Customer Ratings & Reviews

This camera alerts me and then allows me to see if there's any movement by our back door. It works with my SimpliSafe system so I can push a panic button if I see somebody that shouldn't be there.

Ever since we moved into a bigger home, I wanted another outdoor camera to pair with my SimpliSafe system. So, I decided to pick up another Outdoor Camera, but opting for the newer Series 2 this time. Pros: - Easy setup and app control. - Includes charger and power cable. - Loud speaker and siren. - Bright spotlight. Cons: - None so far. Setup: Setup of the SimpliSafe Outdoor Camera Series 2 is simple. There are 2 main ways to add a camera to your SimpliSafe system: 1. In the SimpliSafe app, navigate to the Camera tab, scroll to the bottom and click on the Add New Camera button. Or 2. In the SimpliSafe app, navigate to the My System tab, Device Settings, then scroll down to the bottom and click the Add Device tab. Either way, the step-by-step instructions walk you through the setup process easily. The camera can be threaded on a standard camera mount or attached via the magnetic holder that is included to a wall or fixture. The magnetic holder makes it easy to tilt the camera to any angle you need incase the thread on isn’t adjustable. Either way, the flexibility is helpful and appreciated. App Control: App setup was simple. Configuration is just as simple. The SimpliSafe app has options to adjust the Motion Detection, Video Quality, Night Vision, Flip Image, Mic & Audio, Siren, and Status Light. Motion Detection allows you to set the camera sensitivity, the type of Motion that triggers an alert, and the activity zone that triggers an alert. Video Quality allows you to select from 480p to 1080p, with the default set to 1080p. Night Vision allows you the option of off, standard, and spotlight which turns on the spotlight when motion is detected, or live viewing is done. The other options are just on or off, or in the case of Flip Image, it flips the camera image in the case where the camera is mounted upside down. One of the best setting options is that you can adjust the functionality of the camera based on the status of your security system, such that is your home or away, you can have different functionality from the off mode. I’ve set this up in a way that I get more notifications when the system is armed in either mode. Video Quality: The highest video resolution is 1080p, with the image quality being sharp both during the day and at night. I didn’t have any issues being able to determine what I was looking at, with the 10x zoom it was quite easy to zoom in to see any part of the field of view. I had this out in my backyard, which allowed me to watch the squirrels, birds, and my dog getting into things. Battery Life: The battery life on the SimpliSafe Outdoor Camera Series 2 is a major improvement over the Series 1, I’ve only charge it once in about a week and the camera still reads as 100% fully charged. The Series 1 needed charging every few weeks, but that could have also been due to the placement at my old home being more active compared to a quiet backyard. The included charging cable is a huge plus, as it usually is sold for $49.99 separately. You could use any micro-USB cable when inside, but for outdoor use you will want to have the cable with the seal on it to prevent water from getting into the camera charging port. The included 16ft cable is plenty of length to reach an outdoor power plug by a door or from a garage. Connectivity: Your results will vary depending on your WiFi signal strength or base station placement, but I was easily able to connect to the wireless camera anywhere within my yard or house. I was pleasantly surprised when I could easily connect from the garage and alley. Might have to pickup another one of these to attach onto the garage. Detection & Alerts: The detection range depended on the sensitivity, but on the highest sensitivity I could trigger the alerts at the edge of my yard during the day which is easily over 30ft away. At night, the alerts would trigger around 30ft away, depending on the sensitivity and how dark it was. I found my preferred level of notifications occurred at Sensitivity of Medium and Motion Type of People Only, I got no false alerts and captured all actual alerts, I know this as I’ve got other cameras from other angles that capture all motions. The Squirrels and Birds love to trigger them, but I did find out who was leaving chicken bones in my yard! Night vision is good, I prefer the standard night vision to the spotlight as the bright spotlight is great when you have the system armed but can be disorientating if you catch yourself in it. I prefer to disable the alarm from my phone before approaching because of the spotlight effect. Similarly, don’t accidentally trigger the siren, it is VERY loud and the echo in a small space is painful. Conclusion: If you already have a SimpliSafe security system, the Outdoor Camera Series 2 is a great option to add additional monitoring and greater security to your home. With the included power cable and wireless connectivity, you can setup the camera almost anywhere and at any angle. I’ve got 2 already, and planning to pick up a few more for the rest of the home.

I’ve been using SimpliSafe for home security for about 6 years now. I like the simplicity of use and set-up, and the endless customization to fit your specific household security needs. All the different elements, from sensors, motion detectors, smoke and carbon detectors, smart locks to cameras integrate so well into the SimpliSafe universe. The latest addition to my household security is the SimpliSafe Outdoor Camera Series 2. It’s a step above the Series 1 camera which I also own. Once the battery was charged, installing the camera with the included magnetic mount was a quick and easy process with the right tools. Connecting it to the SimpliSafe app was a process of following the prompts, and after a couple of minutes, it was ready to go. I chose to connect it to an electrical outlet with the provided cable and power adapter to be able to use some additional AI and security features through the Active Guard Outdoor Protection service. Performance wise, the Series 2 is a great performer. Most important for a security camera is movement detection, and it does it reliably well and you have the option to set the monitored activity area from the app. I was impressed by both the video and audio quality. The 1080p images are sharp and colorful and easy to discern details. The audio quality is also impressive. Two-way communication through my Series 1 camera was a hit or miss and a source of frustration. With the Series 2, SimpliSafe seems to have solved this issue. So far, it’s been nothing but clear audio communication with every trial. For night vision, you can either use the standard black and white infrared or full color with the spotlight activation. I chose the latter since I have it powered to an outlet. This camera features a loud siren that can be activated manually, automatically depending on configurations, and even remotely by SimpliSafe monitoring agents. This camera also comes with some AI capabilities such as the ability to distinguish between people, animals and objects; however, it seems that it only works with the Active Guard Outdoor Protection subscription. In conclusion, the Outdoor Camera Series 2 is an improvement on its already solid Series 1. It excels in all areas that makes it a good security camera, with reliable motion detection and great video and audio performance. The addition of AI capabilities will make it more desirable for some users. My only wish would be to have a continuous streaming option, but this will not prevent me from recommending it to SimpliSafe subscribers looking for the best outdoor camera in the SimpliSafe ecosystem.

The SimpliSafe outdoor security camera series 2 is a nice addition to my existing SimpliSafe home security system. It's an added layer of protection and guard for my home as it allows me to keep tabs on what activity is happening on the external portion of my home and perimeter. The camera captures 1080p HD video which is good, and clear for recordings. A wide 140 degree field of view and 10x digital zoom is helpful as well. Night vision ability is great for getting more precise coloring and visual clarity for people or objects in low light. The two way communication system allows for a deterrent and as a way to speak with anyone in real time. Dual microphones built into the camera for noise filtering and also a speaker that allows a 2 way audio. There is also a loud 90dB siren to help alert intruders, and nearby neighbors that something is suspicious. I also like the weather resistant exterior as it allows for a good mix of environment changes in rain, snow, and sun, with operating temperatures from -4° F to 122° F. The advanced AI is helpful with differentiating the types of triggers for the camera. It has the ability to ignore pets, or cars that may trigger notifications. You can save familiar faces of family members or regulars on your property to prevent the camera system from avoiding false alarms of suspicious persons. The spotlight is also a nice way to help alert a person that they are being watched and recorded to deter any unwanted activity. I like the rechargeable battery option here because it allows me to have more flexibility and mobility to mount this camera in a place that is more ideal for my situation. It comes with mounting hardware included and a nice magnetic mount to place and situate the camera easily. Should you decide to keep this powered up without the battery you get a 16 foot power cable for even more flexibility to keep this constantly powered. SimpliSafe has made an already robust ecosystem even better with this outdoor camera. The app works well to get this camera installed and setup on the home wi-fi easily and quickly.

I’ve had a SimpliSafe security system for over ten years now. Very reliable, easy to set up, easy to use. I have two Outdoor Cameras, the first edition, and they work extremely well. Probably a couple years old at this point. When I saw that SimpliSafe came out with a series 2 camera I was excited to try it out. If I had any issues with the series 1, it was that the wireless connection was occasionally unreliable. The cameras had to reside near the router to work correctly. The series 2 camera seems to have an expanded range, and I didn’t see many issues with connectivity. Setup was as easy as any SimpliSafe product. I screwed the plastic base into the wood eves out front, attached the magnetic base to it, and charged the camera battery. After it was charged, I used the app to sync it to my system and was up and running. Took maybe 15 minutes from start to finish. Video is 1080p, there is motion detection, a spotlight, and colored night vision. The Outdoor Camera 2 works perfectly. Battery life appears to be excellent, after a few days I’m still at 100 percent. No complaints and recommend this camera for anyone with an existing SimpliSafe system.

I’ve been a customer of SimpliSafe for years and have trusted their products and monitoring. My system includes numerous door and glass-break sensors, a few smoke detectors and I already had a single interior camera. I thought I’d try their new Outdoor Camera S2 to keep an eye on my back yard as well. My system was already set up and running well, so I just needed to add this new camera to my existing setup. Once installed, the camera can be completely wireless. Like the indoor camera, it uses WiFi to connect to your system. For power, it has a built-in removable and rechargeable battery that can power it for months between charges, or can be constantly powered with the provided long USB cable and power adapter. Or, you can use an optional solar panel and keep it powered without wires which is handy if you want to put the camera in a spot where running a power wire to it would be a challenge. The packaging was clear and easy to find everything. The camera was on top and all mounting and charging accessories were elsewhere in the box. This camera includes a removable and rechargeable battery that was not yet installed. Also included is a long microUSB power cable, or you can remove and charge up the battery separately and then install the battery when it’s charged up. You can also buy extra batteries to keep a charged-up one ready to swap in when needed. I would have preferred a USB-C cable instead of micro USB, but at least the cables were provided so I didn’t have to hunt for a suitable cable. The front (camera-portion) of the unit twists off easily to gain access to the battery compartment. The part that will eventually be mounted remains behind so you don’t have to worry about removing the camera or having to re-aim it provided you’ve carefully twisted the front off after mounting. The battery is not pre-installed so be aware that just plugging in the camera without the battery will power the camera but won’t charge the battery and the camera will disconnect from your system as soon as the cable is unplugged. Even if you plan on a persistent power cable connection, it’s best to install the provided battery as a power backup just in case. In the box is everything you need to mount, power and charge the camera. It can be completely wireless if you want to operate it just by the battery, or you can plug it in to keep it constantly on and ready for anything. The long power cord is intended to be constantly connected to the camera and power, but a shorter cable is also provided to charge up the removed battery. A USB-A power adapter is also provided if you’re going that wired route. Before mounting and setting up your new camera, you should get the battery charged up and installed in the camera, or perhaps you’ve connected the USB cable to the camera and the adapter to power it up during installation. Either way, once the camera has power, you can start setting it up and then mounting it. As with everything else in the SimpliSafe ecosystem, installation and setup was easy. It all starts in your SimpliSafe app - just go to the cameras section and choose to install a new camera - the app guides you through everything. First it finds your new camera, then gets it connected to the same WiFi that the rest of your system uses. Next it guides you to mounting and aiming the camera. Everything went smoothly and within about 30 minutes from opening the box, my camera was connecting and working. The provided ball mount is easy to attach to wood or metal and then your camera magnetically sticks to the ball and makes it easy to adjust the aim. There is also a standard tripod-type screw hole on the bottom of the camera that you can use instead of the ball mount if that meets your needs better. Wall anchors and screws for most mounting surfaces are included for the ball mount as well as some cord clips to keep things neat if you choose to keep the camera wired to power. Once the camera is fully set up and mounted, you can use the app to adjust settings like motion sensing and sensitivity, whether it provides full-color images with a spotlight at night but at lower battery life (if not powered by the cord), etc…. Image quality is full HD (1080p) and quite good during the day. There is a wide field of view so you can see a lot of stuff at the sides of the image. At night, the grayscale image is still very good but it’s fun to see color at night with the built-in spotlight. The camera has a speaker and microphone so you can both hear what’s going on around the camera and also speak to any intruders through the app. If you sign up for the optional camera monitoring service, the remote staff can get notified of suspicious activities around the camera and see through your camera to perhaps prevent issues from happening. The speaker in the camera can also act as a remote siren for your system so when the alarm is going off, the camera will make noise to attract attention, too. Once mounted, assuming you’re using the battery only, the system should inform you proactively when the battery needs a charge… just like it does for any other battery-operated sensors in your SimpliSafe system. When it’s time to charge, simply twist the face of the camera to gain access to the battery again, take it out, charge it up and then put it all back together a few hours later. The camera is fully waterproof for outdoor use when assembled, but it’s best to do this when the weather is nicer… or if you have to do this when it’s raining, just take the camera off the mount and bring it indoors until charged. During normal use of your system, the Home Screen can be set up to display thumbnails of all of your cameras. The Timeline view shows all video recorded around an event. This outdoor camera is fully integrated into your existing app and system. In addition to all of the usual stuff, it also can be an extra outdoor siren and with additional subscriptions, can be monitored separately for events even before your main alarm gets triggered. My only suggestions for improvement are to offer a free trial of the extra monitoring service during the installation of this camera since that level of subscription isn’t normally needed without it. My normal “Core” plan includes recording and storage of camera events with 30 days of cloud storage and now that applies to both my prior indoor and new outdoor camera. The other suggestion is to switch to USB-C just to be more compatible with what everything else is using for plugs. I haven’t had this camera installed long enough to confirm the estimated battery life, but given how easy it was to set up, mount and use, I’m sure it will provide an extra dimension of security for my SimpliSafe system for years to come.

We have owned a SimpliSafe system for about 2.5 years. It has been flawless, although (thank goodness) we have never run into a real test of the system. The only maintenance so far has been to replace the button batteries in about 3 of the 15 window/door opening detectors. My system originally included a previous version of the outdoor camera. With high-quality HD video, night vision, and 10x zoom, the newer Outdoor Camera optimizes your view of the premises. This Series 2 version offers the ability to subscribe to SimpliSafe’s Active Guard Outdoor Protection, which is an additional charge over the base “Core” level of professional monitoring. The entry level Core plan will contact your local police if there is a trigger of one of the home sensors, broken glass, a breached door or window, or motion detection inside the house. The Active Guard Outdoor surveillance monitoring has two tiers of extra cost over the Core level, the lower being active for night time incursions, and the higher being 24 hrs a day. 
When using the Series 2 camera to benefit from the higher tier monitoring, is the requirement that you have your camera plugged in to an external power source, not just battery powered. The Series 2 camera has added a loud siren to the camera, which is triggered by the monitoring professionals, once alerted of a possible intrusion. SimpliSafe states that they have incorporated AI biometric analysis of moving objects to facilitate and accelerate the detection of any intruder. A 16 foot long power cable and a plug adapter are included with the series 2 camera. My original outdoor camera was powered solely by battery. This required swapping out a freshly charged battery occurred once I got a notice of low battery in the camera. Battery charge is good for about 2-3 weeks, depending on the amount of motion detected. More triggers, such an open view of the street, or a high density of walking traffic on a sidewalk would spend the battery more rapidly. In our installation, the camera only triggers when someone walks up the walkway and turns into the alcove of our front door. We have a video doorbell installed, but having the surveillance camera 7 feet up rather than at torso level, seems to be more secure and less likely to be destroyed by vandalism. But a higher camera may show mostly the tops of heads and ball caps, not the face of the person, if taken from very far up. You pick your subscription to monitoring, with various monthly fees. The higher priced tiers of detection offer a couple of advantages: monitoring of triggered motion once the SimpliSafe system is armed {either your “away” or “home” mode, versus the “off” setting). If the system is activated and a person is detected (reportedly enhanced by AI recognition), at the monitoring headquarters a human takes over, and views real time the scene. Two way conversation via a speaker incorporated in the camera can be instituted if deemed necessary, and a siren alarm in the camera can be activated. The entire encounter is stored on video storage and can be shared with Police. Using the mobile phone app, you can review and download to your photo library the videos of all motion detection, even if you do not have any remote monitoring plan in place. With a plan, you have a 30 day archive of all recorded clips. In checking New Hampshire’s laws, posting a notice of video monitoring of persons who might approach your residence is beneficial. Recording of audio conversations without consent of ALL parties is forbidden. SimpliSafe included a peel off sticker to add to your yard sign that the premises are monitored by SimpliSafe. (The yard sign comes with any complete system you purchase, and can be purchased separately). The new sticker adds the notice that audio recording, video footage, and biometric data is being captured. The audio recording that SimpliSafe obtains seems to be illegal in NH, especially if it is distributed to non-law enforcement entities. Before offering the audio file to the police, it might be a wise measure to ask for a subpoena for the audio file prior to sharing the recording. At this point I have yet to pass the wall current power cable to the camera. That will for me require drilling a hole adjacent to the camera and once inside plugging it into a wall socket. But at 7 ft up, it would be a chore for them to disrupt the power to the camera! If you do not have a power source within the 16 foot cable reach, another option available from SimpliSafe is to automatically recharge your battery with a small solar panel, that can attach high off the ground and be aimed for optimum solar exposure. This will recharge the camera’s battery, and obviate the need to swap out the battery every few weeks. The higher your camera is mounted, and the larger a ladder is needed, the more a solar panel is quite appealing. However, the advanced monitoring requires line voltage power, not battery power for full utility. I have not tried out the optional full 24 hour, higher power monitoring. That will be a choice to make after I get hard-wired power cord installed. In summary, this upgraded camera is a very versatile addition to a home security system. The remote monitoring option, with faster triggering of an intruder alert using AI biometrics, and a surprise blast from a siren controlled by the off-premises monitoring service, might scare away an intruder BEFORE the door or window alarms even come into play. Adequate perimeter surveillance might make the indoor system redundant, repelling a potential intruder before they even enter the domicile. And repairing a broken window or breached doorway won’t be on the agenda!

My husband and I moved into our first home roughly two years ago. At that time, I was interested in and purchased a Simplisafe system simply to have a water monitor above our sump pump and a temperature sensor near our water main in the basement. We live in the Midwest, so flooded basements in the summer and bursting pipes in the winter are a real concern. Since then, I’ve been expanding our Simplisafe hardware, which now includes door/window sensors, motion sensors, smoke detectors, and four total cameras. We just swapped out our front door series 1 camera for the series 2 and I’ve noticed some immediate improvements. I’ll preface by mentioning that we pay for core monitoring, not the pro or pro plus plans that utilize the camera’s AI features. This plan has worked well for us and we don’t see the need for the advanced monitoring at this time. Setup for the series 2 camera was just as easy as all other Simplisafe products. Follow the clear instructions with pictures in the app, mount the camera, verify it’s pointed in the right direction, and you’re pretty much set. Because the AI features of the series 2 camera require that it be plugged in, it does include a 16 foot outdoor power cable and USB adapter in addition to the battery. Said power cable and adapter were not included with the series 1 camera. While camera resolution of 1080p and FOV of 140º are the same for both cameras on paper, the FOV that shows in the app is much wider with series 2 and the image and video resolution are miles better too. I’m alerted much earlier when motion is detected and can see faces and other identifying features much more clearly. The camera’s remaining features remain generally the same and the way it responds to home and away mode can be customized in the app. Simplisafe as a whole has been a great system for our needs. I personally appreciate that it’s tailored to DIY’ers and is modular for any home type and size. App access and controls have made it easy to monitor and arm our home while we sleep and anytime we’re away. Fingers crossed we never need to utilize the monitoring services we pay for, but I’m confident it will work as designed if it is ever needed.

This outdoor camera is a nice addition to my SimpliSafe security system, however it will need some improvements if they want customers to pay $50 to $80 dollars for monitoring service. The set up was easy after charging the battery just add the camera to your SimpliSafe account. Some of the features of this outdoor camera are 1080p HD video capture, 140 field view, spotlight, night vision , use wireless or wired ( 6” charging cable and power cable ), AI motion detection. Two way pidió, built in siren and water resistant. After adding this camera on my Simolisafe app account and installing the camera on my outside porch, it was easy and connected fast to my WiFi for livestream, one thing I noticed is that in order to have a night vision color view , you have to set the spotlight to on on the app, if not the view will be black and white , which is a little inconvenient because that could drain the battery, comparing to my SimpliSafe indoor camera , the indoor camera has better crystal clear HD view than this outdoor camera. Additional, SimpliSafe wants customers to pay $50-$80 dollars for monitoring services called Pro and Pro Plus, but in order to use those services , you will have to have this outdoor camera plugged in at all times, it doesn’t specify if customers can use solar panels instead, in my case, I will have to use my outdoor camera wireless without the monitoring services, paying $80 plus having the camera plugged in at all times is not my ideal outdoor camera.

I love my home security system with Simplee Safe. The app, monitoring and support have been great for all 3 years I have been a user. The pricing is higher than other companies, but the exceptional service, updated software and knowledge my information isn’t being sold to 3rd parties is a comfort I need. The cameras are easy to install, connect to the system quickly and have the most HD pictures of any at home security system I have seen. I can talk through them, hear the responses from the person and take photos with ease. I highly recommend the entire product line up for your home security needs.

I've owned a SimpliSafe security system for about two years now, it monitors my doors and windows as well as motion throughout the house when we're gone. I hadn't made the jump to an outdoor camera from SimpliSafe yet, as I like to run different systems around the property. When my front yard camera gave up (different brand), I decided to give the outdoor camera a go. First and foremost, I would like to note that SimpliSafe doesn't skimp on quality, nor on parts and accessories. Unboxing revealed all manners of helpful parts as well as an easy to follow instructions pamphlet. It contains the camera, a magnetic wall mount, all types of screws depending on where or what you will be mounting the camera onto, a 6" USB cable to charge the included internal battery pack, a long weatherproof power supply cable and an adapter for said cable. This means you can do three things: mount entirely wireless, wired using the cable and charger, or "hybrid", meaning you only use the cable to charge the internal battery pack. That makes things quite easy. As recommended by the manufacturer, I charged the battery for six hours and went on to install and tie the camera into my existing system. I ran into a bit of a snag when I first tried to add the camera using the SimpliSafe app, it took me several tries to get it to be recognized by the software. I had to uninstall and reinstall the app in order to tie the camera into the system. It was a bit frustrating, but I ended up getting it done. Mounting the camera on the wall took me only 5 minutes (maybe less), which I really appreciate. I'm not going to lie, this camera has one of the sharpest and best picture I have seen so far on a security camera. I was able to make out a tiny butterfly in the bushes. That's how good the camera lens is. If you have a bit of experience with security systems, you will find the usual options you can expect from a security cam: Selective area motion detection, sound (talk and listen), night vision and much more. You can really set things up the way you want and even shut it down using the keypad when you're home. It doesn't get much more easier and convenient as that. Of course, you'll eventually hit a couple of "paywalls" using this camera (which actually applies to your entire system). You will need a subscription after a free period to store your recordings to the SimpliSafe cloud. I won't comment on the pricing too much, but in my humble opinion, it's actually rather affordable compared to other brands. You can of course use the system without any of the subscriptions if you choose to do so. Overall, I like the SimpliSafe Outdoor Camera. It has excellent picture, is easy to use and charge and offers a wide range of options to tailor it to your desired setup. The price might seem high at first, but it's a solid investment. I recommend this camera and I might get another one for a corner in my backyard. Good job on this product, but the app needs some tweaking.

SimpliSafe Outdoor Camera Series 2. SimpliSafe has a mature, easy-to-use security system that puts homeowners in charge of installing, configuring, and monitoring their home (or office) security themselves. For a DIY security system, SimpliSafe has created a sophisticated system with layers of sensors, modern warning systems, and even a team of security agents who intercept alarms and call the homeowner and/or police, if you have a subscription. None is necessary for live monitoring, only. SETUP: Easily accomplished from within the SimpliSafe App, this camera is added to your local Wi-Fi network. The magnetic base screws into the outdoor structure you prefer, and a magnetic base strongly attaches to the camera. That said, the design of the magnetic base isn’t as secure as I might prefer because the housing is easily rotated off. A battery is provided so no wired connection is needed, but a very long 16ft charging cable directly powers the camera if desired. Add a camera to SimpliSafe … With this advanced camera and its AI technology, this team at SimpliSafe alarm monitoring central can also become additional eyes and ears for your outdoor surveillance. In combination with door, window, and motion sensors. In the App, custom activity zones can be created. IF YOU SUBSCRIBE to SimpliSafe’s monitoring plans, recordings are captured and saved, and human security monitors interact with an intruder or determine if there is no threat. Calls to the police provide their confirmation of a threat. Monitoring also requires using the hard wiring, provided in the box. You need no subscription to find the Outdoor Camera Series 2 extremely useful to monitor a live image on the SimpliSafe App. It allows for interaction with someone in the vicinity of the camera’s location. There are two microphones on the camera. I found the video feed to be fairly sharp and very colorful, except when using the night vision mode, which was still very sharp. A modest use of the digital zoom magnification revealed an image that lost detail rather quickly. There is a Spotlight activated by the monitoring team. SUMMARY: This is a competent camera that easily fits into the SimpliSafe security system and adds heightened visual monitoring with the availability of human agents to intervene. That’s very nice and can be done at a reasonable price, along with video storage from the cameras. Without the subscription monitoring, there is no storage, which some users will find frustrating. And the price of the camera becomes an issue if it only has value for live monitoring. I like it and will use it along with my doorbell camera. I just wish SimpliSafe allowed a nominal number of free recorded hours.

This camera is a lot larger than what I’m used to from other brands. Which makes me think there’s a lot more hardware inside that makes the video and audio quality a lot better. It’s also a little more heavier. Installing this camera is fairly easy with all of the components and inside the box minus the power tools. I was able to install on my wall in less than 10 minutes with a ladder. I already have the simply safe home security system, and I was just adding this camera as an added feature. Through the app it quickly identified this camera and I was up and running in no time. Again, the video quality is comparable to others both Knight and Day as far as me viewing. However, the inconspicuous part of the camera, there is no hiding. If you are looking for a solid camera that does nice viewing night and day that’s easy to sync with your SimpliSafe system. This is a really good camera and easy to install. If this came in all black, I would order another one other than that it’s a great camera

[Employee of bestbuy] The SimpliSafe outdoor camera has been a great addition to my home security setup. The video quality is sharp both during the day and at night, and the wide field of view covers a lot of area. Motion detection is responsive, and I like that I can customize the sensitivity to cut down on unnecessary alerts. It’s weather-resistant and has held up perfectly through rain and heat. The two-way audio is clear, which is great for speaking to visitors (or letting delivery drivers know where to leave packages).

The camera is relatively small compared to other security cameras and is easy to install to the magnetic base. The magnet connecting the camera to the mount is strong. The camera is powered by a battery which is easy to remove for charging. During the initial setup, my two cameras linked quickly and easily to the SimpliSafe Base Station and function exceptionally well. The video image is crisp, sharp, and punches above its stated 1080p quality. The mic picks up sounds extremely well and voices are very clear. I have not used the two way audio so I can’t comment on the quality of the onboard speaker. The camera connects well to the app, although depending on how strong the connections is to the wifi signal, it can take 4 to 10 seconds for the camera to wake up before you can see the image. This can become a problem because you may end up missing part or all of an event (whether in live mode or a recording). I assume the issue is the camera goes to sleep in order to conserve battery life. I readjusted my wifi for a better signal at my driveway and that seemed to help a bit with the delays and the connect times are on the lower end now. In the future, I may connect my driveway camera to a wired power source (or even a solar panel) to see if that alleviates or eliminates the problem regarding sleep modes, although I do not know if this if this will even matter if it’s a baked-in function of the camera. However, the delays are short if you frequently tap into Live mode. Additionally, the notifications are quick whenever the camera is triggered. Overall, this is a good camera and works seamlessly inside the SimpliSafe system. The price is expensive considering there are many newer cameras out there with higher specs and lower prices but if you want a camera that integrates into the SimpliSafe ecosystem this is the one. I do suggest waiting for a holiday or Black Friday sale to purchase it. That’s what I did and am happy with the purchase.

I have been a SimpliSafe customer for a long time now, and have gone back and forth between their cameras and other HomeKit cameras. I really like the gen 2 series SimpliSafe outdoor cameras despite a couple of shortcomings. I love the picture quality, the app integration, the motion activated spotlight, the battery operation that allows me to place the camera wherever I want, and the options that come with a paid monitoring plan from SimpliSafe. The camera has decent field of view, but less than some other outdoor cameras I have used. I have actually found this to be an advantage as I am not being notified about things further out from my house that are honestly unnecessary notifications. Some shortcomings are first, the included magnetic mount. The mount is same one from the gen 1 camera, but the magnet is not strong enough to hold the camera in place on the side of a house. Over time, the camera droops down. I have three of these cameras, and only one of the three do not do this. I have opted to get sturdier, mounts from Amazon. The other shortcoming is the time it takes to wake up the camera. Sometimes it can be a little slow and miss the beginning of some recordings and if someone were to be running through the field of view, I wonder if it would miss the recording altogether.

This model was the only outdoor model available in store. It was easy to install and integrate into our system having a wider angle than some others we have used. Picture/video quality is good.

I recently added a simplisafe outdoor camera to my existing simplisafe setup. I'll say that it is 'nice' but there's definitely some room for improvement, especially with today's technology. Packaging: To start, the packaging is decent, it includes the camera itself, mounting hardware, which fortunately includes slightly better screws than the standard simplisafe sensors, so no need to bust out your precision screwdriver set for trying to screw this into the side of your house, and it has a very *very* long power cable, which I appreciate, as it seems things like this never ship with power cables that are anything close to long enough, especially going from outside to inside, but more on that in a sec. Setup: As with all the simplisafe sensors, you power it up (uses a proprietary battery, no surprise there, although they probably could have done with something more standardized) and while the power cable is super long, it's micro-usb (come on Simplisafe, get with the times, USB-C). The power cord itself has rubber gaskets on both ends to keep out moisture, so that's good and the power brick even has that it is IPX5 rated printed on it, so that's pretty cool. However it'd be nice to be able to hard wire it rather than *have* to use the micro-USB cable. Then it's more-or-less a one-button setup, the station waits for you to hit the button, then it pairs and adds it to your WIFI, one nice thing is you have the option to add it to a different WIFI network, so that's useful, especially if you've set up an IOT network or separate SSID for devices such as this. I will say that immediately upon completion it complained of wireless network interference, and I'm not really surprised, with the sheer number of houses nearby, my own network devices and my mesh system, that unless you live out in the boondocks, it's likely always going to say this, so it's a needless warning that you probably can't do anything about. I'll also say that it goes through some post-setup testing after it updates the firmware that it failed multiple times but the camera seems to work fine without it, so dont stress over that. Use: The video image is very washed out, and I'm pretty sure it's not my phone, I thought it was because I forgot to remove the cellophane from the front of the camera, but when I did, it didn't get better. The video quality is also not great. It's interesting that in this day of 1440P and higher cameras, that this one is limited to 1080p. Again Simplisafe, look at your competitors with 2K and 4K cameras available (and standard in some cases, across both the DIY and professionally installed lines). It just feels like old technology (micro-USB, 1080p, sigh). Detection seems decent, although it's missing package detection which is another common feature in current security systems (although you can alert on people only or any movement, although I doubt the any movement feature gets used much since it even warns you that branches and leaves can set it off, probably need to work on that a bit Simplisafe). Overall: I will say it's an 'ok' camera, but really it's only worth getting because I already have simplisafe installed and I kind of "have to" in order to keep everything on one ecosystem, and pricing of the simplisafe monitoring still leaves something to be desired, especially since professional install is free with some competitors. All in all, it's "ok", as I've said now 3 times, get it if you need it for your simplisafe system, but by itself it's not worth making the argument in favor of Simplisafe over another brand, and honestly for this to be the 'series 2' camera, I have to imagine how bad series 1 must have been.

Much better than the first-generation camera, high-quality video. Also, in my case, the older camera was always dropping the wi-fi signal, and this one does not do that. Am only using battery power, and battery life is good. Recommended!

The Simplisafe Outdoor Camera has very good video and audio quantity. Although the camera is fairy far away from the router, it receives a good Wi-Fi sihnal.