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Rachel Cericola is a writer covering smart home. In addition to testing hundreds of smart devices, she has also tested dozens of ice cream sandwiches. external wifi camera
Recent news reports suggest the US may restrict the sale of TP-Link Wi-Fi routers due to federal investigations into potential security concerns with those products. While we haven’t seen evidence that any TP-Link smart home devices have the same concerns, we’ve reached out to the company for details and clarification.
Our former pick for Apple Home users, the S221 EufyCam, has been discontinued.
We’ve also added the Arlo Pro 5S to Other security cameras worth considering, and the EufyCam S3 Pro and the SwitchBot Outdoor Security Camera 2K to the Competition.
An outdoor security camera can keep tabs on pets, package deliveries, and people who may be helping themselves to both of those things. They can alert you to guests, and they can even capture video of a raccoon relishing the year’s first snowfall or the occasional runaway FedEx truck.
However, after reviewing literally hundreds of security cameras over the past eight years—more than 240 at last count—I have yet to find the one magical unicorn that’s the perfect outdoor sentry. Some are hard to install, some need frequent charging, some miss motion, and others require a paid subscription to be most effective.
We recommend the TP-Link Tapo Wire-Free Magnetic Security Camera, which has a long battery life, is easy to operate, and accurately distinguishes between people, pets, and vehicles.
If you prefer a permanent fixture that can light up the night (or at least your driveway), opt for the Eufy Floodlight Camera E340. It combines two pan-and-tilt HD cameras with two dimmable LED lights. But it needs to be hardwired, so it’s best for those with an existing outdoor-lighting setup.
This cord-free camera offers excellent battery life, the option to store recordings locally or in the cloud, and the best array of customizations for the money.
This camera sends video to the cloud, and it can be set to record 24/7 or just motion-triggered events. Face detection can even identify people.
This hardwired floodlight includes two cameras, and it has bright, dimmable lighting. It can store video internally for free or to the cloud with a subscription.
May be out of stock
Many cameras can store recordings to memory cards. We prefer uploading video to the cloud so it can be accessed if the camera loses power (or is stolen).
Wi-Fi cameras capture crisp video of objects and items nearby. But faces, license plates, and other objects 20 feet and farther away will become fuzzy.
A lot of companies will share your recordings based on a court order, or if they consider a situation to be an emergency. Check your privacy policy, and/or opt for devices with end-to-end encryption.
A cordless camera can go anywhere you have Wi-Fi, but it needs occasional recharging. If it’s in a hard-to-reach spot, consider a corded camera.
This cord-free camera offers excellent battery life, the option to store recordings locally or in the cloud, and the best array of customizations for the money.
Compatible with: Amazon Alexa, Google Home
The TP-Link Tapo Wire-Free Magnetic Security Camera is the least expensive camera on our list. And it offers the option of free local video storage, via a microSD card, or a paid cloud subscription that can provide 30 days of storage for $3.50 a month (or $35 a year) for one camera. This camera can distinguish between motion, people, vehicles, and pets. 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 could 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. It’s an excellent choice if you need a battery-powered camera. But if you’re able to use a power cord, the Google Nest has more features and is a better performer overall.
This camera sends video to the cloud, and it can be set to record 24/7 or just motion-triggered events. Face detection can even identify people.
Compatible with: Amazon Alexa, Google Home
The Google Nest Cam (outdoor or indoor, battery) is reliable for identifying types of motion (person, animal, or vehicle), and it accurately restricts alerts and monitoring using Activity Zones. When activity is detected, it records clips up to 5 minutes. If motion continues, it will create a new clip, without missing a beat. It includes free cloud storage, but it’s limited to a three-hour history. Adding a Nest Aware subscription (starting at $8 per month) increases the storage, and it includes Familiar Face alerts, which can identify specific people by name (as long as the camera gets a good look at them).
The hook is that we recommend the Nest only when it’s used with the weatherproof cord. When I went cordless with the Nest, the battery conked out after just 10 days of regular use and typical activity; that could be fine if you need to install it in a location only temporarily, but it isn’t useful for everyday use in a permanent location. Nest’s 24/7 recording also uses up a lot of energy, which is why we recommend using the camera with the power cord, rather than relying on the short-lived battery.
This hardwired floodlight includes two cameras, and it has bright, dimmable lighting. It can store video internally for free or to the cloud with a subscription.
May be out of stock
Compatible with: Amazon Alexa, Google Home (light only)
The Eufy Floodlight Camera E340 is the only floodlight camera we tested that has two cameras: one with a 2K telephoto lens and one with a 3K wide-angle camera. It can survey a larger area because both cameras pan and tilt 360 degrees horizontally and 120 degrees vertically. I’ve had my share of issues with pan-and-tilt cameras, but the E340 moves fluidly and is able to follow motion well, capturing clear images day and night—both with and without color night vision. Video is stored internally on a removable microSD card (up to 128 GB), to the HomeBase S380 hub (sold separately), or in the cloud, if you opt for a subscription that starts at $3 per month. (Note that cloud recordings are downgraded to 1080p/2K.) If you are the type who doesn’t want to rely on motion detection alone, and you prefer a camera that records everything 24/7, that’s an option when using a microSD card. Two integrated LED panels can be set to blast 2,000 lumens of brightness when motion is detected, or you can dim them or turn them on and off directly, using the Eufy app or using voice commands to a smart speaker.
I’m a senior staff writer covering the smart home for Wirecutter. I have been writing about technology for more than 20 years, and I’ve written guides on home security, smart light switches, and smart bird feeders.
Having problems with someone stealing packages off your porch or a family of trash pandas enjoying your garbage cans? If you have a Wi-Fi surveillance camera by your front door, over your garage, or attached to your back deck, you can see what’s really going on outdoors. A camera alerts you to dangers and guests, and it creates a record of the events that happen all around the outside of your home—from falling trees to floodwaters to a neighbor’s overly familiar dog.
Although outdoor cameras can do a good job of acting as a sentry, they do have limitations. We found that most outdoor Wi-Fi cameras can detect movement as far as 30 to 40 feet away. But faces and license plates may start to get fuzzy around 20 feet away—and that number could drop substantially depending on lighting conditions.
Another limitation has to do with placement. Battery-powered cameras offer some flexibility, but they need to be recharged—which can be inconvenient if you have the camera mounted in a high place. Also, rechargeable batteries have a finite lifespan, so you may need to replace them (or the entire camera, if they’re not replaceable) after some years. If these are concerns, consider a corded camera, but this is possible only if you have an outlet within a dozen or so feet. Admittedly, we have yet to find a corded model that rates as highly as our battery-powered picks.
A good home security system should make it easy to find peace of mind. It can alert you to an open door or window, frighten away prowlers, and call for help.
We’ve been reviewing security cameras for more than eight years, and we’ve tested hundreds of them. Here are the most important features that we consider for outdoor cameras.
For testing, I connect all cameras to my Verizon Fios network via a Wi-Fi router indoors (approximately 40 feet from the cameras) and the Asus ZenWiFi AX (XT8). I used an iPhone 12, a Google Pixel 7 Pro, and an iPad to review the cameras and their companion apps. And I used an Echo Show 5, a Google Nest Hub, and an Apple TV to see how each camera can be controlled via third-party apps and viewed on smart screens.
Mesh networks can give your home’s Wi-Fi a much needed boost—but can sometimes create problems for some smart-home devices, too.
Worry that your smart-home devices may be acting sneaky? So do we. Our reviews dig into privacy and security so you can feel better about our recommendations.
This cord-free camera offers excellent battery life, the option to store recordings locally or in the cloud, and the best array of customizations for the money.
Compatible with: Amazon Alexa, Google Home
The TP-Link Tapo Wire-Free Magnetic Security Camera is a cord-free 2K camera with image detection that allows it to distinguish between people, vehicles, and animals. Despite those top-shelf features, this camera is overall the least expensive of our picks. You can store video recordings on a microSD card, or, if you add a subscription, they’ll upload automatically to the cloud. The image quality is good. And, as with the pricier Nest, you can customize Activity Zones that let you specify what and where the camera records based on types of motion.
It has the lowest cost of ownership. A single camera is usually under $100, and a three-pack runs about the same (or less) than any of our other picks, making the Tapo an outright bargain. We were pleased to find that the Tapo Care cloud subscription is also competitively priced ($3.50 per month, or $35 per year, for one camera, rising to $12 per month for up to 10 cameras). We also appreciate that the Tapo offers the same feature set—motion alerts, Activity Zones, and Privacy Zones—regardless of whether you opt to pay for cloud storage. (Note that we strongly recommend doing so.)
Use Activity Zones to keep it on target. By creating Activity Zones using the smartphone app, you can designate areas within the camera’s view to focus on and areas to ignore. And you can filter what is recorded using the camera’s ability to detect different types of objects. In my tests, I monitored the driveway for people and vehicles, but I filtered out traffic beyond my property.
If you want to keep tabs on everything but don’t want all of the notifications, check out the Google Nest, which lets you pick and choose what gets recorded and what you get alerts about in both areas.
Installation is flexible and simple. The combination of the Tapo’s modest dimensions and its magnetic mount make it very simple to set up. And the app makes it easy to fine-tune where you direct its gaze.
The battery life is very good (but not the best). TP-Link claims that you should get about 300 days or six months of use on a full charge. That’s only an estimate, since camera battery life greatly depends on how much activity the camera witnesses.
In my testing, the Tapo faced chilly New England winter temperatures in an area that gets a normal amount of foot traffic, and I found it needed to be charged every four months. Although that’s less than TP-Link’s claim, it’s still good for a battery-operated camera. And it’s much better than the Nest’s paltry battery life—though still not as good as some of the Eufy cameras' year-long battery life. As with the other cameras on our list, the battery isn’t removable, so it can’t be replaced.
For more details, read TP-Link’s privacy statement.
This camera sends video to the cloud, and it can be set to record 24/7 or just motion-triggered events. Face detection can even identify people.
Compatible with: Amazon Alexa, Google Home
The Google Nest Cam (outdoor or indoor, battery) can be powered by its rechargeable battery, but we recommend it only for use with the optional power cord, which makes it a much better camera in every way. In my testing, when the Nest Cam was plugged in, it never missed a recording, and it accurately identified whether the motion came from a person, an animal, or a vehicle. The Nest Cam is our only pick that offers free cloud storage, though that’s limited to a three-hour window (which isn’t terribly useful if you don’t catch the motion event). Subscription options increase the storage, and you can add in face recognition and the ability to record to the cloud 24/7.
Although the Nest Cam can operate via an internal battery, its battery function was well below the performance of competing models, lasting less than two weeks with normal activity. (We plan to test an add-on solar panel as an option to help out.) If you ever run into a situation where you want to use the camera temporarily in a different location—say, you’re trying to bust whatever has been rummaging in your garbage cans or raiding your pea plants—you can rely on the battery for a short time.
You can tell it what to record (and what to ignore). The Google Home app allows you to select areas within the camera’s view and label them as Activity Zones. Then you can choose what type of activity the camera should record and when you want to receive smartphone alerts, both within the field and outside of it. For instance, I monitored my driveway for people, animals, and vehicles, but I received alerts only when a person was within the frame. Users can create up to four Activity Zones per camera.
A subscription is optional (but we recommend getting one). The Nest Cam does include free cloud storage, but without a plan, clips are automatically deleted three hours after they are captured, which makes them of questionable value. If you want access to clips for a longer duration, a Nest Aware subscription lets you store recordings for up to 30 days ($8 per month or $80 per year), and it includes an unlimited number of Nest cameras.
It has advanced features, for a price. If you have a Nest Aware subscription, the camera gains the ability to listen for emergency sounds and then alert you, such as if smoke and carbon monoxide detectors go off (which probably won’t matter to you if you’re using this outside) or if it detects the sound of glass breaking. A subscription also enables Familiar Face Detection, which allows you to tag visitors, family members, and regular guests by name. It’s a nice feature, especially if you have a Google Nest smart speaker, which can be set to announce whenever someone tagged as “Familiar” comes by. I did find that the Nest has to get a particularly good look at a person’s face for it to be successful. (You can help the software by periodically checking on the list of familiar faces and correcting them.)
Have it record motion only or everything in view. The Nest is our only pick that offers 24/7 recording to the cloud ($15 per month or $150 per year). That means you can go back and check the footage to see if the camera missed someone or something stealing your packages. Even without that option, in my tests it never missed any motion—and, more importantly, it never sent any false alerts. Without the 24/7 recording plan, the Nest Cam will capture clips up to five minutes in length (naturally, something still has to move to trigger a recording). If motion continues, it starts a new recording immediately, with no gaps in between. Some cameras leave a gap of a few seconds or even a few minutes, which could mean you’re missing the exact type of event that sparked you to get a security camera.
One downside of the 24/7 recording is that it requires a lot of power, which is why we recommend you use the camera with the power cord, rather than rely on the short-lived battery.
Notifications are automatically limited to prevent nuisance. In my testing, the Google Home app sent smartphone notifications of activity about every 10 minutes following a motion trigger. And it will send just a single notification, no matter how many events happen in that time frame. That prevents you from being pestered with constant notifications when the neighbor is mowing the lawn.
But a potential downside is that with multiple short events being combined into a single notification, you may not be alerted to something important. For instance, if someone comes into view for 30 seconds and then leaves, and then another person shows up three minutes later, you’ll still only get one notification for both visits. The Nest Cam will record both interactions, but you may not be aware of both visitors if you don’t watch the clip. Note that I had considered categorizing this limitation of notifications a flaw. Yet ultimately I’ve found it’s largely a good thing, since it keeps you from getting bombarded with notifications—a common issue with cameras placed in busy locations.
You can manage it without having to use a smartphone. Although the Google Home app is needed for the initial setup, and for most of us it’s the best option for daily use, you can access and view your entire video history, customize recorded clips, and download clips by using a web browser to access Google Home for web. Not only can you call up past events, but you can view and listen to live action and even talk through the camera using the web browser interface.
For more details, read Google’s privacy statement.
This hardwired floodlight includes two cameras, and it has bright, dimmable lighting. It can store video internally for free or to the cloud with a subscription.
May be out of stock
Compatible with: Amazon Alexa, Google Home
The Eufy Floodlight Camera E340 is a combo device that can light up a driveway, yard, or stairway while always remaining ready to record video. It has dual pan-and-tilt cameras, coupled with a 2,000-lumen floodlight that can replace existing outdoor lights. All of that tech takes power, which means this Eufy isn’t battery-powered. And since it is intended to be placed up high, it doesn’t have a wall plug and has to be hardwired into a lighting receptacle. I found it follows motion well, and it records clear audio and video. You can opt to have recordings stored to a memory card internally or uploaded directly to cloud storage, though doing so downgrades video to 1080p or 2K (depending on whether you’re recording with one or both cameras).
It captures every possible angle. Of all of the camera-floodlight combos I've reviewed, the Eufy model is the only one to include two cameras: one with a 2K telephoto lens, for zooming in on images up to 50 feet away, and one with a 3K wide-angle camera, which captures a fuller, wider image. Both are mounted on a mechanism that can pan and tilt, which means both cameras have the ability to scan 360 degrees horizontally and 120 degrees vertically. I’ve reviewed a lot of bad pan-and-tilt cameras; some are slow, some like to fixate on the wall and miss a lot of action, and one even spun itself right off a table when nothing was actually happening. The E340 could keep up with movement very well at various speeds, and it includes settings to adjust pan-and-tilt speed or turn it off.
It’s able to recognize visitors of every type. This Eufy camera can distinguish between people, animals, vehicles, and general motion and tag them to make it easier to sort through your recordings. Because this camera was installed in a fixed spot in my backyard there weren’t any incidents of it claiming that passing car wheels were people (though that has happened with every other Eufy outdoor camera I’ve ever reviewed).
Store recordings at home or in the cloud. Recordings can be captured for free to a microSD card that installs in the camera (up to 128 GB) or to the HomeBase S380 Hub, both of which are sold separately. You can also opt for Eufy’s cloud storage plan, which is $3 per month or $30 per year for one camera (and $10 per month or $100 per year for up to 10 cameras) for 30 days of rolling storage. However, if you use cloud storage, the image is downgraded during processing.
It won’t annoy the neighbors. The Eufy S330 includes two integrated LED panels that are capable of beaming 2,000 lumens of brightness, with a color temperature of 4,000K. (Test note: When reviewing smart bulbs, we typically measure lux in a dark room, which we aren’t able to do accurately when testing outdoor devices.) That’s bright enough to annoy the neighbors, depending on how close they are. If you want to be a good neighbor, you can dim the brightness in the Eufy app or via voice. After all, blinding floodlights are great for guiding your way to the front door or scaring raccoons away from your garbage cans, but they’re less great when you're sitting on the porch or having a barbecue.
For more details, read Eufy’s privacy statement.
We tested a number of outdoor security cameras that we didn’t prefer as much as our current top picks but that are still good choices. Note that we do not long-term test these models (which we do with our top picks).
If you want a wider viewing angle: The Arlo Pro 5S 2K Spotlight Camera has a 160-degree viewing angle (versus the 150 degrees from the Tapo) and is an excellent performer when it comes to identifying types of motion and even identifying people by name (after you label them). However, I can’t recommend getting an Arlo camera unless you have multiple Arlo cameras. The reason? The company has changed up its cloud service, and to use AI features—which are the best feature of this camera— you need an $18 monthly subscription. For many of us, that’s a lot, and maybe too much.
If you prefer a fixed floodlight: We like the modern design of the Google Nest Cam with Floodlight. The Eufy did capture more activity, and it can cover a much wider area (due to its pan-and-tilt function and also its pair of 2K/3K cameras). But the Nest more reliably captured clear images (though at 1080p), and the LEDs are especially bright, producing 2,400 lumens at 4,000K color temperature.
If you need a long cord: A previous pick, the Ring Stick Up Cam Plug-In has an 8-foot cord for indoor use and a 14.5-foot IPX5-rated extender for outdoor use, and it also supports a battery or a solar panel. It’s no longer a pick because it lacks a few features that our current picks have, and Ring has also raised its subscription costs to $5 per month or $50 per year for a single camera. Although the Stick-Up Cam can detect people and general motion, it’s unable to differentiate between animals and vehicles. It also doesn’t stop recording after a motion trigger has ended; instead, it limits you to picking from preset lengths.
If you have poor outdoor Wi-Fi range: The Arlo Go 2 works with both Wi-Fi and add-on 4G LTE plans, but the LTE plans cost more and are available only via Cellcom, T-Mobile, US Cellular, and Verizon. Unlike most Arlo cameras, this 1080p model can record to a microSD card, but at the expense of losing Arlo Secure features, which require a subscription.
If you don’t have an existing outdoor light: The Arlo Pro 3 Floodlight Camera uses a removable, rechargeable battery to blast a bright 2,000 lumens of light—and up to 3,000 if you hardwire it. In my tests, its daytime 2K video was very good. Nighttime images weren’t as reliable, unless the subject was standing directly in front of the camera (which is fine since this model is best for focusing on a specific area, like a front porch or near trash cans). After months of testing it, we expect the battery to last about three months, depending on usage.
We have paused all testing and recommendations of Wyze smart-home devices due to security concerns. For a full explanation, see this article.
The Logitech Circle View and the Eve Outdoor Cam both work with Apple’s HomeKit Secure Video, which is a service that has a lot to offer. But in our testing it missed a lot of action—sometimes for hours or days at a time.
There are a lot of things to like about the EufyCam S3 Pro and the EufyCam S330. I actually prefer the S3 Pro because it has better motion detection and support for Apple Home and HomeKit Secure Video. However, both systems are inordinately expensive—and require a hub (which is included with the purchase with a multi-cam package). That would be fine if the AI worked well, but in my testing the camera frequently tagged tires as people and almost more bizarrely, it tagged people as animals.
Our current picks offer a better value than the Arlo Essential Spotlight Camera, the Arlo Essential XL Outdoor Camera, the Blink Mini 2, the Blink Outdoor 4, the Eufy SoloCam S230, the Noorio Spotlight Cam B211, the Philips Hue Secure Wired Camera, the Reolink Argus Track, the Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Pro, the Ring Stick Up Cam Pro, the TP-Link Tapo C120, the TP-Link Tapo C325WB, and the TP-Link Tapo C420S2 due to features and/or performance.
A number of cameras we have tested were plagued by false alerts, including the Tapo C310 Smart Outdoor Home Security WiFi 2K Camera and the Tapo C320WS Smart Outdoor Home Security WiFi 2K QHD 4MP Camera.
We dismissed the Cync Outdoor Wired Smart Camera, the EZVIZ C3X, the Netatmo Presence, the Nooie Pro Cam, the Swann CoreCam Pro, and the SwitchBot Outdoor Security Camera 2K due to poor audio and/or video performance. And the Abode Cam 2, the Blink Wired Floodlight Camera, and the Ring Spotlight Cam Pro Battery missed a lot of events and/or left lengthy gaps in between motion recordings. We also dismissed the Reolink Argus 3 Pro because it’s not rated to operate in temperatures of less than 14 degrees Fahrenheit, which means it isn’t useful for a large swath of the country. We also cut the Canary Flex due to its poor battery power and connection issues.
After 20 months of periodic use, our test unit of the Eufy S330 Floodlight Cam suffered a water leak and no longer functions. We contacted customer service, which determined that the unit was defective but would not replace it since it was outside its one-year warranty period.
Other models we’re planning to test:
This article was edited by Jon Chase and Grant Clauser.
I write about everything from smart lighting and home security to Wi-Fi cameras and smart bird feeders. I’ve also covered ice cream sandwiches, robot vacuums, and snoring.
Wi-Fi security cameras can help protect your family and possessions. We’ve reviewed and picked the best models for every area of your home.
A good home security system should make it easy to find peace of mind. It can alert you to an open door or window, frighten away prowlers, and call for help.
You should occasionally clean your Wi-Fi cameras to keep them free from dead bugs, water stains, and other debris that might alter their function.
Getting a home security camera is great, but it’s only the first step. To make it effective, you’ll need to adjust these settings.
small camera Wirecutter is the product recommendation service from The New York Times. Our journalists combine independent research with (occasionally) over-the-top testing so you can make quick and confident buying decisions. Whether it’s finding great products or discovering helpful advice, we’ll help you get it right (the first time).