The C120 can stream and record video at up to 2K resolution, supports two-way audio (with a slight delay), and has a microSD card slot for up to 512GB of storage for local recordings. This affordable security camera features a starlight sensor for impressive color night vision, smart detection (people, pets, and vehicles) with no subscription required, and an IP66 rating, meaning you can use it outdoors too (provided you can run a power cable). The handy base is easy to mount on a wall, can be placed on a shelf, and is magnetic. There’s no need to spend more than this to monitor an entrance or a specific room in your home.
Motion detection is reliable, and you can adjust the sensitivity and customize the notifications you receive. Video is sharp, but the maximum frame rate is 20fps, so fast-moving objects are sometimes blurry. You can set activity zones and privacy zones in the Tapo app, and there’s AI detection to recognize people, pets, vehicles, and crying babies. Sadly, rich notifications, including snapshots, are bundled with an optional Tapo Care subscription, which comes with 30 days of cloud storage for clips and is a hefty $3.50 a month for one camera or $12 a month for up to 10 cameras. There’s no HomeKit or IFTTT support, but it works with Google Home and Amazon Alexa, although it was a little slow to load the stream on my Nest Hub. The camera also supports Open Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP).
If your budget is tight, Tapo C110 ($19) even cheaper with only a few trade-offs (lower frame rate, no pet or vehicle detection, microSD card limited to 256GB).
