Best Outdoor Security Camera 2026: Tested and reviewed by our experts

The Eufy eufyCam S3 Pro does just about everything you could want from an outdoor security camera. Its long body houses an internal battery, but there’s a solar panel on top. Provided you can put the camera in sunlight, you can leave it without ever having to charge it.

This camera connects to the Eufy Homebase S380, which provides both a stable wireless connection and offline storage. There’s only 16GB of storage onboard, but you can add a 2.5-inch hard disk or SSD if you’d like to increase that amount.

Using the Homebase you also get local video processing, including people, animal and pet detection, plus facial recognition. That’s exceptionally powerful, particularly without an ongoing subscription cost.

Otherwise, the Eufy eufyCam S3 Pro is simple to set up, with activity zones, motion sensitivity and more in the app.

4K video is impressive to watch. During the day, the Eufy eufyCam S3 Pro shoots highly detailed footage that’s as good as you can get from a camera. At night, the camera can shoot full colour night vision using ambient light, although the footage gets a bit blurry; turn on the adaptive spotlight and you get highly detailed colour footage at night.

With no subscription fees, 4K video and an impressive array of object detection options, this is a near-perfect outdoor security camera.

One of the most important parts of a security camera is its image quality and we’ve found that the Arlo Pro 5 boasts some of the best we’ve seen even in low-light conditions.

The Pro 5 shoots 2K video and boasts an impressive 12-bit sensor which is a vast improvement from its predecessor and means the camera is able to capture a whopping 68 billion colours.

The 12-bit sensor especially makes a difference at night, both with and without the spotlight turned on. If the spotlight is a nuisance, say if the camera faces a window, then you can switch to black and white mode which uses the IR lights to enhance the night image quality.

The Pro 5 either works with an Arlo Base Station (which is sold separately) or with Wi-Fi. The latter works perfectly well depending on the quality of your router and where you put the camera in relation to it, so you may not need to invest in the Base Station.

To get the most out of the Arlo Pro 5 then you should subscribe to the Arlo Secure subscription service which allows for cloud video recording. For one camera, this subscription is £3.49 a month for up to 30 days of history, and £9.99 for unlimited cameras at the same address.

Arlo Secure also offers you smart notifications which let you choose whether you want to be notified about people, animals or vehicles. Depending on where your camera is, this can significantly reduce the number of unwanted alerts so it’s definitely a useful feature.

If you don’t like the idea of paying for a subscription then you may be better suited to the EufyCam S330 which has no monthly fees whatsoever.

The Pro 5 not only connects to the newly revamped Arlo app but it is also compatible with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.

Arlo promises that the Pro 5 battery life will last up to 30% longer than the Pro 4 model which means in theory it should last between three to four months without needing to recharge.

Ring has had a floodlight camera for a long time but the Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Pro is the best yet. This model is easier to instal than the previous one, and can be wall- or ceiling-mounted. It has two bright LED lamps that you can angle where you want them, and a PIR sensor to control them.

Cleverly, Ring lets you control the detection range for the PIR sensor, so the light won’t keep turning on as people or neighbours walk near your light.

At the heart of the camera is a security camera, which has the 3D Motion Technology from the company’s Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2. This uses radar to let you set a detection range. When used in combination with activity zones, it basically means that this camera won’t record motion when you don’t want it do.

Video quality is decent, with the floodlight meaning that the camera can record in colour at night, although it also has IR lights for black and white shooting as a backup.

As with other Ring cameras, you need to pay for a cloud subscription plan to store videos in the cloud. This is well priced, particularly if you have multiple Ring cameras and a Ring Alarm.

Thanks to its impressively clever motion detection, the Ring Outdoor Cam Pro is a great option for those who live on busy streets who are fed up with constantly receiving unnecessary alerts.

There are plenty of options to tailor the camera’s notification view, including Bird’s Eye Zones which uses Radar to limit the camera’s detection range up to 9.5m. So, if you do live on a busy street, you won’t be interrupted by anything happening outside your home. 

However, you can also further tailor the motion zones and set regular motion sensitivity too. There’s also smart alerts, which allows you to choose whether or not you’re notified for people, vehicles or other motion. You can also choose when the camera starts recording or ignoring passers-by too.

You will need a subscription to fully make the most of the Ring Outdoor Cam Pro, which starts at £4.99 a month for the Basic plan. However, if you have another Ring product then we’d advise opting for the Standard plan which is better value at £7.99 a month and covers all your devices. 

For extra protection there’s the Premium plan which although is a bit more expensive from £15.99, it adds 24/7 video recording and AI-powered Smart Video searching too.

Otherwise, the Ring app allows you to talk with anyone on the feed and check in on your home with live view – all of which are saved to the cloud by default. 

It’s worth noting that the Outdoor Cam Pro is the first from Ring to sport 4K picture quality, which is a welcome addition. Essentially, this means that during the day the quality is bright and sharp while at night footage remains decent, albeit slightly softer. Even so, you can always clearly see what’s going on.

The Eufy S4, although has quite a high starting price and requires a Eufy Homebase S380 to store footage locally and unlock additional features like cross-camera tracking and facial recognition, benefits from no monthly subscription fees. 

With dual cameras, one fixed and the other pan-and-tilt, the EufyCam S4 is a pretty hefty security camera. Although it has a rechargeable battery at its back, the camera also comes with a solar panel which can either be placed on top of the camera or wherever you get the best sun coverage. 

The use of dual cameras is brilliant, as you can set the pan-and-tilt camera to cover one area while the fixed lens points in a different direction. You can then view feeds from both lenses via your Eufy smartphone app.

Although the Ring Outdoor Cam Pro takes the lead for motion detection, the S4 is still equipped with clever detection tools to help you minimise the number of notifications you receive. That might sound counterintuitive for a security camera, however you’d be surprised at how cameras have a tendency to be slightly too sensitive. 

There’s Activity Zones which can be set individually for both cameras alongside object detection with facial recognition too. Here, you can decide whether or not you want to be notified for human, vehicle, pet or other motion. 

All footage is recorded at 2688 x 3040, so you don’t quite benefit from the 4K resolution of the fixed camera. Even so, picture quality is decent throughout the day and in the early evening. When light drops, you can either shoot footage in black and white (using IR) or record in full colour using its spotlights. In fact, the spotlights turn on automatically when motion is detected, which is a useful feature and a deterrent for any intruders. 

While it is undoubtedly an expensive initial purchase, remember that the EufyCam S4 doesn’t need a monthly subscription.

When it comes to setting up the ideal home security system, wanting higher resolution video has usually required handing over a hefty fee for the privilege, but the Ring Outdoor Cam Plus finally brings the feature down to a more affordable level, making it an easy outdoor camera to recommend to most people.

With this particular camera, you get crisp 2K footage, which just offers so much more detail than the grainy security cameras of old – you can actually make out facial features with ease, so you’ll know right away whether or not you recognise someone who is on or around your property.

When the sun goes down, the Outdoor Cam Plus is able to switch to full colour night vision, so your home can remain secure 24 hours a day. Even if there’s some serious rain and wind, this Ring camera is fully weatherproof and ready to battle with the elements.

Depending on where you place the camera, you might want a connection, a solar charging system or even a battery-powered set-up, and thankfully, the Outdoor Cam Plus is capable of all three. This type of flexibility is quite rare when it comes to security cameras in general, but it means that Ring’s 2K camera can work around your needs, rather than requiring you to make extra considerations.

If you already have other Ring products in your home, then the Outdoor Cam Plus can be seamlessly added to your existing ecosystem. This is particularly helpful if you’re signed up to Ring’s subscription service, as you’ll have access to cloud storage for footage captured on the Outdoor Cam Plus.

When it comes to buying a battery powered security camera, there’s always the underlying understanding that if you don’t stay on top of swapping out the cell with a freshly charged one, then you’re going to have periods of downtime where nothing is captured whatsoever. Well, the Reolink Atlas does all that it can to make that concern a thing of the past.

Even though it is a battery powered camera, the Atlas utilises an included solar panel to ensure that it can run 24/7 without interruption. The massive 20,000mAh battery can store tons of power so that even if the clouds are getting in the way of that solar charging, the cell won’t die out before it’s able to replenish itself again.

Of course, by using a solar panel to keep itself topped up, you don’t have to worry about the Reolink Atlas having a noticeable impact on your energy bills (always a plus in this economy). What’s arguably even more impressive is that unlike a lot of outdoor security cameras nowadays, the Reolink Atlas doesn’t require any sort of additional subscription to unlock extra features, so you won’t be spending any more than what you part with in the initial purchase.

When it comes to the visual quality of the Atlas, the 2K resolution ensures that anything captured during the daytime has plenty of detail so if you do need to zoom in then you won’t be sacrificing a ton of clarity to do so. When the sun goes down the ColorX mode kicks into gear, doing an incredible job of fighting back against low-light settings that would otherwise thwart competing cameras.

Having Wi-Fi 6 compatibility also ensures that you can access footage quickly via the accompanying app, and it’s easy to set up too. Once it’s all installed, you have the option of toggling various modes such as motion-triggered footage, or continuous recording (helpful if you’re going away for the weekend).

What it may lack in complexity and features, the Blink Outdoor 4 makes up for in value and simplicity.

As with previous Blink cameras, the Blink Outdoor 4 runs from two Lithium AA batteries, which will last for up to two years, depending on how many times the camera is triggered. If you need more life, an expansion pack is available so that you can use four AA batteries.

The Blink app is straightforward but quite basic. For example, the activity zone option uses a grid rather than letting you draw a box on the image. It’s good to see person and vehicle detection via a good-value Blink subscription, which also adds cloud recording.

Although a Full HD video camera, the Blink Outdoor 4 defaults to 720p video to save on battery. As you might expect, image quality is good enough but you don’t get the same sharpness and clarity as with higher-resolution models. Daylight vision is better than night vision: full colour night vision is quite blurry, and IR footage quite soft.

However, you can tell what’s going on and if you just want simple monitoring, then you won’t find cameras better value than this one.

As we mentioned earlier, you should consider any existing smart home gadgets you have already. While there are plenty of ways to marry different brands together, there’s no denying that sticking with one brand saves a lot of time and hassle. 

With this in mind, if you already own Hue smart lights and are integrated into the Philips system, then the Hue Secure Wired Camera will slot right into your home. 

Setting up the Hue Secure Wired Camera is seamless, as it requires screwing the magnetic mount into a wall and then attaching the camera accordingly. You then need to pair the camera to the Hue app, which takes no time at all. However, if you do have lots of Philips bulbs, then the camera might get lost among the list. 

Even so, the fact that the Secure Wired Camera slots in so neatly is impressive, as it allows the device to act as a motion sensor alongside the lights. Plus, like an alarm system, the Philips Hue Secure has Home, Away and Disarm modes to choose from too. 

While the Hue Secure Wired Camera doesn’t boast the highest resolution around, its 1080p picture is good enough for most uses. When light drops, the camera can either use its IR lights or you can set your nearby Hue bulbs to turn on when motion is detected. 

Speaking of motion detection, we should disclaim that the Hue Secure Camera is nowhere near as impressive as the likes of the Ring Outdoor Cam Pro. At its most basic (without a subscription), the Hue Secure tends to send lots of alerts for even the most simple things, such as a plant blowing in the wind. While you can adjust the sensitivity, you will likely still receive unwanted alerts. 

However, if you subscribe to the Hue Security subscription (£3.99 a month£34.99 for 30 days for one camera or £8.99£84.99 for unlimited cameras) then you’ll benefit from object detection and the chance to filter out certain types of motion. Albeit an improvement, it’s still pretty basic compared to Ring.

Otherwise, you can see a live stream from your camera at any time, and engage in two-way talk with anyone on the feed.

If you need a decent all-round security camera, and are fully cemented in the Philips ecosystem, then the Philips Hue Secure Wired Camera is a great addition to your smart home.