Today, a surveillance camera doesn’t need to be wired - IP cameras send the signal directly via Wi-Fi, and you can access it from anywhere, and you will be notified via smartphone or e-mail.
The best surveillance camera for us is the Nest Cam Outdoor. Like the Nest Cam IQ, it's certainly not a bargain. Still, the ease of use and setup is unmatched - at most, even the more expensive Netatmo Presence and Netgear Arlo can keep up with similarly comfortable apps and let the user sift through the records.
Nest has professional installation accessories: terminals, screws, and a seven-meter-long cable for outdoor installation. The setup would take hardly five minutes. Everything looks neat and professionally laid afterward.
The Netgear Arlo is technically not a perfect high-end IP camera, but it does everything right regarding setup, ease of use, and fun function. Suppose you are looking for an easy-to-use security camera that can be installed without whistles. In that case, Arlo is the perfect solution.
Scheduling and geo-fencing allow a seamless integration into the normal operations of a household. Thus, the monitoring begins on request only when all residents have left the house. Such comfort only offers the more expensive competition of Nest, Netatmo, and Ring.
The Netatmo Presence is the same as the Nest cameras for ease of use. ThePersoncognition exists at Nest and Netatmo; this is not to be confused with face recognition. The biggest advantage of Presence is the lack of subscription compulsion: It is stored locally on an SD card or its own FTP or DropBox memory.
While Nest, Nettmo, and other cameras provide intercom, they do not have a real doorbell. If you want to connect surveillance at the front door and a radio bell with an intercom, the Ring Doorbell 2 is the right choice. With the batt taken for charging, the Doorbell lasts half a year. Alternatively, it can be hardwired.
A 360-degree outdoor security camera, also known as a panoramic or omnidirectional camera, is designed to provide a wide field of view, covering a full 360 degrees horizontally. These cameras offer comprehensive surveillance coverage, reducing the need for multiple cameras.
There are several wireless outdoor security cameras available on the market that do not require a subscription. These cameras provide the flexibility of remote monitoring without the need for ongoing monthly fees. Here are a few options:
The Arlo Pro 3 is a popular wireless outdoor security camera with high-definition video, two-way audio, and advanced motion detection. It has a free basic plan that includes cloud storage for up to 7 days of recordings. However, you can also use a microSD card for local storage, eliminating the need for a subscription.
The Blink XT2 is a wire-free outdoor security camera with motion detection, HD video recording, and two-way audio. It has a long-lasting battery life and supports cloud storage for recorded clips. However, it also allows you to use a USB flash drive to store footage locally, providing an alternative to subscription-based cloud storage.
If you want to install your security camera on the front door and set up an intercom, the Samsung SNH-V6440BNH is the best choice.
It has a microphone input and a speaker output at its base. With these two additional components, the camera becomes an intercom, and you can speak directly from the app with the guest or parcel deliverer at the door - of course, also from afar. The Samsung camera is similar to the Arlo, but it's a small, robust design. The 8-meter cable connection makes it inflexible. The daytime image quality is the best of all cameras in the test. The night shots are comparatively bad, but with infrared headlights.
Outdoor light bulb security cameras are a convenient and discreet option for outdoor surveillance. They are designed to look like regular light bulbs but also incorporate built-in cameras for monitoring purposes. They offer a combination of lighting and security in a single device:
The Sengled Snap is a smart LED light bulb with an integrated HD camera. It offers motion detection, night vision, and two-way audio communication. The camera can be controlled through a mobile app and supports local storage on an SD card, eliminating the need for a subscription.
The Maximus Camera Floodlight combines an outdoor floodlight and a security camera. It features a 1080p HD camera, motion detection, and a built-in speaker and microphone for two-way communication. The camera connects to your home Wi-Fi network and allows you to store video footage locally or in the cloud (with a subscription for cloud storage).
Hidden outdoor security cameras, also known as covert or spy cameras, are designed to be discreet and blend seamlessly into the environment. Here are a few examples of hidden outdoor security cameras:
SpyCrushers offers a range of covert surveillance devices, including outdoor spy camera glasses. These glasses have a hidden camera built into the frame, allowing you to capture video and audio discreetly. They are lightweight and designed to look like regular sunglasses, making them suitable for outdoor use.
The Zmodo Outdoor Wireless Security Camera is a compact camera that can be hidden or mounted discreetly. It features 1080p video recording, night vision, and motion detection. The camera supports local storage through an SD card, eliminating subscription needs.
Here's an example of a weatherproof outdoor camera light bulb with surveillance recording capabilities:
Maximus Camera Floodlight: The Maximus Camera Floodlight is a weatherproof outdoor camera and LED floodlight combination with a built-in surveillance recorder. It offers 1080p HD video, motion detection, and two-way audio communication. The camera can be connected to your home Wi-Fi network and allows local storage using an SD card.
Ultimately, an IP camera is a small computer equipped with a camera module and infrared sensors and integrated as a network device into the home wireless network. With the help of a motion sensor, it records photos or videos as soon as someone enters the field of the camera's vision. It can even take night shots with built-in infrared headlights.
Practically all outdoor surveillance cameras work together with a smartphone app, which reports an alarm directly to the smartphone, either as a push message or via SMS or e-mail. That is so tempting at first glance because you can catch a burglar even from afar in the act and immediately inform the police - you think, at least.
But the reality is different because it is usually not an unwanted intruder who triggers the alarm. Still, the neighbor's cat runs across the patio, children play, or a car is in the distance. Even wind that moves the branches of trees can trigger certain motion detectors.
In practice, therefore, hardly anyone will leave the alarm function permanently switched on - the constant tinkling annoys. Only in special areas, such as the protected entrance area of a house, does push mess make sense. Alternatively, scheduling limits the camera's activity to the night hours.
The video quality of outdoor surveillance cameras can’t compete with that of a smartphone or a camcorder. Even an optical zoom is almost no match. The image quality is most comparable to a simple HD webcam in the flap lid of a notebook: You may experience relatively strong image noise, often strongly over-rotated contrasts, faded colors, and sometimes blurred spots in the image, especially in the case of the movable dome cameras. Even if the manufacturers advertise with HD or Full-HD - the image quality is not necessarily what you expect.
A few years ago, surveillance cameras had, at best, 640 x 480 pixels (VGA) resolution. That is still enough for the purpose, but many buyers still like to acquire high-resolution megapixel ca, which has 1920 x 1080 pixels resolution.
Many cameras either try to intimidate the user (HiKAM A7, 7Links, Instar, LogiLink) through numerous functions and excessive settings, or they only have limited setting options (Abus, Samsung) which is quite frustrating.
Many IP cameras store the recorded video on built-in or externally inserted SD memory cards. Alternatively, the material can also be stored simultaneously online on some models.
Netatmo is the exceptionis . It is stored only locally on SD or in the own DropBox. In terms of reliability, online storage is ideal because even with the destruction of the camera, the evidence is preserved.
