Easy to set up and built-in intelligent motion detection to reduce false alarms, it’s easy to see why SimpliSafe is our top choice.
Editor’s Note: While Lorex offers some exceptional outdoor cameras, we found that ADT provides higher-quality security components. ADT has smart cameras for indoors and outdoors, as well as a best-in-class professional monitoring service. Learn more in our ADT Security System Review. monocular infrared
All of the best security cameras have night vision. It’s an essential feature for around-the-clock video security, but as to which type of night vision is most effective, experts are divided. Some say color night vision provided by a visible light source is the best. It lets you see more details. Others say that those same lights give away the position of cameras and might invite tampering.
On the other side of the argument, some believe that infrared night vision is superior because it provides a wider illumination range than visible light. And since infrared is invisible to the human eye, infrared cameras are harder to spot. The downside is that you’d have to deal with black-and-white footage.
Both sides make good arguments, but we’re going to focus on security cameras with infrared night vision. There’s more of them on the market, so picking the best one is a bit more difficult. We understand that every user has different needs, so we’re going to look at six different options while giving you a detailed look at each camera’s pros and cons. This way you can find the perfect camera for your specific requirements.
Here at Security.org, we test all products that we recommend, either individually or as a part of a larger security camera system. So whether you’re looking to buy an indoor camera to monitor your house day and night, an outdoor camera for your backyard, or one that you can use indoors and outdoors and adjust to different light conditions, we got you covered. Without much further ado, here’s our full list of 2024’s best infrared cameras!
SimpliSafe is one of our favorite DIY home security systems. We’ve set up one in less than 30 minutes. The SimpliCam and Smart Alarm cameras are no different. Just find a nearby outlet and connect them directly to the internet, and you’re up and running.
While you don’t need to sign up for a SimpliSafe security system to use SimpliCam or Smart Alarm, it’s something we recommend so you don’t miss out on their best features, especially from the Core (formerly Fast Protect plan). Sure, it’s $31.99 per month. However, you also gain cellular backup, environmental monitoring, secret alarms, video verified alerts, and access to our favorite feature, Live Guard Protection.
>> Learn More: SimpliSafe Pricing and Package Costs
Here’s how Live Guard works. When we simulated a break-in and triggered our SimpliSafe sensors, a live agent accessed the video feed and spoke to us through the Smart Alarm camera’s speaker. If it was a real break-in, they would have told us to scram. We quickly chimed in to let the agent in on the situation and gave our secret code to confirm it was us.
We reviewed the footage on our phone to see what the live agent could see. It was surprising how good the night vision image quality was, as the infrared LED lights are quite discreet. Even if it was in black and white, we could clearly make out small details. That’s Gabe by the way, playing the role of a trespasser in our simulations.
FYI: If you don’t want SimpliSafe accessing your cameras whenever they want, you can use the privacy shutter to cover the lens. You can also adjust what alerts and live feeds the monitoring center receives in the SimpliSafe app.
As much as we love SimpliCam and Smart Alarm, we wish they were a little smarter. While the ability to distinguish between humans and pets is nice, they’re still lacking features that are becoming more common, like facial recognition or activity zones. However, the value of these cameras comes from the professional monitoring features, which are continually improving. For example, a Live Guard-like feature is available now for SimpliSafe’s outdoor camera as well, although it requires a more expensive monthly subscription.
Lorex makes a lot of great outdoor security cameras, and among them, the Lorex 4K Nocturnal Smart IP Camera is one of the best. As the name implies, the Nocturnal camera works great at night. It has a night vision range of up to 90 feet in total darkness, and when aided by ambient lighting, it can see as far away as 130 feet. That’s impressive and particularly great for an outdoor camera.
Just take note that Lorex markets the Nocturnal series towards businesses, and the price reflects that. If you’re looking for something more wallet-friendly, Lorex also offers other lines of cameras with impressive night vision. For example, most bullet-type cameras in the Fusion series offer at least 80 feet of night vision. They also boast color night vision, should you wish to activate it.
>> Also learn about: Best PoE Cameras of 2024
Lorex offers some of the best 4K security cameras, in our opinion, and many of them are in the Nocturnal or Fusion series. Most of them are also outdoor cameras. That’s a critical detail. Clear day and night video quality is essential for outdoor cameras. They should be able to capture minute details – the color of clothes someone is wearing, license plates, etc – and so we highly recommend using 4K cameras outdoors.
If 4K cameras are too much for your network, though, don’t worry. We’ve also tested 2K and 1080p cameras from Lorex and they all deliver good video quality. Some of them have narrow fields of view (less than 100-degrees diagonal). That’s our biggest gripe with Lorex cameras, but since they’re affordable, you can easily purchase additional cameras to cover every space without breaking the bank.
As an IP camera, the Lorex 4K Nocturnal camera needs an NVR in order to work, but that’s not an entirely bad thing. The NVR served as the camera’s local storage, allowing it to record rolling videos without expensive monthly cloud storage fees. Better still, with a Lorex NVR with smart detection technology, the camera was able to tell apart people and vehicles from other moving objects.
The Nest Cam (wired, indoor) is one of our favorite indoor cameras for many reasons, one of which is the superb video quality. It’s a 1080p HD camera – ways away from 4K – but the 4K image sensor and HDR make its videos pop.
HDR, or High Dynamic Range, enhances videos by adding life and color to them while eliminating glare. It also highlights shadowy areas so you can see those dark corners that criminals love. This results in balanced, life-like footage. The Nest Cam may not be a 4K camera, but the video quality is superior to most other 1080p HD cameras we’ve tested.
The Nest Cam (indoor) comes equipped with a set of two high-powered 850nm infrared LEDs. This type of infrared LEDs provides better illumination than the other type, which is 940nm. In Nest’s case, the indoor camera can see up to 15 feet away in total darkness.
Now, that’s not nearly as good as Lorex’s outdoor cameras, but being an indoor camera, the Nest Cam’s night vision range is sufficient. In fact, you don’t want to go overboard with indoor camera night vision. Narrower indoor spaces often have lots of reflective surfaces that could create glare if your night vision LEDs are too strong, so in this case, sufficient is better.
FYI: In addition to the red infrared lights that glow up on the camera’s face, the Nest Cam Indoor has status lights, which are visible and easy to spot. This might become a problem if you plan on using the camera as a hidden cam.
The icing on the cake was the Nest Cam (indoor) artificial intelligence. The camera came with person detection built-in, so we only received notifications of events that truly mattered, when people walked by. And when we finally decided to get a Nest Aware subscription, the camera got even smarter. It started recognizing familiar faces, which we later named in the app, it alerted us of the sound of people talking and dogs barking, and it allowed us to set activity zones. With the activity zones, we were able to tell the camera which areas mattered most to us, which significantly reduced the number of false alarms we received.
The Blink Outdoor is an affordable but very capable outdoor camera with superb night vision. It’s also pretty easy to install, thanks to its wire-free set up. It runs on battery power, so you don’t have to worry about running power cables through your yard. That also means that you can install Blink Outdoor in secluded and dark areas where intruders might try to hide. If you have a spacious back yard or an outdoor shed where you keep your tools, this could be a good camera to place there.
Unfortunately, we can’t monitor our cameras 24/7, especially not at night. That’s where the free local storage comes handy. Unlike most available options today, Blink doesn’t require a cloud subscription. All you need is a Sync Module 2, which is a hub-like device for Blink cameras, and a USB flash drive. If you connect Blink Outdoor to a Sync Module 2, it will be able to capture, record, and store motion videos locally without ongoing monthly costs.
Although the Blink Outdoor was battery-powered, it didn’t require much attention from us. That’s because it has a long battery life that can last up to two years before needing a replacement. Of course, given how much we used the Blink Outdoor during our testing, we had to replace its batteries after a year, but that’s still impressive.
The Arlo Pro 3 offered both infrared and color night vision. We used the infrared option when we wanted the camera to be less conspicuous and also when we wanted it to have a better night vision range. As for the color option, the Arlo Pro 3 utilized its built-in 6,500 K spotlight to see things in clearer detail, colors and all. This night vision mode proved useful when we wanted to identify the color of the van suspiciously parked out front in the middle of the night, just in case it was a burglar surveying our place.
Contrary to what many believe, most burglaries actually occur during the day.2 Fortunately, the Arlo Pro 3 not only captured clear nighttime videos but also high-definition daytime videos. With a 2560p HD resolution that is significantly higher than the standard 1080p HD, 160-degree field of view, and up to 12x digital zoom, the Arlo Pro 3 protected our apartment day and night.
Thanks to its IP65 rating, which meant it’s sealed shut and protected against dust and water jets, we were able to install the Arlo Pro 3 almost anywhere. And because it’s powered by batteries, we didn’t need to run a wire to keep it plugged in; although we did have to charge its batteries every three to six months. For those reasons, the Arlo Pro 3 also made our list of the best wireless cameras.
Made by the alarm company Vivint, the Vivint Outdoor Camera Pro is the only one on this list that offers proactive protection. Whenever someone approached our front door or lurked too long within the surveillance zone that we defined, the camera issued warning lights and tones to let them know they’ve been spotted. The red warning light was particularly intimidating at night, as it glowed like an eye watching from the shadows.
The Outdoor Camera Pro was also pretty smart. It didn’t bother us with alerts involving pets or vehicles passing by. It only alerted us when it saw people, which was incredibly useful considering that it’s professionally monitored. We wouldn’t want to receive a call from our alarm company every time a dog walks by, especially here in Brooklyn.
As a part of the Vivint security system, the Outdoor Camera Pro integrated well with our alarm system. There’s a setting that let us use the camera as a siren for our Vivint system. In case we weren’t home, the camera could tip off passers-by and our neighbors that there was something going on. In fact, we asked our friendly neighbors to call the cops if they ever hear the outdoor camera’s siren go off.
Tip for Video Storage: Vivint charges $5 per month for cloud storage of each camera. If you’d rather not pay the cloud storage fee, you can purchase a $249 Vivint Smart Drive with one TB of storage space, which is enough to store about 30 days of continuous video history for up to four Vivint cameras.
When comparing infrared cameras— or any type of security cameras for that matter— we use a methodology that measures the overall value of each camera. We take into account the cameras’ price, video quality, audio, integrations with smart platforms like Alexa and Google Assistant, artificial intelligence, and video storage options. We also test out each camera to get a good grasp of the installation process and ease of use.
We also make sure that the cameras are up to our standards. When it comes to the video quality, we like our cameras with at least 1080p HD resolution, a 120-degree viewing angle, and of course, infrared night vision. For the audio, we prefer cameras with two-way talk so we can hear the camera’s surroundings and talk through the camera’s speakers whenever we want. Security features like motion detection and person detection are also necessary, and it’s always a huge plus if the camera offers facial recognition and/or activity zones. Finally, every camera needs video storage. The ideal setup for us is one that has local storage like a micro-SD card and with cloud backup, but we’re also not one to turn down cameras with free or affordable cloud storage plans. And if the camera supports continuous recording, that’s even better.
Our Expert Advice: We recommend security cameras with cloud backup in addition to local storage. It’s always better to have backup video storage in case a burglar steals or destroys your camera. NVRs and DVRs, which are devices with a hard drive that can store videos, might work as well provided that they are kept hidden away.
For this review, in particular, we paid close attention to the cameras’ night vision ranges, especially for the ones that can work outdoors. If you have a wide front lawn or backyard, you’re going to want to have a camera with a night vision range of at least 40 feet. For indoor cameras, it’s a slightly different story. There tend to be more reflective surfaces indoors, which could create glares when viewed from an infrared camera. That’s why we chose indoor cameras that either had a shorter night vision range or an adjustable infrared intensity.
We also looked for features that can further improve the night vision experience. An example of this is the Nest Cam IQ Indoor’s ability to tell apart natural light and bursts of artificial light coming from, let’s say, a burglar’s flashlight. As a result, it can’t be fooled by burglars trying to “blind” the night vision.
And last but not least, we included infrared security camera options that offer professional monitoring. Many law enforcement agencies confirm that video verification through monitored security cameras can help speed up police response.3 So with a professionally monitored infrared camera, you’re sure to get the help you need in case of a break-in whether you’re home or not, day or night.
Based on our tests, the SimpliCam and Smart Alarm from SimpliSafe is the best infrared camera for indoor use, while the Lorex 4K Nocturnal Smart IP Camera is the best outdoor infrared camera. The Nest Cam Indoor, Arlo Pro 3, Blink Outdoor, and Vivint Outdoor Camera Pro also made our list of the best infrared cameras on the market.
The night vision ranges of infrared cameras vary. For outdoor use, we recommend cameras with a night vision range of at least 40 feet, whereas indoor cameras need a night vision range of up to 20 feet.
In most cases, infrared cameras are better than color night vision. That’s because infrared cameras don’t rely on visible white light, so they are more covert. However, if you want your cameras to see in color day and night, color night vision might work better for you.
Infrared cameras are equipped with two necessary components: LED lights that emit infrared light, which is invisible to the human eye, and an image sensor that can see infrared light. The LED lights illuminate the camera’s surroundings for the image sensor, which then creates black-and-white, night vision images.
The cost of infrared cameras differs from brand to brand. The prices of the infrared cameras on our list range between $100 and $300.
MidAtlantic. (2020). Infared Illumination Specification Guide. midlantic.net/forms/infrared%20specification%20guide_020408.pdf
JSU. (2013). Home Burglary Awareness and Prevention. jsu.edu/police/docs/Schoolsafety.pdf
long distance viewing binoculars Louisville Police. (2020). False Alarm Prevention. louisville-police.org/DocumentCenter/View/683/Audio-and-Video-Verification-PDF