Best Outdoor Security Cameras

Outdoor security cameras are an important part of any home security system. To make our list, cameras needed to be able to stand up to weather and have good night vision. We also liked cameras that use a wireless connection, are motion-activated, and offer some smart home compatibility.

The Ring Spotlight Cam tops our list because it does double-duty as a smart security camera and a motion-activated light. Security camera systems like Arlo Pro 3 and Blink Outdoor also impressed with integrated security that could cover the front yard, backyard, and any other outside areas all at once.

Find out more about our top outdoor security cameras in the reviews and comparison table below.

To find the best outdoor security cameras, we looked for the features that matter most to consumers, including cost, reliability, ease of use, smart home capabilities, weatherproofing, and night vision. Our team tested multiple cameras in-house and at our homes. Plus, we looked at more than twenty expert reviews and thousands of customer reviews.

• 16 hours researched
• 32 products considered
• 1,200+ customer reviews
• 13 coffees consumed

As soon as the Ring Spotlight Cam detects motion, video starts recording and the light comes on—that’s two burglar deterrents in one. You can even set custom motion zones to make sure the areas you want to monitor are always protected.

And because it can be powered by battery, solar panel, or hardwiring, you can buy the Ring Spotlight Cam that works for where you want to install it. Plus, the addition of a built-in siren that you can sound from your phone makes this camera a mini all-in-one security system.

Learn more in our Ring Spotlight Cam review.

Advanced features, like person alerts (that let you know it’s a person and not a stray dog on your lawn) and continuous video recording, are only available if you add a Nest Aware subscription. Fees range from $6 to $12 per month to record video from all of the Nest cameras in your home, with a break if you pay for a whole year upfront. Because some of the best components of the Google Nest Cam Outdoor require you to shell out extra cash, we had to place this high-tech security camera at the number two spot on our list.

Learn more about this sleek camera in our Nest cameras review. Looking to install one soon? We've got an installation guide to help out with that.

When you add multiple cameras to your Arlo Pro 3 system, you have an interactive security camera setup that can keep an eye on every access point to your property. We recommend the three camera kit, which includes the base station and built-in sirens. There's not free cloud storage option on this system, but you can connect local storage to the base station if you don't want to pay for cloud storage.

Learn more in our Arlo camera review.

You won’t get all the bells and whistles that come with a smart security camera, but the ZOSI delivers where it matters. We were impressed by powerful night vision that can capture activity up to 80 feet away. It also has one of the highest weatherproof ratings of all the cameras on our list. And ZOSI leaves nothing to chance—this camera has specially designed housing that makes it nearly impossible for a vandal to disable or snatch the camera.

Blink also has affordable cloud storage. There are low monthly subscription fees, but storage is limited. Blink’s server lets you store up to 1,440 five-second clips (that’s about two hours). Once you’ve reached your max, the server drops the oldest alerts to make room for new ones. And you can’t record clips longer than sixty seconds. For the price (about $100 per camera), we’d like to see increased cloud storage and recording duration.

Get more info in our Blink cameras review.

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