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Remember, in 2012, when Apple introduced panorama photos to the iPhone? The trend has finally trickled down to the world of smart security, and Lorex is leading the charge. The 4K Dual-Lens Wi-Fi Security Camera (available at Lorex) comes equipped with, well, dual cameras that showcase a 180-degree field of crisp, 4K viewing. It’s also got a good app, pre-loaded local storage—and a heftier price tag than other security cameras. But Lorex wants you to focus on that sweet panoramic view that we all tried (and often failed) to capture on a hike somewhere in 2011. This time, though, it’s a feature that proves to be worth its weight. surveillance camera monitor
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About the Lorex 4K Dual-Lens Wi-Fi Security Camera
What we don’t like
Should you buy the Lorex 4K Dual-Lens Wi-Fi Security Camera?
The Lorex 4K Dual-Lens Wi-Fi Security Camera has a cool, robo-like face with some seriously handy features.
The Lorex 4K Dual Lens Wi-Fi Security Camera requires a power outlet, which means a few different elements in the installation process. You should be selective about where you place your camera. It has about 10 feet of cable length to play with, so unless you opt to run an extension cord, the Lorex can’t stray too far from where your nearest outdoor outlet sits.
It was still a simplistic install with just a few screws to take care of. It just would have been better with more cable length to add some flexibility to my mounting options.
The Lorex 4K Dual-Lens Wi-Fi Security Camera is perfectly situated in this backyard.
To test the Lorex 4K Dual-Lens Wi-Fi Security Camera, we mounted the camera outside of our home and analyzed how it handled different situations, as well as how easy it was to set up and use, how well it stood up to the elements, and how well its roster of features worked.
This particular camera was mounted in my backyard, meaning it would have plenty of chances to capture motion from people, dogs, squirrels, tortoises, and who knows what else.
Lorex has plenty of features, specs, and perks at its disposal to dazzle you. But in reality, the centerpiece of this security camera—and the reason why you would buy it over something like a Wyze Outdoor Cam — is its wide field of view and 4K HDR video quality. And let me tell you, this is an example of truth in advertising.
This particular camera was placed in the area that we affectionately refer to as the “tortoise pit,” a space we recently built specifically to contain our 60-pound (and growing!) African Sulcata tortoise (named Darwin) in our backyard. So while vehicle alerts weren’t exactly a thing back there, the camera was exposed to all kinds of motion from various wild animals, residents of our home, and good ole’ Darwin himself.
Each captured clip featured crisp detail easily on par with other high-quality cameras from competitors like Eufy and Ring. The 180-degree field of view gave us a glimpse into the entire pit, allowing us to keep tabs on the “little” guy when he was out and about.
Lorex’s Color Night Vision feature was also especially helpful when it was time to bring him to his heated enclosure at night. Before popping outside, I was able to pull up the feed and pinpoint where he had tucked himself, rather than wandering around the yard until I spotted his hiding spot. I realize this is a really niche use case, but it (hopefully) says a lot about the quality of Lorex’s video feed that I could spot a tortoise through the dark of night on my smartphone.
I’m a sucker for local storage options, and you should be too. For one, it frees you from having to enter into yet another monthly subscription just to be able to record the motion that your camera identifies. Secondly, it’s a more secure method of maintaining your recordings compared to having to access them via cloud storage.
Lorex has doubled down on the local storage love, pre-loading the 4K Dual-Lens Wi-Fi Security Camera with a 32GB MicroSD card. Now, depending on how much motion your camera sees regularly, that may only last about a week or so. But it is upgradeable up to 256 GB if needed, and the real win here is being able to begin storing recordings and clips as soon as you get the Lorex camera set up. No additional purchase is necessary.
As we may have mentioned in previous Lorex camera reviews, the company knows how to make a solid app. The Lorex app’s home screen cleanly displays all of your connected Lorex cameras, allowing you to tap into any of their feeds as you see fit.
Once you pull up a specific camera, you’re met with a dashboard that provides options to take a snapshot, record video, engage the camera’s two-way audio, turn on a light, or trigger a siren among other functions. Plain and simple, it’s exactly what you would want to have at your fingertips when controlling a security camera.
In the app, you can set up motion detection zones, enable sound detection, adjust your video quality as needed, and determine how you want the camera’s light to function based on the type of motion you detect. I was partial to the auto-framing feature that can be toggled on, which will track, follow, and zoom in on a subject as it moves across the field of view.
One of the other neat features I found within the app is the ability to filter video recordings by motion type: person, vehicle, animal, package, package removed, and sound detection. This would make things convenient if, say, a package was inexplicably missing from your porch and you wanted to check for any motion related to a potential porch pirate.
With this camera, you can filter recordings by the type of motion it falls under.
The camera can’t have seen a vehicle, with my yard backing up to my neighbor’s. But during the first week that I had the Lorex set up, I received several notifications for vehicle motion.
When I went into the app to check the recordings, nothing that could have been remotely mistaken for a car came into the field of view. Whatever wonkiness was at work, the camera seemed to self-correct itself after some time.
I’ll still get an errant motion recording from time to time that just doesn’t make sense, but the vast majority of what Lorex captures is accurately labeled.
The good news is, Lorex plays quite nicely with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, so nicely in fact that I was able to effortlessly ask my first-generation Echo Show to pull up the “Tortoise Pit” feed and watch Darwin chomping on leaves right from my desk. The bad news is, the camera isn’t compatible with Apple HomeKit.
If you’re into Apple’s smart ecosystem, the Eve Cam Outdoor is a nice alternative.
It’s not easy for a Wi-Fi security camera with two-way audio to truly embody the concept of “privacy.” That said, Lorex does take some important steps to help keep your information as secure as possible. That includes available two-factor and biometric authentication in the Lorex app, as well as a “Privacy Mode” feature that will immediately stop live view, recording, and notifications as soon as it's enabled.
While pricey, the combination of features makes this camera worth the buy.
Lorex takes a no-stone-unturned approach to the 4K Dual-Lens Security Camera. It has a vast, panoramic field of view bolstered by 4K HDR video quality, with local storage and an app that lets you customize nearly every aspect of your experience with the camera. As long as you can get past a few glitchy motion recordings and find an outdoor power outlet close enough to where you want your camera, Lorex’s latest does cover every base.
That said, it also takes a no-wallet-left-full approach when it comes to the price tag ($250). In many cases, that’s the price you pay for excellence, with Eufy and Ring both offering high-end cameras in that price range. Just note that there are outdoor cameras that do some of what Lorex offers for considerably less, and we’ve written about a lot of them.
If you’re all in for the whole outdoor security enchilada, though, the Lorex 4K Dual-Lens Wi-Fi Security Camera is a meal fit for you.
Shop the Lorex 4K Dual-Lens Wi-Fi Security Camera at Lorex.
Prices were accurate at the time this article was published but may change over time. The product experts at Reviewed have all your shopping needs covered. Follow Reviewed on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, or Flipboard for the latest deals, product reviews, and more.
Prices were accurate at the time this article was published but may change over time.
The product experts at Reviewed have all your shopping needs covered. Follow Reviewed on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, or Flipboard for the latest deals, product reviews, and more.
Nick Woodard is a tech journalist specializing in all things related to home theater and A/V. His background includes a solid foundation as a sports writer for multiple daily newspapers, and he enjoys hiking and mountain biking in his spare time.
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