{"id":889,"date":"2019-07-14T22:18:14","date_gmt":"2019-07-15T02:18:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/?p=889"},"modified":"2023-10-10T13:32:13","modified_gmt":"2023-10-10T17:32:13","slug":"finding-the-best-poe-ip-security-camera-under-150","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/finding-the-best-poe-ip-security-camera-under-150\/","title":{"rendered":"Finding the BEST PoE IP Security Camera Under $150"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/xg3krwlX4jk\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>PoE Camera Comparison Spreadsheet (PDF):\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/PoE-Ranking-Spreadsheet.pdf\">PoE Ranking Spreadsheet<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Today on the hookup I\u2019m going to put these 8 PoE security cameras through their paces and tell you which one is by far the best\u2026 spoiler alert: it\u2019s this one.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/2MmKPAb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/2MmKPAb noopener\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/lightning-deal-1024x507.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"688\" height=\"341\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Straight to the point: The best all around camera that I tested was hands down the Reolink RLC-410.\u00a0 Stick around to see why, but if you\u2019re in a hurry, I can assure you that you won\u2019t be disappointed if you choose the Reolink.<\/p>\n<p>Let me start off by saying that ALL of these cameras are nice and are so much better than the analog security cameras that I upgraded from.\u00a0 But the purpose of this video is to determine which of these popular cameras under $150 is the BEST.<\/p>\n<p>I selected these cameras based on the Amazon ratings for wired IP cameras and recent reddit and forum posts where users gave suggestions for the best PoE cameras to buy.\u00a0 I specifically won\u2019t be covering some popular brands like wyze, nest, blink and ring since I specifically was interested only in wired PoE cameras.\u00a0 Wireless is fine for non-critical devices, but for an application like a security camera, it is way too easy for bad people to deauth a wifi camera during a crime, and if the only recording option is in the cloud there will be no record of the incident at all.<\/p>\n<p>With that out of the way, here\u2019s the lineup ordered by price:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/allcams.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/allcams-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"688\" height=\"387\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The most inexpensive camera on the list is the HFWS-5MP, a $50 \u00a05 megapixel camera that bears the \u201camazon\u2019s choice\u201d label and 4.3 stars.<\/p>\n<p>Next for just $5 more is the Reolink RLC-410 which also boasts 5 megapixels and that \u201camazon\u2019s choice\u201d tag.<\/p>\n<p>Third is a Tuya based camera that sells for $47, but unfortunately I didn\u2019t realize that it isn\u2019t a PoE camera out of the box, so in order to make it PoE I had to buy one of these 802.3af PoE adapters for $8, bringing it\u2019s total cost to $55.<\/p>\n<p>Next is one of the most highly recommended cameras on CCTV forums, the dahua HDW46 which I picked up for $74, this one is 6 megapixel, which is the highest advertised resolution of any camera I tested.<\/p>\n<p>Just above that for $76 is the UniFi G3 Flex which is compatible with the UniFi Protect NVR software but has limited outdoor usage since it isn\u2019t 100% weatherproof.<\/p>\n<p>Then it\u2019s the $80 Amcrest IP4M which is the most reviewed camera I tested with 135 reviews with an average of 4.2 stars.<\/p>\n<p>No IP camera review would be complete without testing the biggest name in IP PoE cameras, HikVision. I tested the 4 megapixel 2.8mm lens turret version which retails for $110.<\/p>\n<p>And the most expensive camera in my test lineup was the UniFi G3 bullet, an all weather outdoor camera that works with UniFi protect and will cost you $130 on amazon.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/price_rank.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/price_rank-1024x547.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"688\" height=\"368\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>In order to rank them fairly based on price I made the lowest price rank 1, and the highest price rank 8, then I used a mapping function to determine the price ranking of each camera, which made more sense to me than just scoring them 1-8.<\/p>\n<p>For my first test I set up each of these cameras in the exact same position on my garage and I did my best to aim them with a consistent reference point, which is the white PVC pipe you can see in the bottom left corner.\u00a0 When you buy a camera it will often list the lens focal length in millimeters, and theoretically the lower the focal length the larger the field of view, but I\u2019ve found that that doesn\u2019t always work that way in practice.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/fov_rank.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/fov_rank-300x201.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"201\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Here are the listed focal lengths of the cameras I tested, so according to this, the dahua, amcrest and Hikvision should have the largest field of view.\u00a0 In practice while they mostly followed the expected trend, cameras with the same focal lengths performed very differently from each other.\u00a0 In my test the Amcrest bullet camera had the largest field of view with it\u2019s 2.8mm focal length, followed very closely by the Hikvision, but the dahua which also has a 2.8mm focal length had a significantly narrower field of view.\u00a0 From there the next highest field of view was the HFWS camera which supposedly has a 4mm focal length, but it outperformed all the 3.6mm focal length cameras.\u00a0 Ranking 5<sup>th<\/sup> was the tuya camera from zemismart, then the reolink, and then not even close to the competition were the two unifi cameras which are both significantly zoomed in with low field of view despite their advertised 3.6mm focal length.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s true that field of view may be something that you would select based on the use case of the camera, because in theory a narrower field of view is going to give you better clarity for the part of the image that it actually sees, but again in practice that isn\u2019t really the case, and the same goes for the megapixel rating or resolution of each camera, you\u2019d think more pixels would equate to more clarity, but here\u2019s what I found.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/overall_clarity.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/overall_clarity-300x180.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"180\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>In order to determine the clarity score I held up a box with some 150 point text and marked off 10 ft, 25 ft, and 50 ft locations on the ground.\u00a0 It should be noted that the UniFi cameras had such a low field of view that they couldn\u2019t see the sign at 25 or 50ft based on how the cameras were aimed, but I was able to get samples of the image close to 25ft and 50ft and I used those in the comparison.<\/p>\n<p>For daytime tests at 25ft all the cameras were able to produce a mostly legible image of the 150 point font, but the reolink came out on top.\u00a0 None of the cameras were able to produce a legible image of the 72 point font from 25ft.\u00a0 At 50ft the results were similar but this time the UniFi G3 produced the clearest image with it\u2019s zoomed in lens, although it should be noted that this image was likely taken at around 45 feet rather than 50, because the 50ft mark was out of frame for the G3.\u00a0 After the G3 the Reolink produced the only other image that was maybe legible, and the worst performer in this category, the tuya camera failed to even correctly reproduce the shape of the box.<\/p>\n<p>Overall in the daytime clarity catagory I would rank the Reolink first, followed closely by the dahua and Hikvision.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/night_rankings.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/night_rankings-300x228.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"228\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>For my nighttime test I compared the images of each camera at 25 feet and while performing this test I didn\u2019t worry as much about being able to compare the field of view of each camera, but instead I wanted the IR LEDs for each camera to be pointed straight at the locations where I would be standing for my tests.<\/p>\n<p>Similar to the daytime tests the clarity of the Reolink was unmatched followed by the Dahua and then the G3Flex, which is actually the cheaper of the two UniFi cameras.\u00a0 One strange thing that happened during this test was that the Hikvision\u2019s nightmode was not triggered due to the ambient light provided by my neighbors porch light.\u00a0 After installing the Hikvision in my backyard I\u2019ve noticed the same type of behavior where it goes into a \u201clow light mode\u201d before actually turning on the IR LEDs and night mode.\u00a0 This sensitivity is configurable through the web interface, but it comes set to 2 from the factory, which in my experience seemed too low, or actually too high since I later discovered that lower numbers make it more likely to switch to night vision.\u00a0 I currently have it set to 1 and it still switches to night vision later than I\u2019d expect it to.<\/p>\n<p>On that note I should probably mention that most of these cameras have pretty extensive setup options that can be used to tweak the picture by adjusting the hue, brightness, contrast, sharpness, white balance, noise reduction, and a bunch of other miscellaneous settings, but since the vast majority of users will never touch these settings, I decided to test these cameras straight out of the box.\u00a0 That being said, the reolink, amcrest, Hikvision, and dahua all had a similarly high level of image adjustment settings, while the UniFi cameras in standalone mode and the Tuya camera lacked any advanced control.<\/p>\n<p>When logging into the web interface most of these cameras are going to want you to use internet explorer with activeX plugins.\u00a0 The HFWS was the worst offender, as it required internet explorer to even load the login screen properly, but the Amcrest, Dahua, and Hikvision will allow adjusting of settings in chrome, but only give a live image preview when using internet explorer.\u00a0 The reolink and the UniFi cameras on the other hand work perfectly in chrome and don\u2019t require any strange plugins or downloads.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking of strange downloads, the Dahua, Hikvision, and HFWS cameras all come with a static IP address that is on the 192.168.1.1 subnet, meaning if you run a different subnet on your network you\u2019ll need to download a special tool to change the settings to DHCP before you\u2019ll be able to connect to them.\u00a0 Not a huge deal since you only need to do it one time, but it\u2019s yet another area where the Reolink got everything right since it took DHCP directly from my router and could be accessed immediately from chrome.<\/p>\n<p>Also worth noting in the setup process is the ease of mounting and aiming for each of these cameras, the reolink has a ball and socket type mount that can be adjusted in any direction using a single screw, while the other bullet style cameras have a screw for each adjustment point, this doesn\u2019t seem like a big deal from the ground, but at the top of a 25 foot ladder it does make a difference.\u00a0 The turret style cameras were all easy to mount, but he Hikvision stood out as the most easily adjustable in that bunch with just a single set screw to loosen that then allowed for movement in any direction.\u00a0 The G3 flex camera is extremely easy to aim, but can only pan and tilt and the roll is constant, which I found a little annoying when mounting it in the corner of my garage.<\/p>\n<p>If audio is important for your application, you should be aware that the Hikvision, Amcrest, and HFWS cameras do not have a microphone and therefore will not record audio.\u00a0 In my tests the UniFi G3 had the best audio, followed by the reolink, then the Tuya, the Dahua, and last the G3 Flex.<\/p>\n<p>So after all my tests here\u2019s how the scores came out:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/overall-rank.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/overall-rank-1024x411.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"688\" height=\"276\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The winner by far was the Reolink with a total score of 11.43, and that\u2019s with it finishing 6<sup>th<\/sup> in the field of view category even though it\u2019s field of view is more similar to the number 1 ranked field of view camera than to the 7<sup>th<\/sup> and 8<sup>th<\/sup> ranked cameras.<\/p>\n<p>The reolink comes in bullet or turret style and is also the easiest to setup in home assistant and is compatible with the new stream function.\u00a0 If you\u2019re looking for an all around great camera to use with IP camera NVR software like blue iris, shinobi, or motion eye, the reolink is the clear option, but there may be other things to consider.<\/p>\n<p>The Tuya camera had one of the worst scores, but that doesn\u2019t tell the whole story.\u00a0 Tuya products aren\u2019t really designed for a super user.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t want to have an always on computer running NVR software you\u2019ll want to be able to manage your cameras via an app.\u00a0 Tuya is already a powerhouse in the IoT market and their camera integration is really good as well.\u00a0 In the tuya app you can review your recorded clips from the optional SD card in the camera, you can have motion events trigger automations of other tuya products like turning on an a light or switch, and you can use the two way audio feature to talk to the person on the other side of the camera. \u00a0In this way it is more similar to a ring or nest camera with the large added benefit of being a wired ethernet connection.\u00a0 That being said, if you\u2019re going to be running a local NVR and not using the tuya cloud, you should probably steer clear of this camera.\u00a0 In my tests, the camera actually stopped working after a 7 days of being blocked from contacting the tuya cloud.\u00a0 At first I wondered if it was a random hardware failure, but after power cycling it a few times with no success I decided to temporarily remove the firewall rule blocking it\u2019s access to the internet and the RTSP stream instantly came back online.<\/p>\n<p>Similarly, the UniFi cameras which have good clarity, but poor field of view and a relatively steep price tag are not really intended to be used with a standalone NVR software but instead work best within the UniFi ecosystem where they can be combined with the cloud key gen 2 plus to gain more control and functionality via the UniFi Protect NVR software.\u00a0 The huge upside to using the cloud key as an NVR is that it is already an always on device, so using it as an NVR allows you to offload that processing from your computer.\u00a0 Blue iris is an insanely powerful NVR program and I love it, but it is realitvely difficult to setup and it does consume a fair amount of resources on your PC.<\/p>\n<p>UniFi protect by comparison is about the easiest NVR software that I\u2019ve ever used and because it\u2019s running on dedicated hardware it doesn\u2019t consume any resources on your PC.\u00a0 The downside to UniFi protect is of course that it only works with UniFi cameras and that fact isn\u2019t likely to change any time soon.\u00a0 I hesitate to say this because it could be taken in a negative way, but Ubiquiti is a bit like the Apple of networking gear, you\u2019ll pay a little more for the name, and it doesn\u2019t always play well with devices from other manufacturers, but if you stay within their ecosystem they produce an unrivaled end user experience.<\/p>\n<p>One thing I didn\u2019t cover in this video is the security of each of these camera brands: and it\u2019s a topic that has proven to be a valid concern as companies like Hikvision have had pretty serious vulnerabilities in their firmware in the past.\u00a0 The reason I didn\u2019t talk about security is that I suggest that you never let any of these cameras see the internet and that you quarantine them on your home network.\u00a0 It is really the only way to ensure that your camera feeds stay private and vulnerabilities in firmware don\u2019t compromise the rest of your network.\u00a0 If you\u2019re interested in how I handle the cameras on my network check out my ultimate home network series, specifically part 3 where I show you how to setup VLANs and firewall rules.<\/p>\n<p>As always, if I missed something, or got something wrong make sure to let me know down in the comments.\u00a0 Thank you to all my awesome patrons over at patreon for your continued support of my channel. If you\u2019re interested in supporting my channel check out the links in the description.\u00a0 If you enjoyed this video please consider subscribing, and as always, thanks for watching the hookup.<\/p>\n<h4>Overall BEST Camera: Reolink RLC-410 (Bullet): <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/2xGVoWO\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/amzn.to\/2xGVoWO<\/a><\/h4>\n<h4>Reolink RLC-420 (Turret): <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/2XXCEkM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/amzn.to\/2XXCEkM<\/a><\/h4>\n<h4>Reolink Direct: <a href=\"https:\/\/reolink.com\/product\/rlc-410\/?aff=50\">https:\/\/reolink.com\/product\/rlc-410\/?aff=50<\/a><\/h4>\n<h4>Extra 8% Off Coupon code: ytb8offhook<\/h4>\n<h4>2. Dahua: <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/30ADz8p\">https:\/\/amzn.to\/30ADz8p <\/a><\/h4>\n<h4>3. Hikvision: https:\/\/amzn.to\/2XFc5l4<\/h4>\n<h4>4. HFWS: <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/32lyIto\">https:\/\/amzn.to\/32lyIto <\/a><\/h4>\n<h4>5. UniFi G3: <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/2Y2YB1C\">https:\/\/amzn.to\/2Y2YB1C <\/a><\/h4>\n<h4>6. UniFi G3-Flex: <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/2XFVN6j\">https:\/\/amzn.to\/2XFVN6j <\/a><\/h4>\n<h4>7. Zemismart Tuya: <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/2YOgdf1\">https:\/\/amzn.to\/2YOgdf1 <\/a><\/h4>\n<h4>8. Amcrest: <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/2xTN6v3\">https:\/\/amzn.to\/2xTN6v3 <\/a><\/h4>\n<h4>Follow me on Twitter: @TheHookUp1<\/h4>\n<h4>Support my channel: Patreon: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/thehookup\">https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/thehookup <\/a><\/h4>\n<h4>Tesla Refferal Code: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tesla.com\/referral\/robert37264\">https:\/\/www.tesla.com\/referral\/robert37264 <\/a><\/h4>\n<h4>Music by www.BenSound.com<\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>PoE Camera Comparison Spreadsheet (PDF):\u00a0PoE Ranking Spreadsheet Today on the hookup I\u2019m going to put these 8 PoE security cameras through their paces and tell you which one is by far the best\u2026 spoiler alert: it\u2019s this one. Straight to the point: The best all around camera that I tested was hands down the Reolink [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2559,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reviews","category-tutorials"],"acf":[],"mb":[],"mfb_rest_fields":["title","gutenberg_elementor_mode"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/889","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=889"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/889\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3791,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/889\/revisions\/3791"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}