Best wireless home security cameras 2024

Google Nest Cam Battery mounted outside
(Image credit: Nick Sutrich / Android Central)

The prevalence of Wi-Fi-connected outdoor security cameras has made it easy to keep an eye on your home when you're away. But many cams require constant power from a junction box or outlet to function, limiting where you can place them and how many you can install. For the most flexibility, you'll want cameras with internal batteries so you can mount them anywhere and have them last for months at a time. We've rounded up the best wireless home security cameras for an untethered, reliable system, with the Google Nest Cam (battery) topping the list.

Best wireless security cameras for your home

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Google Nest Cam (battery)

(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)

Google Nest Cam (battery)

Best overall

Reasons to buy

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Battery-powered or wired
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Easy to mount
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Indoor or outdoor use
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On-device AI-based object detection
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Free 3-hour event video history
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Works great with Alexa and Google Assistant

Reasons to avoid

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No native Apple HomeKit support
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Power cable is a non-standard connection

If you're looking for a wireless security camera with brains, great battery life, and a reasonable price, look no further than the Google Nest Cam (battery). If you read our review when the camera came out, you might be scratching your head. We panned it pretty hard on release but Google has substantially improved this camera and it's now very easy to recommend, especially as a wireless security camera.

First and foremost is the fact that Google offers on-device AI object detection, meaning it can differentiate between people, vehicles, and animals, all without having to pay Google for a subscription. Not only that, but you can view the last 3 hours of motion event video history for free.

The camera is dead-easy to mount and sits on a brilliant magnetic base that's strong, and the camera features proper ingress protection against all the elements you can imagine an outdoor camera would need. Battery life lasts months at a time, and the Google Home app will give you accurate estimates of time left before you need to charge without having to dig deep into settings.

Google's Nest Aware plans can be added to include additional cloud storage and one really awesome additional feature: Familiar Faces. With familiar faces, your camera can identify whether it sees someone it knows and sends you special notifications based on that person. This utilizes Google's excellent face identification technology from Google Photos, so you know it's both safe and accurate.

With a Nest Aware Plus plan, you can even get 24/7 video recording when you hook Nest Cam (battery) up to a power source. Now that's versatility!

Google has even substantially overhauled its Google Home app and the new UI is nothing short of sublime. Easy-to-see thumbnails of all recent events are just a tap away, and quick live footage can be accessed right on the Google Home main tab when you start up the app.

Arlo Pro 3 Floodlight Camera

(Image credit: Chris Wedel/Android Central)
Best premium wireless camera

Reasons to buy

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Up to six-month battery life
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IP65 weather-resistant
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Stunning 2K HDR video
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160-degree field of view
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Very bright LED floodlight
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Doesn't require a base station to operate

Reasons to avoid

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Expensive
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Requires a subscription for many features
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No local storage without an expensive hub

Many of Arlo's latest cameras, like the Arlo Pro 3 Floodlight Camera, ditch the base and connect directly to your Wi-Fi instead, cutting out the single point of failure that existed before. Why is that important? While having an Arlo base station will still improve your Arlo Pro 3 Floodlight Camera's battery life and enable extended wireless range, it also means if the base station loses power, all your cameras connected to it will lose connection. Since Arlo Pro 3 Floodlight Camera can connect directly to your Wi-Fi, this potential issue no longer exists.

The Arlo Pro 3 Floodlight Camera features some of the best video quality you'll find on any battery-powered wireless camera. The unbelievably crisp 2K (2560p) HDR video means you won't just see every minute detail, but HDR will also keep the brightest and darkest parts of the footage balanced and easy to see. It's also got two-way audio support and a built-in ultra-bright LED floodlight for color night vision. Pairing it with an Arlo Secure subscription can even identify humans, animals, vehicles, and packages.

Arlo has some of the best security you'll find from any provider on this list, including two-factor authentication on Arlo accounts. Arlo also ties in marvelously with popular smart home systems like Alexa, Google Assistant, and IFTTT. Apple HomeKit support isn't available just yet but is being worked on, as some of Arlo's other cameras integrate nicely with HomeKit.

The biggest downside to the Arlo Pro 3 Floodlight Camera is the cost. A single Arlo Pro 3 Floodlight Camera costs as much as the two-camera EufyCam 2C package. On top of that, you'll need an Arlo Secure subscription to get all the best features, like AI-based object detection, customizable motion zones, and cloud storage. If you want to avoid the cost of cloud storage and are OK with basic motion detection, you can get an Arlo base and have videos stored locally on a USB stick.

Arlo Secure has a low monthly cost for a single camera, but it starts to get pricey as you add more cameras to your system. You can pay for a bundle subscription for five cameras, with an additional per-camera cost for any beyond that. For a complete security system with lots of ground to cover, it'll quickly reach Netflix subscription levels of priceyness if you're not careful.

Arlo Essential Spotlight Camera

(Image credit: Arlo)

Arlo Essential Spotlight Camera - Wireless Security

Best affordable option

Reasons to buy

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Reasonable price for wireless cam
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Color night vision with spotlight
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Fully weather-resistant
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Supports all three smart homes + IFTTT
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AI detection is reliable with Arlo Secure

Reasons to avoid

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Requires Arlo Secure sub for AI detection
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No free cloud storage
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No swappable battery pack

Most of the best wireless home security cameras cost between one or two hundred bucks, with the budget options omitting useful features to hit lower price points. But the Arlo Essential blurs the line between savings and quality. It gives you many of the Arlo Pro 4's perks at about half the price — useful if you want to stock up on several for total house coverage.

You downgrade to a standard 1080p resolution and still-respectable 130º field-of-view but still get rare perks like 30 FPS footage, color night vision, 12X zoom, a 6-month battery estimate, noise cancellation over 2-way audio, and support for Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple HomeKit. And like the Arlo Pro 4, you can connect your Arlo Essential directly to your network without a hub — unless you want local storage.

The Arlo Essential battery life lasts six months "based on usage of 4000 seconds per month, 30 seconds per stream, and day/night event splits of 2:1," according to Arlo. However, depending on where you point it and how often it is activated, you may need to invest in a solar panel to avoid frequent recharges since — unlike the Arlo Pro 4 or Ring wireless cams — you can't swap in a fresh battery pack when the Essential runs low on power. Instead, you'll have to unmount it and charge it inside.

Blink Outdoor Wireless Camera

(Image credit: Chris Wedel/Android Central)
Best battery life

Reasons to buy

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Very affordable
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Free local storage with USB stick
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Lasts up to two years on two AA batteries
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Supports Amazon Alexa
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Local storage for up to 10 cameras
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Built-in thermometer

Reasons to avoid

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Clunky software
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Micro-USB rather than USB-C
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Limited recording length
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No person detection/ alerts

Most wireless cams give battery life estimates of about 3 to 6 months, but these estimates depend on you lowering the motion detection sensitivity or pointing the camera towards a spot where motion will rarely be detected. Many of our top picks will require frequent recharges. Keeping that in mind, the Blink Outdoor may be the best forward-thinking pick on our list, thanks to its potential to last up to two years off of two AA batteries. Amazon will even begin selling a battery pack that will last a whopping four years on a single charge.

Battery life aside, it offers the same two-way audio, customizable motion alert zones, and night vision as the other cameras on this list for an affordable price. It's also weather-resistant, making it ideal for placing outdoors, and has a handy built-in thermometer for monitoring nearby conditions.

If you'd prefer to run the Blink Outdoor from a wall outlet or even a battery pack, it also has a Micro-USB port. Of course, USB-C would've been ideal, but you can't win them all. The biggest downside to Blink's wireless cameras is that they are all designed to maximize battery life. Practically speaking, that means recording clips are limited to 30 seconds, and connecting to the camera can sometimes take several seconds.

Blink used to provide free cloud storage, but now requires a subscription like other rival brands. But at least you can use the Blink Sync Module 2 to save local storage. We'll also note that most other modern security cameras differentiate between people, pets, and objects — at least with a subscription. But Blink's subscription-only covers storage; Blink cameras don't have smart alerts, which can increase false positives.

Ring Stick Up Cam Outdoor Fall

(Image credit: Nick Sutrich / Android Central)

Ring Stick Up Camera

Most versatile mounting options

Reasons to buy

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Easy to set up
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Box includes almost all tools needed for installation
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1080p video with night vision
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Integrates well with Amazon Alexa
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Two-way audio

Reasons to avoid

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Requires a Ring subscription for video storage
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No spotlight for clearer night vision
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Doesn't work well with Google Assistant

Ring is best known for making some of the best video doorbells, but the Stick Up Cam packs most of the same features and is also easy to install just about anywhere. You can screw it into a wall or buy the ceiling mount and adjust the viewing angle to perfectly capture your yard or living room without being in reach of thieves.

The Stick Up Camera comes in two separate configurations: one is only battery-powered, while is other is hardwired-only. But the battery has a built-in Micro-USB port for easy recharging and lasts for months at a time. Plus, you can use a Ring accessory like a solar panel to keep your Stick Up Cam battery constantly topped off.

Of course, since Ring belongs to Amazon, the Stick Up Cam also integrates nicely with Alexa. So you can easily pull up your video feed on smart displays like the Echo Show. The camera also features two-way audio, motion-activated notifications, and IR night vision — though you'll have to pay for a Ring Protect plan to view recorded footage, as it doesn't have local storage.

If you consider in advance that you'll have to pay a monthly subscription, Ring Protect has a pretty reasonable price. You get up to ten cameras covered with a single subscription, along with smarter People Only notifications and professional monitoring if your camera detects a security threat. Or, if you'd rather Ring not access your feeds at all, you can turn on end-to-end encryption, so only you can see what your Stick Up Cam records.

Ring Spotlight Cam Mounted

(Image credit: Source: Android Central)

Ring Spotlight Cam Battery

Best security camera with spotlight

Reasons to buy

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Built-in LED lights
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Loud siren for warding off intruders
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Ring's theft protection guarantee
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Crisp 1080p video with night vision
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Water-resistant
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Lots of optional accessories, like a solar panel

Reasons to avoid

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Requires a Ring subscription for video storage
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Doesn't work well with Google Assistant

If you've already heavily invested in the Amazon Alexa or Ring ecosystems, it probably makes the most sense to stick with Ring's excellent line of cameras. The Ring Spotlight Cam brings the best of Ring's outdoor cameras in a wireless, unassuming form factor. It's large enough to feature prominent LED lights and a sizable battery, but small enough not to stand out too much.

As the price implies, the Ring Spotlight Cam is more capable than the Ring Stick Up Cam since it has a larger field-of-view (so it can see more of your yard) and even has a siren that can be used to ward off intruders. That built-in spotlight can illuminate large sections of your yard at night and works best out of all the cameras here that have lights attached.

Toucan Wireless Outdoor Camera

(Image credit: Chris Wedel/Android Central)

Toucan Wireless Outdoor Camera

Best with free cloud storage

Reasons to buy

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Free encrypted cloud storage
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IP65 weather-resistance
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Alexa, Google Assistant, and IFTTT support
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Up to 32GB local storage
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6+ months of battery life
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Easy to mount

Reasons to avoid

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No local cloud storage
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No spotlight

We like the Toucan Wireless Outdoor Camera in our testing if you're looking for a wire-free security camera that's truly affordable but doesn't compromise performance too much. Toucan offers free encrypted cloud storage for 60-second clips. But the free plan only allows 24 hours of recording with five monthly downloads. Paid plans start at $2.99/mo for extended video history. A downside is the Toucan Wireless Outdoor Camera doesn't offer local storage via a microSD card. 

The Toucan Wireless Outdoor Camera isn't a super high-resolution camera or powerful device. But while it still charges over microUSB, it packs a massive 6500mAh battery for fewer charging trips. It's also a bit of a bummer that there isn't any spotlight, but there are enough other features that can make this a great buy. So for some frugal buyers who want a set-it-and-forget-it approach to wireless cameras with free cloud storage, Toucan is your best bet. And it works with both Alexa and Google Assistant. 

Bottom line

Home security is easier than ever to set up, use, and afford. All of the cameras here are fantastic choices and have their own sets of advantages, but the Google Nest Cam (battery) offers the best bang for your buck. It's got battery life that lasts months, free onboard AI-powered object detection, free 3-hour event video history, and a great design that looks great anywhere. You can even upgrade it with a power plug and a Nest Aware subscription, making it a great choice for anyone.

As a note, we've removed Wyze cameras because of significant security issues. While these flaws have been fixed, the company's deceptive practices over a period of three years have caused us to lose trust in its products. Additionally, we've stopped recommending Eufy's cameras as of December 1, 2022 because of security issues.

Nicholas Sutrich
Senior Content Producer — Smartphones & VR
Nick started with DOS and NES and uses those fond memories of floppy disks and cartridges to fuel his opinions on modern tech. Whether it's VR, smart home gadgets, or something else that beeps and boops, he's been writing about it since 2011. Reach him on Twitter or Instagram @Gwanatu
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