Best Subscription Floodlight Camera
Arlo
Wired Floodlight Camera
Arlo’s Wired Floodlight Camera is the perfect pick for folks with an Arlo system, sporting two adjustable panels that can produce up to 2,000 lumens. The design is a little softer and friendlier than my top pick, with oval panels, and it can be wall or ceiling mounted, though it must be hardwired. This camera provides crisp video at 2,560 x 1,440 pixels, with a wide 160-degree field of view and HDR support, so it handles mixed lighting well. It also supports 12X digital zoom to focus in on details.
I also love Arlo’s rich notifications, and it alerts very accurately, mostly correctly filtering people, animals, vehicles, packages, and general motion. It had the fewest false positives of the floodlight cameras I tested and performed best with moving subjects, as it supports a higher frame rate than my other picks. The two-way audio is solid, but the 80-decibel siren is a little weak.
The Arlo Wired Floodlight Camera is surprisingly cheap and often discounted, but Arlo’s subscription is expensive and essential. An Arlo Secure plan costs $10 per month or $96 a year for a single camera, $20 per month or $216 a year for unlimited cameras, and gives you 60 days of cloud storage and unlocks all the detection filters. It’s not worth installing an Arlo system without it. Upgrade to Premium at $30 a month, and you get event captions, video search, and 24/7 emergency response monitoring. Storage is cloud-only, though this camera can connect with the Arlo Smart Hub, which also opens up Apple Home compatibility (but no HSKV). You don’t need the hub for Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Samsung SmartThings, or IFTTT, and the feed loaded pretty reliably on my Nest displays.
| Specs |
|---|
| Video Quality: Up to 2K, 30 fps |
| Recording: Cloud-only (Arlo Smart Hub only works as a backup) |
| Audio: Two-way audio, siren |
| Smart Home: Amazon Alexa, Apple Home (requires Smart Hub), Google Home, Samsung SmartThings, IFTTT |
| Floodlight: 2 panels, up to 2,000 lumens |
Best Budget Floodlight Camera
TP-Link
Tapo C615F Kit (Battery)
For tighter budgets or spots where it’s tricky to run a cable, TP-Link’s Tapo C615F is a convenient package. The video quality is solid, you can record locally on a microSD card (sold separately), and this is an IP65-rated, pan-and-tilt camera that can cover 360 degrees horizontally and 130 degrees vertically. It also has a 10,400-mAh battery inside, and a wee solar panel to keep it topped off. The panel can be mounted on top or situated in a better spot for sun with the included 13-foot cable. The siren is 97 decibels, and the two-way audio is passable. It’s an impressive combo for the money, but there are compromises.
The single 800-lumen floodlight won’t fully illuminate a large area, and it’s not very adjustable, though it should be fine for enclosed passages or small yards. The AI detection doesn’t require a subscription and can mostly correctly identify people, pets, and vehicles, but the camera occasionally missed a few events, and sometimes recording kicked in with subjects already in frame. While the app worked well to speedily load the live feed, it occasionally took up to 10 seconds. There was also some lag on the video, pan and tilt controls, and two-way audio.
If you prefer a hardwired camera, I also tested and liked the TP-Link Tapo C710 ($100), which has a very similar design and features, but with a more powerful floodlight that can go up to 1,500 lumens.
| Specs |
|---|
| Video Quality: Up to 2K, 20 fps |
| Recording: Local microSD card (up to 512 GB) or cloud |
| Audio: Two-way audio, siren |
| Smart Home: Amazon Alexa, Google Home |
| Floodlight: 1 panel, up to 800 lumens |
Consider These Floodlight Cameras
Photograph: Simon Hill
Reolink Elite Floodlight WiFi (Wired) for $230: Similar to our Reolink pick above, the difference with the Elite Floodlight is that it’s a fixed dual-lens camera designed to give you a wide 180-degree view (59 degrees vertically), rather than a pan-and-tilt camera. If you want a fixed camera to cover the entire side of a property, this could be a solid pick. It records up to 4K video at up to 20 frames per second, has a 105-decibel alarm, and supports dual-band Wi-Fi 6. The rest of the specs, including the two-panel, 3,000-lumen, adjustable temperature floodlight, match the TrackFlex above.
Reolink Solar Floodlight Cam for $99: Floodlight panels on either side of this 2K camera emit up to 1,000 lumens, which is impressive for a battery-powered camera. There’s even built-in solar to keep it topped off. I like the adjustable brightness and color temperature, the relatively loud 110-decibel siren, and the local recording option. You can use a Reolink hub, NVR, or microSD card (all sold separately). But because the solar panel is fixed on top, you need a sunny spot for it to work well (you can buy a second panel if you want to run a cable and put it under the eaves, but I’d just get a different camera). The onboard AI can mostly tell people, animals, and vehicles apart. For me, the video quality lets this camera down. It isn’t as sharp as my picks above, and the frame rate maxes out at 15.
Google Nest Cam With Floodlight (Wired) for $180: This aging floodlight security camera might still be your best bet if you prefer Google Home and have a Nest doorbell. The limited 1080p resolution is mitigated by the high frame rate (30 fps), HDR, and decent 6X digital zoom. The two-panel floodlight can put out up to 2,400 lumens of warm (4,000K) light, and brightness is adjustable. Google’s AI detection is perhaps the smartest in the business, and this is a very reliable camera, but you must subscribe to make it worthwhile, as there’s no local recording option. Google Home Premium starts at $10 per month or $100 per year, but that covers all your devices. It might be best to wait, as Google recently released 2K Nest cameras, and there’s a decent chance it will update its floodlight camera soon.
Photograph: Simon Hill
Philips Hue Secure Camera and Discover Floodlight (Wired) for $200: I used this setup at my old house, and it worked very well. If you’re invested in Hue lighting, the Discover Floodlight is one of my favorite outdoor lights and a versatile way to light up your space. It can put out 2,300 lumens, and you can tweak the temperature, color, and brightness easily in the Hue app, which also allows scheduling and animated scenes. Add a Philips Hue Secure Wired Camera and you can have it trigger the floodlight and any other Hue lights you have. It is only 1080p, but the wired camera worked well for me, triggering reliably, and Philips Hue now offers 24 hours of video history for free. But if you want the AI detection, back-to-back recording, activity zones, and 30 days of video history, you must subscribe for $40 a year for a single camera.
Arlo Pro 3 Floodlight Camera (Battery) for $150: While I prefer the Arlo camera above, this battery-powered camera allows for a wireless install, though you will need to charge it. It offers up to 2K footage with HDR and Arlo’s excellent app and alert system, though you need an Arlo Secure plan ($10 per month or $96 a year for a single camera, $20 per month or $216 a year for unlimited cameras). The floodlight is a single panel that flanks the face of the camera and delivers up to 2,000 lumens. You can boost the brightness to 3,000 lumens and eliminate event-recording delays with the Arlo Outdoor Charging Cable ($50), though you’ll need to run it to an outlet.
Eve Outdoor Cam (Wired) for $220: This stylish floodlight camera can replace an outdoor light to give you motion-activated illumination (up to 1,500 lumens), 1080p video (157-degree field of view), and two-way audio. As a HomeKit camera, you will need an Apple HomeKit hub (Apple TV, HomePod, or iPad) and an iCloud+ storage plan. Sadly, the video and sound quality are only average. This camera also only works on 2.4-GHz Wi-Fi, and there’s no Android support.
Should I Buy a Floodlight Camera?
The short answer is yes. A floodlight security camera is a great way to add light and video surveillance to your property, and they work extremely well for dark areas. They can serve like motion-activated lights when you or your family are taking out the trash, adding safety and convenience to your property. The addition of a security camera enables you to receive alerts about intruders, record video events that you can review later, and drop in and check on the videofeed whenever you like from wherever you are. Most have two-way audio and siren functions to deter intruders. Smart alerts and AI detection enable you to filter for people, vehicles, and packages, though some features can require a subscription.
While it may be a hassle to install (some folks will prefer to hire an electrician for this), you don’t need to worry about charging a hardwired floodlight security camera, and they can generally get brighter than battery-powered cameras.
How Bright Can Floodlight Cameras Get?
Our recommended floodlight security cameras go from 800 lumens up to 3,000 lumens. To give you an idea, 800 lumens is about what you’d expect from a 60-watt bulb. While 800 to 1,500 lumens should be enough for a side path, enclosed area, or small yard, you’ll likely want between 2,000 and 3,000 lumens to illuminate a driveway, front, or backyard. Most floodlight cameras have a couple of panels that can be angled for your needs, and you should be able to adjust the brightness in the app. A few, such as the Reolink recommended below, allow you to tweak the color temperature as well, so you can select cool or warm light. With brighter floodlights, it’s also important to consider your neighbors, so think about placement carefully.
Should I Hire an Electrician?
The best floodlight security cameras are hardwired. Wired security cameras tend to outperform battery cameras because they don’t have to conserve power. This is particularly important for busy spots or if you want continuous recording. Wired floodlight cameras also tend to have brighter light panels for the same reason.
The wiring is not especially complicated, so if you have an existing outdoor light and you are confident about isolating and turning off the power to it, an experienced DIYer can easily install a floodlight camera. That said, it is always safer to hire an electrician, and it should be a relatively quick and affordable job.
How I Test Security Cameras
I test every security camera for at least two weeks, but often far longer. I run through the installation process and note any issues. I check that alerts come through correctly to my phone when I am home, connected to Wi-Fi, or when I’m away and connected to a cellular network. I usually place two or more cameras in the same spot to compare picture quality, motion detection, and other features. I consider the image resolution, frame rate, and audio quality of videos and the live feed. I also check for lag with the live feed. I test the performance during the day and see how it copes with the sun facing the lens, and how it performs in the dark at night (testing both floodlight and night vision). I check how long the live feed and recorded videos take to load at different times of the day.
I play around with the settings in the app to try every mode and feature. I test any smart-detection features to see if they can correctly identify people. I test the two-way audio for a short conversation and try the siren where applicable. I also test local storage and cloud storage options for recording videos. If there are any smart-home integrations, I set them up and check how quickly the feed loads on a smart display. I only recommend cameras that support 2FA and always test any additional security or privacy features.
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