Putting a security camera on the outside of your house has two major advantages: first, thieves can see that your home is protected and may move on to the next house; second, you can spot suspicious activity before it escalates into a break-in. Here, we’ll help you choose the best outdoor security camera.
We’ve compiled the best list based on all of the reviews that we’ve done. Each entry has a detailed description of the product, but you can also click through to the full reviews to get the full lowdown on your product of choice. There’s a full buying guide at the bottom of this article that can help you make the right choices.
Before we get into the main list of cameras, it’s worth saying that if you plan to buy multiple security cameras, you should buy them from the same manufacturer, as you’ll get a better deal on the cloud storage that way.
Take into account other devices that you already have, too. For example, if you have a Ring Doorbell and Ring Alarm, it makes more sense to buy additional Ring cameras.
Best outdoor security cameras at a glance
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Learn more about how we test security cameras
All of our outdoor security cameras are installed properly outside of our test lab, monitoring real people. We run them for at least a week, so that we can tweak motion detection and find out how reliable or annoying each model is. We download sample footage from each camera, too, so that we can compare image quality between devices.
Pros
- Excellent video quality
- Clever adaptive spotlights
- No ongoing fees
Cons
- Expensive
- HomeKit limited to 1080p
Pros
- Excellent night footage
- Improved battery life
- Powerful smart detection features
Cons
- New app removes some features
- Can’t move widgets around
Pros
- Easier to install than previous model
- Excellent image detection
- Bright lights
- Decent image quality
Cons
- Subscription required to access all features
- Can’t change bulbs
Pros
- Excellent image quality
- Radar-based motion detection
- Cheap subscription plans
Cons
- Expensive
- Low-resolution satellite images in some locations
Pros
- Excellent image quality
- Clever automatic tracking
- No monthly fees
Cons
- Can’t upgrade internal storage
- Dual view mode reduced image quality
Pros
- Works with Ring Home
- 2K video resolution
- Brilliant value
Cons
- Colour night vision is hit and miss
Pros
- 24/7 recording from battery
- No extra subscription fees
- Comes with solar panel
- Great colour night vision
Cons
- Battery life can drop quickly
- App can feel overwhelming
- Design isn’t the most subtle
Pros
- Cheap
- Long battery life
- Easy to set up
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Excellent video quality -
Clever adaptive spotlights -
No ongoing fees
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Expensive -
HomeKit limited to 1080p
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 every 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 the amount of storage.
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.
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Excellent night footage -
Improved battery life -
Powerful smart detection features
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New app removes some features -
Can’t move widgets around
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.
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Easier to install than previous model -
Excellent image detection -
Bright lights -
Decent image quality
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Subscription required to access all features -
Can’t change bulbs
Ring has had a floodlight camera for a long time but the Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Pro is the best yet. This wired 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.
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Excellent image quality -
Radar-based motion detection -
Cheap subscription plans
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Expensive -
Low-resolution satellite images in some locations
Whether it’s video quality or battery life, there are plenty of features that may sway your decision over which outdoor security camera to buy, but if you’re fed up of being bombarded with incessant notifications about detected movement then the Ring Stick Up Cam Pro should be your next buy.
The reason for this is that the Stick Up Cam Pro makes full use of Ring’s ingenious 3D Motion Detection. By using radar and a bit of manual mapping via the Ring app, the Stick Up Cam Pro can detect the distance of activity within its field of view and recognise if something is actually worth reporting.
Because of this technology, you’ll only get a notification when someone or something has come within the camera’s genuine field of interest, at which point you can dive into the live feed, initiative a two-way conversation or even set off the built-in siren.
As great as the technology is however, it doesn’t come cheap. Set at £159.99, the Ring Stick Up Cam Pro is definitely one of the pricier options on this list so if you’re tied to a budget then it probably isn’t the one for you.
What is handy is that the camera actually comes in two versions: wired and battery powered. This means that you can hook the camera up to your electrical system where possible, or have it run off of a battery if you want to place it further away from your home, like at the end of your garden.
The camera shoots footage in full HD 1080p resolution which is quite a step back from the 4K or even 2K options out there, but Ring has managed to make the most of this format with impressively bright footage, both in daytime and night-time recording. If you already have a Ring ecosystem in your home then the Ring Stick Up Pro Cam is an easy recommendation to add into the mix.
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Excellent image quality -
Clever automatic tracking -
No monthly fees
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Can’t upgrade internal storage -
Dual view mode reduced image quality
The Eufy SoloCam S340 camera is packed with features including a built-in solar panel that negates the need to manually charge the camera, no extra subscription fees and AI tracking built-in.
With a motorised pan and tilt, the SoloCam S340 boasts 360° horizontal and 70° vertical movement which works alongside the built-in AI tracking to ensure anything that triggers a notification will be automatically followed.
Its two cameras, one 3K wide-angle and one 2K telephoto, can each independently provide excellent quality video footage, with (perhaps unsurprisingly) the wide-angle lens offering the best detail of the two.
There is an option to record from both cameras simultaneously however in practice we found this resulted in a compressed and low quality video so it’s not worth bothering with.
Overall we found the SoloCam S340 captured bright, sharp and detailed images. At night you have the option to capture footage via either its IR LEDs in black and white or with colour night vision. There are pros and cons to both, with the former resulting in a softened image but can reach a further distance whereas the latter was more detailed.
Installing the SoloCam S340 is simple as the mount can either be screwed into a wall or the ceiling of an overhang. You then connect the camera directly to Wi-Fi or to a Eufy S380 HomeBase which is sold separately or as part of the Eufy S330 lineup.
If you do connect to a Eufy HomeBase then you’ll benefit from centralised storage and facial recognition too.
If the S340 is placed in direct sunlight then thanks to its onboard solar panel, its battery can remain topped up at all times. However this will depend entirely on where your camera is placed and how much sunlight it will receive.
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Works with Ring Home -
2K video resolution -
Brilliant value
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Colour night vision is hit and miss
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 wired 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.
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24/7 recording from battery -
No extra subscription fees -
Comes with solar panel -
Great colour night vision
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Battery life can drop quickly -
App can feel overwhelming -
Design isn’t the most subtle
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).
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Cheap -
Long battery life -
Easy to set up
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.
FAQs
Battery-powered outdoor security cameras are the most flexible, as you can place them almost anywhere without having to drill any holes in your walls.
The downsides are that these models tend to use PIR motion sensors, so you may get more notifications, and if you point them somewhere busy, you can run the battery down quickly. Mains-powered security cameras tend to have activity zones to reduce the number of unnecessary notifications and don’t need to be charged, but installation tends to be a little more complex.
Pretty much every outdoor camera that we’ve tested requires a subscription to a cloud storage service. These make a lot of sense, as you get secure online storage for your footage, so even if your camera is stolen, you can still get the footage.
Viewing angles are described in degrees, with higher numbers taking in a wider field of view. In other words, if you’ve got bigger viewing angles, then your camera will capture more. This is quite important outside, as a camera with a wide viewing angle will capture more of the scene.
Typically speaking, look for a camera with a 150-degree or wider field of view, although doorbells tend to be slightly narrower and more focused to make it easier to talk to someone at your front door.
As cameras are placed outside, they can more easily be stolen. Some cameras have magnetic mounts that are relatively easy to knock out of alignment or onto the floor.
However, there are ways around the problem. Careful positioning of a camera so that anyone fiddling with it will be spotted is a good idea, and you can often buy or upgrade to a more secure outdoor mount that makes theft harder.
Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant support is handy if you want to stream footage to your TV or screen-enabled smart speaker.
IFTTT can be useful, too, letting you control other devices when motion is detected, such as turning on a light automatically.
Nest cameras have Works With Nest automatic rules, so they can be turned on automatically when a smoke alarm goes off, for instance, or they can turn on your Hue lights automatically if suspicious activity is detected.
Full Specs
| Eufy eufyCam S3 Pro Review | Arlo Pro 5 Review | Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Pro Review | Ring Stick Up Cam Pro Review | Eufy SoloCam S340 Review | Ring Outdoor Cam Plus Review | Reolink Altas Review | Blink Outdoor 4 Review | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK RRP | £499.99 | £218.99 | £219 | £159.99 | £178 | £-3 | £146 | – |
| USA RRP | $499.99 | – | $249.99 | $179.99 | – | – | – | – |
| EU RRP | – | – | €247 | – | – | – | – | – |
| CA RRP | – | – | Unavailable | – | – | – | – | – |
| AUD RRP | – | – | Unavailable | – | – | – | – | – |
| Manufacturer | Anker | – | Ring | Ring | Eufy | Ring | – | Blink |
| Size (Dimensions) | 69 x 143 x 82 MM | 52 x 78 x 89 MM | 326 x 202 x 217 MM | 70 x 70 x 154 MM | 87 x 87 x 120 MM | 67 x 67 x 128 MM | 126 x 78 x 74 MM | 70 x 70 x 41 MM |
| Weight | – | – | – | – | 630 G | – | 554 G | 141 G |
| ASIN | B0DDS93G87 | B0BTMGK4VT | B08FCTSMQN | B09CJYHFVM | B0CF8R2P24 | – | – | – |
| Release Date | 2024 | 2023 | 2021 | 2023 | 2023 | 2025 | 2025 | 2025 |
| First Reviewed Date | 07/11/2024 | 20/03/2023 | 23/09/2021 | 14/12/2023 | 18/03/2024 | 11/06/2025 | 22/08/2025 | 04/09/2025 |
| Model Number | Eufy eufyCam S3 Pro | Arlo Pro 5 | Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Pro | Ring Stick Up Cam Pro | Eufy SoloCam S340 | Ring Outdoor Cam Plus | Reolink Atlas | Blink Outdoor 4 |
| Resolution | 3840 x 2160 | 2560 x 1440 | 1920 x 1080 | 1920 x 1080 | 2880 x 1620 | 2560 x 1440 | 2560 x 1440 | 1920 x 1080 |
| Voice Assistant | Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant | Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant | Amazon Alexa | Amazon Alexa | Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant | Amazon Alexa | – | Amazon Alexa |
| Battery Length | hrs | 6 months | hrs | hrs | 3 months | 3 months | 540 days | 24 months |
| Smart assistants | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | – | Yes |
| App Control | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | – | Yes |
| IFTTT | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | – | – | – | – |
| Camera Type | Outdoor wireless camera | Indoor/outdoor wireless | Floodlight camera | Outdoor security camera | Outdoor security camera | Outdoor camera | Wireless security camera | Outdoor wireless |
| Mounting option | Wall | Magnetic, screw | Wall or ceiling | Stand, wall | Wall or ceiling | Wall or bookshelf | Wall, ceiling | Wall, ceiling |
| View Field | 135 degrees | 160 degrees | 140 degrees | 155 degrees | 135 degrees | 160 degrees | 110 degrees | 143 degrees |
| Recording option | HomeBase, HomeKit Secure Video | Cloud | Cloid | Cloud | Local | Cloud (subscription required) | microSD | Cloud, local (with Sync Module 2) |
| Two-way audio | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Night vision | Yes (full colour) | IR, Full colour | IR and full colour | Full colour and IR | Yes (IR or full colour) | Yes (full colour or black and white) | Yes (full colour) | Yes (IR or full colour) |
| Light | LED spotlight | Spotlight | Dual 2000-lumen spotlights | No | Yes (spotlight) | No | Spotlights | No |
| Motion detection | Yes | Yes | 3D Motion Detection | Yes (PIR and 3D Motion Detection) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes (PIR) |
| Activity zones | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Object detection | People, faces, pets, vehicles | People, animals, vehicles, packages | People | People | People, pets | People, vehicles | Person, vehicle and animal | People, vehicles |
| Audio detection | – | Smoke/Co2 | No | No | No | – | – | – |
| Power source | Battery | Battery | Mains | Battery or USB-C | Battery (solar) | Battery, solar or plug-in options | Battery (solar panel provided) | 2x AA batteries |
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