Best Floodlight Cameras for Home Security

Motion-activated lights are great for hands-free lighting at night and surprising the roving cats of your community, but they don't bolster security beyond telling burglars someone might be home. Fortunately, you can upgrade to a floodlight with a security camera to capture all kinds of activity in your backyard.

Our top pick is the Arlo Pro 3 Floodlight Camera because it's easy to install anywhere around your property for bright nighttime lighting and video surveillance. While the floodlight cam's battery is generally a strength, we found in our testing that recharging it was tedious, so you might consider paying the dough for an optional power cable or solar panel. Read on to see how Arlo stands up to other top floodlight security cameras.

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Arlo's 160º field of view offers a wider view of your yard than most other brands. While it's not as wide as the Swann Slimline's view, Arlo's 2K video resolution achieves better-looking results on the whole.

You can achieve up to 3,000 lumens of brightness, but you need to buy a $50 cable and place it within 25 feet of an outlet. This brings the camera's cost to $300, but the brightness matches or beats most competitors. Lorex produces more light, but it lacks Arlo's video quality and cloud storage options.

Arlo has great smart home integration. You can integrate it easily with other smart devices like thermostats and smart locks. It works with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Apple HomeKit, SmartThings, and IFTTT.

Arlo's LED floodlight is attractive but not adjustable, so it lights only in the direction of the camera lens. This makes sense for achieving the best video quality at night, but having the option to pivot lights to fit your yard and paths would be nice.

It's the only battery-powered floodlight camera in our top five, so it has limitations you won't find on other brands. When using the camera in battery-only mode, its floodlights top out at 2,000 lumens, which is dimmer than average but still matches the brightness of Ring's floodlight cam. It easily lit as far as 40 feet in our tests.

Overall, we think the Arlo Pro 3 Floodlight offers the best option for folks wanting great video quality and easy installation. It's worth the cost. Learn more about Arlo in our full Arlo security camera review.

This Eufy floodlight camera consistently produces superior video quality to our other top picks. (Part of this is thanks to a 1920p resolution.) Our tester noted that clothing details and facial features remained clear far from the camera in daytime and nighttime lighting. (And its loud siren displeased the cat.)

We're big fans of the three LED floodlights on this camera, which clock in at an impressive 3,000 lumens. Not only can you adjust the overall tilt to point toward the ground, but the side panels also move to spread light around your yard.

You can also adjust the color temperature of the LEDs from warm to cool light. This makes Eufy more useful as a general purpose floodlight. Choose a cool temperature for improved visibility in security footage or a warm temperature for cozy light at your next patio party. Other floodlights produce only a single light color (generally at a cooler temperature), so they're less flexible.

There are just 8 GB of built-in storage, and it isn't expandable. We didn't come close to filling it up during a couple of months of testing in a backyard setting, but it won't last long in busier areas. Plus, Eufy's cloud storage doesn't cover this camera, so don't wait to save important videos to your phone.

Overall, the Eufy Floodlight Cam E30 is a feature-packed option for folks wanting excellent lighting options and stellar video quality. It's expensive, but not overly so.

Compare with the Eufy Floodlight Cam 2 Pro review and Eufy cameras review.

Google's floodlight camera produces a healthy 2,400 lumens of brightness. While this is lower than other cams in our top five, it's still more potent than the 2,000-lumen limit Arlo has when running on battery power. Plus, you can adjust the security floodlight to light vital areas in your yard.

Nest Aware cloud storage is the best deal among security cameras. While the $6 monthly fee is twice the price of other starter plans, Google covers unlimited cameras. To put this in perspective, Arlo and Ring offer unlimited camera plans for $10 a month, making them 67% more expensive.

This floodlight camera technically has a battery, but it's only enough to keep the camera running and doesn't power the floodlights. Like other battery-powered cameras, it won't charge in freezing temperatures. Still, it's nice to have a backup option if the power goes out.

Nest is one of three floodlight cameras without a siren we found. This means you'll need to use the camera's two-way audio for sound-based deterrence. Plus, $280 is a lot to ask for a security floodlight cam—but at least there aren't any pricey accessories.

Overall, the Google Nest Cam with Floodlight is an excellent choice if you want a camera smart enough to cut down on notification noise.

Learn more about the camera at the heart of this floodlight in our full Nest cameras review.

Swann Slimline has the second-widest field of view on our list at 175º—compared to 130º on most competitors.  (Only the new Reolink 4K Floodlight Camera beats it at 180º.) Outdoor security cameras benefit from a wide view, though Swann's 1080p resolution can't take advantage of the wide view like Arlo's 2K video can. Still, Swann's video looks good, and it's a better option for local video storage than Arlo. (It even comes with a 32 GB microSD card.)

Excellent weather resistance is another notch in Swann's belt. Because it's a wired camera, it's not as susceptible to cold temperatures as the battery-powered Arlo. It can handle temperatures from -22º F to 131º F, making it one of the most durable floodlight cameras around. Lorex is the only floodlight camera with better weatherproofing, but it barely misses our top five by skipping cloud video storage.

The siren in the Swann Slimline is weaker than other floodlight cameras we looked at. It puts out around 75 dB, which is as loud as a vacuum cleaner.

Swann's cloud storage plans are similar to Arlo's in price and features, but there's no option for e911 or smoke alarm detection. Still, Swann offers a free storage plan that keeps clips for up to a day.

Overall, the Swann Slimline is a great option for a low-profile floodlight security camera on a budget. It doesn't draw attention until it lights up, and we think that's a good thing. Check out our Swann cameras review to learn more about this brand.

On the plus side, this Reolink security camera has an ear-piercing siren that measures 105 dB, or about as loud as a chainsaw. That should be plenty to scare trespassers out of your yard and discourage them from coming back, all while alerting you faster than a push notification.

Although it's compatible with 5G and 2.4 Hz Wi-Fi, people often complain of spotty connections with the Reolink 4K Floodlight. Purchasing a Reolink Home Hub (about $100) and connecting that to your Wi-Fi router with an Ethernet cable may fix the problem. The hub also gives you up to 1TB of local storage. 

The Reolink 4k Floodlight camera retails for around $170 but is often on sale for less than $140, making it one of the most affordable options in our line-up. 

Check out more of what this brand has to offer in our full review of Reolink cameras.

The Wyze Cam Floodlight combines the exceptional quality and value of the Wyze Cam v3 with a floodlight mount to create the best floodlight camera for less than $100. While there are less expensive floodlight cams out there, Wyze has the best track record for reliable products on the cheap.

Wyze has one of the loudest sirens on our list, topping out at a hair-raising 105 dB. This is much louder than the 90 dB we got from Arlo during testing. Combined with the 2,600-lumen outdoor floodlights, this makes for an effective way to scare potential trespassers out of your yard.

Overall, the Wyze Cam Floodlight is an excellent value for anyone looking to save a few bucks compared to typical floodlight cameras. Head over to our Wyze Cam v3 and Wyze camera reviews to learn more.

The Lorex 1080p Wi-Fi Floodlight Camera (about $180) is the brightest product we found during our research. Its 4,000-lumen lights are brighter than those of Eufy and Arlo. It's also an exceptionally durable camera with a cold-weather rating as low as -40º F and a hot-weather rating up to 140º F.

Lorex barely missed our top five because Eufy's advanced features are much more compelling. Still, it's one of the best floodlight cameras around. It has great local storage and comes with a microSD card but no cloud storage.

Learn more about this brand in our Lorex cameras review.

The Amcrest SmartHome Outdoor Security Camera with Floodlight (about $160) is another great alternative to our top five. Its best features are a 16x digital zoom and 110 dB siren that outperform every other brand on our list. We also like that it supports local video storage, though it doesn't include a microSD card like Swann and Lorex.

Still, a few things are holding Amcrest back from greatness: a relatively narrow 114º field of view, cloud storage plans with uncompetitive pricing, and floodlights that max out at 2,000 lumens.

Learn more in our Amcrest cameras review.

The Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Plus (about $180) is a nice option for folks who already have a Ring video doorbell or security camera. We like its 140º field of view, plug-in power upgrade option, and 105º siren that rivals Wyze.

Still, the floodlights have a maximum brightness of 2,000 lumens, making Ring less powerful than almost every competitor. And while Ring's cloud storage is one of the best options on the market, its lack of local storage keeps it out of the top rankings.

Learn more in our Ring Floodlight camera review.

The Blink Outdoor 4 Floodlight Camera (about $130) can be purchased as a complete unit, but if you already have a Blink Outdoor camera, you can buy just the floodlight mount for about $40. We like that it's affordable, but the 700-lumen floodlight is much weaker than rival brands. Granted, it's still brighter than a typical spotlight camera but dimmer than a typical 60-watt-equivalent LED light bulb.

For a product released in 2021, it makes a bewildering battery choice. The floodlight runs on four D-Cell batteries—and two AAs in the camera—that you must replace when they die. Unlike Arlo, you can't charge the batteries with a cord or solar panel.

Learn more about this brand in our Blink cameras review.

The Arlo Pro 3 Floodlight tops our list as the best floodlight security camera. Its easy installation makes it more accessible to anyone who's not an electrician—and Arlo's video quality is among the best in the business. The battery isn't a perfect alternative to a wired floodlight, but we think it's generally worth the trade-off.

If a floodlight camera seems too excessive for your yard, most outdoor security cameras offer excellent nighttime performance, including infrared night vision. Head over to our review of the best wireless cameras to see our favorites.