Best Motion Sensor Security Cameras

Lorex has been providing DIY security solutions for over 30 years. One thing that makes them a leader is their innovation; they are constantly coming out with new products to meet the changing demands of consumers. For example, at the time of this writing, Lorex was launching a 1080p Wired Video Doorbell, a 2K Wired Floodlight Security Camera, and a 2K Battery Video Doorbell.

When it comes to detecting and capturing what’s happening on your property, Lorex has a few options available. Here’s the breakdown:

Types of Motion Detection Available with Lorex Cameras

One of the downsides of Lorex is that the company doesn’t offer any professional monitoring. However, all cameras include some type of local video storage options – DVR, NVR, mini-SD cards – so we wound up saving a ton of money over the long haul and still had video footage to share with authorities when we needed it. We always prefer professional monitoring, but saving money on monthly monitoring fees is a pretty nice compensation.

Now it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the smarter your motion detection gets, the more you’re going to have to pay — more on that in our guide to Lorex’s prices and products. That said, whatever your need or budget, Lorex likely has a camera that’ll work. And if prices still don’t suit you, check out the Lorex Clearance Outlet on their website. They offer big discounts on Certified Open Box and Last Chance clearance products.

Google Nest only sells three cameras — the wired indoor Nest Cam, the battery-powered indoor/outdoor Nest Cam, and the wired Nest Cam with Floodlight. But you know what they say: Quality over quantity. And in the case of Google Nest, it’s definitely the former rather than the latter.

Google Nest Cams don’t just come with person detection. After all, that’s becoming standard on the market. No, Google Nest Cams take AI further by including facial recognition. What’s the difference? Well, person detection can differentiate between your mailman and, say, a squirrel. Facial recognition can differentiate between the mailman who delivers during the week and the one who delivers on Saturday. The last time we went out of town, we connected our Nest Cam to our front door locks, and it let our Aunt Linda in to water the plants. No question, that was handy. Facial recognition can also improve your safety, though. What really impressed us was the fact that our camera was able to tell us when it didn’t recognize someone. That meant we could give those notifications a little more attention.

Be advised: you don’t get something for nothing. Nest Cam’s prices can be a bit steep. The basic indoor cam costs $99, not unreasonable, but about double the cost of a comparable camera from Ring. And the Nest Cam Indoor/ Outdoor model is $179.99. If you need a lot of cameras to protect your home, those kinds of prices could make Nest cost prohibitive. In addition, if you want facial recognition, you have to sign up for a Nest Aware subscription. The fee is affordable – as little as eight dollars a month – but it does mean you’ll be permanently locked into a monthly payment.

Check out our Google Nest Cam review to get the full scoop on our live Nest tests.

Ring cameras don’t include facial recognition like Nest cameras do. They do come with People Only Mode, though, which can cut down on false alerts. That’s especially important if you’re self-monitoring your system. Checking your cameras only to find the neighbor’s dog grinning up at you from the porch gets old pretty fast. In addition, lighting options mean you get a crystal clear image even at night.

For keeping tabs on packages, Ring’s motion-sensing capabilities go even further into features like motion zones and schedules, so you can zero in on the alerts you need. And here’s the cherry on top: You can turn on advanced motion detection, which increases the accuracy of your alerts and even automatically trims recordings so you won’t be stuck sifting through empty footage. See our full Ring Cam analysis to learn more.

Powerful motion detection works best when it’s paired with high resolution. You don’t just want your camera to come on when it sees something; you want it to provide you with crystal-clear images so you know exactly what’s happening with just a glance at your video feed. During our most recent review of the Arlo Pro 4, one of the company’s we were impressed by the image quality – full 2K resolution. This mid-range camera’s motion detection ensured captured absolutely everything that crossed the frame and captured it with enough detail that we were able to pass it on to police when it showed a reckless driver plaguing our neighborhood.

Best of all, Arlo managed to package this high-resolution technology and all of its motion sensor technology into a camera that’s wire-free – no communication wires and no power cords. They’re stylish as well. Yeah, we know – security is more important than style. If you can get both, though, why wouldn’t you? You can learn more in our full rundown of Arlo’s equipment costs and monitoring.

We sometimes get so caught up in talking about fancy motion security tech that we don’t have time to mention other important camera features. One thing Blink does especially well, though, is manufacture customer-friendly products. Complex internal software and the latest gadgetry can actually be frustrating rather than helpful if it’s too complicated to use. You want lots of control over your devices. The more adjustments you can make, the better your cameras will perform. If you can’t figure out how to make those adjustments, though, what good are they? Blink manages to strike a perfect balance between control and ease-of-use.

Best of all, Blink is eminently affordable. In fact, no camera in Blink’s suite is more than $140. Of course, you get what you pay for, and these cameras don’t have extras like fine-tuned motion alerts or color night vision. Still Blink cameras offer great basic security without breaking the bank. Here’s the breakdown:

Kuna cameras include sophisticated AI that can differentiate between people, pets, vehicles, and packages. That cut down on the number of alerts we received while we were at work. But the company has also promised that its AI is designed to grow and develop. Eventually, these devices are supposed to be able to tell the difference between various people within your home and recognize burglars based on their actions alone. Best of all, you don’t have to reinvest in new equipment to get new advantages like these when they are released. Your current cameras will actually evolve to be better and better. That makes for a solid investment, and it’s a promise you won’t get from many companies.

Since light-camera combos are Kuna’s bread and butter, it was nice being able to control the Kuna camera using the mobile companion app. The moment I received a motion-activated alert on my phone, I could react directly from my phone’s lock screen. A nice touch, and a speedy way to monitor my space while I’m on the go. See our full Kuna camera live testing guide to learn the ins and outs and to see if this camera makes sense for you.

We’ll confess that we’d like to see Kuna offer more straightforward camera models. It’s not that we don’t like their lighting/camera combos, but we like their cameras so much that it would be nice to have options. Would it kill them, for instance, to manufacture a camera we could use in our living rooms? At a minimum, we’d like to see more options when it comes to their light fixture models. Still, this is a company that found a unique niche and they occupy it well.