Let's be honest: paying a monthly fee to access the features you already bought a camera for feels like paying rent on a house you own. TP-Link's Tapo C465, however, operates on a refreshingly old-fashioned principle - you buy it, you use it. No subscription required for 24/7 continuous capture, as long as you're willing to pop in a microSD card up to 512 GB. (They do offer a cloud subscription if you're into that sort of thing, but it's optional, which is the point.)

The C465 comes with a built-in solar panel that tilts up and down, so you can angle it to capture the most sunlight and keep your camera running. Initially, I thought the panel didn't swivel, which would limit how much sunlight you get if you place your camera facing away from the south, but there's a switch at the bottom of the camera that lets you rotate the panel. The magnetic mount makes it easy to grab the camera and recharge it if you don't get enough sunlight to keep it powered.

You do need to carefully consider placement when you have a solar-powered camera. The C465 has a built-in 7,800 mAh rechargeable battery that you can keep charged with about an hour of direct sunlight a day, according to TP-Link. I put my Tapo C465 facing the southwest corner of my yard, and it gets a good amount of afternoon sunlight.

The C465's 4K resolution ensures that it captures the same details my most expensive security cameras do, and it's a $100 camera right now (29% off). Its image quality is better than that of any Ring camera I've tested, and it is a perfect companion to the $220 Eufy Security Floodlight Camera E340, which covers the other side of my yard.

You can use the 24/7 continuous capture with the Tapo C465, but it's a bit different with this camera, because it's not recorded in full motion. TP-Link conserves the camera's battery and local storage by periodically capturing frames, creating a near-time-lapse, and switching to full video when the camera detects activity or motion. The camera features built-in AI that detects people, vehicles, and other motion without a subscription. The Tapo C465 also features color night vision, infrared night vision up to 42 feet, dual-band Wi-Fi support, and up to 180 days of battery life.

The TP-Link Tapo C465 is the right choice for shoppers looking for a home security camera that's easy to install, affordable, and capable of capturing high-resolution images. It's meant to go in a sunny spot for optimal performance, but that doesn't mean all-day sunlight; only about an hour a day is enough for continuous power. If you don't want to worry about wired installation or pay monthly fees, you can't go wrong with the C465.