Best security camera 2024: protect your home with top smart wireless cameras

The best security cameras are incredibly advanced, allowing you to easily install a system that will give you peace of mind when at home or away. The fact that most security cameras are wireless and pretty compact makes them easy to install and inconspicuous when mounted.

These days you can get a great camera on a budget that still offers many features that were once considered premium. Today’s high-tech features allow you to stream footage directly to your phone with excellent photo quality, and many models will also allow you to communicate with anyone who approaches your door such as delivery people or door-to-door sales.

There’s a security camera to suit everyone’s budget in this list, and we’ve broken down all the features and benefits of each product to make it easy for you to choose the right option. However, if you only want to look at some of the best cheap security cameras, we have a guide for that too. 

What’s even better in 2024, is that you can connect your security camera to your smart home hub, so you could feasibly link it with everything from the best video doorbells and the best smart speakers, to even things such as your lights and other electricals with the best smart bulbs and best smart plugs.

This means you can sync everything to keep your home protected in the way you want it to be, such as lights on a timer when you’re away.

Best security cameras ranking 2024

The solar-powered Eufy S220 SoloCam is a brilliant security camera with a great bunch of features, a reasonable price and no subscription fee – and if you get enough sunshine where you live, chances are you will never have to recharge the device again because even a small amount of sunlight is enough to keep the camera’s internal battery topped up.

Once our reviewer got the Eufy S220 SoloCam installed, it was hard to find fault with how it performed. The 2K resolution video is crisp and clear, and the night vision is excellent. Although it has a small 135-degree viewing angle, the camera was able to tell the difference between an actual person and other movement so it gets top marks on detection. 

Overall, it's one of the best smart security cameras we've tried but if you’re in the market for something even better that also comes with its own alarmed hard drive for storing multiple clips, try its flagship stablemate, the superb Eufy S330 (eufyCam 3).

Read our eufy S220 SoloCam review for all the details.

The Arlo Pro 4 offers 2K HDR video, full weatherproofing (so you can stick it outside), an impressive 160-degree viewing angle and colour night vision. It connects directly to your home Wi-Fi so you won't need to buy a separate hub to get it working. With the help of the app guiding us through the process, setup was really easy and was completed in about 5 minutes.

In our tests, we found that its motion detection is top-notch, and the app is a pleasure to use as well. One neat feature is the integrated spotlight, which can be turned on manually or activated automatically when motion is detected. Two-way audio is included as well so you can chat to delivery people or maybe just the birds in your garden. 

As always with Arlo, the full cloud video recording history (as well as the ability to distinguish whether motion is human, animal or vehicle) will cost you extra, but you do get a 3-month trial so you can see if you like it first.

This model’s biggest issue is that smart cameras are coming down in price a lot and the Arlo system remains very premium. 

Read our full Arlo Pro 4 review to see if it's what you need.

The Arlo Essential Spotlight Camera is a cheaper model that's made to be standalone, connecting straight to your Wi-Fi network. It still has access to the full range of Arlo smarts, including person, package and animal detection, two-way communication, an alarm, colour night vision and a built-in spotlight. 

The downside compared to the Arlo Pro 4 reviewed above is that it's a lower resolution and doesn't offer the same great HDR recording to balance out views that have both light and dark. The Full HD resolution is easily good enough, but we thought it was noticeable that the Arlo Pro 4 offers more detail. Important things like battery life are still strong, and you still use it as part of an Arlo Pro system, so you could start with just this camera and then jump in with both feet later. 

You see exactly what we thought of it in our Arlo Essential Spotlight Camera review, and we've got an Arlo Essential vs Arlo Pro 4 head-to-head. P.S. For cheap prices on Arlo security cameras, check out the best Arlo camera deals for more.

Not only does Ring make video doorbells by the zillion, it makes security cameras too. For our fifth pick, we've gone for the Ring Stick Up Cam. It's a wireless, battery-powered model, but there is a wired version as well if you don't want to worry about ever having to recharge the batteries. Pretty much all the features you could ask for are included here, such as night vision, motion detection alerts, two-way audio, and 1080p HD video. 

The 115-degree field of view isn't the best in the business but definitely good enough. This being Ring, the app is polished and professional too, and if you want to see what your camera is filming then you can get the footage up on an Echo Show or a Fire TV device with a simple Alexa voice command. 

While the Ring Stick Up Cam isn't the cheapest of our best security cameras, it definitely earns its higher price tag. If you want to keep recordings in the cloud rather than just get live alerts, it'll cost you around £2.50 a month (you get a free trial of the service with the camera). 

For more details on this camera, read our Ring Stick-Up Cam review. Also check out our best Ring camera deals.

Eufy is a sub-brand of Anker, so it should be no surprise that the EufyCam 2C does all those oh-so Anker things. It offers higher specs for less money, it does a decent job of wielding that tech, and it comes in with a slightly different attitude than other brands, specifically towards subscriptions: there isn't one. This means you won't have to pay to access your footage, either live-streamed through the cloud or stored on the 16GB eMMC storage on the Homebase unit at the centre of the setup. 

This is a wireless security camera system with a sharp 1080p sensor, a reasonably wide 135-degree diagonal view, solid infra-red night vision (with a strong spotlight if you need a brighter view), and a claimed six-month battery life. We'd wager your period-between-ladder-scaling is likely to be a little shorter if the built-in person detection is triggered often, though much of the processing is done on the base unit which should help. IP67 waterproofing caps the package off – even if you don't have nice dry eaves to place one of these cams in, it'll withstand the elements.

If you're after even more when it comes to resolution and don't mind paying a higher price for it, check out our EufyCam 2C Pro review. And before you buy, make sure you check our eufy discount codes.

You don't get the highest quality video and audio with the Blink Outdoor, or the most attractive-looking hardware, or the most intuitive apps... so what's it doing here on our list of the best security cameras? Well, it's very simple to set up, and you can start off with one or two cameras and then add more as you need. With a single camera system starting at around £40 you can add an extra layer of home security without paying too much.

These cameras have plenty of features too, including night vision and motion detection alerts. Importantly, the newly upgraded Blink Outdoor devices are both waterproof and wireless, with an outstanding two-year battery life on a single set of AA batteries. You can stick them just about anywhere, and you won't need to maintain them often.

As of this latest iteration of Blink's hardware, you can store your footage locally on a USB drive connected to the network-attached hub unit. Sadly the free storage options of the previous generation seem to have been killed off. Instead, you'll need to pay parent company Amazon a reasonable £2.50 per month fee for two hours' rolling storage, or £8 per month if you go beyond a single cam.

Take a look at the best Blink camera deals for big discounts.

As long as you're cool with drilling the holes required to get this and its power line hooked up outside your house, you're in for some solid security with the Ezviz C3N. It's a budget Full HD waterproof camera that puts up a solid fight against cameras costing much more.

It's great for connectivity with Wi-fi and Ethernet options, and its base functionality is brilliant: the camera sensor itself performs well in all kinds of light, there's a visible-spectrum spotlight built in, and the picture is very crisp. There's even person detection, something you'll rarely see at this kind of price.

Do be careful not to get too excited by the claims of colour night vision, because this is more spotlight night vision than Arlo's more accomplished system, though it's still likely to be enough to spook away any lurkers outside your house.

If you're looking for a brilliant outdoor security camera and light system, then you need the Eufy S100 All-in-One Wall Light Cam. This outdoor, weatherproof camera and light system is designed to put off intruders and help you keep an eye on your home, while helping you see your way in the dark.

Although the set-up is a little difficult and the app could be better, the Eufy S100 All-in-One Wall Light Cam includes almost every feature you could want in a security camera, including lighting, siren, two-way audio, 2K video resolution, night vision and motion detection. It's a handy piece of kit and its performance lives up to its promise.

A wired camera, but a simple one to hook up if you already have the relevant equipment available, Reolink's RLC-510A draws its juice from Power over Ethernet, meaning it is networked and powered by a single cable. If you're going down the traditional route and running a central network video recorder for your cameras, that could be very convenient; if you're not, it's going to mean a bit of a heavier setup procedure, because there's no wireless on board here.

There's no argument that this isn't a strong camera, however. Being an IP camera, its feed isn't restricted entirely to your phone, so you can set up a live feed in a web browser on your computer if that suits. Use the Reolink App (or the company's NVR) and it can not only detect people and vehicles but also filter footage that features the entity you're looking for, potentially saving you hours of scanning through recordings. There's also an SD card for local storage, just in case.

The RLC-510A is cheap, too, particularly considering that it's IP66 rated for weatherproofing, manages a very generous 2560 x 1920 resolution with strong night visions, and features a tough as nails metal casing rather than the plastic found commonly elsewhere. Definitely not a bad choice if you're thinking of treading the IP camera route.

In early 2024, Yale launched a new line of smart security products, including an indoor camera, video doorbell and the Yale Floodlight Camera. As a reliable security company, it's great to see Yale come to the smart side, and its outdoor camera is simple yet effective.

With 1080p HD video, the Yale Floodlight Camera has good video quality and wide views. It's an admirable choice, especially if you don't want to pay a fortune, although you might want to pay for the subscription if you want cloud storage. If you don't, though, the free subscription is pretty good and has a variety of handy features to take advantage of.

The best part of the Yale Floodlight Camera is its spotlight, which does make it a little larger than normal but it's worth it, in our opinion. It has a 2,000-lumens worth of floodlighting appeal, a range of light settings and boasts an IP65 weatherproof rating with reassuringly loud 110 decibel siren.

Outwardly there's no difference between the 1080p model of the Swann Smart Security Camera and its 720p predecessor: both use the same compact casing, both use the same mount – and that latter feature is a shame. In theory, the rubberised magnetic dish on the back, coupled with a rough-textured metal ball mounted on the wall, would be an excellent and infinitely adjustable mount, but in practice it's slippery and the magnetic connection isn't quite strong enough to hold the weight of the camera and its internal battery in a fixed position.

There's no dedicated hub involved here – each camera connects directly to your router via Wi-Fi, and streams to your phone (or to the outside world) from there. That's a neat solution, or at least one that saves a power socket and an Ethernet port, but we can't help but feel it's also the reason for the Swann's slightly sluggish response times.

That said, we have absolutely no other qualms about the Swann's motion detection credentials – it hits the spot in terms of sensitivity, avoiding false positives in our tests and throwing in heat detection as an added bonus. It's quick to send an alert and convenient in terms of storage given that it supports both cloud uploading and an on-board microSD card for each camera.

Picture quality is also superb, with the sensor managing impressive clarity even in difficult lighting conditions, and missing little at night. Sure, Swann's app is a little rough around the edges, but it's easy enough to navigate, and its motion detection timeline works rather well. 

If you're looking to gradually expand your security net as wide as possible, this is the best choice going – there's no reliance on a hub, so theoretically no limit on the number of cameras you can place around your home, and IP65 certification means each unit can take a battering from the elements. It's cheap too, at least in the context of wireless cameras with this level of image quality.

Ring is best known for its battery-powered outdoor cameras, but this model is just for indoors. The Ring Indoor Cam brings with it 1080p HD video and a 140-degree field of view. You just plug it in and you're up and running.

Everything is operated through the usual Ring app, which we're fans of, and if you've already got several Ring cameras dotted around your property then it makes sense to use this one for any extra rooms you want to cover. At around £30, it's also one of the most affordable security cameras out there.

Alexa support is included, as you would expect from an Amazon-owned brand, and the camera competently handles all the usual functions when it comes to motion detection and two-way audio. Night vision is included too, for when the lights go out.

The Tapo Mini is a home security camera designed for the indoors. You don't have to faff around connecting a hub to your router – everything just works out of the box, and through the polished and intuitive app you can check in on a live feed and review recordings made when motion was detected. You can keep these recordings for two days, for free.

We like all the features the Tapo Mini offers that make it such excellent value and one of the best cheap security cameras on the market: two-way audio, night vision, 1080p HD recording, custom activity zones and more.

The Nest Cam IQ is one of the most intelligent Wi-Fi cameras on the market, bringing facial recognition, a 4K image sensor, and person tracking to the party. This exterior version comes with IP65 weatherproofing: it'll stay recording whatever the British weather throws at it, and can operate in temperatures from -40°C to 45°C.

Picture quality is excellent both during the day and night, and motion tracking (which zooms in and follows motion) and facial recognition (which only alerts you to unknown faces) are incredibly useful features which actually work. It's a top-notch package but it's expensive, and to get the most out of it (like cloud storage archives or motion zones) you really need to sign up for a subscription too. You can just about get by with the live motion alerts and live streaming (no subscription required) if you're on a budget.

Check out the best Nest camera deals for more.

How to choose the best security camera for you

Remember, you don't have to go all-in with the best security cameras right away. Whether you're going wired or wireless for your smart security devices, you can build it up piece by piece with every new device connecting to a central server (and an app running on your smartphone). You might want to experiment with a few different makes and models of security camera before configuring a whole network of them. Start with a single camera at first perhaps, covering key areas that matter most to you. When the time is right and funds allow, you can do some expanding.

These cameras are about more than just home security, too – one mounted by your front door could alert you to deliveries or visitors, even when you're away from home. In some cases you can even chat with the person who has turned up at your door, or scare off intruders, with the help of two-way audio.

For the most comprehensive coverage of your property, you want something that includes night vision and can record at a decent quality – and almost all cameras now come with at least HD (1080p) resolution. If you want to be able to communicate with whatever's on the other side of the camera (whether it's your pets or your parents), make sure you get a model with two-way audio. You'll also need something with an alarm if you want to scare off intruders and record them as well, though this is a less common feature.

How we test security cameras

To review the best security cameras, we call in the latest and greatest models and take them through vigorous testing for at least four weeks. We'll look at everything from unboxing and set-up to the design, features and performance.

Other aspects of security cameras we look at include the camera and microphone quality, initial and ongoing cost, battery life, field of view, and much more. We'll also look into battery or charge life, as well as the accompanying app and how well it works, records and notifies.

Once we've tested the best security cameras, we publish a review and if we think it's worthy, we'll add it to our main guide. If we're lucky enough to keep the security camera in question, we'll continue to test it and update the review accordingly when we find out new positives or negatives we find.

To find out more, see how we test at T3 for more.