What You Need to Keep Your Home Secure During Holiday Travel

Whether you’re visiting family across the country or escaping to a tropical paradise this holiday season, taking proactive steps to secure your property is essential for peace of mind. The good news is that modern home security is at your fingertips with a few key purchases. Items such as a sturdy home safe to protect your valuables, security cameras to monitor activity while you’re away, and outdoor motion sensor lights to deter potential intruders can significantly reduce your risk of becoming a target during the holiday season when many homes sit empty. In this guide, we highlight the essential products to help you travel with confidence, knowing your home is protected from unwanted visitors.

Deter theft and enjoy protection from both fire and water with this highly rated and reasonably priced waterproof and fireproof safe. Sturdy steel, four live-locking bolts, a pry-resistant hinge bar, and bolt-down hardware keep valuables and important documents safe and secure. Its 1.23 cubic-foot capacity is large enough for stacks of sensitive materials like USB drives, file folders, and jewelry boxes. This safe also has a digital keypad with a backup key, an interior light, and a locking drawer.

Read our full review: SentrySafe SFW123GDC Digital Fire/Water Safe

The Arlo Essential XL outdoor camera includes a charging cable and mounting kit. The camera is made of high-quality materials, and the design is sleek and modern. It has 2K video quality that can be upgraded to 4K quality if you sign up for a monthly subscription. The app offers several useful modes and setup features that can be easily tailored, and the camera can be integrated seamlessly with Apple Home products.

What our tester says: “I found the quick-start guide for installation clear and concise, and I downloaded and set up the Arlo app with ease in just a few minutes. Mounting the camera was very easy using the wall mount and plate, and it’s easy to remove for charging.”—Paul Rankin, Product Reviews tester and writer

If you want the convenience of warding off an intruder while also recording in 2K HDR resolution, the Arlo Pro 3 floodlight camera is a solid choice. Its powerful 2000-lumen floodlight connects to a Wi-Fi network and triggers the siren or light automatically or manually from the Arlo app. It’s also compatible with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Apple HomeKit, or Samsung SmartThings. The Arlo Pro 3 outdoor camera system also has a 160-degree view, colored day vision, and infrared night vision.

What our tester says: “The floodlights are bright and are triggered when the camera detects motion. This model is compatible with Alexa, so I synced it with my Echo Show, allowing me to see the outdoor area by asking Alexa to show the courtyard camera.”—Glenda Taylor, Product Reviews tester and writer

Installing a locking box can be a useful home security upgrade, protecting against package thieves and identity theft. This USPS-approved large lockable mailbox is designed to keep mail and small packages safe while you are away, and it comes with all hardware to install on a post. The baffle door on the inside helps to prevent fishing from the mail slot, and the anti-pry lock is extremely effective.

What our tester says: “I was amazed at how well this mailbox stood up to my tests, including chopping at it with an axe, trying to pry the locks with a screwdriver and crowbar, and hitting it with a sledge hammer. It remained nearly flawless, and the locks held tight.”—Amber Guetebier, Product Reviews tester and writer

Wireless doorbells make securing and monitoring your home easier than ever, as you can see who’s standing in your doorway from afar. The Eufy wireless doorbell camera is quick to setup, has high-quality features, and can be seamlessly integrated into your smart home. The 2K high-definition (HD) camera delivers excellent video clarity, capturing a wide field of view. For homes that have doorbells with cameras mounted in a corner, Eufy includes a wedge mount for better angles, which is helpful for capturing activity around the door. You’ll enjoy live feed and two-way audio communication in the app so you can interact with visitors or delivery personnel. There is no subscription fee, making Eufy an affordable, high-performance choice for home security.

What our tester says: “I loved the fact that the Eufy doorbell can integrate with almost any smart home hub, so you can turn your smart speaker into another doorbell chime. Setup was simple and the encrypted local storage is a plus for the security-minded.”—Paul Rankin, Product Reviews tester and writer

Protect your home by safely illuminating your yard with this motion detection light by Leonlite. Made from heavy-duty molded polycarbonate, this security light is designed for durability. It resists wear; dissipates heat efficiently; and withstands sun, rain, and snow. It detects movement within a 180-degree range and up to 59 feet away. Also, the adjustable lamp heads allow you to direct the light where it is needed, enhancing safety without disturbing your neighbors

What our tester says: “Once the light was installed, I could adjust both the light heads and the motion detection unit. This makes it handy for those who might install the light on one side of a door yet want it to pick up motion on the other side. The motion detection range proved impressive, picking up movement when I came within about 50 feet. Illumination is bright, and I could see the ground clearly for almost 70 feet.”—Glenda Taylor, Product Reviews tester and writer

The Reolink Argus solar-powered security camera has an impressive range thanks to its 355-degree horizontal rotation and 140-degree vertical tilt. The camera also has a broad field of vision that stretches up to 105 degrees and an intuitive PIR motion-detection system, so you can be confident that this camera will track and record any human movement around the home. This camera continuously charges the high-capacity battery, which can operate the camera without charging for up to 4 weeks, depending on settings, usage, and temperature. It can also connect through Wi-Fi to popular smart-home systems, like Amazon Alexa, and Google Assistant, as well as through the Reolink app with a mobile device for remote access to the camera from any WiFi–accessible location. The camera has 5MP 2K+ Super HD resolution and built-in night vision capable of seeing and recording up to 33 feet away at night.

Master Lock’s folding security bar offers an affordable way to beef up security to a main entry or sliding glass door. The bar, which is made from 20-gauge steel, creates a brace between the door handle and the floor, making it far more difficult for intruders to enter your home by kicking in the door.  

Read our full review: Master Lock Door Security Bar

Scare away intruders with piercing window and door alarms by YoLink. This is a sophisticated electronic device, utilizing the latest technology including 24/7 cloud server device supervision to monitor your system for online presence, signal strength, and battery level. Install it in moments by scanning the sensor’s QR code. Then press the sensor and magnet to the door and frame and download the YoLink app to sinc it to your Wi-Fi network, and you’ll have added security to your home. Remember that a smartphone (or Alexa or Google device) is needed to receive alerts.

What our tester says: “While regular Wi-Fi and Bluetooth rarely work at a long distance, the YoLink hub communicates with the sensors via LoRa technology—transmitting up to ¼ mile away. I found that very impressive.”—Glenda Taylor, Product Reviews tester and writer

 

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