Brian, great review & coverage of this Tapo camera. Love the fact that you don’t need a subscription to get the features your really need & want. Love the fact it works well with Amazon Alexa! I think this is the camera to beat that’s feature rich with NO subscription necessary! Thanks!

This hit all the points I have been trying to satisfy in my search for the right cameras with the right combination of features. It feels like users designed it.

Comprehensive review! Well done for covering everything!

So very helpful and comprehensive thank you. As with you, nights here in the UK seem very dark suddenly and I was thinking about my first external camera(s) purchase.

Another great video, might pick a 3 pack when I move house 🤔

Much better than anything coming from Wyze!! Better picture, sound and value for the money! :-) Excellent review.

I bought 2 a few months ago. I love them!

Hello Yoof! I just noticed these on Amazon and they interested me. I also knew i knew a man that would know the details and so here i am. Lol. I hope you are doing well my Yoof? Thanks for a great video as ever.

Great video. Thanks for all the detailed information regarding the features of the camera. I want the ability to have local storage with no subscription. You mentioned RTSP in the video but I’m not familiar with that and how it works with an NAS. Can you point me in the right direction of a video that explains that whole concept pretty well?thanks again

amazing review this sealed my decision on getting this camera!

good review ! clear content

I'm in the process of adding a few outdoor security cams as part of a kitchen reno. In our (Eastern Canada) winters, battery-powered solutions really don't make sense - and the abundant heavy sticky snow here isn't likely to play nice with a solar panel either - so I've opted for POE-powered wired cams exclusively (though I haven't ruled out a battery-powered option inside the garage). I have a NAS for local storage as well - though I'm not ruling out a monitored security subscription (if I can get one) for when we're in travel mode...

Brian, thank you very much for your video. Question: records conversations, music? If you have tested these parameters thoroughly, and at what distance? Thanks in advance for your answer.

What's the difference between the Tapo TC85 & Tapo C425 (from this vid) cameras? The Amazon link calls it out as both and the tp-link website has both as separate as well.

I have 2 of these cameras with solar panels. Quick review its worth it. Solid units very good. On the non magnetic mount I got an earth magnet attached it and now magnetic. The battery life all depends what bells and whistle u have set as preferences. If u get the solar panel definitely extends your battery life.

Thanks for this video. I was wondering if a resurve battery is available? Seems to me it would be easist to have one fully charged for one trip up the ladder to replcace then 2 trips to remove and ger it charged.

Great review, we have been looking high and low for a decent security camera setup and I think these may be the ones. I run Homebridge, with connects to HomeKit and there is a TP-Link TAPO plugin for it. May have to get one to test the waters.

Thank you for this. :) What do you recommend as a permanent display, say on your kitchen counter, for all your cameras? Old tablet?

Thank you sir. 👍🏼

Brian, yes these camera's look very promising - short of the Google Home integration you mentioned. Followed the links you put in but not seeing any CDN retailers for this model?

They are really good. Installing solar panel #2 in a few days

Thanks for the detailed video! Do these cameras support RTSP or ONVIF. I would really like to be able to use them in Blue Iris.

Very well done.

Thank you for a great review what seems to be finally a great product. There's been a vacuum in this field for ages and this devices seem to fill the void left because there are hardly good cameras out there that could offer all of these features (as partially hitting a few of them won't cut it for many of us): 1) High quality (not just resolution) in daylight as well as night and low light conditions, 2) No forcing into cloud-only storage or subscription-based AI features, 3) Ability to store locally, mainly NAS rather than microSD (often unreliable and easy to steal), 4) Good AI feature-set also able to detect objects, animals, humans, 5) Work quickly as far as responsiveness and saving, over wifi, 6) Good set of features for automation and easy to manage settings, 7) Good range to cover small and large properties, 8) Decent price point If nitpicking, I'd want to better the mounting options. While I understand the magnetic holder (well engineered nevertheless) as it could be used inside a house perhaps, but I'd never use one even indoors since I'd want to make it as difficult as possible to physically remove the device from where it's been mounted. In fact I'd love if there was an option to place them in a more tamperproof and theft-deterring casing which could achieve maximum concealment so that they'd be even hard to spot.

Hi 👋, what is the diameter of it, If you could, please let me know, but not sure whether I can get it in Europe yet, Thank you, from the moulin,

Is there a way to monitor on my computer instead of an app on the phone only? I use my computer more than my phone and I hate dealing with apps. I know I'm weird but I would really like to monitor from my office computer.

Hi there. Good job. You think is it better than ezviz bc1c? I think that are similar but i dont know if the night record is better.. thank u

A couple of questions please. Will it record brightly at night without the spotlight having to be used? And can you purchase spare bases so you can just move the one camera around various locations?

Can you access history of videos remotely from the app, from local SD card storage? Does the app work well with Android phones?

How do you like this in comparison to the small 2K QHD Indoor/Outdoor camera? Plus, can uou view these cdneras when you're away from the house? Thanks

Brian, what's the best type of SD card for this use, and which outdoor mounts with a threaded camera connector work with this camera? I just got one, and I have a 128 GB card, but I don't know which one to replace it with. Does it matter?

Great video, I have a few questions…does the sd card fill or overwrite when full? How far does it reach for detection? Thank you

How is the person detection? Does it give a lot of false alarm compare to Google outdoor battery cam. thanks

i would be interested in this but you didn't clarify if there is actual loop recording, meaning when the sd card fills up will it automatically record from the beginning over the old footage as some cameras do?...this would save people from having to buy sd cards every few months or pull the existing one to format it again. which some people can forget to do.

I would be curious to find out if you’ve experienced any issues with the night vision when it gets cold outside. I’ve had a couple of other brands that literally fail to detect motion at night when the temperature gets below 40F ~ 4C.

I,m having a heck of a time finding the 3 pack of camera's in canada is there any other link the works thx Morris

Good info. If the feature is available, you didn’t mention how the quality of video looks if/when you zoom in during live viewing.

Thank you for the review. Just wondering are these available in Canada yet?

Love the video very informative and easy to receive as the viewer/ listener . I currently have eufy solar 4K cams all around the exterior of the home partnered with google home hub max and it is indeed lots of buffering / waiting / frustration and failed live feeds on the hub or when trying to view in app eufy footage of recent notification . This got me wanting to replace my cams but that would call for lots of replacing of google home displays and hub as well if i want to work with Alexa as seamlessly as possible , that’s going to be well a lot more to invest all over again but i feel it is needed

Is it true that the Tapo TC85 doesn't support the RTSP/ONVIF profile(S) protocols, therefore making it unable to stream the camera from NAS/NVR/PC via RTSP/ONVIF. In other words no wall or tiles of live cameras to monitor?

I purchased a three-pack of cameras, but one has a battery problem. It doesn't hold a charge for long and needs to be recharged every 40 days or so. I'm unsure whether I should return the entire package to Best Buy and risk getting another faulty camera or keep what I have and accept the loss. What do you suggest?

At what range do these cams pick up motion? I have cams that can't see further than 10 Ft. In terms of triggering cam

I really wish does cameras comes here also,. and in single or dual pack. would be perfect for my balcony where i got a Tapo C320WS. Ofc if it would work with HA or ST in the future.

Since you got the 3 pack of cameras do you also need 3 solar panels? Do you need a memory card for each camera or will all three feeds record to one card?

Looks like a great camera, Confused on how it compares to the C420. The C425 (or TC85) doen not need the hub ( not sure if that is a positive or negative - the SD card would be in the hub and record all cameras - less sd cards necessary and its away from the camera so no one can just steal all the cameras (and its recording). No idea what the hub does to the range compared to a good wifi router. The magnetic mount looks much better on the C425.

I don't know if im in the right place but i figured id ask. Im getting a crested gecko soon and they're active at night, so im looking for something simple to record activity and review later, perhaps save and see how he's doing. I currently don't have WiFi so what are my options?

Hey what's that cool camera on your UA Cap?? Also, you showed -4 deg F operating temperature. As you know in out neck of the woods, temperature often goes below that especially at night. Did you have any tests at that temp?

Brian, this camera looks really interesting, but for me it has to also work in Homekit. While it doesn't have native Homekit support there is a Homebridge plugin called "Homebridge Tapo Camera" which I think could bring in the camera feed as well as some notifications for automation purposes. The plugin appears to be being maintained as there was an update last April. I'm hoping one of your viewers will read this and comment on it. I don't know if you have a Homebridge, or Hoobs set up there or not. Anyway, thanks for the review!!!

I have a FireTV that I want to use as a monitor for live cameras. Can I have all 3 cameras displaying live images on the TV at the same time?

Can you must plug a usb power cable into to charge it all the time instead of solar? I assume no 24 hr record? This one looks nice. Great review. Have had the tapo color pro for short time and notifications are very fast and A.I is really good.

The one thing I can't wrap my head around is the magnetic base. What's to stop someone from walking up to your cam and 'Yoink, my cam now' ?

Thanks for the video Brian. Do the cameras have the ability to be turned on or off (or armed / disarmed) in Alexa or Smartthings or IFTTT automations? Thanks!

The 300 day battery is interesting....but what about environmental effects....ie..the cold. Tends to have a lot of affect on how the batteries last.

Can I view livestream of this camera with echo show 10 continously? Thanks

On a more serious note, Brian, I own a small business: a workshop where we work with PVC. It’s a very dusty place. Do you think this would be a good option for this kinda rougher environment?

Nice video. This seems to be a good contender, although I love my Wyze cams

Its a huge flaw IMO for the camera yo have local video storage ON the camera. It would be as simple as the perp taking the SD card out, or breaking the camera off and taking it, along with the footage...

Hi Brian I just came across your channel and I have to say that you do a great job at explaining things, but I just have a few questions about the cameras, my first question is do all four cameras stream on the TV at once without a third-party app. And my second question is if one of them is picking up activity, let’s say in the back yard and records that activity and there’s activity in the front yard at the same time will it record that activity as well. because I had blink cameras, but when there was activity on my indoor camera that activity that was going on at my outdoor camera wouldn’t get recorded so that would be left out.

Is the battery removable? Can the Tapo A100 batteries be used with this camera?

Great video ! Will they trigger alexa routines?

Did they fix 24/7 view...wifi was the problem? On t/p link

Hi Brian, I have a disturbing dilemma which I hope you can provide your guidance and opinion to determine if this security camera solution would help me address a problem we are having around my home. My husband and I live in a small 300 home NJ lake community. We have a modest 1800 sqft corner home that sits on less than a 1/4 acre lot so the front and right sides of our property face the road. We are a quiet couple with no children. We keep to ourselves but get along well with most neighbors although at times, you can compare our community to high school where you have clicks and bullies of all sorts especially those who have generations of family that have lived here so entitlements out weigh individual peaceful enjoyment and many dictate how things should be done. In the last 3 years, someone in our neighborhood has taken a significant dislike to us and has been going out of there way to intentionally defile our property on an ongoing basis. They leave bags of dog poop on our property sometimes 2-3 times a week and we have been unsuccessful in catching them. We have found bags half way up our drive way with a rock on it to secure it when it’s been windy. They have thrown it over our 4 ft fence into our backyard lawn. They have left it in the middle of our front lawn and on the walkway into our home. Unfortunately, we have been unable to afford a security camera system but this may finally be the solution we need to catch the culprit. I have a few important questions before making such a significant investment and would greatly appreciate your opinions and guidance to determine if we should move forward with the purchase. Take note that my husband is not handy in the least so the ease of the installation here is definitely a plus. First question may be a bit difficult but would you have any guideline on how far away from the home can you position a camera and still connect to the WiFi? Not sure if I can get a clear line of sight to where people walk with the fence in between on the side of the backyard so I may need to resort to attaching it to a tree or possibly my neighbors tree across from me. This is why I am concerned about distance for connecting to WiFi. Since I also live in the suburbs, there is no sidewalks or street lights so there is no lighting in the backyard. Since the side of my backyard fence is approximately 20-30 ft from the home with no lighting, will the security camera be useless at night to actually see a person walking with their dog 30 feet away and will the motion sensor even detect from this distance? Also with a 512GB Micro SD card, do you have any guidance on how many video recording hours will it hold at 2k. I was having trouble finding an answer online with certain unknown variables. My husband tries to walk the property often so we typically find the poop bags within a day or two which you can tell now especially because the bag is on top of the fallen leaves vs covered by leaves. So we think we would only need a few days of storage. Will 512GB be enough? Can we actually use a smaller card size considering they are expensive and the plan would be to buy the 3 or 4 device package. So would need 3-4 SD cards. Also, what happens if someone takes the camera since it is magnetic, they could possibly pull it off the base or throw a rock to break it. If the device is stolen or broken and because the SD card stores the videos would I not be able to see who did the deed? Thank you in advance for any information and guidance you can provide.

Good review. What isn't clear to me is the camera able to send the clip via wi-fi to a hard drive so that the home owner doesn't have to pull out the SD card.

Can you remotely review locally stored clips from a location / city other than where the cameras are installed?

Can this camera work without a WiFi connection? In particular does it have to be a client on a WiFi network or is it possible to configure it as its own hotspot so that anyone with a WiFi phone - provided they know the camera's WiFi password - can connect to a camera to see and download footage stored on the local SD card? I have a music player that can work in this way - either have it as a client on my home network or set it to hotspot mode and connect directly to it from my phone to control it using an app; the latter of course is useful when out and about hence not connected to my home WiFi. I ask because my scenario is living in a block of flats with a bike shed at the end of a 70 metre garden that has been broken into twice now. The people managing the block are considering a ridiculously expensive full security system and I'd love to be able to suggest a cheaper option but it is way out of range of WiFi, and even if it was in range I don't think any of my fellow flat owners are technical enough to be able to manage it on their network, so something that could run completely disconnected once set up (and I would be willing to do that using my own network before carrying it out to the garden) would be ideal.

Me again :). I'm sold on these, however, you mentioned integration with Amazon. Currently i have no smart home hub. I'm in the process and based on your videos I'm looking at an Aqara hub, or one of the new ones I understand is forthcoming. Should I assume therefore, these Tapo lights aren't compatible with Aqara? I'm trying to get away from the myriad of apps I currently have: SmartThings, Kasa and Lutron. I'd like everything in one dashboard. Cheers

Unfortunately -4f low operation temp is a no go for me. It can stay below that for days if not weeks here.

Does this have the ability to download clips using a web interface or just via the mobile device? I currently have drop/Nestcams until april 8. I’m really going to miss the 24/7/365 recording with 60 days saved to the cloud. Is there anyone doing anything like that anymore?

Something simple without a subscription. I don't need this model with solar package, but I'm sure they offer others. Kudo's 2 U for the video..

Can license plates be read while passing by or parked in zone?

Wired cams are the best way to go.

Can i use this camera to indoor use to show my laptop

Isn’t it odd it doesn’t have WiFi 6? What is max recording time? The fact that it can be set to record to a NAS is impressive!

Did not see storage options. Great review though. Thank you.

I would like to get an update of battery life after the cold season passes

You will be surprised that using the same Tapo eco system the old Tapo 1080p C200 (£$30 each) cameras are super cheap, but if set to DAY mode permanently you can simply point them out of your windows to your yard or car park area and they have great colour night vision so long as you have some basic street lighting. This is the remote control camera so you can steer it from the app. Don’t get the newer 2K version though as it’s DAY mode night vision is not suitable. The camera has to be set to DAY mode otherwise you will get infrared reflections off your windows.

What is the maximum clip length? That is a problem with these wireless cameras.

Do feature rich notifications require a subscription?

Do you think the lack of integration with Google home is moreover a Tappo issue or a Google issue?

Do you have to pay for the Cloud storage? also Anyone can steal this camera if is not screwed dow :S

If you didn't need to purchase a subscription for the "Rich notifications with snapshots" I would have went with this camera. I'm now leaning toward Eufy cameras for that reason alone. Every-time you get a notification having to launch the app and connect to the camera isn't ideal.

Brian, my internet is fiber optic. Will this cam work with my wifi?

Awesome review! As much as you don’t have to pay for a subscription, does it still record to cloud? I don’t care for onboard camera recording because if it’s stolen, there goes your proof of an invasion to the authorities.

I didnt hear anything about the camera having a siren?

Will Tapo cameras work with smartthings bud?

not available for sale in most countries yet

Motion Tracking would be nice....

No subsciption?!! That's what I've been waiting for...

Time tp link gives option sd card 512mb most charge too much monthly Nice review good to know about tp link camera ok bye

Isn't 2k res going backwards?

So, the camera works great. It's a "security" camera, right? So, with a mag mount & power button on it what's to keep the thief from just turning it off or popping it off the magnet? That's "security" ?

It's hard to get cameras that actually give the quality of image that should be expected. 4K cameras, even in expensive ones, do not ever give 4K resolution. I mean, compare your 4K security camera to 4K TV. They should be equally clear as they are all meant to be 4K, but in most cases CCTV / IP Cameras are very disappointing. But people still get caught up in megapixels, and megapixels are not the name of the game. On the WiFi thing, 2.4GHz is ideal for cameras. Even hard wired cameras are so often 100mbps ethernet, not 1gbps, and you will easily get 100mbps out of 2.4GHz WiFi, even on single stream wifi N. 2.4GHz is ideal for for these cameras and has plenty of bandwidth for multiple 2K cameras. For a wireless camera offering, these look pretty decent and that solar panel, if you have a place for it, is definitely a great option. SD Cards, however, are not good for camera storage. Even high quality ones will fail quickly with constant write/rewrite cycles. Writing is what wears them out quickly. If you are serious about using cameras for security you would not bother with an SD Card and run it into a NAS or some other CCTV Software.

Well, at least you can see who has stolen your camera. With that magnetic attachment it is quite easy to just take it off and be stolen. Or am I missing something?

I was very interested in this camera until you said it did now play well with Apple HomeKit. What was not clear to me is if it could play in my Apple/iOS world at all. My takeaway so far is, no, it can’t.

Yes, I'm complaining about Micro-USB! 😆 COME ON, TAPO, it's 2024!

This really looks like the ideal setup for us. Wire-free, great video quality, and easy to use/setup. Just have to find them in Canada now.

How is their customer service I have realink now and it is horrible!!! 2 cameras batteries are dead And been getting the run around from them for 2 weeks Repeating for me to check things that I've already checked (Several times)and sent over 50 pictures Snapshots of...😖

Compared to Eufy Solocam?

I have a sensor problem on this camera. It does not send any notification, only when touched. Customer service are awful not helpful at all. The camera is only with me for 6months.

This 3 pack setup has no hub... The C402S1 sr S2 setup has a hub with an SD card to save off the video... If one of these 3-pack cameras gets stolen, is the video on that camera gone forever too (no subscription option).