Best Outdoor Security Camera: TP-Link Tapo MagCam Latest

. These camera’s are hard to beat for the price. They are rugged, and just continue to work if installed right.There are other reviews with samples of the image quality – it’s what you’d expect for $30, probably a little better even. Decent, 2k image with night vision. I’m not going to focus on this as much as a couple of other aspects of this product that I was pleasantly surprised by after install.These are: The app’s simplicity and streamlined functionality, and the actual camera hardware being compatible with almost every ip camera configuration standard.The app is surprisingly simple yet useful using the camera’s local micro sd card storage, and can be used locally on the LAN without any subscription, and does not have any blocked features or limited functionality when opting out of the optional cloud subscription. This is much more of a bonus than I had expected. I hadn’t even expected to use the app at all after setup.Which isn’t necessary after the initial setup, which includes paring the camera with your tp-link ID. Once done, you can set up what they call a “camera account”, which is in essence setting the camera’s local address for use with third party software and NVR’s via ONVIF (s) standard, or using the RSTP protocol. Overall great for the price.Only negative I have found is that the frame-rate is set at 15fps and absolutely can’t be changed or reconfigured in any way to manually change the bitrate. The resolution options are what you’d expect (720,1080,2K) but just keep in mind that it’s all at 15fps. Not really a big deal as much for me, something to know. Oh, and the included 9v-0.4A power supply is the only option for power, PoE is NOT supported. The camera’s stream can be connected via ethernet or wifi, but not powered over ethernet as well.They work for a long time, and are $30, you can’t really go wrong.

. I like the quality and instant connection. I like the constant, motion activated and off recording options in the timer setup. I like its tracking option. I like the easy setup.

. I bought 2 of these. One to replace a broken camera and one to add coverage I was missing.The cameras were easy to install. I reused the 1/4-20 mount from the broken camera and it screwed right in the back end of the camera. The new camera I used the magnetic mount. I’m usually nervous about any outdoor mount that isn’t rock solid. But, these magnets are some sort of rare earth and they create a very solid mount for the camera. The camera come with a warning about how strong the magnets are and to keep your fingers out of pinch points.Setup was easy using the iOS Tapo app.The image quality is excellent. Also the low light color sensors give great color images at night if there is any light at all and the usual IR monochrome otherwise.Motion detection zones have always been hit and miss in my experience. These cameras break that rule. First there are 4 different detection types (Motion, Person, Pet, Vehicle) that can be turned on or off individually and used together. Second, The zone boundaries in most cameras I’ve used give you one zone, usually a box you can change the size of. The zones in these camera are described by 4 points. You can move the points to make any 4 sided shape. But wait! You can add additional 4 sided shaped zones. I’ve got one with 4 zones. My camera in the front yard needs to keep the street out of the detection zone but cover all the little nooks and crannies. It’s an impossible shape to describe with only 4 points. With these cameras the 16 points I used cover the area completely and eliminate false triggers. And, you can either have all your detector types share a common zone set or have separate zone sets per type (Per, Person, vehicle, and Motion)I liked the first two so much, I bought 3 more to replace the rest of my cameras.I hate climbing up to replace batteries. They always go dead in the rain and cold. I have solar panels on 3 of the cameras and 2 of the cameras are plugged into outdoor lighting using the supplied charging cubes in light housings where they are nice and dry. The result is that for at least part of every day the cameras get some charge. Low batteries are never a problem.I did buy an annual subscription to Tapo Care. These come with a 30 trial subscription and that got us hooked. At least the purchased subscription is added onto the end of the trial.