I went with the wired Lorex system. "They" say the best camera system are the systems put together by the end user. I don't have the spare time to run everything down. Went with a Lorex system from Costco. I considered the 4k system. Wasn't sure if I would use the extra capability. I went with last years tech, 2K system. I upgraded the hard drive on my own. Many security systems use the Western Digital Purple Drive. Purple is designed for excessive read/write. Purple drives are not the fastest. My NVR can handle upto 12TB. I bought two 6TB drives on Amazon. I installed two of the same system. One at my house. 2nd at Mother in law house. I previously had an old analog Lorex system. My NVR's are capable of 16channels.
There are definitely better systems on the market. Cost goes up almost exponentially. Set a budget. Go shopping. Then add a few hundred dollars to your budget. I did not want the monthly cloud payments like Ring or Blink. I still might add a Ring on the free tier to layer my security. A fully wired system allows you to easily go back in time to any point (hard drive space permitting). Wife ordered something. Company claimed USPS delivered. I went back one week to USPS mail drop off. No package. Offered to upload the video to Youtube. Company somehow found the package. I can easily check on the dog, house, whatever.
Night vision is the magic. Any camera can take decent daytime video. Night vision is where it counts. I try to have my cameras night vision complement each other when possible. This helps both cameras see better. I flood the side yards with infrared. Bugs love the heat from infrared. Expect weird bug activity at weird times. Bugs, Birds, pets, wind, sun can all setoff motion alerts. I leave motion alerts off. The best quality video is that which is transferred to a memory stick, uploaded to Youtube then shared. I typically leave security footage as Unlisted. I can send the link. It can not be searched for on Youtube.
Looking at Ring, Blink and competition the night vision is limited. If you are looking at a small porch area should work great. Larger areas will be challenging. If you go wired, Go Ethernet. Avoid the RCA style cords. Easier to upgrade later with Ethernet. My cameras record in 2k. I view in 1080p.
The Lorex Costco system I purchased was normally $1k. I bought it on sale. Then bought upgraded hard drives. Having Lorex upgrade the hard drive is expensive. It's also very easy to accomplish. There are better systems. If you "know a guy" who can purchase/install a better system at a cheaper price then do that. There is some work to install a wired camera system. I prefer not to directly staple Cat5 ethernet cable. I used a staple gun on the house siding. Then snuggly ziptied the ethernet cable to the staples about every 4". It's time consuming. This also means the copper pairs are not pinched. Some security system cooling fans are loud. My current Lorex is fine in the entertainment cabinet.
Be sure your systems mobile app works with your preferred cellphone. Some systems do not play nice with Apple (IOS 11). I have Android.
Posting a link to an Alleged Car Thief. His trial is scheduled soon. I'm not sure who's vehicle he is alleged to have stolen. Camera starts off Black and White. Then switched to Color Night vision. Color Night Vision occurs when enough light is present. Most of the time expect B&W. During the B&W you can see the mole hills in mother in law side yard. Immediate vehicles in the video belong to the neighbor. Neighbor also has security cameras. As a courtesy, I showed my neighbors on my cellphone what I was able to see of their house. My neighbors were happy I was recording. Your results will vary.
Lorex night vision video
