Best Indoor Security Camera 2023

Arlo has consistently produced the best cameras and the best app, and the Arlo Pro 5 is no different. This model is the upgraded version of the Pro 4 and requires the new Arlo app to work. Largely successful, the new app simplifies the interface, using three simple armed modes (home, away, and standby), which can be used to choose which cameras are active when. Modes can be changed manually or automatically on a schedule or location.

Although the Pro 5 has the same 2K resolution as the Pro 4, Arlo has updated the sensor to a 12-bit version, up from the 10-bit sensor on the old one. This improves colour capture (up to 68bn colours), which also means that colour night vision looks better.

Combined with the spotlight, there’s no need for IR lights (although the camera does have them), as the Pro 5 can capture nighttime shots in glorious colour. During the day, this camera shoots brilliant video, that’s sharper and more detailed than the Pro 4’s.

As with other Arlo cameras, the Pro 5 is battery powered. It can be charged in-situ via an optional solar panel or brought inside and charged regularly. Arlo has improved battery life here, promising 30% more life compared to the Pro 4. That is about right in our tests.

We think that this is the best overall security camera and system, but I have to say that the hardware is expensive and the cloud subscription, which is required to capture video, is more expensive than that of the competition. If you want the best, then the money is worth it, but if you’re on a tight budget, look elsewhere.

Reviewer: David Ludlow

Full review: Arlo Pro 5 review

A Full HD camera for less than £20 with free cloud storage – there has to be a catch, right? Well, yes, but for many people, the slight limitations of the Neos SmartCam are easy to forgive at this price. The main downside is that the free cloud storage is for 12-second clips and there’s a five-minute delay between clip creation.

We found that the camera mostly captured faces and movement properly, but there’s a chance in busy areas that the camera may not record the crucial evidence that you need. A backup is that you can record to microSD card, with the camera recording permanently, although you can’t view the footage through the app, only by taking the card out and inserting it in into a computer.

The app is nicely designed, although basic, with the ability to control motion detection sensitivity. False positives were kept down and the camera only triggered when something was physically moving in front of it. You can further restrict recordings by arming and disarming the camera either manually or using geofencing.

Image quality is good, although a touch off the pace of the best cameras that we’ve reviewed. Still, for less than £20, it’s hard to complain. If you want a camera for occasional use in less busy areas, this is a great choice.

Reviewer: David Ludlow

Read our full Neos SmartCam review

Ring has focussed most of its products on outside of your home but the Ring Indoor Cam is designed to protect the inside. It’s exceptionally cheap for an indoor camera, particularly for one with a Full HD resolution.

This camera is simple to set up with a stand that’s able to sit on a desk or shelf, or you can mount it to a ceiling or a wall. It’s powered by USB and there’s no battery backup for this model.

Inside the app you can set motion detection zones and choose to be alerted about people only, cutting down the number of alerts that you get. All footage is saved to the cloud via a Ring Protect subscription.

This is a camera that works best if you have other Ring devices, such as the Ring Alarm. Based on how your alarm is set, you can have the camera arm and disarm automatically. For example, when you go out, the Ring Indoor Cam can turn on and then turn off when you get home and disable the camera.

It’s slightly fiddly to find recorded videos and Ring needs to update its app to have a simple thumbnail view of recorded events. That aside, there’s little to complain about: video quality is good enough, and the price is excellent.

Reviewer: David Ludlow

Full review: Ring Indoor Cam review

While the majority of the revamped Nest range of cameras was quite expensive, the Nest Cam (indoor, wired) is a more wallet-friendly option. Despite the lower price, this camera has a lot of features that make it stablemates so good.

Top of the list is built-in recording, which lets this camera capture up to three hours of video without requiring a cloud subscription. If you do take out a Nest Aware subscription, which is good value and covers all cameras in your home, the camera’s onboard storage can be used in the event of an internet outage. When the internet comes back, the saved footage is uploaded to the cloud, so you should never miss a beat.

On-board, this camera has object detection, letting it tell the difference between people, animals and vehicles; you can then choose what you want to be told about, reducing the number of alerts that you get.

Control is via the Google Home app, rather than the superior Nest app. It’s a little clunky to use but you should still easily be able to find the footage that you want. The only thing really missing is more control over how and when the camera records.

Reviewer: David Ludlow

Full review: Nest Cam (indoor, wired) review

If you’re an iPhone user and have been hunting for a camera that integrates well with HomeKit, the Eve Cam could be ideal. It’s a little expensive for a basic 1080p camera, but for those that live in an Apple world, it could be a great addition to your home’s security.

With its round head mounted to a flexible stand, this camera looks basic but functional. It’s surprisingly flexible, and can be desk-mounted, rotating 360 degrees with 180 degrees of angle adjustment, or wall-mounted.

You install the camera using either the Eve app or the Home app, both of which add the camera to HomeKit. You can view the camera’s live feed through both apps, but the Home app is better. There’s no cloud connection involved, and you connect directly to the camera. However, you do need to have a Home Hub on your network, such as a HomePod Mini for remote connections.

You can stream what’s currently happening and turn on two-way talk to have a conversation with anyone that you can see. For more advanced options you need to have an iCloud+ plan to enable HomeKit Secure Video. As this is a HomeKit only camera, there’s no Alexa or Google Assistant support, nor IFTTT support.

As well as recording any motion, you can instead select to only record when people, animals, vehicles or packages are detected. You can also set up activity zones, so only motion in those areas of interest are recorded.

The Eve Cam has a 1080p sensor and a 150-degree field of view, which is pretty good for an indoor camera: that’s enough to capture most of a room, particularly if you can place the camera in a corner.

Video quality depends on the lighting available. During the day, when there’s a good amount of light, the video quality is pretty good. At night, the camera switches to its IR view, using its built-in LEDs to shoot in black and white. This removes quite a bit of detail from the picture, including from people.

Reviewer: David Ludlow

Full review: Eve Cam review