This Highly Rated Security Camera Is My Top Budget Pick, and Now It’s Just $55 for Prime Day

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Prime Day 2025 is here from Tuesday, July 8 to Friday, July 11, and Lifehacker is sharing the best sales based on product reviews, comparisons, and price-tracking tools. 

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New to Prime Day? We have a primer on everything you need to know. Sales are accurate at the time of publication, but prices and inventory are always subject to change.

There are good reasons to pick a fixed focal point security camera (instead of one that can move around). If an area is particularly important (like your trash cans, or the driveway), you want the camera to focus on it all the time. In these cases, it's often a pain to position the camera just right—you usually have to adjust it a number of times. Then, every time you have to charge or change a battery, you have to do it all over again.

The TP-Link Tapo MagCam solves all these problems. It has a wide focal point—150 degrees. You'll get a wide view of what you're focusing on, and the 2k resolution provides enough detail to clearly see faces and read the small print on the side of a passing garbage truck. Since it is wireless, it is easy to position almost anywhere. It's also one of the most affordable security cameras, especially at its current 39% Prime Day discount, making it my top budget pick.

Positioning the MagCam is made easy by the mechanism that attaches the camera to the base. A strong magnet allows you to make small adjustments easily, and when you need to charge the battery, grabbing it off the wall is also simple. Better, the battery needs to be charged less than once a year—it'll last up to 300 days.

The detail that seals the deal for me is that you don't have to buy a subscription. There are cloud and local storage options, and these days, I flat out reject any security camera that forces a monthly fee down my throat. I just popped a microSD card into the camera, and it stores images locally. The TP-Link app is straightforward. Pulling up clips is fast, and they're easy to scroll through. Setting up customized notifications and detection was fast. The camera already works with Google and Alexa.

TP-Link cameras are generally well rated, but the MagCam hit multiple lists for Best of 2024. They're also well-priced, usually, but at 39% off, this camera drops to $54.99, which is simply a steal.

Looking for something else? Retailers like Walmart, Best Buy, and Home Depot have Prime Day competition sales that are especially useful if you don’t have Amazon Prime.

Walmart’s Prime Day competition sale begins at midnight on July 8 and will include deals up to 50% off. It’s an especially good option if you have Walmart+. 

Best Buy’s Prime Day competition sale, “Black Friday in July,” runs through Sunday, July 13 and has some of the best tech sales online. It’s an especially good option if you’re a My Best Buy “Plus” or “Total” member.

Home Depot extended its 4th of July sale through at least July 9, competing with some amazing deals of its own. It’s an especially good option if you’re looking for power tools, appliances, or outdoor equipment.