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Search Wirecutter For: Search Reviews for the real world Browse Close. Browse Close. A standalone Wi-Fi camera can help provide some peace of mind, let you track household activity while you’re away, and alert you when there’s an actual break-in—and possibly help end it sooner and catch the criminal.
None of the indoor cameras reviewed in this guide will actually make your home more secure, though; a home security system, such as, may do a better job of that. Wi-Fi cameras do raise because they let you spy on your own family—or guests—perhaps without them knowing that you’re watching them. Buying a Wi-Fi camera should be a household decision where placement, usage, and viewing is agreed on by everyone concerned. This means deciding which camera is best for you may depend on how obvious you want it to be and what it records. How we picked.
Photo: Michael Hession We combed through product reviews and roundups around the Web and searched Amazon. We considered only cameras that operate over Wi-Fi without the need for a networked video recorder; we narrowed that list down based on reviews, features, and price. If you want a camera that can record video—in other words, something that gives you more than just a live peek—you should expect to pay between $60 and $300. Although more expensive models may have more features, most of today’s indoor Wi-Fi cameras include the following features:.
1080p video quality: You’ll find a few 4K cameras, but a 1080p resolution is your best bet right now because it offers sharp video that streams well over a standard Wi-Fi network. We did look at a few 720p models because of other special capabilities and/or pricing. Wide-angle lens: A wider lens lets you see more of what’s in front of the camera, left to right—you don’t want a narrow peek at the room. Most cameras average around 130 degrees.
Night vision: This allows you to see what goes bump in the night, but know that some cameras have a shorter night-vision range than others. Two-way talk: With a microphone and speaker, you can let intruders know help is on the way or tell your dog to get off the couch while you’re at work. Alerts: All of the cameras we reviewed offer motion alerts, but some can alert you when they hear sound and can even distinguish between a smoke detector and a baby crying. Continuous recording: Most cameras break up recordings up into manageable clips. If motion continues beyond the set time, some cameras will pick up the action right away, but, causing a break in the action and missed footage. Geofencing: This feature can automatically start detecting for motion when you leave a predetermined area.
This way, you don’t have to remember to turn off the camera’s monitoring functions every time you come home. We also preferred models that let you disable the automatic Away option. Storage: Most cameras offer some type of cloud storage, whether it’s free or for a monthly fee. Local storage on a microSD card is also nice to have; just know that locally stored footage can be stolen if someone notices the camera.
Smart-home integration: Smart-home compatibility allows you to expand the product’s capabilities (either now or in the future) by linking camera functions with other smart devices. For example, you can trigger lights or thermostats when the camera detects motion.
Starting with this criteria, we compiled a list of worthy candidates. Based on online reviews and other feedback, we added a few additional models that didn’t have all of these features, such as 1080p video, geofencing, and smart-home support, but that had other interesting perks. Overall, we’ve tested 35 indoor Wi-Fi cameras, which includes the nine new models in this latest version of the guide. How we tested. We tried each of the cameras in multiple locations around the house, ranging from six feet from our house’s Wi-Fi router to 30 feet away. The router was connected to a Verizon FiOS network, as well as an iPhone, an iPad, and a Samsung Galaxy S6, when possible.
All of the cameras were easy to install. Each camera has its own app, which walks you through the setup process. This typically involves finding a spot for your camera, creating an account in the app, and connecting the camera to your Wi-Fi network. Many then allow you to configure the alert frequency and create activity monitoring zones, so the camera will capture motion only in designated areas.
All but two of the cameras we tested require an AC outlet, so placement will definitely be a factor. The other two use batteries, which makes placement more flexible, but includes other trade-offs that we highlight in the. Wi-Fi coverage will also affect where you position a camera: If you’re looking to put a camera in a spot that doesn’t get a good Wi-Fi signal, consider upgrading your or adding an or repeater. It’s a good rule of thumb that if your smartphone or laptop gets good Wi-Fi reception in the place you want to mount the camera, you probably won’t have a problem with that location. Once the cameras were hooked up, we monitored day and night activities, including the coming and going of two adults, one child, and a dog. We looked at recording quality, recording length, and frequency of alerts. We also considered bonus features such as cloud storage, geofencing, customized alerts, and smart-home integration.
After testing, we sent each of our top picks (and the WyzeCam) to Bill McKinley, head of information security at The New York Times (Wirecutter’s parent company), for hack testing. (Bill’s also a self-proclaimed “paranoid infosec guy.”) He evaluated each for any outstanding security flaws and concluded that all of our top picks (as well as the budget WyzeCam) passed basic security standards and protections. However, he did have a concern about the Arlo Q, which. Our pick: Logitech Circle 2. The corded provides some of the most detailed images, and it’s also one of the few cameras that provides continuous recording when activated by motion, 24 hours of free storage, a microphone and speaker, and options for more features through a paid Circle Safe account. It’s also the only camera on our list that supports Apple HomeKit, Google Assistant, and Amazon Alexa, so you can create routines to work with other smart-home gear, and it can double as an outdoor camera. During our testing, this compact camera provided sharp, 1080p HD images, day and night, with digital zoom for a closer peek and a wide, 180-degree field of view.
Having a wide field of view means you’re less likely to get a blind spot in whatever room you set it up. The Circle 2 doesn’t record 24/7 like the, but it watches all the time—and it will record motion as it happens, up to 24 hours’ worth, until it stops. It does break long recordings into smaller clips, but you’ll get no gaps in between. Photo: Michael Hession While Logitech includes 24 hours of cloud video storage with the Circle 2, you can add to that with a subscription plan. At the time of writing, this subscription service stores 14 days of clips from one camera for $4 per month or 31 days for $10. The 31-day Premium plan also adds a slew of extra perks, including person detection and the option to focus the camera’s attention on a specific area in the room. A compelling argument in favor of getting the Circle Safe subscription is that it adds person detection, which makes for smarter smartphone alerts—and in some cases, fewer false alerts.
If the camera is pointed toward a high-traffic area, you won’t have to worry about the camera recording or sending an alert every time the dog walks. (We think it’s a more valuable feature if you place the Circle 2 outside, where cars frequently pass.) Although having the subscription makes this camera smarter, it’s great that it’s not necessary, as it is with some cameras, including the Nest Cam. Logitech’s Circle 2 can filter alerts by high activity, a specific day, or even if a person is detected. The Logi Circle app, available for iOS and Android and as a Web app, is easy to navigate.
Events are displayed on a timeline of bubbles off to the side of the screen. And if scanning through all of those events is too tedious, the app has a Day Brief feature that condenses alerts into a 30-second highlight reel. Settings also allow you to customize frequency of alerts and include a Smart Location geofencing feature, so the camera won’t be firing off alerts when you are home. The Circle 2 can also be integrated with Apple HomeKit, Google Assistant, and Amazon Alexa, as well as Logitech Pop. This allows you to call up camera feeds on supported devices (such as the ) and even control privacy features with the sound of your voice. The Circle 2 comes with a swivel mount that you can install outdoors, as well as inside on a shelf or table.
Logitech also offers a, a, and a, which are sold separately. Flaws but not dealbreakers.
Unlike most other cameras we tested, the corded Circle 2 does not have sensitivity settings for motion detection (though ). Instead, you can filter event notifications by high activity, days, or person—but the latter is only with a paid Circle Safe subscription. Without it, you’ll get more alerts, which you can ask to receive every minute, every 15 minutes, or every 30 minutes. The subscription is more useful when using in high-traffic areas.
Otherwise, you can use the Smart Location feature to disable recording when you’re home, so you won’t receive alerts every time you walk. Although the app supports multiple users, its geofencing applies to each user, so if everyone in the family has the Circle app installed, you will get notices when other people are home and walking about. Runner-up: Nest Cam Indoor. When it comes to audio and video, the is on par with our top pick.
Its setup, app, alert capabilities, two-way communication, and video quality are all among the best of the models we tested, and the gives you continuous, 24/7 recording. But its high ongoing costs make it difficult to recommend for anyone who isn’t already locked into the Nest smart-home ecosystem. When you buy the Nest Cam, you get a 30-day trial of 24/7 continuous video recording. After that, you’re required to pay either $5 per month (or $50 per year) for Nest Aware to store video recordings in the cloud for five days, $10 per month (or $100 per year) for 10 days of storage, or $30 per month (or $300 per year) for 30 days of storage.
(And you must pay a separate fee for each camera, though the rate is cheaper for the second and subsequent cameras.) Most other cameras offer some sort of free recording tier that continues beyond the trial period, even if storage is limited, but if you don’t subscribe to Nest Aware, you get no storage at all. The camera will still send you motion alerts, but you can see only a still image of the action, and only for up to three hours after. With Nest Aware, you will get precise alerts. In fact, we never experienced a false alert during our testing.
Also, viewing of live and recorded video is stellar, although it does require. As with all Nest cameras, this one automatically adjusts the quality of uploaded video based on your connection. However, if your Internet connection is slow, the resulting low-quality video may defeat the purpose of having the Nest Cam Indoor and Nest Aware subscription. With a Nest Aware subscription, the camera can tell the difference between a person and general motion and will send notifications based on your preferences.
Most security-camera-service subscriptions are in the same price range as Nest Aware, but with the Nest Cam, you have to pay to use features that come standard on most other cameras. If you want access to any recorded events at all, person alerts, and activity zones, as well as Nest’s “advanced algorithms” that cut down on false alerts, you’ll have to subscribe.
Our top pick, and most other cameras we looked at, include some or all of these features for free. The Nest Cam enjoys—at the moment—the widest compatibility with other smart-home devices through the program, which includes Philips Hue bulbs, Skybell doorbell cameras, the MyQ garage door controller, and IFTTT.
It even works with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, but it still lacks Apple HomeKit support. Also great: Netgear Arlo Q. The compares favorably with our top two picks when it comes to video and audio quality, alert types, two-way communication, and customization flexibility. The Logi and Nest cameras deliver slightly better image quality, but the differences should be barely noticeable to most people.
Perhaps most important, the Arlo Q has the lowest ongoing costs of the three. However, the Circle 2 and Nest Cam can record continuously, with no gaps in between recorded clips; the Arlo Q can’t. The Arlo Q can be set to record 15-, 60-, or 120-second clips, or you can opt to “record until activity stops,” which really means up to five minutes. Like many of the cameras on our list, if motion continues beyond the selected limit, the Netgear Arlo Q has to reset its sensors and then restart recording, which will leave gaps between recordings. In our testing, those gaps were roughly 10 to 30 seconds long.
The inconsistency in the gaps was troubling, but we found the best results with the “record until motion stops” setting and activity under two minutes. You may not care about missing the cat jumping from the counter to the table, but if you’re considering one of these cameras for security purposes, this recording gap may be more concerning. That potential flaw aside, the Arlo presented sharp and colorful 130-degree video and still images, in both bright and dim light, even when using the 8-times digital zoom. Night mode produced exceptionally crisp images, but they didn’t look as bright as the Logitech’s.
Unlike the, the Arlo Q doesn’t require the company’s Base Station; it connects directly to any Wi-Fi network. But you can link the Q with other Arlo indoor and outdoor cameras in the Arlo app, which is available for iOS, Android, FireOS, and any Web browser.
Aside from easy access to recordings, the app allows you to adjust sensitivity so you’re not getting alerts every two minutes. Bill McKinley, head of Information Security at The New York Times (Wirecutter’s parent company), said that he was able to intercept the login request through the Arlo app when in proximity to the device, and he had a few issues with geofencing disappearing from the device. “These quirks, minor vulnerabilities, and their support left me feeling like I had a great piece of hardware with a dev and support team that needs work,” he said. Since we conducted our original testing, Netgear has upgraded the Arlo Q’s firmware to tackle, but we have not tested that. The Arlo Q is compatible with Alexa, Google Assistant, IFTTT, SmartThings, Wink, and Stringify. Also, if the included seven days of free storage isn’t enough, at the time of writing, Netgear starting at $10 per month or $100 per year, which includes 30 days of recording for up to 10 cameras, person detection, and motion zones.
The company also offers continuous video recording (CVR), which provides 24/7 recording, starting at $10 per month per camera. What to look forward to. Arlo has announced an upgraded version of our also-great pick. The new captures 4K ultra-HD video at a 180-degree angle, with auto zoom and tracking options as well as a built-in siren and spotlight. It can also record full-color video at night. The Arlo Ultra comes with a brand-new station and a free one-year Arlo Smart subscription—but the company is no longer offering a free video-storage option once that year expires.
We look forward to trying this new camera when it’s available in early 2019. Ring has released the new for indoor and outdoor use, with 1080p video, two-way audio, and a built-in siren. It offers a variety of mounting options and customizable motion-tracking features as well.
We’re testing the Ring Stick Up Cam Wired now, and we’ll update our guide with the results soon. A is also available beginning in December 2018. Ring’s new are expected to follow in 2019. These alerts will work with all Ring home-security devices and will add new functionality such as the ability to differentiate between kinds of motion detection, as well as audible announcements when a person is detected at the door. We also plan on testing the new, which includes person detection and face recognition as well as motion zones, two-way talk, and the option for cloud and local storage. We’re interested in looking at the, which can stream 1080p video and has local storage and unlimited cloud storage via an API connection to Dropbox. It also has a 95 dB alarm, battery backup, temperature sensors, and the ability to contact police through the app.
The is shipping for $200 at this writing. This cord-free 1080p camera features motion, person, and sound detection, as well as 24 hours of free storage. You can upgrade the storage to 30 days for $6 per month. We also want to take a look at, a 1080p Wi-Fi camera that packs in an Alexa-enabled smart speaker, a sound detector, and a smart-home hub that supports both Z-Wave and Zigbee. We look forward to seeing if those premiums are worth the $250 price tag.
Is expected to launch in September 2018. The prototype shown at the CES trade show included six motion-tracking sensors, internal storage, voice control, battery backup, and 360-degree rotation that allowed it to turn around and face a wall when disarmed.
It also comes with a separate Bluetooth door sensor that can arm and disarm the system based on your location. The competition. We love the more than its predecessor because of better video, motion tracking, and support for Alexa and IFTTT. Day and night images are impressive not just for a $20 camera, but for any camera. We do wish the cloud recording went beyond 12 seconds every 5 minutes, but you can opt for free 24/7 recording to a microSD card. What kept this model from being our budget pick is that some of that savings shows.
Card-based footage on the timeline can be difficult to navigate. Also, despite trying out two different cameras and three different microSD cards, all motion captured was paired with a popping noise, something that seems to be. We do recommend this model over the, which adds pan and zoom features for a few extra bucks. Those features don’t seem worth the extra money, and the Cam Pan model missed most of our event triggers throughout testing. Like our top two picks, the doesn’t leave gaps in between recordings, so you never miss a minute of action.
It also includes 24 hours of free video storage with the option to purchase more, along with person detection and activity zones. What kept it from snagging one of our top spots is the fact that Cloud Cam’s image isn’t as sharp as those from our picks. Just a few minor things kept the out of our top spots. It records smoothly and consecutively for up to three minutes, but it leaves large gaps—around 20 to 25 seconds—between recordings. Also, this model doesn’t offer geofencing, so you’ll need to manually turn off the camera unless you want alerts at home.
There’s a lot to love about the camera, including its compact design, free storage, and overall price. It’s also easy to place because it promises up to two years of use on two AA batteries. However, to conserve that battery power, recordings max out at 10 seconds, with the system leaving a gap of between 12 and 35 seconds from one clip to the next. Also, the Blink doesn’t give you geofencing or two-way communication, and its 720p image was a bit fuzzy in darker areas.
Offers clear 1080p images in daylight, but nighttime shots were fuzzier than those from some of the other models on our list. Recordings max out at 30 seconds, with gaps of five to 10 seconds in between. The dealbreaker, however, was that we had to reload the app three times during testing, and it still had regular problems connecting to some of our recordings. Similar to our upgrade pick, the needs the Nest Aware subscription for basic features like recording and storing video. However, that subscription does add Familiar Face alerts, which can distinguish between family members and strangers.
It’s a cool feature, but not worth the extra cost, and if you have it placed within view of a TV, you can expect more than 100 alerts a day, asking you to identify unfamiliar, famous faces. And because this camera has a 4K sensor, it. Like our top pick, the is designed for use indoors and outside.
It has the same 1080p video, 24 hours of free storage, 180-degree field of view, and option for additional features through Circle Safe. Because it runs off a rechargeable battery, it’s easier to place, but that advantage comes with other issues, including a wait (up to 30 seconds) to connect to a live peek, video buffering, and a reset function that left gaps of up to 90 seconds between videos. The offers 24 hours of free storage (with ), above-average video and person detection, a 90-decibel siren, an emergency call option on the Watch Live screen, and Alexa support. But the Canary is one of the largest cameras we tested, which makes it a bit more obvious and may limit where you can stash it. Also, two-way communication is available only with a paid Canary Membership.
The price of the makes the size a bit more palatable, but this model ditches the temperature sensors and siren of the standard model. Also, the image isn’t as sharp and recording wasn’t consistent during our testing. We loved the ability to recognize faces and pets, free storage options, and HomeKit support. But the constant need to confirm otherwise already-identified faces got a bit grating, and the camera kept defaulting to a low-resolution video setting to compensate for what we figured was a shaky Wi-Fi connection (though this wasn’t an issue with any other camera, and we tried the Welcome on multiple networks). It also had neither digital zoom (that we could locate) nor push-to-talk capability.
The is an affordable camera that delivers clear, 1080p images. The Yi provides notifications for motion, people, sound, gestures, and crying babies (though we got a lot of baby-crying alerts while watching non-baby TV programs). What it doesn’t offer is much storage. What records to its microSD card is six-second clips with three-minute gaps between them. You can opt for longer recordings in the cloud, but the process is confusing, the ability is available only with payment through PayPal, and it adds $65 to $150 per year to the cost of an otherwise budget camera. The same experience applies to the. Besides the app, we didn’t love that night vision on this model was always flickering.
The super-compact delivers clear 720p images day and night, but it’s not as clear as similarly priced models on our list and doesn’t have two-way audio. The newer boasts a 720p image that is grainy by day and even worse at night.
The and the are a step up, with a 1080p resolution and two-way audio. The latter can also tilt 110 degrees and pan 340 degrees. However, the last three models are plagued by a confusing app (that’s different from the one used with the 8000LH), which periodically missed content, didn’t send smartphone alerts, and created multiple entries (with varying runtimes) for the same motion events.
Works with HomeKit and delivers 180 degrees of 1080p images, but video didn’t look as good at night as that from some of the other models on our list. When motion occurs, recordings max out at 30 seconds, with a retrigger time that can be customized between 30 seconds and five minutes. Because it has a fixed design, you can’t angle the Omna toward an exact area. Oddly, this camera doesn’t use a D-Link app, which means that it can’t be tied in with other D-Link products; the app it does use is confusing, specifically when trying to delete footage.
The camera also doesn’t have geofencing or cloud storage, relying on microSD cards up to 128 GB. The has a lot of great features, including 16 to 32 GB’s worth of internal storage, seven days of free cloud storage (and the option to purchase more starting at $10 per month), and paid options for face and people alerts. However, it has no night vision, and the daytime images had a “smeared” look to them. Plus, two-way audio and geofencing are only available with a subscription. Reolink claims that the can deliver 1440p video, which makes it the highest-resolution camera on our list.
However, it routinely downgraded the image, disconnected from the network, and even displayed pink and green lines across the screen—even when high-bandwidth cameras like the Nest played just fine on our Wi-Fi network. Setting up was painful; it simply wouldn’t find our 2.4 GHz network. Also, videos and photos were of low quality with a brownish-yellowish tint, it has no digital zoom, and after a 30-day free trial of the company’s iSecurity+ service, you have to pay for motion-detection notification, automatic video recording, and saving photos. We liked the video quality of the, but its app is confusing, it required multiple passwords in a specific format, its speaker was barely audible, and we found upgrading the camera’s firmware to be impossible. If you have geofencing and you intend to use the camera mostly as a security device, then every member or your household needs to have the camera’s app installed on their smartphones as well so the camera knows if anyone or no one is home.
If you have small kids and a nanny, you’ll need to be able to manually put the camera into Home mode even if you’re away so you aren’t constantly pestered by alerts. But some models don’t make it easy to manually switch to Home and some won’t switch at all—making an experience where you periodically get ready to be peppered by unwanted motion notifications.