The best home security cameras for your smart home in 2022

It’s tough to find fault with the Eufy Solo IndoorCam P24 due to its wide range of advanced features typically reserved for much more expensive cameras. It’s one of the extremely rare options in its price range with a pan and tilt feature, which makes up admirably for the relatively narrow field of view. It reliably tracks humans that it sees moving and can also tell the difference between people and animals. For that matter, it can even pick up on and alert you to crying, making it an effective baby monitor.

It punches well above its price class with 1440p video, and you can store it on the cloud (with a subscription) or locally on a microSD card (up to 128 GB). The siren is loud, the voice assistant compatibility great, and the Eufy app is comprehensive and easily understood. The only major drawback we noticed was its lack of IFTTT support, which limits its interaction with other smart home devices.

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At first glance, you might expect the Wyze Cam v3 to exclude some important features or skimp on camera hardware, but that’s far from the case. In fact, there are surprisingly few negatives to this remarkably affordable security camera. Like most Wyze devices, setup and management are easy thanks to reliable wireless connectivity and a world-class control app. The image is surprisingly clear for something so cheap, and it’s both indoor- and outdoor-friendly, so it’s perfect for outfitting your entire home with Full HD surveillance. Finally, unlike some, it sends alerts right away when it notices something’s up, so you won’t have to wait to take care of your home until it’s too late.

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Few perform on the level of the Arlo Pro 4, with a 1440p resolution, integrated spotlight, and customizable activity zones, making it one of the most useful options out there. It’s compact, unassuming, and doesn’t take up much space. Unlike previous Arlo Pro models, it connects directly to your Wi-Fi network with no hub required. Installation, setup, and management are all quite simple, thanks to a user-friendly app that doesn’t waste any time implementing commands such as turning on the integrated spotlight.

Speaking of light, it delivers full-color streaming in all but the dimmest settings, so that spotlight will come in handy if you ever need to scope out your home at night. It even offers two-way talk, so you can communicate with whoever or whatever might be in your living room without you. Its main drawbacks fall in line with the common shortcoming of our premium picks, which is price. Not only is the Pro 4 expensive, but you’ll need an ongoing subscription to activate features such as the customizable zones.

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It’s not surprising that the Wyze Cam Pan v2 is such a powerful tool for home security, as its predecessor topped many experts’ lists when it first came out years ago. The latest version sees upgrades in the form of impressive color night vision and enhanced motion detection, while the new model’s price is only a touch higher than the original’s. It uses the same app that Wyze owners are already familiar with, making it an easy choice if that’s your favorite group of smart home products. In terms of security functionality, there’s not much missing, although the free cloud storage is extremely limiting (although it does support microSD card storage). At any rate, you can store unlimited cloud footage for just a couple of dollars a month, which is cheaper than any other major manufacturer’s subscription.

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If you’re looking for constant coverage of deep areas such as a long hallway, it’s hard to beat the Reolink E1 Zoom. It’s one of few options with actual optical zoom capabilities that can magnify video up to 3X without losing image quality. Unfortunately, the downside is that it does not support automatic zoom based on motion detection, which would have put it in the running for an editor’s choice award. Otherwise, it’s a dependable camera with a high-resolution output. In fact, its 2560 by 1920 sensor is awfully clear for something that costs $100 and is frequently discounted. And to keep things safe at night, it offers some of the best night vision performance you’ll find.

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It’s called the Ring Stick Up Camera because you simply stick it up on the wall, on the ceiling, or elsewhere in your home, connect via the app, and it’s ready to configure. That’s in contrast to the many indoor security cameras that require you to run power. Aside from the popular smartphone app, there’s a desktop app that you might like more due to its more camera-focused interface (whereas the Ring smartphone app is a catch-all for all Ring devices). Some of its most basic security features, such as motion detection, are as consistent as they get, and the image quality has no major compression effects or other issues.

The biggest problem with the Stick Up Cam is that its lack of onboard storage and free cloud storage hold it back if you’re not already invested in the Ring ecosystem. In other words, if you have other Ring smart devices and want to expand, get this one. If you’re new to smart home technology or use another family of products, avoid it.

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If you’re just starting with smart home devices and want to get one that offers an all-around helpful experience, the Ecobee SmartCamera is worth considering. The integrated Alexa smart speaker and powerful support for the Ecobee SmartThermostat make it a great building block. It also offers great image quality and a setup process that’s remarkably easy, thanks in part to the robust Bluetooth connectivity meant for streamlined configuration. Its 170-degree horizontal field of view is up there with the best, and despite the lack of a spotlight, its three infrared LEDs make for effective night vision.

However, it’s not the best choice if you’ve already invested in an ecosystem and want to expand it with an indoor camera. This is partly due to some of the most useful video recording and storage options being locked behind a subscription. Frustratingly, while it has a siren, it’s not very loud and requires manual activation, which basically defeats the purpose of having a siren. But if you’re looking for a combination smart speaker and security camera, this is the one to get.

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Designed and manufactured by a subsidiary of Xiaomi, the Aqara G3 is an advanced piece of equipment that’s great for people who are already a little tuned into the smart home game. In fact, inside it is one of few recently released Zigbee 3.0 hubs, so if you’re looking to integrate an already established smart home, this one’s for you. The G3 offers several high-end features, including a better-than-FHD resolution and 340-degree coverage after taking the pan function into account. Regarding video, there’s also a novel function that few others offer.

While the USB-C port on the back is required to power the camera, you can also use it to output video directly to a display or PC. While the Aqara doesn’t work directly with most smart home devices from other brands, it can do so using some powerful IFTTT applets. Probably the biggest drawback is that its user interface is not designed for beginners, with several menus and steps that can be tricky to figure out perfectly.

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