I was skeptical about the necessity for home security cameras — a late-night scare has now changed my mind

Smart home security cameras are nothing new. They’ve been protecting Australian homes for well over a decade now, but for a long time I never felt the need for them. This was predominantly because for the majority of my adult life living away from home, I’ve been in rented accommodation, and so I’ve either been unable to install anything of my own, or I’ve been on an upper floor of an apartment building.

I’m now living in a ground floor apartment with my partner, and we’re the owners. That means we’re free to install cameras as we see fit, and so we decided to place an old Ring Outdoor Stick-Up Cam above our front door, mainly as a ‘just in case’ safeguard.

I’m now glad we did, and I’ve just invested in some newer Blink Outdoor 2K+ cameras with clearer vision following an attempted break in. The good news is they weren’t expensive, with a 2-pack currently costing AU$77 in the Amazon Prime Day sales.

I never thought my home would experience an attempted break in, and there’s a chance you’ve had the same thought. For such a low price right now, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

• Follow our live coverage of the best Prime Day 2026 deals, many of which ship to New Zealand as well

So, why have I made the impulsive decision to invest more heavily in home security? Well, my partner noticed the street-facing gate to our courtyard left ajar in the early hours of the morning. He suspected I just hadn’t closed it properly when we came home the night before.

Wanting to exonerate myself, we checked back over the footage taken by our Ring camera, which proved my innocence. We noticed more events were recorded around 1am, and sure enough, the Ring captured two youths climbing over the wall in the wee hours of the morning.

To say we were gobsmacked would be an understatement.

Fortunately nothing was stolen and they didn’t manage to get into our home — despite some clear hand prints on the glass door proving they peered in to see if there was anything worth nabbing.

Unfortunately, the Ring camera missed the activity by our door because it was only covering the front yard and fence area. I therefore now want to install more cameras in our outdoor area to ensure there are no blind spots, and the Blink cameras seem perfect for the job.

Our Blink Outdoor Cam 2K+ review found that recorded footage is clear and sharp, even at night. Perhaps the biggest selling point for me is the two-year battery life with two AA batteries. The Ring camera I have right now relies on a rechargeable battery that needs to be recharged frequently.

The biggest drawback, however, is a new Sync Module Core that requires a paid subscription to store and view back footage. It’s crazy that you need to pay to use the camera you just bought, but hey, it’s 2026. A subscription costs from AU$4.95p/m for one device, or AU$15p/m for unlimited devices. Since I’ve bought two Blink cameras, I’ll need the latter.

Fortunately, the older Sync Module 2 is still available and is compatible with the newer Blink cameras. With this module, you can attach a USB flash drive to store footage on, bypassing the need for a subscription. Based on the AU$15 Blink Plus subscription, I’d make my money back in just under four months.

However, the subscription does also open up extra features, including AI motion detection — you’ll receive notifications only when it detects specific things such as animals or vehicles.

At just AU$77 in the current Prime Day sales, I was more than happy to add the Blink Outdoor Cam 2K+ to my basket. There are many other options to choose from of course, many of which are also on sale right now. I’ve listed a few below, and be sure to check out our guide to the best home security cameras and best video doorbells for total home protection.

• Ring Floodlight Camera Pro (2nd Gen): was AU$449 now AU$329
• Ring Spotlight Camera Pro (2nd Gen): was AU$399 now AU$279
• Blink Outdoor Floodlight Camera Kit: was AU$119 now AU$49