Customer Ratings & Reviews

TP-Link's Tapo sub-brand (and it's Kasa predecessor) have been making solid DIY home automation and security devices for a number of years now and this 3 camera kit is a great addition to their lineup. It's really everything you need to monitor the outside of a small to medium sized property - with no hassle of wiring or building a special network. In the box you get 3 cameras, 3 solar panels and all the mounting kits, batteries, etc. that you need to get going. Each camera can be mounted on it's own (you can use them without the solar kits if you want, but you'll have to take them down to charge them about 2x a year or so depending on how much you use things like live view/motion detection) or either near or combined with the solar panels (the mounts allow for options - if you want to mount the camera in one place and the solar panel nearby but in a better position to catch sun, you can do that, or you can put the panel directly above the camera for a more streamlined setup). The mounts are solid and seem durable and the solar panels easily produce enough power to keep the batteries topped up (oddly, the solar panels have a USB-C output but the cameras take micro USB input, so the kit comes with USB-C female to microUSB male adapters in short or longer lengths - odd but effective). The cameras connect via wifi, so between the batteries/solar kit and wifi connection, you can put them anywhere you get a wifi signal. Pairing the camera to your network and adding it in the Tapo app is a breeze, but note that you'll likely want to do this BEFORE mounting the camera as it's easier when you have full physical access to the camera. You'll also want to full charge the cameras from a power outlet before mounting them, even if you're using the solar panels, just to give it some buffer charge. Once paired and in place, the cameras have a super sharp picture, day or night (with the built-in spot lights) - it's easy to check in on whatever you have the cameras watching. They do have a pretty wide field of view, which is nice, but they don't move on their own (I.e., they don't have motors inside to pan/tilt, they have to be moved manually), so consider that when placing them/during install. Using the app, you can set up motion detection, exclusion zones, notifications, people / pet / vehicle alerts and more - it's pretty straightforward to use and there are a lot of options. Given the solid build quality here and the attention to detail in waterproofing the connections, these cameras should last a good long time in use. They're a bit bigger than you would expect to accommodate the large batteries, but find the right place for them was still quick / easy. The cameras can also accommodate a micro SD card for onboard video recording if you like. So if you're in the market for a DIY home video monitoring system for the outside of your house and don't want to deal with running wiring or a complicated DVR, these Tapo cameras are a great option and should be on your list to check out. Give them a try today!

Slow customer support response from Tapo. Lost emails. If your devices are not functioning properly, good luck getting support from them. Cameras this expensive should have better support.

Also posted a review for the non solar cameras, as I am running both, or should I say, I was running them. Stay away and save your time and money. Cannot do live view unless you are on the same WiFi network. How is this even a thing? I had blink cameras for years and regret the change, thinking I was going to be getting a better product. Nope. Go look up live feed- trust me it’s hard to chase down any answers, but it appears that Tapo removed this feature in a firmware update months ago.

Didn't like. The SD cards would t format on all 3 cameras with 3 different SD cards on each camera. I tried everything possible it didn't matter what I did with each card the same the same error. No matter how I tried it.

This review is for a set of TP-Link Tapo wireless battery powered cameras with solar panel chargers. The cameras connect via WiFi and are paired/added using the TP-Link Tapo app. Note, if you have Kasa devices, you already have a valid TP-Link login. In fact, the Tapo app showed my smart outlets once I signed in. For initial setup, you'll charge each camera over USB. After doing that, pair by turning on the camera and waiting for it to enter pairing mode. Then let the app find it and walk you through adding it to the network and the app. The cameras come with installation hardware and to my relief, the solar panel can be located separately though nearby to the camera. This is nice for when you're better off placing the camera under a overhanging roof but as a result, the solar panel needs to be on the roof or overhang to actually get sun. The cameras are 2K so hands down will likely be have the highest quality video feed you've seen yet with a security camera. That plus the color night vision really stands out. The color night vision is even better with the spotlight feature. You can record video locally to a micro SD card installed in the camera or to the cloud or both. As usual, I'm always concerned about cloud features, particularly when they require the company or a third party to have working servers. For these, things are a bit mixed. You need the app and a TP link login for initial setup and configuration. But once that's done, you could theoretically use the cameras with just the SD card and manually retrieve the cards periodically to review footage. So some use without needing go outside your home network, but you pretty much lose just about every advantage of having a “smart” camera. Accessible functionality with just the account is camera configuration, two way audio (they have mic and speakers), live feeds, and the ability to set activity and privacy zones. The former the camera uses to trigger notifications and the latter to ignore. The notifications are a mixed bag. With premium, you get a still of what triggered the notification and are able to rewind and watch video on the app requires premium. Without, hopefully the feed will show you whats going on. You do get a free month to try things out. But even though it seems all the processing is happening locally, because you need to be signed in, functionality depends on the continued operation of TP-link authentication servers. Overall, the pros are the 2K video resolution, color night vision, two way audio, being able to record locally, and getting notifications on the free tier. Setup is also pretty straightforward so if you need to move things around, that's not an issue. I really like that the solar panel can fully charge what's a pretty decent capacity battery with 45 minutes of optimistic direct sunlight but that means even on cloudy winter weeks, unless there's snow that completely blankets the panels for days at a time, I don't have to worry about recharging the cameras which means these can be placed with zero concerns about how you're going to do an end run of wiring to a DVR or just power. As someone who has needed to carry out this task multiple times, this benefit is not to be underestimated.

**Installation: 4/5** The installation process of the Tapo cameras was straightforward, with both anchors and screws provided for different mounting preferences. While using screws alone sufficed for my setup, I initially struggled with aligning the solar panels and cameras. It wasn't apparent that they could be mounted separately for better flexibility. Although this allows for optimal positioning, it does leave the larger mount visible, which some may find unsightly. The app's connection process could be more intuitive; manual connection to each camera's Wi-Fi was necessary before adding them in the app, which I discovered through trial and error. **Camera Quality: 5/5** The 2K resolution of the cameras delivers exceptional clarity, both during the day and at night. The night-time infrared is impressively strong, and the spotlight feature ensures vivid color capture after dark. However, to avoid reflections from my home's siding, I had to adjust the cameras to an angle that might give my neighbors the impression of surveillance. **Solar Panels: 4.5/5** The solar panels perform admirably, maintaining a full charge on all cameras without direct southern exposure. They effectively harness sunlight during early and late hours, as well as throughout the day, ensuring continuous power without the need for additional charging. **App Integration: 4.5/5** The Tapo app is a welcome addition, with swift loading times and easy access to camera controls. Initially, I was concerned about managing another smart home app, but the seamless integration of my existing Kasa devices into the Tapo app was a pleasant surprise, reflecting TP-Link's thoughtful design. **Overall Experience: 4/5** My overall satisfaction with the Tapo camera system is high, with the quality and functionality meeting my expectations. However, the lack of swappable batteries is a significant drawback. In scenarios where solar charging isn't sufficient, the need to remove, charge, and remount the cameras is inconvenient and time-consuming. A swappable battery feature would greatly enhance the efficiency and user-friendliness of this system. **Recommendation:** Despite the minor setbacks, I highly recommend the Tapo 3-pack 2K Indoor/Outdoor Cameras for their superior quality and reliable solar panels. If you're looking for a smart surveillance solution that minimizes maintenance, this system is a strong contender—just be mindful of the charging limitations if your location lacks adequate sunlight.

I recently received the Tapo 3-pack 2K Indoor/Outdoor Cameras with 3 Solar Panels and have been extremely impressed with this kit. This product, with its high-quality build, has exceeded my expectations in every way, instilling confidence in its durability and performance. Out of the box, every piece of the kit feels well-crafted with a durable and solid feel. The kit boasts an industry-leading IP66 weatherproof rating, ensuring that both the camera and solar panels can withstand rain, dust, snow, and harsh sun, making them incredibly durable in any environment. I will add that where I am in central Texas, we do get a good hailstorm from time to time, so we will see how durable they are in the future. The Installation process was a breeze. The step-by-step within the app instructions guided me to a professional-looking installation of each camera and solar kit. I am not a very handyperson and was worried when one of the zones I wanted to set up monitoring was primarily blocked by trees. The flexibility offered by the 13-foot-long cable was a lifesaver and allowed me to place the camera where I wanted with the solar panel offset. The setup said that each camera needed to be pre-charged for about five hours. Then, the app had a firmware update for the cameras that took about another ten minutes per camera. I was able to name the cameras for an easy location reference. The app is user friendly, and I would feel confident in saying that if you can send an email on your phone, then you can navigate the app. A quick tip: I am not a fan of subscription-only products. My kit came with a free thirty-day trial with a month-to-month plan afterward. The plan's cost ranged from $3.49 to $11.99 monthly or $34.99 to $119.99 annually, depending on the number of cameras on the system. If you, too, are not a fan of subscriptions, make sure you grab three SD cards when you purchase if you plan not to use the subscription-based service. I understand that the subscription plan builds passive revenues for the company, which they tend to use to develop new and better products. So I admire Tapo for caring and taking into consideration the wants and needs of their consumer market. Aside from that, once installed, I was able to see the trickle charge from the solar panels keep the massive 10,000mAh batteries well charged even in my higher activity zone. The performance and features packed away in these little devices are simply stunning. The images are crystal clear, with 1.7x more pixels than 1080p, and the 150-degree field of view covers a wide area, ensuring nothing goes unnoticed. The full-color night vision with a spotlight and a starlight sensor is particularly impressive, providing clear-ish images even in low-light conditions. I know we have all seen the footage of someone doing something probably wrong, but you cannot make out any facial features. These cameras during the day are quite picturesque, but at night, the view is grainier and more saturated. The smart AI technology is able to distinguish between people, pets, and vehicles. This means the camera in my backyard is not constantly sending me notifications that my furry friends are up to shenanigans. Going further, you are able to customize detection zones to help reduce the number of unnecessary notifications as well. The cameras do offer two-way audio which can be used to communicate with guests or delivery couriers in real time. The real-time aspect is based on network connectivity capabilities. But the coolest feature is the sound and light alarm deterrent. I like to use this on my son when he comes home past curfew. In conclusion, I am overall quite satisfied with the Tapo TC85 2K camera and solar panel kit. It provides unparalleled security, convenience, and peace of mind. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a high-quality, dependable, and easy-to-install security camera system.

Having a reliable security system in place offers peace of mind, but the cost and complexity of installation can often be deterrents. The TP-Link Tapo TC85 offers a compelling alternative, having great user-friendliness and affordability without sacrificing essential features. Seamless Setup: The Tapo app guides you through the installation process, making setting up the TC85 cameras a breeze. Unlike wired systems, the TC85 boasts a completely wire-free design, granting maximum flexibility in placement. The included magnetic mounts allow for quick and versatile installation indoors or outdoors. Clear View, Day or Night: Despite its attractive price point, the TC85 delivers crisp 2K video quality. This ensures clear and detailed footage, even in low-light conditions thanks to the integrated night vision capabilities. The TC85 also boasts impressive AI features, effectively distinguishing between people, pets, and vehicles. This significantly reduces irrelevant notifications and ensures you're only alerted to genuine security concerns. Two-way audio allows for remote communication, adding a layer of interactivity with visitors or potential intruders. A Few Considerations: While the TC85 excels in ease of use and affordability, there are a couple of limitations to consider. The system lacks free cloud storage for video recordings. For remote storage, you'll need to invest in SD cards or subscribe to Tapo's cloud service. Additionally, the reliance on micro-USB for charging feels slightly outdated compared to the more ubiquitous USB-C standard. The inclusion of a single charging cable extends the initial charging time unless you have spares available. The Verdict: The TP-Link Tapo TC85 is a well-rounded security camera system for users prioritizing ease of use and value. The impressive video quality, streamlined setup process, and integrated features make it a strong contender in the budget security camera market

These are some pretty nice outdoor cameras. The biggest draw, obviously, being the solar panel that can feed in some extra juice when placed in decently sunny spots. You don't NEED the solar panels, these will "just work" on the pretty hefty battery (the cameras themselves are quite heavy and I assume most of that is battery). Visual quality is quite nice. Setup was pretty easy. App is actually not bad. Overall, good cameras. Installation is probably going to be the most time consuming part depending on where you want to install these. If you're putting them all outdoors, you'll need to consider both the camera placement and the solar panel placement (installing indoors is pretty straightforward). While it looks like you need to mount the solar panel and the camera in the same spot, that's actually not the case. There are even little covers included that fill in the camera mounting hole on the solar power mount so you can mount the solar panel separately. They also give you a decent amount of cable to work with. My biggest complaint is that the solar panels have a USB-C plug but the cameras have a Micro USB input. They include an adapter and everything looks pretty nicely waterproof, but it makes it feel like the solar panels were tacked on to an existing model and they couldn't be bothered to update the charging port. Not a deal breaker, just makes the installation feel needlessly complicated and clunky. Anyways, just figure out where you want your camera, decide whether that spot will get enough sunlight (they claim 30 minutes of sun a day is enough to keep your camera running but I'm sure more would be better), and then either install the solar panel and camera together in that spot or mount the camera and run a cable to your solar panel in a better spot. Setting everything up on the app was pretty easy. The camera broadcasts a wifi signal and you need to connect to it in order to set it up. It's a little clunky because the app directs you outside of the app to connect to the wifi network manually (I've seen better setup processes that find and connect to their device's wifi network automatically before), but after you do, it's a pretty straightforward setup process. A few minutes per camera should have you all set. Using the app isn't so bad which can definitely be hit or miss on a lot of smart devices. Unfortunately there's no HomeKit support, so if you want something that natively supports HomeKit on Apple devices, you'll need to look elsewhere. There appears to be a Homebridge plugin if you want to get your hands dirty but I didn't try it out. There is also RTSP support so you should be able to view these camreas from many third party apps. I'm fine just using the app. There are some neat features that seem like no brainers but I haven't found in any of the many cameras I've tested before. Like a privacy screen where you can select a part of the picture and it will black out that section of the image. Seems like something almost every camera on the market should support. The floodlight is fairly bright for getting a good image at night outside without using IR. The infrared light is pretty good too and extends a decent amount. Recording can be done a couple ways. You can subscribe to their online recording subscription service to always have access to your recordings in the cloud. Or you can pick up a few, cheap MicroSD cards and have all of your camera recordings right on your device. The fact that there's no base station for these cameras mean that the microSD card is inside the actual camera so if someone wanted to remove the recordings, it would be pretty trivial. I don't know how much this is an actual problem (especially if they're mounted high enough). Battery usage seems pretty on par with their statements and definitely depends on how sensitive you have things set as well as how often you're using the live stream. They claim 300 days of battery life (I obviously haven't been able to test that claim) without the solar panels but they also say if you change some settings the battery life gets cut in half to about 150 days. Both great numbers. It doesn't really matter, though, because if you have the solar panels connected and in view of the sun for an hour or so per day, you'll always have a topped up battery. If the cameras can't get sun for a day or two, the battery does dip a little bit but it doesn't take much sun to fill them back up. I don't like needing to remove cameras to charge them, no matter how infrequently, so the solar cells are a definite game changing feature of these. Bottom line, these are good cameras, with huge batteries and work wonderfully outside but you can use them inside too (you'll just have to charge them a few times a year depending on how often you're recording or viewing). A base station would be nice just to have recordings in a separate locations from the physical cameras without needing their subscription service. Otherwise, picture quality is good. Accessing via the app is good. The solar panels charge the cameras nicely. I wouldn't recommend the solar panel variety unless you're planning on mounting these outside, so if that's you and this is in your budget, go for it.

Setting these up was quite difficult and took multiple attempts. The hardware itself is well thought out and well made. The solar panel can be affixed to the same mount as the camera, or it can be separated and mounted independently. The kit comes with cables for either option. The solar panel mount is extremly adjustable and can be setup at a variety of different angle to maximize exposure to sunlight. The kit comes with little silicone gaskets to place around the charging ports to prevent moisture from getting into them. Speaking of ports, the camera comes with a micro-SD card slot right on the camera itself (no base stations or subscriptions required). The camera angle can be adjusted to a remarkable degree. TP-Link appears to have done everything right as far as hardware goes. As for software . . . I did not have a great experience. First, the app prompts you for the exact model of camera that you purchased (it's TC85 - noted in tiny print in a bright yellow oval on the front of the box). This required some frantic shuffling of the box and paperwork to figure out. Second, the app simply would not connect to the camera for me. I had to reset the camera twice before it would properly connect (initially, I thought that I'd selected the wrong camera model since it was giving me such grief). Third, the app is a little pushy when it comes to physically mounting the cameras and solar panels. I'd allotted fifteen minutes to set these up one afternoon, and I wasted about ten of that with connection issues. No sooner do I get the camera connected that it starts a countdown for physically mounting the camera (why?!?). I had mere seconds to go into my garage, pull out my ladder, grab my drill, insert a micro-SD card, and mount the camera to the side of my house. Suffice it to say, I didn't. I instead backed out of that step, set the camera aside, and decided to revisit this entire endeavor when I had more time. I was already a little flustered by the connection issues, and a completely unnecessary countdown just ratcheted up my anxiety level even more. I have to say that the image quality is superb. The image is nice and sharp, and the camera feels fairly responsive. If they could streamline the setup process some, I think this camera would be just about perfect.

Great cameras for areas without electricity. Never drops below 90% battery even on cloudy days

dislike: doesnt catch nothing too slow,not a happy customer