The best wireless security cameras, according to our real-world testing

Score: 90/100

The Ring Pan-Tilt Indoor Cam offers directional control from your smartphone, so you're not limited to only one view. It's great if you're placing this camera in a location where there's a lot to cover. However, note that the panning and tilting is controlled by you, and this doesn’t have auto-tracking when motion is detected, unlike some rivals.

While it's a slick operator for those who want to see what's happening when they're not at home, when you're not changing the direction yourself, the pan and tilt functions aren't doing anything, so it might not be the full security option you need.

It's really easy to set up and get connected to the app. As an indoor camera, it's designed to stand on its base, although a mount is also supplied so it can be wall or ceiling mounted. To get recorded video or AI detection, you'll need a subscription (from £4.99 a month). If you have other Ring cameras, this will fit right in.

The quality is limited to 1080p HD, but we found the captured content good, whether at night or during the day. There's also a handy privacy shutter to physically cover the lens if you want complete protection. While the flexibility of this camera is great, and it got the highest score in our tests, it’s worth saying that the Ring Indoor Cam might be just as effective when it comes to security.

Video storage: Cloud

Subscription cost: From £4.99 a month

Score: 88/100

Ring is one of the biggest names in the business, and if you already have a Ring Doorbell, it makes sense to opt for Ring cameras, so you can just have one app and one subscription.

The Stick Up Cam Battery is versatile, offering easy installation, either freestanding indoors, or using the stand for mounting outdoors. Setup took us about five minutes, and the connection was strong. Of all the brands on this list, Ring's app is the easiest to use, whether you're viewing captured footage or changing the settings.

The quality of the captured footage is good, whether captured during the day or at night, and we found it one of the fastest to detect motion and send out alerts. The Stick Up Camera Battery only offers 1080p HD video, though, which means there's less detail and fewer options for zooming than some of the 2K models on this list.

You will need a subscription if you want to enable cloud storage and the person and package alerts (from £4.99 a month, you get a 30-day trial with the camera), but there's a full feature set offered by Ring and this model is versatile and easy to use.

Video storage: Cloud

Subscription cost: From £4.99 a month

Score: 85/100

Arlo has two families of wi-fi cameras, the Essential (reviewed here) and the Pro. The Essential is more affordable, with the biggest difference being the built-in battery that means you need to remove the camera to charge it. The battery can last up to four months, but that depends on how much use it gets.

Setup is simple, with the Arlo app guiding you through the process. We had no problem connecting it to a home wi-fi network and we liked that a compact and adjustable wall mount is provided, with screws and plugs supplied. It only took us five minutes to get this camera mounted.

The 2K resolution means you’ll see plenty of detail, with an LED illuminator for nighttime colour viewing, or infrared illumination for night vision in black and white. Motion was accurately detected, but you'll need a subscription to get cloud storage, which starts from £5.49 a month (for a single camera). It helps that a 30-day trial comes with the camera, but you should factor this subscription into the overall cost.

The Arlo app provides a lot of customisation for detection modes, and all the options can be a little confusing at first. Notifications with video thumbnails are a nice touch, though, so you can glance at your phone to see what's been happening.

The video is high quality both during the day and at night, but the sensitivity was a little high initially – it responds to branches moving in the wind, for example. However, you can make adjustments to the motion detection so it's more accurate; person, package, vehicle and animal detection are available as part of the Arlo Secure subscription.

Local video storage is possible if you have a compatible Arlo Hub, but removing the subscription limits the functions you get.

Video storage: Cloud

Subscription cost: From £5.49 a month

Score: 81/100

Tapo is well known for its affordable connected devices and the Tapo C310 is no exception, offering a wide range of features at a great price. The upgrade to 2K resolution adds detail to this camera, while the option for local storage (on a microSD card you'll need to supply) or via cloud, wired or wireless, makes for great flexibility.

This is a mains-powered camera so, despite the flexibility, it needs close access to a plug socket for installation. However, the mounting screws are supplied, along with waterproofing grommets for the wired connections. Having a wired connection directly to the router also means you're not dependent on a strong wi-fi signal to get the best out of it.

The Tapo app also controls Tapo's other smart home devices, so it's not as approachable as the Ring or Arlo apps, and it's a bit more fiddly to use. There are some odd examples of language too, which make it a little harder to navigate, while the wide range of options takes some digging around to get to. The lack of a simple arm and disarm function is a little inconvenient, too.

The performance of this camera is good. The daylight content looks a little washed out, but the monochrome night vision is really impressive. It may not be the slickest app, but it's worth persevering. The design is a little bulky but we'd expect some compromise for the price.

Video storage: Local or cloud

Subscription cost: From £2.49 a month (optional)

Score: 78/100

The Nest Cam Battery is easy to set up and install, working through Google Home. That gives this camera a seamless, integrated feel, which is great if you're a user of the Google platform. The cameras are designed for indoor or outdoor use, and come with a cable for indoor use, or internal batteries. If you want it wired outdoors, you'll have to buy a weatherproofed cable separately.

The camera's strongest feature is face recognition – once recognised, you'll be notified whenever it sees that person, which feels like a clever use of AI. This can be integrated with announcements through Nest devices too. While the video footage is only 1080p HD (so not as detailed and lacking the zoom that some rivals offer), the HDR quality means it's great in daylight.

There's no spotlight, so also no colour night vision, but the IR illumination for night vision produces some of the best low light footage in a camera of this type. It will also record footage when offline for up to an hour, which is rare.

There aren't any distinct controls for arming and disarming, as Google intends for it to run all the time. Disabling the camera means turning it off, and there are some customisations are missing. Given the price, it feels like you miss out on a few basic features in Nest Cam Battery, even if the performance is generally very good.

Video storage: Cloud or short-term local

Subscription cost: £6 a month

Score: 78/100

The Eufycam 2C Pro isn't a standalone camera; instead, it uses a hub that needs to be connected to your router. This provides the connection for the camera, while also storing the video captured. It's a two-camera kit, with the option to add more cameras (for £99.99 each) but, thanks to the hub, we found it had a good range.

The Eufycam 2C Pro doesn't need a subscription, as it stores local video instead. This can still be accessed via your smartphone, but it's a little slower than cloud-based systems. It offers the full range of detection functions, though, rivalling the experience from the likes of Ring or Arlo.

We found the setup a little complicated, taking several attempts, and the app isn't as clear as the top-performing rivals. That means it takes a little longer to find various settings, but there are plenty of features packed in.

On test, the quality of the video was good, whether in the day or at night. Its motion detection takes a little longer to be triggered than its rivals, though, so it would often miss the first couple of seconds of the activity. The outdated Micro USB connector for charging is also a little annoying, as it means using a different cable to the rest of your devices.

Video storage: Local hard drive or cloud

Subscription cost: From £3.49 a month (optional)

Score: 76/100

Google’s Nest Cam with Floodlight builds on the features of the Nest Cam, but adds an integrated floodlight. This provides huge illumination (which can be adjusted) to create more of a deterrent. The regular Nest Cam has no lighting, so this is a useful addition. On test, we were impressed by the high-quality daytime video capture, boosted by HDR, while the night capture in full colour is superb too. If you choose not to use the floodlight, the black and white night vision remains detailed.

As a wired floodlight, there's no battery to think about, but it needs professional installation. Without the battery, though, it's great for 24/7 video capture. Just note that you'll need a Nest Aware Plus subscription (at £12 a month) for that option.

Just like on the Nest Cam, face recognition is a highlight of Google's cameras – recognised people are announced if you have a compatible Nest Hub in your home. Overall, this camera is an expensive pick, and the controls offered through the Google Home app aren't as intuitive or feature-rich as some rivals. But, as a permanently installed camera and security light, that's perhaps less of a problem than it is for the Nest Cam Battery.

Video storage: Cloud

Subscription cost: From £6 a month

Score: 75/100

Blink's aim is to offer value for money, and the Blink Mini 2 is certainly cheap. There's a reason for that, though, as several of the functions you'll find elsewhere aren't here: there's no siren, for example, and no video thumbnails in notifications, so it’s a little less capable than many of its rivals.

On test, we found setup fairly simple, although the password requirements stated by Blink in the instructions were incorrect, so creating our account took a couple of tries. The Blink Mini 2 comes with a built-in stand, so once plugged in, you're good to go.

The Mini 2 can be used indoors or outdoors, but if you want to use it outdoors you'll need a separate power cable that's weatherproof (it costs £8.99). To capture video and view online, you'll need a subscription, but at £2.50 a month it's one of the cheapest options you'll find. Alternatively, the Sync Module 2 (£39.99) allows local storage of video on a USB drive to save the ongoing subscription costs.

The quality of the video captured is good, even if it’s only 1080p HD. There's an LED for colour night vision with good motion detection, but it only recognises people and the lack of thumbnails means it takes a little more effort to see what's actually happening. However, this is a versatile camera, offering good performance that’s well-suited to indoor use thanks to its wired arrangement and really wide-angle lens. It’s a good buy, even if it lacks some features.

Read our Blink Mini 2 review.

Video storage: Cloud

Subscription cost: £2.50 a month

Score: 74/100

The EZVIZ CB8 Lite offers tilt and pan operation, so you can move it around from your phone. There's also always-on video recording, and it comes in a kit with a solar panel (it can also be bought without the panel if you prefer).

In our testing, the setup and installation were simple with no problem connecting to wi-fi. The app, however, is a little fiddly and less logically laid out than its rivals. It uses confusing language and there are a lot of options, with the settings spread between various different menus.

The CB8 Lite was prone to reporting a poor wi-fi connection (when rival cameras were completely fine), while control of the tilt and pan function was subject to delay, so it was a little challenging to use, in practice. The lens gives a narrow field of view, but the camera can be remotely controlled to view a different location, so it's great for corners. We found the AI person detection inaccurate, though, regularly flagging animals as people!

Motion tracking is good, successfully following movement in testing, both in daylight and at night, but you can easily run past without it following, so it's not foolproof at close range. Overall, the CB8 Lite offers a lot, but it's slightly let down by a fiddly app experience. That said, the local subscription-free storage with a microSD (not supplied) is a bonus.

Video storage: Cloud or microSD

Subscription cost: From £5.99 a month (optional)

Score: 72/100

The Hue Secure battery camera is designed to integrate with other Hue products. That means you control it with the Hue app, and if you have a Hue Hub, the camera can trigger responses from the Hue smart lights in your home.

That includes flashing lights in combination with the siren, changing lights on motion detection, or turning lights on. There's also the option to run the "mimic" function, where the lights come on and off so it looks like someone is home, although these functions are possible through automation or "routines" on other platforms.

Setting it up is easy using the app, but we found the experience inconsistent, requiring factory resetting after it stopped responding. The detection was also rather mixed, sometimes failing to notice a person standing right in view. It relies on a subscription for cloud storage (at £34.99 a year) but you get 60 days of online storage with that. The 1080p HD resolution is below par at this price, and there's no colour night vision. The black and white night vision is also poor, compared to most rivals.

It's hard to recommend the Hue Secure Battery unless you're a big Hue ecosystem fan. Even then, you could integrate third-party cameras with Hue via smart home platforms like Alexa or IFTTT instead.

Video storage: Cloud

Subscription cost: £34.99 a year