Whether you’re away from home or have an area of your house you’d like to keep a closer eye on, the best home security cameras will keep you in the loop of the action. These cameras link wirelessly to an app on your phone and let you know if trouble is afoot.
But what do you actually need from a home CCTV setup when choosing a security camera? First up, decide where you’re placing the camera. Some are suitable for indoor use only, while some are better placed outdoors – not only are the latter weatherproof, but some feature night vision or have a spotlight. You should also consider whether you want a camera that is battery-operated or needs wiring in.
Above all, go for a camera you’re happy to have in or around your home. Some can be quite obvious, which is great for deterring potential burglars, but it’s not so great for curb appeal.
All of the home security cameras included in our round-up play footage via an app on your phone, and most let you store the footage for a decent chunk of time, if not perpetually. This will more than likely raise the question of privacy, though, so, take a moment to think about whether or not you are happy for footage of your living room to be stored in the cloud, or whether you’d prefer for that to be kept on a memory card instead.
As with most decent tech, the wonder of it is you can adjust and tweak it to suit your requirements. Plus, if you want total privacy, you can always switch it off – some even have timers and schedules built in and will turn off automatically. Keep scrolling to find out which devices impressed us the most.
How we tested
Our home became very, very safe during testing. We reviewed both indoor and outdoor cameras to see which ones were not only the least obtrusive but also caught relevant action without pinging our phones all day long.
We also thoroughly tested the relevant apps to see how easy they were to use, how quickly they alerted us when they detected motion and how adept they were at storing our data. The highest points were awarded to those cameras that didn’t look horrendous, provided a clear image promptly when asked to do so, and fitted neatly into our lives.
The best home security cameras for 2025 are:
- Best overall – Ezviz C6 smart home pan and tilt camera: £89.99, Amazon.co.uk
- Best budget buy – Amazon blink mini indoor security camera: £18.99, Amazon.co.uk
- Best discreet outdoor camera – Ezviz elife BC1C 2K+ smart home battery camera: £89.99, Amazon.co.uk
- Best for indoor and outdoor use – Yale all-in-one camera: £89.99, Yalehome.co.uk
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Ezviz C6 smart home pan and tilt camera
The C6 was the most intelligent camera we tested. It can be set up to detect whether there are pets or humans in the frame, and your family members need only wave at the camera to video call your phone. Better still, the video and audio quality were great.
This is the only indoor camera we tested that moves with the action, rotating and spinning to better track what’s going on. It also uses AI to zoom in on what it thinks is the most relevant thing in the frame.
If you want to protect your privacy, there is a shutter on the camera. Plus, you can store all your data locally or in the cloud if you want to back it up. Whether you’re a pet owner wanting to see what your furry friends are up to, a parent wanting to check in with your kids when you’re away, or simply using the C6 for home security, it’s a fantastic indoor home camera.
Buy now £89.99, Amazon.co.uk
Amazon Blink mini indoor security camera
A brilliant and affordable option, this is a great starting point for home security cameras. The teeny camera needs to be plugged in, so locate it close to a power supply (there’s a decent amount of flex on the cable). When testing, we put it on our bookshelf, where it is almost unnoticeable.
Setup via the Blink app is really easy and quick (taking less than five minutes), and the app allows you to adjust the sensitivity, clip length and activity zones on the picture. You can even alter the night vision to suit you. We liked that the list of archived clips showed a thumbnail and a time stamp, making it easy to find the clip we were after.
This budget-friendly option has all the essentials you’d want for an indoor camera, including two-way talk.
Buy now £18.99, Amazon.co.uk
Ring indoor cam
This camera is absolutely tiny (roughly the same size as an egg cup), making it ideal for fading into the background. It can be left on its stand (which is how we tested it) or mounted on a wall, but being a wired model, it does need to be placed somewhere near a power supply.
There’s two-way talk, which both terrified and delighted our kids, and the field of vision is excellent – we got a panoramic view of our open-plan living room and dining room using just one camera. You can also set up privacy zones, which will see the camera blank out an area in the field of vision.
The camera is activated by motion, so, if you have pets, this might mean you get a lot of irrelevant captures but it can be set to only record when it senses a human.
It was simple to pair with our Alexa Show, which allowed us to view the other rooms in the house in real time. A great camera with plenty of privacy and security features.
Buy now £49.99, Ring.com
Ring spotlight cam plus battery outdoor security camera
The setup on this Ring outdoor camera was incredibly straightforward, as was the installation. As it’s battery operated, it was just a case of charging the battery (this does take more than five hours) and then going through the steps on the Ring app, which took about 10 minutes. You then drill a small, unobtrusive bracket into the wall and click your camera into place. A ball socket on the bracket allows you to adjust the position until you’ve got the right angle.
We liked the colour night vision and there’s also a pair of lights that operate on motion detection, that can be switched on via the app. A bonus is that you can set schedules for both light and motion, which is great if you don’t want to be alerted when the bins are collected, or if you’re away and want to make it look like you’re home by turning on the lights, Home Alone style.
As with all Ring products, the image is crystal clear, thanks to an HD camera on board. We could view the action live or review older footage on the easy-to-use Ring app. Privacy settings mean you can block out close-by neighbours and your street and opt not to record audio. In fact, we struggle to think of anything this outdoor security camera can’t do – it has all the features we could ask for, and then some. It comes with one battery, but you can load it with two battery packs (additional ones sold separately) to boost times between charges.
Buy now £129.99, Ring.com
Ezviz elife BC1C 2K+ smart home battery camera
If you’re looking for a discreet camera, this one pretty much fades into the background. But don’t be deceived – it’s watching, in 2K no less. With colour night vision, two-way talk and smart human detection, it offers a great level of protection for the average home. It broadcasted a clear feed to the app on our phones and played very crisp audio, picking up even the smallest sounds.
As you’d hope for a home security camera, we were alerted on our phones when movement was sensed – you can set how sensitive this feature is, to avoid it picking up loads of irrelevant stuff.
We also liked that there are several battery-saving modes, which should mean this camera lasts up to 270 days on a single charge. You can even opt to store your footage locally on the inbuilt memory (32GB) or use the cloud subscription service.
Buy now £89.99, Amazon.co.uk
Google Nest outdoor or indoor security camera, two-pack
These white, round cameras can be used indoors or outdoors and can be secured in place with the included magnetic mount. While they might be quite obvious inside, they seamlessly blended into the house exterior. As you might expect from a device made by Google, the setup of these cameras was very quick. The app did all the work for us – all we had to do was scan a QR code and input our wifi password. There’s also a slick video that talks you through all the features and functionality of the camera.
The camera angle is really wide and the picture quality is excellent. Of those we tested, this model also boasts the quickest lag time between the action taking place and displaying on our app. There’s night vision, and the audio is great quality – it’s quick and easy to switch the mics on and off, for privacy, too.
Buy now £319.00, Amazon.co.uk
Yale all-in-one camera
We were impressed by how compact and unobtrusive this camera was, especially for an outdoor model. Despite its small size, it still offers fantastic picture quality, two-way talk and a spotlight, which you can switch on and off remotely via the app.
The setup was a tiny bit fiddly, but that might have been more to do with us than the device. Once we were up and running, we found the app simple to use. But we did find there’s a significant lag time between the action taking place and it being displayed.
You can set schedules for when to arm your camera and set off a siren remotely if you see something untoward on your camera and want to alert someone or scare someone off. That said, the siren isn’t very loud – we’d say it’s more like an arcade game as opposed to an ear-splitting ring.
In terms of picture quality, you can easily flick between HD and SD on the app – the latter is absolutely fine, but if you want things pin-sharp, HD will be for you – just look out for your storage capacity. On that note, you can store your data locally using a Micro SD card, bolstering this camera’s appeal, if you have privacy concerns.
Buy now £89.99, Yalehome.co.uk
Tapo C325WB outdoor security wifi camera
If you want something that doesn’t require a subscription to cloud-based storage, this offers the best of both worlds, taking an SD card as well as a subscription.
The setup on the C325WB was simple, via the Tapo app, and we were super impressed with the quality of the picture and sound. It’s a 2K camera and offers colour night vision if you find it tricky to pick out details in black-and-white footage. We also liked that we could record our own voice on the alert message that plays if the camera detects a trespasser – this made it seem more of a warning than a stock message.
As well as this, the C325 can sort the wheat from the chaff, alerting you to whether there’s a vehicle, animal or human in its field of view – and you can choose which of those categories it tells you about and which it should ignore. You can also set your field of view and boundaries, so your neighbours need not worry about privacy concerns, and you can make sure you’re not picking up traffic on the road outside, for example.
Buy now £69.99, Tapo.com
Eufy S350 360 degree pan and tilt wired indoor camera
This camera is fantastic for large spaces, as it can pan, tilt and spin 360 degrees. The 4K resolution means the picture is perfect, too. Pet owners and parents of young kids might also like this one, as you can set it to record (or ignore) footage of pets, babies and adults. You can use a two-way talk, too.
We used it in our living room, setting points of interest for security reasons between the door and the windows. The camera then cycles between these points, ever poised for action. It will also track action across its field of vision.
We found the setup simple and opted for cloud-based storage, but you can slot in an SD card for local storage. There’s also the option to purchase the camera with a ‘homebase’ (£288, Eufy.com), which will store footage.
Buy now £79.98, Amazon.co.uk
Eufy solocam S340
This camera is solar-powered, so there’s no need to charge batteries or wire it in. Just two hours of sunshine will give it enough juice to last all day, and it can charge even in low-light conditions. The setup was easy via the Eufy app, too.
After installation, you can set two activity zones, which means the camera will ignore action outside these zones. You can also ask it to track a combination of vehicles, humans or animals. We were super impressed by the picture quality and loved that the camera has colour night vision.
The drawbacks? It can be trickier to find a good spot to accommodate it, compared with some other cameras we tested, and it’s slightly on the bulkier side. That said, we felt the solar-powered feature outweighed these niggles.
Buy now £129.00, Amazon.co.uk
The verdict: Home security cameras
We were so impressed by the Ezviz C6 smart home pan and tilt camera’s AI technology. The auto-tracking and focus, as well as enhanced recognition for pets and waving, elevates this model from merely a home security camera to a great all-rounder – pet cam, video calling, it’s got the lot.
If you’re looking for an outdoor device, we thoroughly recommend the Ring outdoor camera. Clear imaging, floodlights, easy-to-use software and it’s not too obtrusive, either, making it win out against others in its field.
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