Best Window Security Cameras

You may like the advantages of keeping a home security camera inside and having it look through the window, like protection from the elements and criminals and easier access to power, Wi-Fi, Ethernet, and Bluetooth. Plus, you can keep the camera (relatively) out of sight.

Tech specs

• 1080p video quality
• Field of view: 180°
• Indoor or outdoor
• Wired
• Motion detection
• Direct-window mount designed by Logitech (purchase separately)
• Integration with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant/Google Home, and Apple HomeKit
• Up to 31 days cloud storage with Circle Safe Premium subscription

The Logitech Circle View (sometimes referred to as “Logi Circle”) has a modular design that makes it possible for you to place it throughout your home in a variety of ways, but what we love most is its perfect window mount.

The mount puts the flat surface of the camera directly onto the surface of the glass, and its 180° field of view captures more than most other cameras out there. Plus, it automatically turns off the LED ring light in Window Mode, too. These features eliminate a lot of motion-tracking problems and visibility problems caused by glare.

As much as we love the ability to see everything, we really don’t want to see everything. The good news is the HomeKit Secure Video app sums it all up for you and shows only the most interesting events. This way, you won’t sift through useless clips trying to see if you can spot anything,

You can watch in one minute what happened on your front porch while you were at work. You’ll be able to see your package get delivered, kids stealing your lawn gnomes, or maybe even Sasquatch taking a stroll.

Instead of using Logitech's premium Circle Safe subscription plan, this camera uses Apple HomeKit Secure Video. You can use storage features to determine how long you want the video, what types of activity to include, and the range of hours you want. But if you don’t pay, you’ll still get 24 hours of footage turned into a 30-second video.

Logitech’s Logi Circle View is designed to work on your window with optimized night vision, but even then the company recommends using external infrared lights. If you’re interested in that setup, check out these LIFX lights on Amazon to help illuminate the area.

At the time of this writing, the wall mount for the Circle View costs almost $30 on Amazon—yikes. While this is clearly the best option for setting your camera up behind a window, some cheap outdoor security cameras on Amazon cost just as much as the mount alone. With the camera itself costing closer to $200, it seems like a high price for an accessory.

Like other companies, Logitech requires a subscription to its top-tier plan to get the most out of it.

Logi Circle View’s Apple HomeKit Video Secure subscription includes the following:

• Person detection (because falling leaves aren’t scary—but strangers are)
• Motion detection with motion zones (to prevent needless alerts)
• Customizable hyperlapse videos (you determine length and activity type)
• Advanced alert and event filters (that save you time and worry)

At $9.99 per month per camera (or $99.99 per year), it’s not exactly cheap, but it is a pretty average price for security camera cloud storage. If you want a behind-the-window security camera, this is the best way.

Tech specs

• 1080p video quality
• Field of view: 130°
• Indoor or outdoor, but designed for outdoor
• Wired via a power cord
• Third-party mounts, not directly against window
• Timelapses
• Integration with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant/Google Home (not Apple HomeKit)
• Up to 30 days cloud storage with Nest Aware subscription
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Although it’s not automatic like Logitech’s window mode, you can turn off the LED rings on Nest so they don’t create reflections and glare, which would ruin your image. Other cameras like Arlo Pro 4 can do this, too.

A company called Wasserstein makes a gooseneck-style mount for Nest (view it on Amazon) that you can wrap around a curtain rod for close placement to the window pane, making your picture clearer while reducing reflections and glare.

We’ve also seen some universal suction cup mounts, but we haven’t verified if they work for Nest Cam Outdoor.

To optimize Nest Cam (and others) to work behind a window:

• Turn off LED Rings (and other camera or indoor ambient lights)
• Place camera as close to glass as possible
• Purchase IR illuminators on Amazon to place outside

If you’re using your security camera behind a window, Nest Cam doesn’t work as well as Logitech Circle View.

When you use it behind the window, the extra features that really make it worth the money in other instances are lost—like two-way audio and specific algorithms suited to outdoor-only light that make the motion tracking better. Not only that, but it costs about one-and-a-half-times as much as the Logitech.

You should also keep in mind that Nest Aware, the subscription plan you need for full features with the cameras, runs from $5–$30 a month.

• Use a dedicated outdoor camera if possible.
• The Logitech Circle View is the best camera we came across that's truly designed to work well behind a window.
• Many cameras don’t have a way to turn night vision or IR lights off, creating an unusable picture filled with window glare.
• Nest Cam Outdoor (along with others, like the regular Nest Cam, the Arlo Q, and the Wyze Cam) can be used behind windows, but they’re not ideal.
• You may want to invest in IR illuminators like LIFX lights for a clearer picture at night.

The truth is, you can point just about any camera outside of your window, but you may run into issues.

We learned you have to mount cameras close to a window in a way that avoids glare and reduces motion-tracking problems through the glass.

We also had to make sure the LEDs or other ambient lights didn’t set off unnecessary alerts or ruin the picture quality (unfortunately, the Canary Flex cam and others we reviewed didn’t have this option). We also needed night vision—the farther away we could see, the better.

Nest Cam Outdoor does about the same thing as Logitech Circle View. And Nest may be the better camera overall, but not only is it less effective in this specific use case, but it’s also one-and-a-half-times as expensive. It’s also a bit overkill feature-wise for the simple task of looking out the window—and you’d need something like LIFX lights with infrared illuminators (which you can find on Amazon) to help get a decent image.

After it was all said and done, the Logitech Circle View is the best option out there for a window camera. It’s actually designed with that use in mind, so you’ll be able to get it up and going with much less effort. You may be better off picking one of our Best Outdoor Security Cameras or Best Wireless Security Cameras.

Many professionally monitored home security systems offer security cameras as part of their top-tier plans. Check out our best home security systems review to explore even more security camera solutions available.