{"id":1235069,"date":"2022-10-26T12:30:25","date_gmt":"2022-10-26T12:30:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/10\/26\/defender-guard-pro-review-a-great-budget-security-camera\/"},"modified":"2022-10-26T12:30:25","modified_gmt":"2022-10-26T12:30:25","slug":"defender-guard-pro-review-a-great-budget-security-camera","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/10\/26\/defender-guard-pro-review-a-great-budget-security-camera\/","title":{"rendered":"Defender Guard Pro Review: A Great Budget Security Camera"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><span class=\"lead-in-text-callout\">Most cheap outdoor<\/span> security cameras I\u2019ve tested have one glaring issue, or the manufacturer prioritized superfluous features over the basics. Who cares about Alexa support if the video feed is choppy? Is it really a bargain if I have to sign up for a monthly subscription just to view my clips?<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not perfect, but the Defender Guard Pro is a refreshingly straightforward outdoor security camera that delivers clear video and supports basic features most folks want\u2014all at an affordable price. Video clips are stored locally, there are no hidden extra fees\u2014it even comes with a MicroSD card\u2014and it worked reliably for me (after a little tweaking).<\/p>\n<p>Shaky Setup<\/p>\n<p>Let me get the bad stuff out of the way. The worst part of my experience with the Defender Guard Pro was the setup. There are two reasons for this, and you\u2019ll want to consider them before you buy this camera.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>First, the Defender Guard Pro only supports the 2.4-GHz Wi-Fi band, which is common for security cameras, but it can present problems during setup if your phone is not connected to the 2.4-GHz band on your Wi-Fi network. Some routers let you switch bands via the app, or you can create a guest network that usually operates on the 2.4-GHz band. I downloaded the Defender Guard app, signed up for an account (I was pleased to see two-factor authentication), and scanned the QR code on the camera, but it took several attempts to add because of this issue.<\/p>\n<div class=\"GroupCalloutWrapper-dgKFoC ghvBZf callout callout--group callout--group-2\" data-testid=\"GroupCalloutWrapper\">\n<figure class=\"AssetEmbedWrapper-iKrtVW eYPQkA asset-embed callout--group-item callout--group-item-1\">\n<p><span class=\"BaseWrap-sc-UrHlS BaseText-fFrHpW CaptionCredit-cRZQOh boMZdO hHieus LGmsj caption__credit\">Screenshot: Defender Guard via Simon Hill<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<figure class=\"AssetEmbedWrapper-iKrtVW eYPQkA asset-embed callout--group-item callout--group-item-2\">\n<div class=\"AssetEmbedAssetContainer-fpksBS deXOlp asset-embed__asset-container\"><span class=\"SpanWrapper-kGOugJ dtBwjW responsive-asset AssetEmbedResponsiveAsset-feWtx fnHGrH asset-embed__responsive-asset\"><picture class=\"ResponsiveImagePicture-jJyKit mrcDn AssetEmbedResponsiveAsset-feWtx fnHGrH asset-embed__responsive-asset responsive-image\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"screenshot\" class=\"ResponsiveImageContainer-dmlCKO hWKgYV responsive-image__image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/gp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/gear_Defender_Guard_Pro_app_screenshot_3-TAKEN-BY-Simon-Hill.jpg\"\/><\/noscript><\/picture><\/span><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"BaseWrap-sc-UrHlS BaseText-fFrHpW CaptionCredit-cRZQOh boMZdO hHieus LGmsj caption__credit\">Screenshot: Defender Guard via Simon Hill<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Second, the Defender Guard Pro is a tethered camera that needs a power outlet. You get a lengthy power cable (10 feet) with an optional extension (25 feet), but the cable is not waterproof. The camera is designed to be wall-mounted on the exterior of your house (screws are supplied), and you must drill a hole to feed the cable through\u2014only a short section of the power cable at the end is waterproof. This camera supports power-over-Ethernet, so you can also use an Ethernet cable, though this isn\u2019t provided. The camera itself is IP67-rated for water and dust resistance and has braved rainy Scotland without any problems.<\/p>\n<p>A 32-gigabyte MicroSD card comes in the box with the Defender Guard Pro, but you can also buy it with a 128-GB or 256-GB card (or insert your own). If you plan to turn continuous recording on, it\u2019s probably worth snagging a higher-capacity card, but for recording events, 32 GB is plenty.<\/p>\n<p>Clear View<\/p>\n<p>With a max 2,560 x 1,440-pixel resolution, the Defender Guard Pro offers pleasingly clear and smooth video at 30 frames per second. You can pinch to zoom in (up to 16X digital zoom) and still see a reasonable level of detail. You can also switch to a lower resolution if your Wi-Fi\u2019s range is limited, but video quality inevitably suffers. The main weakness is the lack of HDR, so bright areas can appear blown out (avoid installing the camera in a spot that gets direct sun).<\/p>\n<figure class=\"AssetEmbedWrapper-iKrtVW eYPQkA asset-embed\">\n<div class=\"AssetEmbedAssetContainer-fpksBS deXOlp asset-embed__asset-container\"><span class=\"SpanWrapper-kGOugJ dtBwjW responsive-asset AssetEmbedResponsiveAsset-feWtx fnHGrH asset-embed__responsive-asset\"><picture class=\"ResponsiveImagePicture-jJyKit mrcDn AssetEmbedResponsiveAsset-feWtx fnHGrH asset-embed__responsive-asset responsive-image\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Defender Guard screenshot\" class=\"ResponsiveImageContainer-dmlCKO hWKgYV responsive-image__image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/gp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/gear_Defender_Guard_Pro_Detection_Grid-TAKEN-BY-Simon-Hill.jpg\"\/><\/noscript><\/picture><\/span><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"BaseWrap-sc-UrHlS BaseText-fFrHpW CaptionCredit-cRZQOh boMZdO hHieus LGmsj caption__credit\">Screenshot: Defender Guard via Simon Hill<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Most cheap outdoor security cameras I\u2019ve tested have one glaring issue, or the manufacturer prioritized superfluous features over the basics. Who cares about Alexa support if the video feed is choppy? Is it really a bargain if I have to sign up for a monthly subscription just to view my clips? It\u2019s not perfect, but [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1235071,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1235069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrity-gossip"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1235069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1235069"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1235069\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1235069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1235069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1235069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}