Best Wireless Security Cameras of 2023

• Video resolution affects the quality of your home security footage. A clear image helps identify a recording's faces, vehicles, and items. Choose a camera with at least 1080p resolution.
• Field of view refers to how much area a camera sees through its lens. It affects how many cameras you need and where to place them. Look for a field of view that's at least 110º.
• Motion detection sends notifications when a camera observes movement. Choose a motion sensor camera with smart detection to tag people, animals, and vehicles for more effective motion alerts.
• Infrared night vision helps eliminate security camera footage that's too dark in low- and no-light situations after sunset. Choose a camera with a night vision range of at least 20 feet.
• Two-way audio (also called two-way communication) uses a microphone and speaker to interact with people or pets on the other end. Two-way talk effectively turns your security camera into an intercom to address a delivery driver or check in on the kids after school.
• Pan-and-tilt motors or a digital zoom adjust the camera's view remotely. A motorized pan-and-tilt camera is ideal for recording a larger area than a static camera and reduces the number of cameras you need overall.
  • Movement tracking allows some pan-and-tilt cameras to follow the action in a room automatically, whether it's a pet racing around the living room or a youngster toddling toward trouble.

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Absolutely! Home security cameras allow you to watch over your home in two primary ways more effectively:

• Deter: A survey by Fox News Atlanta supports the findings of a 2012 study by the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, revealing that a surveillance camera in a conspicuous location can make 60% to 66% of burglars think twice about attempting to enter your home.
• Describe: Security cameras can collect information about burglars and the items they take. This makes it easier to file police reports and insurance claims.

The best part is that you choose how much to spend on security cameras for your home.

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Unfortunately, security cameras can be vulnerable to hacking, but we have a handful of protective tips for you.

Nearly every security camera we looked at supports encryption. This protects the camera's data stream (like videos of your kids after school) from prying eyes.

No matter what security features come with your CCTV camera, these tips can help you maximize the privacy of your security cameras:

• Buy a camera with a recognizable name and purchase it from a trustworthy seller.
• Make sure your home Wi-Fi network is secure.
• Create unique, strong passwords for your camera and any apps you use to access it.
• Keep firmware up to date on your camera and your Wi-Fi router.
• Turn off remote viewing when you don't need it.
• Block your camera's lens when you're not using it—a post-it or a piece of painter's tape will work.
• Instead of a wireless security camera system, choose a wired system that connects to a DVR for complete privacy. 

Get more tips from our video on how to protect your cameras from hackers.

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• Two-way communication: This lets you listen in and talk to the pets or people at home.
• Night vision: Clear low-light images are essential for using the camera as a baby monitor.
• Field of view: Most security cameras use a wide-angle lens, while baby monitors and nanny cams often use a more narrow range of vision to focus on the baby.
• Pan-and-tilt: If you’re viewing pets or older kids remotely from the office or on a beach, you may want to move the camera angle.​

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Beware of using an indoor camera to look outside through a window. They can't capture images after dark because the night vision LEDs reflect off the glass, blinding the camera to the outside view, making it useless.

If outdoor and indoor security is a priority for you, we recommend getting the right type of camera for each area. You may be able to find an indoor camera (like Wyze Cam v3's window mount) that minimizes the glare and reflection of a window—but make sure customer reviews back up the claim.

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Most of the time. Modern security cameras use Wi-Fi for five tasks:

• Streaming live video
• Storing video footage in the cloud
• Mobile device controls and alerts
• Two-way audio
• Communication with smart home devices

Most security cameras connect to your home network using Wi-Fi, but some models use cables to connect to your internet router or a DVR for security cameras. We recommend using Wi-Fi security cameras since they are typically the easiest to install.

If you have an internet data usage cap, check how your security camera(s) could impact your monthly bill. You should also verify that your router can handle the extra devices and output.

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The best security camera systems also help turn your house into a smart home. Security cameras often integrate with a smart home hub like Amazon Echo or Google Nest Audio.

This can give you a huge home security advantage—the ability to remotely control lights, door locks, and your security cameras. You can also program your system to boost security measures when you're out of town or during the holidays when lots of packages arrive.

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CCTV and security cameras have been around since the early 20th century. But cameras like those on our lineup didn't come onto the scene until the new millennium. 

Price balances the features and performance of a camera to find the best options for the money. We rate each camera's retail and cloud plan prices, giving slightly more credit to the retail price because cloud storage is largely optional. Although products with lower prices in both categories earn higher scores, we leave a narrow gap between price points so that pricier cameras remain competitive.

Video is the clearest indicator of an excellent security camera. Performance makes up the largest share of our video score—with equal weight going to daytime and nighttime video quality. While we don't conduct scientific video quality testing, we have enough experience to spot issues at a glance. Individually, these scores carry less influence than resolution, another critical factor in video performance. Even with the advent of image processing, higher resolutions still capture more detail.

Next, we reward a wide field of view—130º or more—which is most effective in outdoor settings where wireless security cameras thrive. The rest of our rating comes from video options—the ability to adjust resolution, frame rate, and bitrate. Video options are crucial for optimizing your camera's performance, especially on slower internet connections. Although we look at the frame rate for each camera, it doesn't factor into our scoring.

Storage carries the lowest weight among our categories because it's essentially a Video subcategory. We rate local and cloud storage equally. For local storage, we consider whether a camera supports it out of the box, if you need an add-on, or if you must buy cloud storage. We don't count microSD cards as add-ons because most cameras don't include one. Instead, we define add-ons as a hub like the Blink Sync Module.

For cloud storage, we reward brands offering plans for multiple cameras instead of requiring a separate plan for each camera. Currently, we don't rate video history because most brands meet our 14-day benchmark—for those that don't, they usually lack multiple-camera plans. We address camera features requiring a cloud subscription in our user experience category.

User experience beats out Video as our most complex category, with seven weighted criteria. We give the most weight to ease of setup because a frustrating setup process can make you rethink your purchase. Next, we look at privacy options to see if a brand makes users set up at least one of the following: an access code, fingerprint lock, or two-factor authentication to prevent unauthorized access from a new device.

We look at app usability next, giving high scores to apps with great navigation that helps you find video feeds, recordings, and settings without digging through menus. For notification options, we value customization through smart motion detection, motion detection sensitivity, and notification cooldowns—this helps a camera send relevant alerts without spamming your phone with every motion event.

Security cameras benefit from excellent smart home compatibility, so we rate based on whether cameras support Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit, and Google Home. Keeping your camera running is essential, so we also consider its power source, giving perfect marks to products with battery, wired, and solar options.

Lastly, advanced features reflect our excitement about a camera. While it doesn't make up much of the overall score, it's useful for giving credit to unique features and exceptional performance. It's our way of giving an A+ to any other item on our rubric.

Support covers the resources that help you learn more about your camera and maximize its potential. Customer resources comprise the bulk of this score and cover how you interact with the company. We give more credit to brands offering a robust mix of contact methods like email, phone, chat, and user forums—in addition to an extensive, helpful library of support articles. Lastly, we look at the warranty period from each brand and how easy it is to file a claim.