, Apple Home, Google Home
Although it’s not quite as smart as our other picks, the Eufy S221 EufyCam has the best rechargeable battery we’ve seen on a cordless outdoor security camera. (The company claims that the battery can last a year; we experienced usage from four to 12 months, so it your results will depend on where you place your cameras and how often they’re triggered.) Free perks include the ability to record 2K video to storage in the included base station, as well as the ability to differentiate between humans and other moving things. To have your video sent to and stored in the cloud, you can opt for a paid subscription to either Eufy Cloud Storage ($3 per month) or Apple HomeKit Secure Video (free with iCloud plans that start at $1 per month); note that both services reduce video resolution from the original 2K to 1080p quality.