Buying Guides for Security Cameras

If you ask security experts what the most effective way to defend a house against burglars and trespassers is, two of the most common answers you’ll get are ‘security cameras’ and ‘dogs’.

If you happen to be going the dog route, it’s important to keep in mind the breed when choosing. A Chihuahua’s bark works great as an alarm, but the physical presence of a Doberman will work better as a deterrent. The same principle applies for security cameras. You need to find the right type, features, and brand. They will all make your home safer, but how they do that will depend on the exact one you choose.

We’re no dog whisperers, but we do know our ways around security cameras. Keep reading as our experts reduce the ultra-competitive security camera industry to its basics and offer some clarity on how to pick the right security camera – the one that’s going to protect your home and your family the best.

What to Know About Pricing

You can’t put a price on security, right? Well, sort of. You can’t afford to leave your home unprotected, but we’re not all made of money so the bottom line matters.

Unfortunately, making sense of the bottom line isn’t as easy as you might think when it comes to home security cameras. It’s not just that there are different companies to sort through. Purchasing a camera can involve several costs, and making sense of them all feels like it requires a compass and a slide rule. Luckily we have both, and we’re happy to offer a few pointers to help you demystify it all.

Upfront Costs vs. Monthly

There are a dozen different ways to structure your security camera purchase. Do you want to pay one price upfront for the equipment, or break it down into a monthly subscription for storage and usage? Do you want to pay a lot now and a little later, or a little now and a little more later, or nothing now and everything later?

In fact, it sometimes seems like every brand has its own model for pricing. And while choice can be a good thing, it makes comparing options more difficult. For instance, we like cameras with local storage, like micro SD cards. That way we can store footage and keep it as long as we want, but without having to pay a dime in cloud storage fees. As a result, we’re fans of Lorex, a company that offers multiple different local storage cameras. You can find out more by checking out our hands-on Lorex camera review. Of course, if you go the Lorex route, you have to factor in other costs, like micro SD cards. And, you have to give up the option of professional monitoring, which we generally encourage homeowners to use if it’s available.

Reolink Argus 3 MicroSD Slot

Other brands offer pre-inserted cards to their cameras so you don’t have to worry about an extra purchase. Wyze is a good example. And, of course, an SD card is just one option. In addition to SD card models, for example, Lorex offers DVR and NVR-compatible devices for an alternative approach to video storage.

Wyze SD Cards

And you don’t have to go with local storage. Most companies now offer cloud storage, and many include this as part of their monitoring packages.

In fact, several companies offer multiple services for a single price. Canary, for example, figures equipment prices into its monthly monitoring fees. That means you pay nothing up-front, and just $9.99 a month for everything you need – equipment, monitoring, and storage. Of course, whatever pricing structure you choose, there’s always a downside. With Canary that downside is a long-term contract. After all, the company needs to make sure you pay for that equipment before they let you go.

Canary Packaging

Of course, one of the simplest factors when it comes to pricing is deciding how many cameras you need. Generally speaking, the more cameras, the more money. However, some companies, like Lorex, offer bundles of cameras at discounts. You can buy up to 32 Lorex cameras in one package and save. In this case, the downside is obvious. If you’re only looking for one or two cameras, you’re not going to want to pay for 32 cameras no matter how cheap they might be.

Here’s the thing. Purchasing equipment is one component in a larger process. You’ve also got to consider what monitoring adds to your bill. Let’s turn to that next.

Do You Need Professional Monitoring?

Though we’ve seen professional monitoring (for cameras) offered less and less these days, it’s still a worthwhile consideration in your camera search. Here, the question comes down to whether you want to pay for a third-party monitoring service that will alert authorities to any relevant threats in your home, or you prefer to monitor your system yourself.

To many of us, cost is the determining factor here. But no matter what your budget is, the No. 1 factor we focus on in cameras with professional monitoring is whether the service actually works.

In a recent review, one of our team members put a Cove system of cameras, sensors, and an alarm to the test, and came away with one very important takeaway: The police do, actually, show up. If that isn’t a testament to the effectiveness of home security equipment, we’re not sure what is.

Police Officer checking up on us thanks to Cove Monitoring

For more on that interesting experience, head over to our hands-on Cove security system review. But in the meantime, we’ll say this: Cove happens to have one of the least expensive monthly monitoring fees in this biz. So if you are interested in professional monitoring, a Cove kit might be the way to go. Clearly, it does work! Other great options for whole home security include Ring Alarm, SimpliSafe, and Frontpoint.

Our Final Thoughts

Blink Outdoor Camera

We hope that in this ultimate guide to home security cameras we’ve given you a lot to think about when you’re considering surveillance for your home. Taking the time to assess the features and tech that sets these cameras apart, and using our hands-on experiences as a guide, should help you make a smarter, more economical decision about your home security needs.

We always look forward to exploring what new tech and features our favorite camera brands will release each year. Our team feels that the future of home security will be how well they integrate overall into a smart, connected home. People want more control, more integrations, more convenience, but above all else, more peace of mind.

Beyond our guidance here, we’ve published plenty of resources for even more help in the camera buying process. We suggest you start by checking out some of our best motion sensor cameras.