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Best Outdoor Security Camera 2024: Reviewed by our experts
In This Article
Putting a security camera on the outside of your house has two major advantages: first, thieves can see that your home is protected and may move onto the next house; second, you can get spot people up to no good before they have chance to move into your house. As a minor aside, outdoor security cameras also feel less intrusive, too, as they don’t capture you going about your daily business. Here, we’ll help you choose the best outdoor security camera.
We’ve compiled the best list based on all of the reviews that we’ve done. Each entry has a detailed description of the product, but you can also click through to the full reviews to get the full lowdown on your product of choice. There’s a full buying guide at the bottom of this article that can help you make the right choices.
Before we get into the main list of cameras, it’s worth saying that if you plan to buy multiple security cameras, you should buy them from the same manufacturer, as you’ll get a better deal on the cloud storage that way. Take into account other devices that you already have, too. For example, if you have a Ring Doorbell and Ring Alarm, it makes more sense to buy additional Ring cameras.
Best outdoor security cameras at a glance
How We Test
All of our outdoor security cameras are installed properly outside of our test lab, monitoring real people. We run them for at least a week, so that we can tweak motion detection and find out how reliable or annoying each model is. We download sample footage from each camera, too, so that we can compare image quality between devices.
Arlo Pro 5
The best overall security camera
One of the most important parts of a security camera is its image quality and we’ve found that the Arlo Pro 5 boasts some of the best we’ve seen even in low-light conditions.
The Pro 5 shoots 2K video and boasts an impressive 12-bit sensor which is a vast improvement from its predecessor and means the camera is able to capture a whopping 68 billion colours.
The 12-bit sensor especially makes a difference at night, both with and without the spotlight turned on. If the spotlight is a nuisance, say if the camera faces a window, then you can switch to black and white mode which uses the IR lights to enhance the night image quality.
The Pro 5 either works with an Arlo Base Station (which is sold separately) or with Wi-Fi. The latter works perfectly well depending on the quality of your router and where you put the camera in relation to it, so you may not need to invest in the Base Station.
To get the most out of the Arlo Pro 5 then you should subscribe to the Arlo Secure subscription service which allows for cloud video recording. For one camera, this subscription is £3.49 a month for up to 30 days of history, and £9.99 for unlimited cameras at the same address.
Arlo Secure also offers you smart notifications which let you choose whether you want to be notified about people, animals or vehicles. Depending on where your camera is, this can significantly reduce the number of unwanted alerts so it’s definitely a useful feature.
If you don’t like the idea of paying for a subscription then you may be better suited to theEufyCam S330which has no monthly fees whatsoever.
The Pro 5 not only connects to the newly revamped Arlo app but it is also compatible with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.
Arlo promises that the Pro 5 battery life will last up to 30% longer than the Pro 4 model which means in theory it should last between three to four months without needing to recharge.
Reviewer:David Ludlow
Full review:Arlo Pro 5 review
Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Pro
The best security light and camera
Ring has had a floodlight camera for a long time but the Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Pro is the best yet. This wired model is easier to instal than the previous one, and can be wall- or ceiling-mounted. It has two bright LED lamps that you can angle where you want them, and a PIR sensor to control them.
Cleverly, Ring lets you control the detection range for the PIR sensor, so the light won’t keep turning on as people or neighbours walk near your light.
At the heart of the camera is a security camera, which has the 3D Motion Technology from the company’s Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2. This uses radar to let you set a detection range. When used in combination with activity zones, it basically means that this camera won’t record motion when you don’t want it do.
Video quality is decent, with the floodlight meaning that the camera can record in colour at night, although it also has IR lights for black and white shooting as a backup.
As with other Ring cameras, you need to pay for a cloud subscription plan to store videos in the cloud. This is well priced, particularly if you have multiple Ring cameras and a Ring Alarm.
Reviewer:David Ludlow
Full review:Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Pro review
Blink Mini 2
The best value cloud security camera
The Blink Mini 2 is a versatile wired security camera that can be used either indoors or outdoors, although for the latter you will need to buy an external power adaptor for £8.99/$9.99.
Out of the box you’d be forgiven for thinking the Mini 2 is solely for indoor use, however simply take the cover off the base and you’ll see it can easily be screwed to an outside wall instead. It also sports an IP65 rating which means it is dust-tight and will survive heavy rain and snow showers too.
Pair the Blink Mini 2 with a Blink cloud subscription which costs either £2.50 or $3 per month/£24.99 or $30 a year for a single camera, or £8 or £10 a month/£80 or $100 a year for multiple cameras and you’ll get 30 days of video history stored online.
That’s not the only perk of the Blink subscription as there’s a human detection feature which uses cloud processing to warn you only when a person is detected to help lessen the amount of unwanted notifications.
If you’d prefer to save your videos offline instead, you’ll need to purchase a Blink Sync Module 2 (£34.99/$49.99) which allows you to plug in a USB instead. Just note you won’t benefit from the human detection feature.
With a 1080p sensor and 110° field of view, the Blink Mini 2 needs to be carefully aimed at the area you want covered, as the viewing angles can be tight. Overall video quality is adequate and perhaps indicative of the camera’s price point and, while it is clear enough in natural light, in bright sunshine or at nighttime the footage can lack detail.
The Mini 2 also has a spotlight which is useful for lighting up outside, although the best video is shot with its IR LEDs.
The Blink Mini 2 is a great entry-level camera that comes equipped with a good-value subscription plan that allows you to keep your footage within the cloud.
Full review:Blink Mini 2
Reviewer:David Ludlow
EZViz CTQ3N
The best budget outdoor security camera
Comparatively cheap, the EZViz CTQ3N focuses on quality and getting the basics right. It may not have quite as smooth an app as the main competition, but this model has all of the main features that you need.
Installation requires you to screw the mounting plate to a surface: a wall or ceiling will do the job. You then need to run power to it using the provided power adaptor that must be plugged in inside; connection to your home network is via Wi-Fi.
This camera has a microSD card slot on it, so you can store video locally and don’t have to pay for cloud storage. That’s good news if you don’t want to have to shell out monthly.
Motion detection is good on this model, and you can set activity zones to only monitor a set portion of the video feed to cut down on the number of alerts that you get.
Shooting at 1080p, this camera produces very sharp and detailed footage during the day. At night, IR lights give good range but the camera also has a spotlight that can turn on, giving you full-colour night footage.
If you’re after a well-priced outdoor camera that gets the basics right, this subscription-free model is a great choice.
Reviewer:David Ludlow
Full review:EZViz CTQ3N
Annke NC800
The best quality outdoor security camera
The well-priced Annke NC800 is a 4K video camera and part of the company’s night chroma range. That essentially means that it can ‘see’ in the dark, shooting some of the best quality video that we’ve ever seen, preserving details when it’s dark outside. Image quality during the day is even more impressive, and this camera beats the big-name competition hands down.
It’s a little fiddly to get this camera working. While it has an SD card slot, the basic Annke app isn’t very good. Instead, you’re better off using the NC800 with a network video recorder. You can use any ONVIF compliant recorder, such as the Synology Surveillance Station, which is a free add-on to Synology NAS devices.
Still, once connected to a suitable recorder, it means that you don’t have any ongoing costs. While the other cameras on this list are easier to get working and easier to use, if you put the time in and just want the best quality footage, then this is a great choice.
Reviewer:David Ludlow
Full review:Annke NC800 review
Ring Stick Up Cam Pro
The best for motion detection
Whether it’s video quality or battery life, there are plenty of features that may sway your decision over which outdoor security camera to buy, but if you’re fed up of being bombarded with incessant notifications about detected movement then the Ring Stick Up Cam Pro should be your next buy.
The reason for this is that the Stick Up Cam Pro makes full use of Ring’s ingenious 3D Motion Detection. By using radar and a bit of manual mapping via the Ring app, the Stick Up Cam Pro can detect the distance of activity within its field of view and recognise if something is actually worth reporting.
Because of this technology, you’ll only get a notification when someone or something has come within the camera’s genuine field of interest, at which point you can dive into the live feed, initiative a two-way conversation or even set off the built-in siren.
As great as the technology is however, it doesn’t come cheap. Set at £159.99, the Ring Stick Up Cam Pro is definitely one of the pricier options on this list so if you’re tied to a budget then it probably isn’t the one for you.
What is handy is that the camera actually comes in two versions: wired and battery powered. This means that you can hook the camera up to your electrical system where possible, or have it run off of a battery if you want to place it further away from your home, like at the end of your garden.
The camera shoots footage in full HD 1080p resolution which is quite a step back from the 4K or even 2K options out there, but Ring has managed to make the most of this format with impressively bright footage, both in daytime and night-time recording. If you already have a Ring ecosystem in your home then the Ring Stick Up Pro Cam is an easy recommendation to add into the mix.
Reviewer:David Ludlow
Full review:Ring Stick Up Cam Pro review
Eufy SoloCam S340
Best solar charging camera
The Eufy SoloCam S340 camera is packed with features including a built-in solar panel that negates the need to manually charge the camera, no extra subscription fees and AI tracking built-in.
With a motorised pan and tilt, the SoloCam S340 boasts 360° horizontal and 70° vertical movement which works alongside the built-in AI tracking to ensure anything that triggers a notification will be automatically followed.
Its two cameras, one 3K wide-angle and one 2K telephoto, can each independently provide excellent quality video footage, with (perhaps unsurprisingly) the wide-angle lens offering the best detail of the two.
There is an option to record from both cameras simultaneously however in practice we found this resulted in a compressed and low quality video so it’s not worth bothering with.
Overall we found the SoloCam S340 captured bright, sharp and detailed images. At night you have the option to capture footage via either its IR LEDs in black and white or with colour night vision. There are pros and cons to both, with the former resulting in a softened image but can reach a further distance whereas the latter was more detailed.
Installing the SoloCam S340 is simple as the mount can either be screwed into a wall or the ceiling of an overhang. You then connect the camera directly to Wi-Fi or to a Eufy S380 HomeBase which is sold separately or as part of theEufy S330lineup.
If you do connect to a Eufy HomeBase then you’ll benefit from centralised storage and facial recognition too.
If the S340 is placed in direct sunlight then thanks to its onboard solar panel, its battery can remain topped up at all times. However this will depend entirely on where your camera is placed and how much sunlight it will receive.
Full review:Eufy SoloCam S340
Reviewer:David Ludlow
FAQs
Battery-powered outdoor security cameras are the most flexible, as you can place them pretty much where you want them without having to drill any holes in your walls.The downsides are that these models tend to use PIR motion sensors, so you may get more notifications and, if you point them somewhere busy, you can run the battery down quickly. Mains-powered security cameras tend to have activity zones to cut down how many notifications that you get and don’t need to be charged, but installation tends to be a little more complex.
Pretty much every outdoor camera that we’ve tested requires a subscription to a cloud storage service. These make a lot of sense, as you get secure online storage for your footage, so even if your camera is stolen, you can still get the footage.
Viewing angles are described in degrees, with higher numbers taking in a wider field of view. In other words, if you’ve got bigger viewing angles, then your camera will capture more. This is quite important outside, as a camera with a wide viewing angle will see more of what’s going on.Typically speaking, look for a camera with 150-degree or wider field of view, although doorbells tend to be slightly narrower and more focusses to make it easier to talk to someone at your front door.
As cameras are placed outside, then they can more easily be stolen. There are cameras that have magnetic mounts that are relatively easy to knock out of alignment or to the floor.However, there are ways around the problem. Careful positioning of a camera so that anyone fiddling with it will be spotted is a good idea, and you can often buy or upgrade to a more secure outdoor mount that makes theft harder.
Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant support is handy if you want to stream footage to your TV or screen-enabled smart speaker.IFTTT can be useful, too, letting you control other devices when motion is detected, such as turning on a light automatically.Nest cameras have Works With Nest automatic rules, so they can be turned on automatically when a smoke alarm goes off, for instance, or they can turn on your Hue lights automatically if suspicious activity is detected.
For the most part, outdoor security cameras should be left on recording all of the time. The exception is that if you have a camera in your back garden, you may want to use the app to disable it when you’re outside.
The higher the resolution, the more detailed the video, in general. That said, 1080p footage is generally good enough to find a frame in a video where it’s easy to spot a person’s facial details; go higher, if you want more detailed footage.
Some outdoor cameras have spotlights on them, which can be a useful way of advertising their presence to scare of thieves, and to improve the quality of the footage at night. All cameras have IR night vision, but you get a softer image when using this.
We also considered…
A great budget outdoor security camera with solid image quality
A high-resolution wireless security camera with a very bright floodlight
Say goodbye to ‘you were out’ cards forever
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Starting life on the consumer PC press back in 1998, David has been at the forefront of technology for the past 20 years. He has edited Computer Shopper and Expert Reviews, and once wrote a book on ho…
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We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Why trust our journalism?
Founded in 2003, Trusted Reviews exists to give our readers thorough, unbiased and independent advice on what to buy.
Today, we have millions of users a month from around the world, and assess more than 1,000 products a year.
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
