Lorex Security Camera Review

Our Video Review

For this review, we chose to test one of the most advanced Lorex security systems, which comes with 4K outdoor cameras. And of course, writing about a camera’s video and audio, especially if the resolution is as high as 4K, doesn’t really do it justice. So here’s a video review showcasing the Lorex 4K’s video display day and night.

Check out another camera system from Lorex; this one shoots in 2K instead of 4K.

The Beginning of Our Process

When it comes to home security, we like having options, but when we checked out Lorex, we felt a bit overwhelmed by the number of options available — there were thousands! We thought you might feel the same, so before scouting Lorex, we recommend familiarizing yourself about security cameras in general. You should, for instance, know the difference between wireless, wire-free, and IP cameras. Our security camera guide is a good place to start. We also recommend reading up on the worst security cameras you should avoid, just so you know what NOT to look for.

We had our mind set on testing Lorex’s DVR systems because we wanted to get a feel for these always-on, always-recording cameras Lorex offers. Most of the cameras we test are configured to record only when there’s motion so this was a nice change for once.

Next, we filtered the DVR systems to look for a package that would let us test Lorex’s security camera technology (video quality, smart home integrations, security detection, etc.) and the highly-touted durability of Lorex products. Those criteria led us to the Lorex 4K Ultra HD system that comes with an eight-channel DVR and four of the same types of outdoor cameras.

The checkout process went smoothly, and it shipped out within the next day. The package arrived about a week later and it contained:

• A One TB Hard Drive
• Four 4K Cameras
• Four 60 Foot BNC Cables
• Four Mounting Kits
• Five Power Adapters
• One Ethernet Cable
• One HDMI Cable
• One Mouse
• One Security Decal
• One Quick Start Guide.

We unboxed and tested it out, and here’s what we thought of the system’s features.

Storage With The One TB Hard Drive

Most Lorex cameras come with a recorder – a computer box with a hard drive in it that stores continuous footage streamed from connected cameras. That’s good news if you want to avoid monthly fees, since local recording is free. However, without cloud backup, you should have another backup storage ready for important videos about to “expire.”

The videos technically don’t have a time limit, unlike with cloud storage. However, Lorex’s DVRs are configured to erase the oldest clips once they are full to make room for new videos. In our experience with the Lorex cameras, a one TB recorder can store about 20 days of continuous video from one camera. One hour of footage uses roughly two GB of storage space.

That said, most homes will likely need more than one camera. So if you have four cameras, for instance, they would all share the same storage space, so you’ll get about five days of rolling clips from each camera with a one TB recorder.

If you need more storage, you can actually expand the DVR storage space. Most DVRs have slots to which you can hook-up up to three more hard drives. Of course, hard drives aren’t cheap, so expanding your DVR’s storage can drive up the total equipment cost. Keep that in mind when studying Lorex’s pricing.

Aside from expanding the storage, you can also connect more cameras to the system. Ours came with four cameras, but since the DVR has eight channels, we could add four more to make it eight. Lorex also offers DVRs with 16 and 32 channels, but those are usually reserved for business security applications. For a mid-sized home, an eight-channel system is probably enough.

But is DVR storage the best type of storage for security cameras? That depends. Having your videos stored locally means there’s lower risk of hacking compared to videos that go to a cloud. There’s also no on-going cost associated with using DVRs. And of course, your cameras will record continuously, whether there’s motion or not, giving you a complete look at what goes on in your home when you’re not there. So if you want to avoid monthly fees and enjoy continuous recording, we’d definitely recommend Lorex for you.

However, local storage is not fool-proof. Since the videos are stored on a device, there’s a possibility of losing important clips if the recorder is damaged or stolen. With cloud storage, on the other hand, you’ll pay a monthly fee to store videos; and yes, there have been instances of videos stored in the cloud leaking. However, you’ll have access to your videos 24/7, and cloud storage also serves as backup in case your camera is stolen.

Our recommendation is to have both: A DVR for your main storage and cloud storage for backup. Fortunately, Lorex offers such an option. The cloud cost depends on the DVR used, but generally, it’s about $10 per month. And with both cloud backup and local storage, we recommend Lorex if you want flexible, safe, and secure video storage.

4K Video

4K video is all the hype these days, and Lorex is riding the wave. Of all the brands we’ve reviewed, Lorex seems to have the widest selection of 4K Ultra HD cameras. So if you want your cameras to capture near-cinematographic videos, we highly recommend checking out Lorex’s 4K camera lineup.

What exactly does having 4K security cameras mean for our security, though? Well, the most obvious significance of 4K cameras has to do with their video quality. Images from a typical 1080p HD camera consist of about two million pixels, while with a 4K camera, that figure quadruples to about eight million. Usually, more pixels equals greater picture quality.

From a security perspective, a better image quality results in more detailed videos. You know how in movies they can zoom in a camera’s feed and read license plates of fast-moving getaway cars? It’s kind of like that with Lorex. Since the 4K camera contains more pixels, you can digitally zoom in several times and still identify smaller details.

We’ve proven that in our tests. Unfortunately, the 4K resolution didn’t fully translate when we snapped the screenshot below, but during our live testing, we could zoom in up to about 15 times and the image was still HD quality. The camera itself can actually zoom in up to 25 times, but at that point, the picture will start looking blurry. We find that 12 to 15 times zoom is the sweet spot.

That being said, 4K is not for everybody. Higher-quality videos take up more storage space, and with Lorex’s limited storage, you’d only be able to store a couple of days’ worth of video in 4K. Cameras with 4K resolution also consume bandwidth like crazy, so use 4K cameras only if your DVR or NVR, router, and internet connection can support its bandwidth and storage requirements.

Fortunately, Lorex has a wide selection of cameras with great picture quality despite having less than a 4K resolution. There are lots of 2K and 1080p cameras available. Just don’t go with the 720p ones; in our opinion, 720p cameras fail to provide the picture quality required to capture detailed videos, especially outdoors.

Additional Features

We’ve been singing the praises of Lorex. Now it’s time for a little bad news. Lorex cameras are bulky; think street corner or storefront cameras. They don’t exactly fit in that well in a residential setup. That’s true for most of Lorex’s outdoor cameras, but there are also newer options that look nicer. For example, check out Lorex’s lineup of Wi-Fi cameras. Recently, Lorex has also released bullet-type cameras (like the one we tested) but with security lighting that changes color for extra aesthetic points. They have a nicer design, but still not as style-forward as Arlo’s battery-powered cameras like the Arlo Pro 4.

One good thing about the cameras we bought, though, was that they could withstand harsh outdoor weather elements, working in temperatures anywhere from -40 to 131 degrees Fahrenheit. Basically, they could work in the coldest of winters and hottest of summers, which was a great feature for us since we wanted eyes on our entire property throughout the seasons. We don’t ever have to worry about bringing the cameras indoors even during rain or snow, as they were completely protected from dust and water jets. When we got our system we sprayed it with our power washer to test this feature out. To our satisfaction, it held up perfectly!

Some of our other favorite features of the cameras were:

• Smart Home Integration: Our security system was compatible with both Alexa and Google Assistant. This meant we could access our security system with voice control. We were also able to activate camera features and access live or recorded video on our smart TV. For those without a smart TV, the security system was also compatible with Apple TV, which could be hooked up to any kind of television. But in order to use a smart TV or Apple TV, first we had to install the Lorex Secure App, which is free on the Apple and Google Play stores.

• Night Vision: The night vision on these cameras was amazing and we could see clearly outdoors at all times. Color night vision allowed sensors within the camera to record colored video in low-light settings, which meant we could see the branch outside our home as the sun was setting. This was made possible by the powerful image sensor built into the cameras. But it’s important to mention the system needs to be set up near ambient light for this feature to work, so we set up one of our cameras facing a street light. The range depends on how much ambient light it can pick up. If there was no ambient light, the infrared LED lights around the lens kicked in, which allowed an automatic shift to black and white light. Infrared night vision on these Lorex outdoor cameras have an over 100-foot range. Being able to clearly see in color or in black and white was a unique feature, since many systems such as SimpliSafe only have black and white night video.

• Storage: We stored videos on the recorder, which gave us about 5 days to a week of rolling video history, but we liked having cloud backup as well. The free cloud storage plan included up to 10 GB of video, which was about two days worth of rolling footage. When set to record just movements, it can last about a week. If that’s not enough storage, the premium plan provided unlimited cloud storage, but that would have been an extra $35 a year. That price is pretty normal; Arlo for example, charges anywhere between $35 and $180 a year depending on the system and the amount of cloud storage the user wants.
• Motion Detection: Lorex offered something called RapidRecap, an easy way to locate motion from the camera. Essentially, this was our event history compiled into a quick and easy time-stamped video. The fact Lorex provided RapidRecap made it incredibly easy to sift through cloud history and saved us a ton of time when we were looking for specific movement within videos, like one time when a friend from out of town arrived on our doorstep unexpectedly.

Installing Our System

As bodybuilders often say, “No pain, no gain.” In order to gain access to Lorex’s top-shelf features, you’ll have to go through the installation process, which isn’t exactly painless. It’s doable, of course, but you’ll need a little patience. Here’s why.

Most Lorex security camera systems are built around a DVR (digital video recorder) or NVR (network video recorder). Both are central devices that need to sit within Wi-Fi or Ethernet cable range of your router. Those devices process videos from the cameras and then store them in a built-in hard drive.

While we love the local storage, setting up a DVR or NVR adds a few steps to the installation process. We recommend starting by clearing out some space for the DVR or NVR, as they aren’t exactly small. They are about the size of a DVD player, and again, they need to sit close enough to the router.

Setting up the recorder is easy, though. In most cases, you just have to plug it in, connect it to your router, and then boot it up. That’s the case with the DVR we received, and it started up nice and smooth.

Next, we had to place the cameras and then connect them to the DVR. The latter was the tough part. All four cameras we received were indoor/outdoor types, but we decided to keep them all outdoors. After all, they looked too bulky for our interior design.

Each camera needs two types of wires: The first one is for power, which plugs into a wall outlet; the second one goes to the DVR for data transfer. We had to get creative, which meant drilling, snaking wires through the ceiling, and using an all-important tool of the trade to keep the wires out of our way: duct tape.

That said, not all Lorex cameras are as time-consuming to install as the one we had purchased. There are wire-free Lorex cameras that run on batteries and connect to Wi-Fi, so basically, all you’ll have to do is mount them. There are also cameras that do plug into a wall outlet but use Wi-Fi to transmit video and audio. Those cameras are called Wire-free and Wireless cameras, so check them out if they are more your style.

Eventually, we got things done but after installing the cameras and the DVR, we still had questions about how to connect our system to the app. That was when we decided to call customer support. We also had the option of live chatting with a customer service rep on the Lorex website, but we felt that would be more time consuming. We were hopeful our representative would answer our questions, but honestly, we didn’t get the kind of service we expected. The representative we spoke with was a bit short and didn’t seem interested in helping. He did eventually help us set our system up, but it wasn’t the most professional experience we’ve ever had.

The Lorex Secure App

Because our Lorex system was self-monitored, having a decent app was key, since that’s where we viewed our livestream and received notifications. The Lorex app worked on all devices, which was great because we used both Apple and Android products in our household. Once we downloaded the app, we got push notifications, saw both live and recorded video and grouped cameras together. For example, we grouped together our outdoor front cameras and outdoor back cameras which made it possible to livestream multiple cameras at one time. This made the self-monitoring portion simple when live streaming because we had eyes on multiple places simultaneously.

Let’s Talk Money

We’ve all heard the saying “you get what you pay for” and that’s the case with Lorex. Because of the wide variety of systems, there are a wide variety of prices. Our system was on sale for $387.99 but normally costs $699.99.

One of our favorite things about Lorex was there was no mandatory monthly fee. While the initial investment may feel like shelling out a large chunk of change at one time, many other security companies require long-term contracts and monthly fees even after the initial equipment costs. Some don’t even store footage unless you pay for a cloud subscription. The Ring cameras we reviewed, for example, require a $10 monthly fee to store videos from the entire camera system. But not Lorex; once we paid for the product we were done. Of course, that wouldn’t be the case if we sprung for the unlimited cloud storage, which broke down to $3.49 a month, but we opted out.