Review: The Lorex’s 2K Pan-Tilt Outdoor Security Camera Is an Impressive Alternative to Blink and Google Nest
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Table of Contents
With the continued rise of consumer-friendly outdoor security cameras, there are now more options than ever before to ensure your home is safe. But how does a security company stand out in such a crowded space?
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For Lorex, it’s a matter of providing excellent features for a great value. Their 2K Pan-Tilt Outdoor Camera boasts some impressive specs and tech under the hood, but how does it hold up to SPY’s rigorous review process? Lorex sent us a review unit to test, and here’s what we found. Recently, SPY has tested all of the top home security cameras, and so we were eager to see how this lesser-known brand compared to big names like Blink, Wyze and Google Nest.
Buy: Lorex 2K Pan-Tilt Outdoor Security Camera $149.99
Setup and Design
Upon opening the box, consumers will find the security camera, an L-shaped mounting bracket, mounting screws with anchors and the power cord. Mounting the unit is pretty easy once you’ve settled on a place. I found that a corner of my front patio worked best, as it gave a decent angle of the street and a primary focus of the front door itself.
Mounting took no more than 10 minutes (mostly because I had slight difficulties with the screws going into the corner I’d selected). After mounting the unit and connecting the power source, I then connected the camera to my WiFi and established a few minor settings (mostly around motion tracking sensitivity), and then I was good to go. From unboxing to full setup, the entire process took about 30 minutes.
Features and Performance
From there, it was all about testing the camera. I can conclusively state the Lorex 2K Pan-Tilt Outdoor Security Camera is the best outdoor security camera I’ve personally used. Outside of one minor sensitivity tweak, I was able to pretty much set and forget about the Lorex. As evidenced by its name, the video quality on this is deeply impressive, resulting in really clear and sharp imagery thanks to its 2K video resolution.
What’s also great is the video tracking features, which allow the camera itself to move and snap to rapid movement, tracking a person as they move through a given space. Because the camera allows for full, 360-degree tracking (the camera is housed inside a sphere-like housing that allows it to move around in a full circle) you can get a better sense of what’s happening at any given point in time. Additionally, you can even use the camera as a floodlight or warning light if someone approaches. That goes for the nighttime vision mode as well, which does a great job of providing clarity at night. Although, we don’t need it too much, as our current lighting setup offers plenty of clarity without using it. Similarly, the Lorex is IP66 rated for waterproofing, though that’s less a concern for me as I’ve mounted it under an overhang. However, I appreciate the weatherproofing nonetheless.
Additionally, the on-camera storage (up to 32 GB) is handy because there’s no cloud storage to fret over. You can swap out the included MicroSD card if you want more storage. Oh, and best of all, there are no additional fees for any video storage. You can easily keep the relevant videos you need and delete the rest. With over two weeks of videos, I’m not super concerned about running out of storage in the immediate future. On the privacy side of things, you can protect your account with two-factor authentication and even enable Face ID on Apple devices. That won’t help if someone swipes the SD card out the device, but, should stop people from getting into your account and changing up any settings.
If there’s one issue regarding the camera, it’s minor but worth mentioning nonetheless. The camera is powered by a power cord, which means it will need to be mounted near an outlet. My setting worked out well through happenstance more than anything else, but it’s worth mentioning having a truly wireless experience isn’t possible with the camera. Again, this isn’t a dealbreaker but something worth considering when planning out whether or not the camera will work for you in your space.
Additionally, while the camera does have warning lights, it doesn’t appear to have a way to toggle the warning floodlights on a timer. It’s either an all-or-nothing experience. I would prefer to have it on a timer during the evenings so that it doesn’t startle people during the day, but in my exploration of the settings, that doesn’t appear to be the case. Again, not a deal-breaker, but something I wish had a little more customization to it.
Finally, the Lorex app may seem a little on the outdated side to some. I appreciated the stripped-down approach—there are three primary buttons at the bottom to navigate through including a home tab to see all of your Lorex devices, an alerts tab and a settings tab—but some may hope for additional features here.
Our Verdict
With color night vision, 360-degree tracking and pan-tilt features, this outdoor security cameras is one of the best we’ve tested yet. It’s well worth its price for the video quality alone, but the camera also tracks and provides a fully comprehensive view of a given space and alerts you accordingly.
So Should You Buy It?
If you’re in need of an outdoor camera, then we definitely recommend the Lorex 2K Pan-Tilt Outdoor Security Camera.
Buy: Lorex 2K Pan-Tilt Outdoor Security Camera $149.99
Pros
Easy setup
2K camera is better than most door cameras
Local storage
Cons
Powered by power cord instead of a battery
Old school app
Rating: 8/10
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