Outdoor security cameras offer two main benefits.
First, they ensure someone is always watching over your property. If anyone tries to break into your vehicle or scope out your home, you have a visual record of their activity.
Second, they discourage thieves from targeting your home. Just the presence of a security camera can be enough to scare would-be burglars away.
Unfortunately, both of these benefits are affected by the dark. Even with night vision, any video captured during the night won’t be as clear or helpful as one taken during the day. If thieves don’t see your cameras in the darkness, they won’t have any reason to second guess their decision to target your home.
Using a floodlight security camera resolves these issues.
Along with capturing any activity that happens outside, these devices illuminate nighttime events and show burglars that your home is protected by a security system. You can have better footage and a higher chance of scaring lurkers away.
As you look for an outdoor security camera for your home, we want you to find the devices that offer the best performance and protection. We’ve rated the 6 best floodlight cameras for your home to help you find the right option.
Our Top Picks
Arlo Pro 3 Floodlight Camera
Why we love it:
- Multiple power options, including wireless setup
- AI motion detection analysis for people, vehicles, animals, and packages
- Budget-friendly cloud storage, plus local storage options
- High-quality 2K video and powerful lighting
- Smart home integrations
Industry-leading quality
When researching home security floodlight cameras, you’ll quickly find that the Arlo 3 Pro Floodlight Camera is the industry’s top choice. Along with several exciting features, it offers top-of-the-line video surveillance through both its videos and floodlight.
This weatherproof camera boasts 2K HDR video resolution and a 160-degree field of view. You can capture every detail of important events, using the crisp video quality to understand what happened. Additionally, the camera includes infrared night vision and 12X zoom capabilities.
Two white LED lights are attached to either side of the camera. You can dim the lights, turn them on through the app, and set them to activate when motion is detected.
Since this camera is wireless, it will connect to your internet. If you don’t have an Arlo Smart Hub device, you can use the built-in Wi-Fi radio to connect without it. If you do have the hub, however, you can also use this device for local storage.
Flexible, easy installation
The Arlo Pro 3 Floodlight Camera includes a mount that is easy to install onto your home. You can tilt and swivel the camera to find the best angle.
Unlike most floodlight cameras, you don’t have to wire this option into your home. Instead, you can power it with its rechargeable battery pack, which should last for several months. You can also buy a separate power cord that plugs into an outlet or a solar panel that will keep the camera powered.
Free smart home integrations
Connect this camera to Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit, Google Assistant, and Samsung SmartThings to use voice control. This feature works even without an Arlo subscription.
Extensive customizations
Signing up for an Arlo Secure subscription gives you access to several high-end features. You can try this base plan for free for three months and decide if you want to keep it after.
Some of the best features include:
- 30 days of cloud video storage
- Motion detection analysis and alerts, which differentiate between people, animals, vehicles, and packages
- Custom surveillance zones
- Custom alerts
These plans cost $3 per month for one camera, $10 per month for unlimited cameras, and $15 per month for unlimited cameras with additional emergency response services.
Mobile app
You can use the mobile app to update settings, sound the siren, and adjust the lights. You can also speak to lurkers through the camera’s two-way communication function.
Google Nest Cam with Floodlight
Why we love it:
- Industry-best motion detection analysis
- Built-in backup battery
- Budget-friendly cloud storage
- Facial recognition software
- Integrates with Google Home ecosystem
Easy to set up
This weatherproof security camera provides 1080p HDR video quality with a 180-degree view of your property and 6X zoom. It’s equipped with two white LED lights that you can dim as needed. These features, plus its infrared night vision, ensure sharp, clear video at any time of day or night.
To install this device, you will remove your current floodlight and wire the Google Nest Cam with Floodlight into the junction box. Once the magnetic mount is installed, you can easily attach the camera and adjust it to find the best viewing angle.
Though the camera is powered through your home, it also contains a battery that can hold a three-month charge. If you experience a power outage, this battery will kick in as a backup power source. It will also record up to an hour of video while your Wi-Fi is down so you don’t miss anything.
Rather than being wired into your internet alongside the power source, this camera will connect to your Wi-Fi wirelessly.
Smart motion detection
The Google Nest Cam uses AI analysis to tell the difference between people, animals, vehicles, and movement. You can choose which movement to get alerts about, minimizing the number of notifications you receive.
This device also comes with Familiar Faces, Google’s facial recognition software, though you have to pay for its monthly subscription to use it. This feature automatically recognizes people who visit multiple times, helping you keep track of anyone who frequents your home.
You can also set custom surveillance zones to focus on your property and receive fewer false alarms.
Mobile app
You can control the camera and floodlights through the Google Home app. You can use your phone to:
- Turn the floodlights on and off
- Adjust the brightness
- Schedule the lights to turn off automatically when the daylight sensor is triggered
- View live video streams and recorded videos
- Customize notifications
- Speak through the two-way communication feature
- Adjust video and audio settings
If you integrate the camera with your Google Home ecosystem, you can also use Google Assistant to control the device.
Without a Nest Aware plan, you can view up to three hours of your most recent footage for free. To get all of the Google Nest Cam’s features, you will have to pay $6 per month for the basic plan or $12 per month for the Plus plan.
eufy Security Floodlight Cam 2 Pro
Why we love it:
- Remote 360-degree pan and tilt function
- Three floodlights with multiple customizations
- Local video storage
- AI lock and tracking
- Exceptionally crisp video quality
Full, clear video coverage
One of the best things about this camera is its high-quality video. Its 2K HD quality allows you to see every detail. Since this security camera has three floodlights, nighttime video is detailed and easy to see. It is also equipped with infrared night vision.
Unlike most outdoor security cameras, the eufy Security Floodlight Cam 2 Pro allows you to pan and tilt the camera remotely. You can move the camera’s 130-degree field of view in a full 360-degree arc, capturing anything happening nearby.
This light will replace your old floodlight, so it will be wired into your home for power. It connects wirelessly to your Wi-Fi to enable live streaming through the app.
Bright, custom lighting
Along with adding an extra light, eufy has equipped this camera with incredibly bright LEDs. You can adjust the position of these lights to provide the greatest illumination.
This camera also comes with the option to change the color of your lights, a feature that’s unique to this device. You can assign different colors to various actions, such as using the brightest white light for motion detection triggers or a warmer color when it’s in standby mode.
Smart motion detection
Like many outdoor security cameras on this list, this device alerts you when it detects motion. It also uses smart analytics to tell the difference between people and animals to help minimize false alerts.
Uniquely, this eufy security camera also automatically locks onto and tracks whoever tripped the motion sensor. After sending you a notification, it will use the pan-tilt function to follow the person across your property. This feature increases your chances of capturing the intruder’s face and other important details.
Local video storage
You can use the app to view live footage and save videos to your phone, but all recorded video is saved to the camera’s internal storage. It holds 8 GB of videos, which is about 30 days worth of recording.
You can also sign up for a cloud subscription plan for as little as $4.99 per month.
Mobile app
You will use the eufy Security app to adjust and control all of your camera’s settings. The app is where you can:
- View live and recorded videos
- Sound the siren
- Set custom detection zones
- Move the camera
- Adjust lighting settings
- Get motion alerts
Smart home integrations
The eufy Floodlight Cam 2 Pro integrates with both Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa smart home ecosystems. You can use voice commands to pull your camera feeds up on connected devices such as the Amazon Echo.
Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Pro
Why we love it:
- 3D Motion Detection
- Bird’s Eye View feature
- Smart home integrations
- Three 90-degree motion detection zones
Reliable video coverage
The weatherproof Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Pro uses 1080p HDR video quality, two bright LED lights, and infrared night vision to help you guard your home. You will wire this camera into your home, replacing the old floodlight. It connects to your internet wirelessly so you can stream live video to your phone.
Advanced 3D motion sensing
This camera’s motion sensor uses a 270-degree field of view, which is wider than the camera’s 140 degrees, to cover more of your yard. If you set your floodlight to activate when the motion sensor is tripped, it may discourage intruders before they even enter the camera’s view.
More importantly, this camera has a unique 3D Motion Detection feature. During the setup process, you can choose to pinpoint the camera’s exact location and angle on a satellite map of your home. When the motion sensor is triggered, the security camera uses this information and a radar sensor to create a three-dimensional understanding of where the person is standing. You can then get a more accurate location for the lurker.
Additionally, the satellite location allows Ring to create a Bird’s Eye Map of your property that shows how visitors moved around the space. It uses a digital breadcrumb trail to show the steps they took during their visit.
Smart home integrations
You can easily integrate this floodlight security camera with Amazon Alexa to use voice commands and Alexa routines. Though it doesn’t work with all smart systems, you can connect it to IFTTT applets.
Mobile app
Your camera will connect to the Ring app, which you will have if you already use this brand’s devices. The app’s features include:
- Setting custom surveillance zones
- AI analysis to detect people
- Viewing live and recorded video
- Photo snapshots between video recordings
- Communicating through the two-way feature with noise reduction
- Sounding the siren
- Controlling the lights
- Customizing different modes, motion alert schedules, video length, and more
- Getting instant notifications
To view recorded video and get access to all of these features, you will have to join a Ring Protect plan. These plans start at $3 per month and cost up to $10 per month.
Blink Outdoor 3rd Gen + Floodlight
Why we love it:
- Wireless with a long battery life
- Cloud and local storage options
- Amazon Alexa integration
- Simple installation and set-up
Crystal clear visuals
The Blink Outdoor 3rd Gen + Floodlight camera gives you a clear view of your property during both day and night. The 1080p HD video quality ensures you can get all of the information you need from your footage.
Equipped with bright LED lights, you can see color and details whenever your camera records a video at night. The motion-activated lights guarantee that every intruder will be recorded or scared away before they cause harm.
Simple to set up
If you don’t want to mess with wiring, this is your ideal choice. The camera runs on batteries rather than being wired into your home. The batteries should last up to two years, so you won’t need to worry about frequent battery changes.
Flexible storage options
Your camera comes with a Sync Module that connects it to the internet. This device also serves as a local storage option. If you don’t want to pay for cloud storage, you can keep your video on this device or a USB flash drive.
You can also sign up for a Blink Subscription Plan to enjoy cloud video storage.
Mobile app
Even without a subscription, you can get motion alerts and live video streaming through the app. If you choose to sign up for a Blink Subscription Plan, you can also enjoy features such as:
- Motion-activated recording
- 60 days worth of recorded video, with the option to share files
- Custom detection zones
- Setting the floodlight to automatically turn on when the motion sensor is triggered
- Instant notifications
- Speaking to anyone near the camera with the two-way communication option
You can also use this floodlight camera with Amazon Alexa, using voice commands to monitor live video, view motion alerts, and turn on the lights.
Wyze Cam Floodlight
Why we love it:
- Budget-friendly option
- Mount supports two cameras
- Local and cloud storage options
- Very sensitive motion sensor
An affordable way to monitor security
With the Wyze Cam Floodlight, this brand has created an excellent security camera option that costs less than $100. It offers clear video with its 1080p resolution. The two bright LED lights illuminate a broad area so you can see everything happening.
The camera is easy to install, though it will wire into your home to replace your current floodlight. Once installed, you can also use the mount to add a second Wyze Cam v3. You can double your view and even use each floodlight to illuminate the view of each camera.
Your camera will connect to your internet wirelessly to enable streaming.
Effective motion and sound detection
Even on lower sensitivity settings, this camera picks up nearly all movement nearby. The ability to change the sensitivity helps you adjust the camera to your surroundings so you can minimize false alarms.
This camera also responds to sounds. If it hears a loud noise, it will send you a notification.
Multiple storage options
Though it doesn’t come with a microSD card, the Wyze Cam Floodlight does support these storage devices. You can maintain unlimited local storage with this option.
For cloud storage, you will have to sign up for a Cam Plus subscription. Thankfully, these plans are very affordable at only $1.99 per month.
Mobile app
Without a subscription, you can use the Wyze app to receive notifications, view live video streams, and adjust the settings for the lights and camera. You can also:
- Adjust the floodlights’ brightness
- Turn the lights on and off
- Set schedules and automated actions
- Activate the siren
- View live and recorded videos
Joining a Cam Plus subscription means gaining access to:
- Package, person, vehicle, and animal detection
- Fast-forwarding recorded videos
- Unlimited video lengths
- Back-to-back recordings
This camera integrates with Google Nest Hub, Amazon Echo Show, and IFTTT applets. You can bring video feeds up on connected devices, but you can’t use voice commands.
What to look for in a smart floodlight security camera
When someone threatens your home’s security, you need to know that you can rely on your outdoor security cameras. Use these tips to find the smart floodlight security cameras that will give you the coverage and evidence you need.
1. Bright lighting
If you are going to replace a floodlight with a floodlight camera, the new device should offer as much or more light than the original. You don’t want to buy a camera that can’t properly illuminate your yard and camera view. A 3,000-lumen light is the brightest you can find, so look for floodlights that are close to this brightness.
It’s also helpful to look at options that have dimmable lights. If you want to spend time outside at night or your camera will be near a window, the ability to adjust the brightness and/or color of your floodlights is ideal.
2. Clear visuals
Your video quality is the most important feature of your security cameras. Make sure the devices you consider have crystal clear video, both during the day and at night. Though the floodlight will make nighttime video clearer than it would be with night vision, you still need high-quality video resolution to capture the important details.
3. Weatherproofing
Outdoor security cameras often face numerous weather conditions. From rain to extreme temperatures to wind, your devices should be designed to withstand a variety of stressors. Make sure your camera is IP65 weatherproof or IP67 waterproof rated. You should also check the specs to make sure the camera can function in the hottest or lowest temperatures you experience.
4. Smart features
As you can see in our list of top floodlight cameras, many options today include a variety of smart device features. Some capabilities, such as differentiating between people and other movements, are standard, but you will have to choose which features are your priority.
You may want to choose a Ring camera for its extensive 3D and bird’s eye view mapping options. Or maybe you prefer the eufy Floodlight Cam 2 Pro’s automatic motion tracking and remote pan and tilt. Just remember that these exciting features are only part of the package. Make sure the rest of the camera’s performance meets your standards as well.
5. Easy installation
Most floodlight security cameras are installed into your home’s electrical system. If you aren’t capable of this install or don’t want to pay for it, look for a camera that is battery-operated. Even if the set-up isn’t complex, it’s important to install it correctly so you can get the best use from your devices.
