Amcrest Security Camera 2023 Review

Amcrest seems to have everything going for it, but after close inspection, we found that this home security camera company has way too many options and not enough features.

On the good side, Amcrest offers just about any type of home security camera you can think of, including wireless, wired, indoor, and outdoor cameras. And they offer plenty of video storage options.

Amcrest’s negatives include confusing and expensive cloud subscription plans, numerous apps, and lackluster features.

Amcrest offers a wide range of cameras:

Most Amcrest cameras are affordable when compared to other top security camera brands. They also have comparable video quality. Where they fall short is a narrow field of view. The industry standard is around 120° to 140°, and many Amcrest cameras are well below that range. Some also don’t have two-way talk capabilities, another industry standard.

Amcrest security cameras offer local storage using SD cards, micro SD cards, your computer, DVR, NAS, or NVR. There’s also a cloud storage option with three membership options. 

You get a 24/7 live view of video, camera health checks, multi-view video timelines, intelligent alerts, and motion activity zones with all three plans. An app on your mobile device or computer controls all of these features.

With the free plan, that’s all you get. The upgraded plans offer a few more features (like downloading video footage and playing back stored footage).

You may notice the prices for these plans say "starts at." That's because Amcrest charges more depending on how long you'd like to store your videos. There's no charge if you just want to watch your videos through live view with the app without saving them.

Let's take a closer look at pricing.

Frankly, Amcrest's cloud storage pricing gave us a headache. It's one of the most convoluted pricing schemes we've ever seen. Plus, it's one of the most expensive. 

Typically, cloud storage for a single camera will cost around $10 or less per camera, with a set time limit on how long footage is stored. Or, the brand will offer an upgraded package that covers several cameras (usually five to ten) with upgraded features. The upgraded package will also have a set amount of days the footage is stored. No fuss, no muss. We have no idea why Amcrest is this complicated.

Amcrest has you covered:

• 1-year product warranty
• No contracts
• 30-day money-back guarantee on subscriptions and equipment

Amcrest also provides a delightful customer support department. We were impressed with how fast its on-site chat service connected us, and the agent that helped with our questions was quick and friendly. Amcrest also offers an online support page and a call center to help with questions.

Amcrest has five different apps, including the Amcrest View Pro App and Amcrest Cloud. Each one works with a different Amcrest camera or storage option. So, for example, there's an app you can use if you subscribe to Amcrest Cloud service, one for cameras that use DVR, and one for wireless cameras.

Like with the cloud subscription packages, this is confusing. If you have different cameras, you'll likely use different apps to access footage and features.

If you have dreams of total smart home integration dominance with all of your devices, Amcrest probably isn’t for you. Its cameras only work with Amazon Alexa. And it works with Alexa only if you use the cloud service. 

Are there a bunch of nifty voice commands you can use with the Alexa compatible cameras? Well, no. The only thing you can do is watch camera footage on Alexa devices like Echo Show, Fire TV, Fire TV Stick, and the newer Fire tablet by saying something like, "Alexa, show doorbell camera on Echo Show."

While Amcrest makes affordable, quality cameras, we’re not sold. The cloud storage plans and the app system are just too confusing when other security camera companies have simpler ways of doing things. 

While the cameras are affordable, they could have better features. The field of view is typically narrow, and many cameras don’t feature two-way talk. 

All in all, we don’t recommend Amcrest over wireless camera brands like Reolink, Wyze, Arlo, Nest, and Ring.

For our Amcrest security camera review, we mixed dozens of years of tech experience with dozens of hours of research. We read hundreds of customer reviews, scoured expert reviews, and even did hands-on testing.

During our research, we compared Amcrest cameras to each other and industry leaders. In addition, we looked at price, value, video quality, features, apps, and plans.

For more on how we review products and services, take a look at our SafeWise methodology page.

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