UniFi Protect 7.3: Remote Cameras over Teleport and Longer Video Storage
On October 5, 2026, Ubiquiti announced UniFi Protect 7.3, a software update focused on three practical goals: keeping recent footage in high quality for longer, reducing storage consumption, and making it easier to bring cameras at remote locations into a central recording system. The release also updates the Video Wall, Sensor Manager and person-identification tools, and adds a native Shopify app for retail environments. Read the official announcement.
Smarter storage: recent footage stays sharp
The headline change is how Protect manages recording history. Recent recordings stay in high quality, while older footage is automatically moved to a lower quality tier instead of being deleted first. The goal is a longer useful archive on the same hardware: instead of a single quality level for everything, the system allocates storage between a smaller high-quality window and a longer low-quality window.
UniFi Protect 7.3 storage allocation between high- and low-quality continuous recording. Frame from the official Ubiquiti announcement. Source: Ubiquiti blog.
How many extra days you get depends entirely on camera count, resolution, recording mode and how the quality split is configured. The "1057 days" figures shown in Ubiquiti's own example are illustrative, not a commitment for any particular installation.
Super Encoding: more hours per terabyte
Protect 7.3 also introduces Super Encoding, which Ubiquiti says increases storage efficiency by up to 50%. The key words here are "up to": this is a manufacturer claim, and the biggest gains are expected on newer, more efficient camera models. Independent early testing by installers suggests results vary by camera family, and some users prefer to leave Super Encoding off on certain models where they see quality regressions. Installer discussion of Protect 7.3
Our practical advice: enable Super Encoding on supported cameras, check the footage quality of the specific models you actually deploy, and re-calculate your retention estimates before buying more storage. Do not assume a guaranteed 50% saving across an existing, mixed fleet.
Teleport: remote cameras record at the central site
The second major feature is Teleport. Supported cameras at remote locations can now record directly to a central UniFi Cloud Gateway or NVR, without a UniFi console installed at the camera's location. In other words, a camera at a gatehouse, storage yard or second floor of a rented building can join your existing Protect system over the internet.
Teleport brings remote cameras into an existing Protect deployment. Frame from the official Ubiquiti announcement. Source: Ubiquiti blog.
Ubiquiti describes setup as plug-and-play, with no additional on-site console and lower infrastructure costs for distributed deployments. What the announcement does not change: remote recording over Teleport depends on the internet connection at the camera's location. Continuous recording of multiple high-resolution cameras can consume significant bandwidth, so connection quality at the remote site should be assessed before relying on it. Ubiquiti's own documentation recommends adaptive or event-only recording for connections with limited bandwidth. UniFi Protect Teleport adoption guide
Time Machine on the Video Wall
The Video Wall gains Time Machine controls. Operators can review past activity directly from the dashboard, navigate recorded events and move between live and historical monitoring without switching tools. For a security team, this turns the Video Wall from a purely live view into an investigation starting point.
Time Machine available directly from the Video Wall. Frame from the official Ubiquiti announcement. Source: Ubiquiti blog.
The release also includes a redesigned Sensor Manager that makes sensor activity easier to review, and improved identification management with drag-and-drop assignment of identified people.
Native Shopify integration
A new official UniFi app for Shopify connects security and store operations in retail environments. Ubiquiti positions this as a way to build a more unified retail workflow; specific capabilities for a given store setup should be confirmed with Ubiquiti's documentation before planning a deployment.
What this means for building and business owners
A single remote site. A gate, parking lot or small warehouse that previously needed its own recorder can now be a camera-plus-internet deployment recording into your main system. This can remove an entire piece of on-site hardware — where Teleport supports the camera model and the connection is adequate.
Several locations. For businesses with multiple small sites, Teleport can consolidate recordings into one Protect system, so staff review footage in one place instead of logging into several consoles. This is a potential simplification, not a guaranteed one: every remote site still needs reliable internet, and camera compatibility should be verified against Ubiquiti's supported list.
A deeper archive. The new quality-tiering approach and Super Encoding can extend how far back your recordings reach on existing drives. Actual results depend on your cameras, recording modes and settings; the responsible approach is to measure retention with your own hardware before promising a specific archive depth to anyone.
UniFi Protect 7.3 is a meaningful update for multi-site and storage-constrained installations. As always, the listed capabilities should be verified against your specific camera models, network conditions and compliance requirements during design, not after purchase.
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Source: Ubiquiti — Introducing Protect 7.3, October 5, 2026. Images: official Ubiquiti announcement materials.