Cheap Trail Cameras vs Big Brands – Budget Hunting Guide

As an outdoor enthusiast blogger HowToHunt, who has been tracking elk, deer, and rare wildlife for many years, the hunting trail camera is his "eye in the forest". For decades, he has wasted thousands of dollars on "high-end" brands such as Bushnell (>$200 each) and Stealth Camera, only to end up frustrated: they become unusable 2-3 years later, missing key shots (such as a 2-foot snow trail without deer), or continuously recording until the battery runs out. In spring, he threw away the high-value, poor quality "top of the line" cameras.

Then he realized that all trail camera technology came from China—triggers, sensors, and hardware from different brands were almost identical. Why spend $800 on a camera with lower performance than $60?

This year, he bought 6 low-priced budget trail cameras ($60-120) on Amazon, ignoring big brands. One of them surprised him: 54-million-pixel clarity, clear audio, and a trigger distance of 75 yards (even too sensitive, but still better than missing an action). Its night vision capability surpasses that of one of his cameras, and it comes with a 64GB SD card and 8 batteries—an additional feature that the 'premium' model has never had before. He bought another 10 units; there are currently 20 cheap hunting cameras in the forest, which perform better than expensive cameras. Some users also said that they purchased GardePro A60 4K Trail Camera, which is now mainly used in important shooting locations (10, still increasing). 64GB or 128GB SD card, set for video playback for 25 seconds, reset for 30 seconds. False alarms will only occur when the wind speed is above 70 km/h. The rest are high-definition videos, and the sound quality is also quite good.

Why Do Cheap Trail Cameras Win?

Firstly, the same trail camera technology is marketed at a premium rather than quality. Secondly, big brands rely on hype rather than reliability. Thirdly, affordability allows you to "triple" on key trails (he uses three times at elk crossings); if one fails, others will capture the action. With expensive cameras, this strategy is impossible.

His suggestion: ignore the brand—focus on over 20-million pixels, infrared range above 50 feet, and trigger speed <0.5 seconds. Firstly, test 2-3 models, replace the cheap battery with a rechargeable battery, and search for additional batteries such as SD cards. He is still excited about perfect wildlife shots, but now budget trail cameras make them reliable—not gambling. Save money, skip hype, and let the budget model trail cameras do the job.

Moreover, many experienced hunters have also provided feedback that the internal structure of some expensive branded cameras is the same as that of cheaper cameras, with only slight differences in shell and design.

So perhaps the GardePro brand is also a good choice for hunters. The price is low and the features are also excellent. Skip big brands and search for budget gems like GardePro.
GardePro – Game & Trail Cameras