Best known for its garage door opener app, MyQ also wants to help you keep an eye on your property with the Outdoor Battery Camera ($99.99). This rugged surveillance device is reasonably priced, delivers sharp 2K video, and promises up to six months of battery life on a charge. However, a subscription is required to view recorded video and access features such as intelligent motion alerts, face recognition, and customizable motion zones. Moreover, it doesn’t work with Alexa, Apple HomeKit, or Google's smart home device platforms. It's a good choice if you already use other MyQ devices, but our Editors’ Choice winner for wireless outdoor security cameras, the $119.99 TP-Link Tapo Wire-Free MagCam, also offers 2K resolution, works with multiple home automation platforms, provides up to 300 days of battery life between charges, and is regularly on sale for less money.

Design: Blocky and Rugged

The MyQ Outdoor Battery Camera features a square white enclosure that measures 3.2 by 3.2 by 4.3 inches (HWD) and has an IP65 weatherproof rating. The front of the device is glossy black and holds the camera assembly, a spotlight, a microphone, a passive infrared (PIR) motion sensor, and an infrared LED for black-and-white night vision. If there’s adequate ambient light or the spotlight is on, the camera will provide color night vision; otherwise, it defaults to black-and-white.

(Credit: John R. Delaney)

The camera captures 2K video and has a 130-degree field of view. It features Bluetooth and Wi-Fi (2.4GHz) radios, along with a non-removable rechargeable battery that is rated to last between four and six months on a single charge, depending on usage. MyQ doesn't specify the battery's capacity. For comparison, the TP-Link Tapo Wire-Free MagCam has a 10,000mAh cell rated to last up to 300 days between charges, and it can be connected to an optional $39.99 Tapo A200 Solar Panel.

At the bottom of the MyQ camera, there's a USB-C charging port, a pairing button, and a speaker. The back of the enclosure features an indented magnetic square that secures the camera to the included adjustable mounting bracket.

(Credit: John R. Delaney)

Smart Features: Most Require a Subscription

When it detects motion, MyQ's Outdoor Battery Camera will record video and store it in the cloud. However, you’ll need to subscribe to a Video Monitoring plan to access recorded clips and unlock certain features, including motion alerts. The Essential plan ($7.99 per month or $79.99 per year) supports a single device and provides 14 days of rolling video storage, motion notifications, customizable motion zones, facial recognition, package detection, and intelligent alerts that indicate whether a person, animal, or vehicle triggered the event. The Ultra plan ($14.99 per month or $149.99 per year) provides everything in the Essential plan, covers all your MyQ cameras, and extends video storage to 30 days.

By comparison, the Tapo Wire-Free MagCam can store video locally on a microSD card (up to 512GB), or in the cloud if you can subscribe to a Tapo Care plan (starting at $3.49 per month or $34.99 per year for a single camera). The Tapo Care subscription gives you 30 days of cloud storage for event-triggered video clips, plus rich notifications and smart video tagging.

(Credit: John R. Delaney)

While it's not compatible with Alexa, Google, or HomeKit automation platforms, the Outdoor Battery Camera supports IFTTT applets and can interact with other MyQ cameras, doorbells, and garage door openers. If you need better third-party device support, the Tapo Wire-Free Mag cam works with Amazon and Google's assistants, as well as IFTTT.

(Credit: MyQ/PCMag)

The Outdoor Battery Camera works with the same MyQ mobile app (available for Android and iOS) used to control Chamberlain and LiftMaster garage door openers. The camera appears in its own panel on the app’s home screen. The panel displays the latest captured image along with Wi-Fi signal and battery strength indicators. Tap the panel to open a live stream that can be viewed in full-screen mode when you turn your phone sideways. There are buttons for taking a snapshot, turning the spotlight on and off, muting the speaker, disabling the microphone, and accessing the settings menu.

In the settings menu, you can configure and manage intelligent notifications (animal, package, person, vehicle), face detection, event recordings, subscriptions, video and audio preferences, and the spotlight. Other settings let you check your network connection and battery level, and view firmware information.

To access the recorded video, tap the history button at the bottom of the home screen. Here you’ll see thumbnails of recorded events that will play when you tap the arrow. Tap the three-dot button on the thumbnail to share, download, or delete the clip.

Setup and Performance: Easy Installation, Clear and Consistent Video

As with most battery-powered cameras, the MyQ Outdoor Battery was easy to install. I charged the battery for several hours and downloaded the mobile app. I created an account and a home, tapped Camera in the Add Devices menu, and then selected the Outdoor Battery Camera. I verified that the battery was fully charged, tapped Get Started, and pressed the pairing button until the LED turned blue. When the LED began blinking blue, I tapped Continue, and the camera was quickly recognized and listed in the app. I tapped the listing, enabled Bluetooth pairing, and entered my Wi-Fi credentials when prompted. After a few seconds, the camera connected, and I received a message that it required a firmware update. After a few minutes, the camera was updated, so I gave it a name and mounted it to a spot on the front of my house using the included mounting bracket and screws.

(Credit: John R. Delaney)

The Outdoor Battery Camera performed admirably in testing. Daytime video appeared sharp with good color saturation, but nighttime colors were not quite as rich. The black-and-white night video had good contrast and was well-lit.

Motion alerts arrived instantly and were correctly identified, and the face recognition feature worked as intended. The spotlight provided adequate illumination for my front yard, and two-way talk came through loud and clear.