Reviews: The Best Cheap Security Cameras Have Premium Features Without the Premium Costs

Today’s best home security cameras are often accompanied by tons of features and killer specs, which shouldn’t come as a surprise. But the downside is that they come at a high price, making them nearly out of reach for those on tighter budgets. Well, there’s no need to worry about sacrifices or subpar performances because the best cheap security cameras still have plenty of value.

The basic premise of a home security camera is that they can get the job done when it comes to watching over homes. Whether it’s a video doorbell, indoor security camera, outdoor security camera, or even those that don’t require subscriptions, you can still rely on the best cheap security cameras to detect intruders, record events, and even notify you.

We’ve tested over 20+ different security cameras throughout the year and know exactly what it takes to be a top contender. However, we only took into consideration models around the $50 range because it’s the price range we feel consumers are most comfortable spending for a budget security camera.

Always a top-contender in our roundups, the Wyze Cam V3 is the best cheap security camera for the money. Not only can it be used either as an indoor or outdoor security camera, but we love how this compact sized camera offers premium features we don’t tend to find in this price range.

This 1080p security camera offers color night vision that lets you see colors when it’s dark out. On top of that, it’s a home security camera that doesn’t require users to be on a subscription plan because you can have it set to record clips locally onto a microSD card.

And yes, we found it reliable at detecting movement and recording sharp video to make out most details.

It’s the most entry-level video doorbell in its lineup, but we can’t discount the impeccable reliability of the Ring Video Doorbell Wired. This slim-sized video doorbell was simple to install, so even if you’re not a pro, you can quickly get it set up.

Because it’s wired directly to your existing doorbell wiring, there’s less worry about it dying on you because of a low battery — so it’ll constantly be supplied with power. Even though it records in 1080p, we found its 155-degree field of view suitable for seeing most things at our front door.

We absolutely loved how its Pre-Roll feature would begin recording events a few seconds before it’s triggered. Those precious few seconds could be a big deal, whereas other cameras wouldn’t have that footage on hand.

Indoors can be challenging for some security cameras, but the Eufy Solo IndoorCam P24 ensures that all areas are covered because of its unique ability to pan and tilt. This ensures that no matter where it’s placed indoors, it’ll have a great vantage point regardless.

It also benefits from offering crisp 2K video recording to deliver even more details, but we were really impressed by its ability to track subjects. When they’re detected, it will automatically pan and tilt in an attempt to keep subjects in frame while it’s recording.

Rounding things out, its built-in microSD card means you won’t be forced to sign up for a subscription because clips can be stored locally.

Even though it’s the most basic security camera in this list, the Blink Mini is frequently discounted by over 50% off — and it’s already cheap to buy to begin with!

Beyond the aggressive pricing, the Blink Mini is an easy indoor security camera to set up. You’ll find standard features such as motion zones to mitigate false alerts, as well as the ability to store clips locally with the Sync Module 2.

If you can dish out a little more, there’s also the Blink Mini Pan + Tilt we’ve tested, which gives the camera the ability to move for even more versatility.

Whether you get it as an add-on to an existing Blink Mini camera, or together as a unit, the Blink Mini Pan-Tilt Camera doesn’t cost a fortune to cover an entire room in your home.

You can spend as little as $30 to buy the add-on mount, effectively transforming the Blink Mini for 360-degree coverage. On-screen controls in the app allow you to pan and tilt the camera’s lens, so you can see what’s in front, behind, above, and below the camera. You’ll obviously have access to core features such as motion detection, detection zones, and cloud storage.

Sure, it’s a few years old at this point, but the Ring Indoor Cam makes our list for its affordability. It’s indeed the cheapest security camera in Ring’s lineup, but we’ve found it extremely reliable in our time using it. Surprisingly enough, it also features color night vision.

Its 1080p video recording performance is decent, as well as its night vision, but it’s obviously most effective when it’s paired with other Ring devices. For example, we have it set to start recording whenever the door sensor on our front door is triggered.

If you’re worried about Big Brother, you can also pick up the privacy kit that adds a cover over the camera lens — as well as a dedicated button to power it off.

The Blink Video Doorbell is perfect for apartments because of its straightforward installation and battery power. That means you won’t have to fuss around with pesky doorbell wires, so it has more flexibility on where it can be installed.

This inexpensive security camera features 1080p video recording with infrared night vision. Even though its quality wasn’t as clear as other cheap security cameras we’ve tested, we still liked how we were able to save clips onto a USB flash drive with the Sync Module 2 — so the footage remained with us, as opposed to being uploaded to the cloud.

Technically a variant of its best-selling security camera, the Wyze Cam V3 Pro is on steroids with its 2K video recording, onboard AI-assisted detection, and built-in spotlight. Honestly, it’s almost unbelievable that Wyze managed to pack so much into this camera.

Just like its sibling, the Wyze Cam V3 Pro flaunts a similar cube shaped design with an IP65-rating for water resistance. With its faster processing power and AI-assisted detection, it’s substantially more responsive at detecting events and recording them in 2K resolution.

Wyze’s portfolio of home security cameras has grown substantially. Its best-selling camera in the Wyze Cam v3 got treated to an update with the arrival of the Wyze Cam Pan v3.

Sharing the same distinctive cube design as its sibling, this model gains pan and tilt abilities to provide you with even more coverage — all without costing a whole lot more. While it does indeed gain more coverage, we love that it’s also respectful of your privacy at home because its camera lens can be set downward to cover its vision. That way, you can rest easy knowing Big Brother isn’t watching.

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How We Chose the Best Cheap Security Cameras

We’ve tested each of these cameras for a period of a week, to really understand their performances and features. While pricing was a major determining factor for choosing the best cheap security cameras, we also considered subjective factors.