MagCam 2K+ - 2026 Wirecutter Best Outdoor Security Camera & PCMag Editors' Choice, Wireless Battery Power, Magnetic Mount, Subscription-Free SD Storage or optional Cloud, Person/Vehicle Detection

Honestly, I love this camera. I found it user-friendly, easy to set up, and exactly as described in the listing. Here's the breakdown. CONNECTIVITY: Setup was really easy. I did have to split my router because it only connects 2.4 Hgz. That was easy and once I did that the camera connected right away. THE APP: I actually liked it. It alerted me when there was any activity, it recorded activity on the Mini SD Card, and on the cloud. *Cloud comes with 30 days free. It's not necessary, but a nice to have. INSTALLATION: This was so easy. I separated the solar panel from the camera so there was a wire between them. Both were easy to figure out. Both pieces come with a template to make pre-drilling, or even just screw placement really simple. TOOLS REQUIRED: I used a Phillips screwdriver and a cheap drill to pre-drill holes. My install was on wood siding, so not difficult, but I'm a girl. IMAGES: The camera took really good images during the day, and was helpful in catching a trespasser - yup it sure did. The only issue that I had is that it happened at night and the image of the person's face was so blurry and distorted the police could not clearly identify it. RESULT: The camera is as described, and I would be perfectly happy with it except for that one thing. SO I am returning this one and going to try out the 4k version because everything else is awesome.

When it comes to ease of installation, this is without a doubt, the best camera that I have encountered. With the magnetic mount, just find an old steel fence post, snap it on and you're done. The app leads you through the set-up process and you are good to go. Operation is flawless and the A.I. really can distinguish between a cobweb moving in the wind and genuine items of interest. Motion sensor response is nearly free of the latency that plagued earlier generations of of similar products. (I'm looking at you Company Z.) I started with one unit but was so impressed that I now have 7 of them and expect to add more. One less than stellar feature involves the SD card local storage option. I have found that retrieving video from the SD card to be so slow and unreliable that it forced me to opt into the cloud storage data hostage scheme. I am not real keen on this $113 per year ransom but if you want the camera to work properly, you really have no other choice. Also please bear in mind that the SD card purchase will cost you nearly as much as the camera. For my applications, battery life is more like 90 days rather that the advertised 300 days. Your battery life may vary with the camera activation so more traffic means shorter battery life. Great job by TAPO giving us a truly wireless WiFi camera that will go anywhere and stick to anything!

We love every single one of our Tapo cameras! This one in particular is on our front porch. I charged it when I first got it in, and have only had to charge it one time since. It was on 31% when I pulled it down to charge it, and it took less than two hours to get to 100%. The view from the app is very clear, day or night. The overall size of the camera once installed is sleek and not extremely noticeable. Most of the time people don’t look up and miss it completely. Downloading and accessing the app is super easy. Installing the camera is just as easy. The included 2 way talk and nighttime spot light features are just an added benefit for an already great camera. Overall, for the functionality and quality this camera is 100% worth every penny I spent!

I picked up this MagCam to cover my driveway and appreciate how simple it was to mount. The magnetic base is strong enough that the camera doesn’t shift even during heavy rain and wind. I was able to adjust the angle easily without removing the base, which makes fine-tuning the view much easier. Video quality is very clean in 2K, especially during daylight. At night, the infrared is still good enough to identify people and vehicles. Notifications are accurate without constant false triggers; the person/vehicle detection filters are noticeably smarter than older cameras I’ve used. Battery life is solid. After a couple of weeks with moderate motion events per day, I still had plenty of charge left. A quick recharge brings it right back to full. The only minor issue I had was syncing it to WiFi on the first attempt, but restarting the app instantly fixed it. Overall, this is a well-designed outdoor camera with great clarity and a very user-friendly magnetic mount.

Battery powered cameras are severely limited. I knew this going in. It was cheap, it was easy to put up, it works well. It definitely lags around 3-4s from reality due to the WiFi-only connection. It’s not possible to record these to an NVR since they only record when they detect something or your battery would die quickly. By far the biggest problem with every battery powered camera is that every recording inevitably starts with the subject well into the frame (in the best case scenario). A wired camera will record all the time, keeping 5-10s of footage in its memory. Then if it detects something, it can save that past 10s of video data so you can see the entire event. This one does seem to work better than the Reolink Argus 2/3 I had, where the entire recording would be the back of the subject leaving the frame. I feel like this wakes up quicker. But a fast moving person or animal could still easily run thru without being captured, if they knew it was there. Mine is high up with a broad view which reduces that issue but seems to cause a different one. The app warned me today “my battery is draining too fast”. I just have this up in my back yard and there have been a few people walking around back there. I guess I’m supposed to point it at the ground rather than out across a wide area? Reviewing the footage, there aren’t any false positives at all so I don’t really want to dial down the sensitivity. my options seem to be either reduce the coverage or ignore the warning and charge it more often. Neither seems ideal. The battery life is still at 98% tho and it’s been up and recording for 3 1/2 days. That’s pretty great. Hopefully it lasts at least a few years before the battery starts failing. Obviously a battery powered camera is ultimately a disposable item since the battery will degrade and it can’t be replaced. not that it would be especially difficult technically, but finding an exact match would be tough. Any change whatsoever (chemistry, amps, volts, etc) could render it dangerous to charge. Dont really want to risk a lithium fire inside for a $45 camera. I really like the Tapo camera’s “AI” (probably not) detection. It is really configurable and works well. However, it works better and has more functionality on the wired cameras AND they’re cheaper. Also the app keeps warning me that using the detection features uses a lot of battery. The magnetic grip is strong! It comes with a plate to mount it but I just stuck it to my garage (metal). Seems sturdy enough. If not moved I’ll use the plate, and the cameras attachment to that thing feels strong enough to withstand a hurricane. Super powerful magnet there, that’s really nice. However, I don’t see any mechanism to keep someone from pulling it down and taking it with them. Nothing you can really do either way, but some locking mechanism might be nice. If you want to get a camera, do everything in your power to wire them. POE works best. My most important cameras are POE and that’s all I’d use for anything critical. But if you MUST have a battery powered camera, this is the best one I’ve used! Just be aware of the considerable drawbacks with any battery security camera. You’re trading ease of installation for greatly reduced reliability, functionality, and ultimately you have to put in more work later to take it down and charge it, etc.

Great camera! The picture is perfect at 2K; and you can zoom in for better detail. The audio can be a little bit spotty, but as often as I plan to use it, it's not a deal breaker. Easy to install, and the Tapo app is the perfect for what I need. I can view all cameras at the same time, or each one individually...with perfect clarity. It's a lot of camera for your buck. Highly recommend.

Very intuitive camera, nice app that is easy to setup and use. Nice intuitive app interface, nice picture clarity, great zoom. Also has automatic loop and SD card capability because I don't want anything on the cloud, and my office has no wifi. I like that I can schedule recordings, using it for hypnotherapy sessions and will provide the video to clients if anything interesting happens (and also to protect myself). I would definitely buy one again if it was needed. Also loved the price and quality. The motion detection is on point and detects if any part of a human is in the picture. You can also use the app to see the areas of time you want to see. The battery appears to last awhile too but I have not had it long enough to say more about it. I have yet to test it in my office without the wifi, I will update this when I do. The only thing about it I was not sure about is that it began speaking to me upon setup. I hope it does not do that while I am in session because that will pull the client out of hypnosis and scare me right to the ceiling! It has mounting hardware that I may try later, but it is good enough just to place somewhere.

works pretty well lower resolution cant pan but it does what it says , some times it over triggers or under triggers so not the most reliable , its is good at picking up cats and rain for movement . image quality is as expected 1080 . batterie , which is why i got this camera , to use as a trail cam to try and catch some squirrels that were up to no good , is not the best but works fine for what i got it for paired with the app perfectly and the first time < the last i got i had to return as it would not pair > super easy to set up and use in the app seems pretty well built , the motion detection is either too high or too low no matter the settings i haven't found a sweet spot where a lea blowing or rain wont set it off over and over , or at the other end , standing infont of it and waving wont set it off . there's better options from tappo the pan and tilt ones are much better and about the same price , so if you don't need wireless go with that or possibly think about the solar powered wireless ones if bat is an issue .