Can't decide between a fixed lens or pan/tilt security cam? This one gives you both

Price When Reviewed

$99.99

Best Prices Today: Lorex 2K Dual Lens Indoor Pan-Tilt Wi-Fi Security Camera (mannequin W463AQ-AA)

While video high quality and sensible options have improved, many safety cameras nonetheless share a typical limitation: a hard and fast subject of view. If one thing occurs simply outdoors the body, you’re out of luck.

The Lorex 2K Dual Lens Indoor Pan-Tilt Wi-Fi Security Camera tackles this downside with a dual-lens system and 360-degree pan-tilt performance. One lens gives a hard and fast wide-angle view, whereas the opposite strikes to trace movement and remove blind spots. The thought is to offer extra protection with a single digital camera, decreasing the necessity for a number of items in bigger rooms.

Specifications

This digital camera is compact, light-weight, and simple to put nearly anyplace indoors. It measures 3.19 x 3.19 x 5.30 inches and weighs simply over half a pound, making it sufficiently small to sit down unobtrusively on a shelf. For a extra everlasting set up, it comes with a mounting bracket and {hardware} for attachment to a wall or ceiling.

Both lenses seize footage in 2K decision (which Lorex defines as 2560 × 1440 pixels). The mounted lens retains a watch on a broad swath of your inside house, whereas the PTZ (pan-tilt-zoom) lens gives a more in-depth, extra dynamic view when movement is detected. The pan-and-tilt management permits the digital camera to watch a a lot bigger space than a normal indoor cam.

Michael Ansaldo/Foundry

The digital camera can be outfitted with infrared evening imaginative and prescient, enabling as much as 32 toes of visibility at the hours of darkness to file clear black-and-white footage. Two-way audio lets you hear what’s taking place and discuss to anybody within the room by the built-in speaker. The digital camera additionally options sensible movement detection, distinguishing between individuals and pets to cut back pointless alerts.

Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant are supported, permitting you to manage the digital camera with voice instructions, reminiscent of adjusting the pan-tilt performance or viewing the dwell feed on a suitable sensible show. For instances whenever you wish to disable monitoring, the Lorex makes use of a bodily Privacy Mode that tilts the digital camera 180 levels downward, absolutely masking the lens. This stops recording and streaming, providing a easy strategy to pause surveillance with out powering off the digital camera.

If you contemplate subscriptions anathema, this digital camera helps native recording through a microSD card (capacities as much as 256GB are supported; a 32GB card comes pre-installed). Your different native storage various is to attach the digital camera to one in every of Lorex’s Fusion NVRs (the Lorex Fusion NVR–community video recorder–helps as much as eight wired and eight wi-fi cameras).

If you need the added safety of offsite storage, Lorex does provide an elective cloud subscription. There’s a single-camera plan for $2.99 per 30 days or $29.99 per yr that gives 30 days storage for motion-triggered recordings; when you have a number of Lorex cameras, you’ll pay $9.99 per 30 days or $99.99 per yr for all of them.

Installation and setup

The digital camera comes with all the pieces wanted to get began: the digital camera itself, a 6.5-foot energy cable, an influence adapter, and a mounting bracket with screws and anchors for wall or ceiling set up. The digital camera connects to 2.4GHz Wi-Fi (there’s no 5GHz assist), and setup is dealt with by the Lorex app. It walks you thru the method, from scanning a QR code on the digital camera to pairing it together with your community. Once related, you may modify settings, arrange movement alerts, and entry dwell or recorded footage.

Michael Ansaldo/Foundry

Performance

The Lorex app is easy and simple to navigate. The dwelling display screen gives a dwell feed, together with fast entry to recordings, movement alerts, and pan-tilt controls. The PTZ motion is clean and responsive, permitting you to remotely modify the digital camera’s place with minimal lag.

Customization choices are strong. You can modify movement detection sensitivity, allow auto-tracking, create schedules for recording, and arrange sensible alerts that differentiate between individuals and pets and. These options assist cut back pointless alerts whereas protecting you knowledgeable of essential exercise.

In testing, each lenses produced sharp, detailed footage, with good coloration accuracy and distinction in daylight circumstances. Night imaginative and prescient efficiency was additionally wonderful. While particulars naturally softened in low mild, the digital camera nonetheless maintained sturdy visibility.

Motion detection was correct and responsive, successfully distinguishing between individuals and pets. The digital camera’s potential to robotically monitor movement labored properly, protecting topics in view as they moved. False alerts had been a uncommon incidence, although tweaking sensitivity settings could be mandatory relying on placement.

[Further studying: TechHive’s tackle the best home security cameras.]

Should you purchase the Lorex 2K Dual Lens Indoor Pan-Tilt Wi-Fi Security Camera?

At $99.99, the Lorex 2K Dual Lens Indoor Pan-Tilt Wi-Fi Security Camera is a robust and reasonably priced selection for householders who need extra protection with fewer cameras. The dual-lens system and 360-degree pan, 180-degree tilt management permit it to watch giant rooms successfully, making it a great match for dwelling rooms, playrooms, and open-concept areas.

It’s additionally excellent for privacy-conscious customers. A whole lot of safety cameras depend on software program settings to pause recording, however I’m all the time extra relaxed if I can see the lens bodily blocked as this Lorex mannequin does. If you’re uncomfortable with always-on surveillance, this function gives further peace of thoughts.