Security cameras

Everything you need to know to set up a security camera system in your home.

Whether it’s designed for inside or out, a security camera needs to offer a clear picture, reliable detection and a good user experience. But you also need to be confident a criminal can’t use it to see inside your house.

Overall score breakdown

Our overall rating is comprised of 5 subscores.

Video quality (30%) is measured both indoor and outdoor, during the day and at night.
Detection and notifications (30%) covers how reliably the camera detects motion, both day and night, and at multiple sensitivity settings. Also rates the quality of phone and email notifications.
Ease of use (30%) covers mounting and setup, use from smartphones and desktops, as well as changing settings and receiving updates.
Security and privacy (5%) measures how well the service protects against potential attacks, and how much data it collects from you.
Audio quality (5%) mostly concerns how well the microphone picks up sound, but also rates the speakers if applicable.

We test indoor and outdoor cameras to the same criteria, because they have similar jobs and requirements. We’re also looking at adding smart doorbells to the same test, if enough become available in the New Zealand market.

We've tested 12 security cameras.

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