Choosing a Smart Home Security Camera
It’s important to monitor your home security both – inside and out. In an age where break-ins and theft are very common, it’s difficult to experience a home invasion without being able to prove who did it.
Theft cases that get reported to the police are often never solved because it’s so hard to find the perpetrator. So, which home security system is best?
Getting a good, smart home security camera, and being able to get footage of who has entered your home without your permission, and pass this onto the police, should result in a much better chance of getting your case looked into as the police will have evidence to use, and should enable a positive result, and deter others from thinking about breaking into your secure home.
Arlo Pro 2 Wireless Home Security Camera System
- Complete wireless free of power cords and wiring hassle
- Arlo Smart adds intelligence to your Arlo cameras to give you a more personal and purposeful home security experience
- Customize alerts to detect people, configure specific activity zones, and contact emergency responders right from your smartphone’s lock screen
- Watch and record crisp HD video in more detail than ever before
- Easily charge your batteries anytime to get uninterrupted security monitoring
- Keep your camera charged by using the rechargeable battery or plugging it into a power outlet with the included adapter
The Arlo Pro 2 is an impressive set of smart cameras that all connect, so you’re not having to check through different apps for different cameras. You can set them up wherever you’d like, so you could have one at your front door inside, one in a hallway, and so on.
You can even place them outside. The Arlo Pro 2 is weather-resistant, meaning it can take on rain and wind and is temperature resistant for both hot and cold temperatures. But it only has a certain range of operating temperatures, so be sure the temperatures where you live fall within that range. It should be fine, but it doesn’t hurt to be careful with it.
Once set up, you can use these cameras to record anytime there’s motion in their line of sight. They even record a few seconds before they detected the motion, meaning you’ll get a much more complete video of anything that might go on in your house.
Other cameras sometimes have a delay, so they only capture a little of the action, or maybe even the tail end of it. You’re able to use your smartphone to communicate with people two-ways through the speakers and a microphone in the cameras.
This allows you to either talk with people in your house or listen to see if something is going on. You need to make sure you set the cameras up in the right places for this – otherwise, you might not use this effectively.
One benefit of the Arlo Pro 2 specifically is that you can set it up to record 24/7 footage, meaning you need not rely on the motion tracker, but you’ll have anything that ever crossed the path of the camera in a daily cycle.
For this, you should be using it in a wired power mode, but if you’re not using the 24/7 mode, it can be used wirelessly with rechargeable batteries. This gives you peace of mind that you’ll be able to protect your valuables and your family.
The Blink XT2 Outdoor and Indoor Smart Security Camera
Security cameras are becoming more and more versatile and commonly available, and the new Blink XT2 is no exception. This camera can be used both inside and out, and by using the smart technology features included with it, your property is going to stay safe and you’ll be able to keep in touch with your loved ones easily.
This Blink XT2 camera is built to withstand the elements, so it can be used outside as well. This means that it can put up with rain, wind, heat, and other elements. It does, however, have specific operating temperatures.
Perfect for checking who is at your door………
- 2 year battery life on two AA lithium batteries with a combination of two-way talk, live view, and motion recording
- Double the usage of the XT on a single set of batteries when recording video
- Talk to visitors through the Blink app on your smartphone or tablet
- Use activity zones to choose where motion is detected so you receive the alerts that matter
- Keep hundreds of clips stored up to a year with no monthly fees or service contract required
- View live streams, motion clips, arm and disarm your system, and set up smart reorders for batteries through select Alexa-enabled devices
- Record and view in up to 1080p HD video during the day and with infrared HD night vision after dark
- Blink XT2 stands up to the elements. Place or mount it inside or outside for whole home security
- No tools, wiring, or professional installation required
This range of temperatures is pretty big, but if you live in an area with some more extreme temperatures, check just to be sure it can handle it.
One advantage of using the same camera for the outside you do for the inside is that you can easily pair them up and view them from the same app, saving you the hassle of having to switch between multiple websites and multiple apps just to view the live camera feeds.
These cameras stream constantly, and you can view it by logging into your account. A useful feature built into this camera is the two-way audio, so it has both a speaker and a microphone.
This opens up a lot of possibilities. On the security side, if you saw a burglar, you could tell them that police are on the way, and they’d probably bail.
However, this also has a more wholesome use, in that you could see and talk to your kids when they got home from school – even if they’d let their own smartphone run out of charge.
You can set up a feature on these cameras to only detect motion in a certain zone, saving you from getting unnecessary alerts.
For example, if you had one pointed out at your front lawn, you could set the zone to include everything but the street, so you weren’t getting alerts every time a car passed by.
These cameras have high-quality IR vision, meaning that they can see in the dark. Of course, this is useful for the outside portions of the house, but it also means that it can be used in a nursery, letting you watch your baby and even hear if it’s crying or not.
The Wyze Cam Home Security Camera
In previous years, security cameras were almost only used by businesses or the government. Very few people had them for their homes unless they had an expensive security system.
Now, these kinds of security cameras are much more easily accessible, and you can get one and set it up by yourself for a pretty low price. The Wyze camera provides a lot of features that help you keep your property safe.
This Wyze camera has a very impressive lens and resolution that it records at. It uses a wide-angle lens, meaning it can capture a lot more area than a standard lens. This ensures that nobody can easily sneak around it or avoid it – especially if it’s pointed across an open area.
It captures video at a 1080p resolution, meaning everything in the wide-angle lens will be crystal clear. Some cameras record at low resolutions, which can make it difficult for you to distinguish the perpetrator’s facial features, but that’s not an issue with the Wyze cam.
One concern that some people have about cameras is whether they can display excellent image quality in the dark. Most burglaries and similar crimes occur during the night, so naturally, you’d want good nighttime recording quality.
- 1080p full HD live stream direct to your smartphone. Works with 2.4GHz Wi-Fi networks (does not support 5GHz Wi-Fi)
- Motion and sound detection with free rolling 14-day cloud storage. Use the Wyze App (iOS and Android) to manage and share multiple cameras.
- 2-way audio and night vision up to 30 feet away
- 110 degree/sec rotation speed, 360 degree horizontal range, 93 degree vertical range for 360 degree coverage in under 3 seconds
- Pan Scan feature automatically scans the room based on up to 4 custom waypoints
- Motion tracking feature detects and follows motion within the camera’s field of view, as long as motion continues
The Wyze camera uses IR sensors in order to capture incredibly clear night vision video, meaning no matter what the lighting conditions are like in your house, you’ll be able to see everything going on.
The Wyze camera connects to your smartphone in order for you to use a few of its features. For example, it constantly live streams the video feed to your phone so you can always check it when you need to.
This can come in handy for things like a nursery room, so you can check on your baby from anywhere, even if you’re out of the house and the baby is with a sitter. While it’s streaming, it has a feature that tracks moving objects with an outlined bright-colored rectangle, so you can easily detect things that are in motion.
Another feature that uses your smartphone is the two-way audio feed. Two-way audio means that not only can you hear things that the camera records, but you can also talk through it in order to have it play through the speaker in the camera.
This can help deter criminals because if they suddenly know that they’re caught, they’ll take off, even if you’re not actually there in person to stop them.
Neos Wi-Fi Smart Home Security Camera
Having consistent and reliable footage of the inside of your house can help you act fast in situations that would otherwise turn bad very quickly. Knowing the status of your house at all times helps prevent burglaries from going too far, and even if they succeed, be able to have some great incriminating evidence against them.
The Neos Smart Camera offers all of this and more in a convenient, easy-to-use package. One aspect of the Neos Camera that attracts many consumers is the simplicity in setting it up.
2-Way Audio Smart Camera
- Ask Alexa to show your kitchen, lounge, nursery, or anywhere else you have your SmartCam, on an Echo Dot, Echo show or fire stick connected to your TV
- 1080P Full HD with live stream and 8x digital zoom – 2. 8mm Focal length. 110º wide-angle lens. 1/2. 9″ Cmos sensor
- When motion or noise is detected a 12 second video clip is automatically recorded
- Videos are stored for 14 days for free and secured in a AWS cloud via an end-to-end encryption.
- With F2. 0 aperture, ir-cut filter, and four 850Nm infrared LEDs. The Neos SmartCam night vision allows you to see up to 9 metres away even in total darkness
- The unique design allows you to point the camera in precisely the right direction. The magnetic base connects to any metal surface or uses the included metal plate and adhesive pad to mount the camera anywhere.
- Save video clips to your phone with a single tap and Share them with your family & friends
Phone App
It requires very little time to get it up and running. You just need to point it in the right direction, plug it in and connect it. From there, you can do all the things you want it to do, whether it’s from your available phone app or from your computer.
24 Hour Recording
At the base level, this device will record up to 24 hours of footage in the cloud-free for 14 days, replacing old footage as needed to make more space. If there’s an important clip that you need, you can download it to have it permanently saved on your computer.
Livestreaming
This would be something like catching the burglar in action, keeping it so it can later be used in court as evidence. The basic package also includes things like motion-sensitive alerts to let you know when it detects something, and it can be live-streamed from your account.
However, you can upgrade your subscription in order to gain access to more premium features. As you upgrade it, you’ll be able to hold more footage, connect more cameras, and so on.
Premium Features
Some premium features are definitely worth the cost. For example, you can have a human detection set up so it will alert you for detecting a human figure instead of something like a dog running around.
Advanced Audio Alerts
One of the most amazing premium features comes as advanced audio alerts. It gives you a detailed alert regarding what it heard, so you know what’s going on.
It could be anything from a dog barking to a crying baby and just about anything in between, even including breaking glass. This is so incredibly useful because you’ll know if it’s something you need to respond to right away or if it’s just a noise that is occurring.
There are many home security cameras available for you to look at. Look at some other options below to see if any of these fit your requirements.