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How to pick
Buy for a spot you actually worry about rather than trying to cover everything, because four cameras you never check are worth less than one you do. Check it can record to a card locally as well as to the cloud, so you still have footage if you stop paying the subscription. Think about power, since a camera at the far end of the garden needs either a cable or regular recharging. And think about where it points, because a camera covering a neighbour's window or a public footpath causes more trouble than it prevents, and in some places raises legal questions.
What I recommend
Indoors
Buy for a spot you actually worry about rather than trying to cover everything. Four cameras you never check are worth less than one you do.
Indoor security camera
For keeping an eye on a room, a pet, or an elderly relative who has agreed to it. Check it records to a card locally as well as the cloud, so you still have footage if you stop paying.
- Cheap
- Local card storage means no subscription needed
- Easy to move and re-site
- Cloud features almost always need a subscription
- Cheap brands have a poor security record themselves
- Needs a socket nearby
- Think carefully before putting one in a shared home
Outdoors
Weather, power and where it points all matter more than resolution.
Outdoor security camera
Look for local storage as well as cloud, and think about power, since a camera at the far end of the garden needs either a cable or regular recharging. Think about where it points too, because a camera covering a neighbour's window causes more trouble than it prevents.
- Genuine deterrent at an entrance or driveway
- Most now do colour night vision
- Local storage avoids a subscription
- Battery models need recharging through winter
- Wi-Fi rarely reaches the end of a garden
- Pointing at a neighbour's property raises legal issues
- False alerts from cats and headlights are constant
Camera system with a local recorder
A set of wired cameras with a box that records everything to a hard drive in your house. More work to install and no monthly cost ever, and nothing leaves your property.
- No subscription, ever
- Nothing leaves your house
- Continuous recording rather than clips
- Far better coverage per pound
- Proper installation job, cables to every camera
- The recorder needs somewhere to live
- Apps are usually worse than the big brands
- More to go wrong
Related reading
Want them sited properly?
Camera placement is most of whether they are useful. Happy to walk round with you and work out what actually needs covering.