Vivint Cameras 2023 Guide

One of the biggest differentiators in a security system is its cameras. And Vivint shows a lot of competence with its three security cameras: the Vivint Indoor Camera, the Vivint Outdoor Camera Pro (Gen 2), and the Vivint Doorbell Camera Pro (Gen 2). These advanced cameras show Vivint's ability to innovate and keep it relevant in a dense home security marketplace.

Because Vivint designs and manufactures all of its equipment, it passes on research and development costs to customers. This makes Vivint equipment some of the most expensive you can buy for a security system, even before factoring in monthly monitoring fees.

Vivint is not for the faint of budget, but its security cameras demonstrate the value of investing in features that make customers happy. Check out the rest of our guide to learn about Vivint's cameras and what sets them apart—or holds them back—from Vivint's closest competitors.

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In general, there are more similarities between Vivint cameras than differences. Each camera has the same basic features because they all use the Vivint App. Here's a brief overview of the common benefits you can expect from Vivint security cameras:

Every Vivint camera streams and records 1080p HD video. This is the most common resolution among security camera manufacturers, making Vivint competitive with the likes of Ring and Alarm.com-based systems like Frontpoint. 

Learn more about Vivint vs. Ring and Vivint vs. Frontpoint to see which one has the best features for you—including the best cameras.

Vivint offers 14 days of cloud storage for video clips as part of the monitoring plan. These video clips can be up to 90 seconds long, usually long enough to capture important events related to both guests and intruders.

You can get continuous Vivint Playback video recording for up to 30 days by purchasing the Vivint Smart Drive, which costs about $250. This 1 TB hard drive is a local storage device that keeps your video recordings secure within your home. The Vivint Smart Drive's local storage is unique among security providers because most brands prefer to store security camera footage in the cloud.

Whether you use the cloud storage or Vivint Smart Drive, you can still access recordings anytime using your smartphone.

Each Vivint security camera has two-way audio—so you can talk with people near the camera—using the Vivint Smart Home App. This feature is standard on most modern security cameras, so it's nice to know Vivint's keeping up with the latest trends.

All Vivint equipment requires professional installation, including the company's security cameras. There's an installation fee of $99 on Vivint security systems regardless of whether you get a security camera, smart lock, or just basic sensors.

After installation, the company states that you can move cameras without a technician if necessary. There's one big caveat to moving your cameras: the Vivint Outdoor Camera Pro and Vivint Doorbell Camera Pro use more complex wiring than the plug-and-play Vivint Indoor Camera. We recommend scheduling an appointment to move these cameras.

All of Vivint's security cameras require Vivint's most expensive monitoring plans, which start at $44.99 a month and increase by $5 a month for each additional camera. Vivint allows up to six cameras per account. So you might want to choose another system like Ring Alarm if you want tons more cameras, more affordable storage, and cheaper professional monitoring.

While Vivint alarm systems work with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, you can't use either platform to view video from the cameras. To Vivint's credit, you can see videos on the Smart Hub, Vivint's control panel, which comes with every Vivint security system.

Most of the differences between Vivint's cameras stem from the different roles each camera performs in the security system. These differences also extend to the types of detection each camera uses.

Vivint designs and manufactures its security cameras to work as part of a broader home security ecosystem. This means that there isn't a lot of overlap between the situations where each camera works:

• Vivint Indoor Camera: This camera is specific to indoor settings where you can use it as an intercom to talk with your family.
• Vivint Outdoor Camera Pro: This camera is best for outdoor environments where strong night vision range and weatherproofing keep the camera working 24/7 to spot incoming threats. This camera also has better image quality than the other models.
• Vivint Doorbell Camera Pro: This outdoor camera is suitable for doors and porches where you want to see guests, packages, and potential intruders.

While all of Vivint's cameras record video whenever there's motion, the Vivint Outdoor Camera Pro and Vivint Doorbell Camera Pro have additional programming to spot and deter threats:

• Vivint Outdoor Camera Pro: This camera has a feature that Vivint calls lurker detection, which automatically warns people using sound and light that there's a security camera watching. You can set it to go off when someone approaches your home or if someone is hanging out on the sidewalk out front.
• Vivint Doorbell Camera Pro: Much like the lurker detection on the Outdoor Camera Pro, this unit has package protection that triggers when someone approaches your porch to make off with a package.

Overall, we think the Vivint Indoor Camera is a capable indoor camera due to its neat intercom feature and privacy mode. Together, these features make this one of the best indoor cameras among the top smart home security system manufacturers.

Learn more in our full Vivint Indoor Camera Review.

The Vivint Outdoor Camera Pro is Vivint's most expensive security camera—costing around $400—no other outdoor security camera costs more. This is an astronomical price compared to the industry average of $180 for outdoor cameras.

We really like this outdoor camera's optical zoom and 4K image sensor, which gives it excellent video quality and still images.

Learn more in our full Vivint Outdoor Camera Pro Review.

Among video doorbell cameras, the Vivint doorbell has the unenviable moniker of the most expensive product in the category. At $250, this model costs 25% more than the average $200 video doorbell and $70 more than the more advanced Google Nest Doorbell.

Despite its cost, the Vivint Doorbell Camera Pro is a great reason to choose Vivint and its smart-home-centric alarm system over other security companies.

Learn more in our full Vivint Doorbell Camera Pro Review.

Even though you need to pay for Vivint's most expensive plans to get security cameras, it has the added benefit of including all of Vivint's other services like security sensors and home automation equipment.

Vivint boasts some of the most advanced cameras among security system companies. Each of these cameras stands apart from the competition with at least one unique feature:

• Vivint Indoor Camera: one-touch calling is handy for keeping in touch with the kids
• Vivint Outdoor Camera Pro (Gen 2): optical zoom and lurker detection to protect your yard
• Vivint Doorbell Camera Pro (Gen 2): 180º field of view and square video for easy viewing

This impressive equipment commands a high price, much more than most folks want to spend. But it firmly anchors Vivint as our top security system for the smart home. To learn more about Vivint cameras, check out our list of common questions below or head to our Vivint FAQ page. You can also read our full Vivint review to see why it tops our list of the best home security systems.

Before reviewing Vivint's security cameras, we scoured as much information on the subject as possible. While most of our conclusions come from comparing technical specifications and user reviews, we also considered what other online reviews said.

After collecting our data, we examined what each Vivint camera can do and put together a breakdown of its pros and cons. We then compared each camera's pricing and monitoring requirements to similar models in other major security systems.

Because Vivint security cameras require a Vivint security system, we factored that into our review process as well but left most of our thoughts on the system as a whole in our Vivint review. For more insight into our review process, check out our complete testing methodology.

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