Top positive review
241 people found this helpful
Very good camera for a great price, better privacy than any of the others
By candez on Reviewed in the United States on June 29, 2023
This has been a great camera. The first Wyze Cam I got was for a in-house baby monitor, and it was extremely important to me that I have the ability to have the camera fully off-line. Most cameras require internet connection and the images are fed through their servers. This was NOT what I wanted for my in-house baby monitor. I found Wyze, and purchased it with the peace of mind that my video would remain MY video. I loved how easy it was to set up, and how perfectly it has worked for several years now. So when I wanted to purchase an outdoor camera, it was a no-brainer to get another Wyze Cam. I've had it for about a year, and recently purchased my second. Installation I use these with the light socket adapter, which screws into your light bulb socket, and adds a USB outlet for your camera. (It does NOT take the place of the light bulb - you can still use a bulb as well.) The USB plug fits snug to maintain weather resistance, and there is a sleeve to protect any connections. Connecting I have installed two of these, and they both took around 2 - 5 minutes to install. Download the app, power the camera and follow the voice prompts. You'll need to scan a bar code from your phone, and press a button on the back of the camera (which can be a bit hard to reach if you've already mounted the camera). You do need to have a 2.4 GHz WiFi connection where you install the camera. Camera The night vision is great. I have two 60-watt bulbs for my entire large yard, but with the night vision I can clearly see all corners of the yard in full color. In the dead of night I can see to my mailbox, which is probably 100' from the nearest camera and light bulb. Beyond the mailbox gets pretty dark, but if a car drives by I can still see the car well enough to identify the color, make and model. I would not be able to read a license plate from that distance, though, at night or in the day. The picture quality in my yard is good. It's not movie-quality by any means, but it is good enough that I can get a clear look at people, pets, objects, vehicles and animals. Motion Detection The motion detection is good. Within my yard, it easily detects people and my dog moving around. It also detects when my motion-sensing lights at the far end of the yard turn on. And during major winds, it will also detect the movement of a large bush. You can set notifications in the app. The motion sensing notifications can get a bit much if you have people or pets moving about your yard regularly. For my outdoor cameras, I opted for Wyze's subscription to store motion events for a period of time (you can download them from the cloud if you want to keep them longer). With one of the subscription levels you can adjust the motion sensing so it does not trigger for known people and pets. It has worked well, though there was one event where I had hoped it would have recorded some vehicles driving by but they were too far away to trigger the recording. Recorded events are very easy to access within the app. The subscriptions have some security features including the option to call for dispatch. I have not tried these features so I can't speak to those. Durability I can't speak to cold or snow, but my first outdoor camera has lasted through a year of incredible heat (120º), extreme UV exposure, severe sandstorms, massive amounts of super-fine dust, and the occasional thunderstorm without any problem. It is somewhat protected as it is installed under an eave, but it is otherwise exposed. I need to occasionally wipe off spider webs and dust, but it has lasted beautifully. I've had 0 problems with it in a year. After a power outage, it reconnects without a hitch. Conclusion Overall, I highly recommend this camera for its usability, privacy, quality and durability.
Top critical review
243 people found this helpful
Abysmal mic and sound. See video.
By LJ on Reviewed in the United States on September 15, 2022
EDIT: I uploaded a video of the camera's sound quality in action, so if you view the video turn on your sound BUT KEEP THE VOLUME DOWN (initially). No need for bleeding ears. During the Wyze portions of the video I was sitting roughly 20 feet away and six feet below the camera; There should be no feedback at that distance. During the iPhone portion (where I filmed the same space as the one the V3 is normally set up to film) I was roughly six feet away and six feet below the camera. The point was to capture the same sounds in the same room. All the videos were taken very early in the morning, with no traffic or human noise outside, and with what I'd call regular ambient interior noise (the humming of appliances, the running of a computer in the vicinity, etc). No other people were present to make noise inside. The first portion of the video is the sound that the V3 produces when I am viewing the live feed. It was screen-captured with my iPhone. The second portion is a comparison demonstrating the sound my iPhone picks up in the same general space, at the same general time, in the exact same conditions, and with the exact same ambient noise in the background as in the first portion; This is not to show how much better the iPhone's mic is than the Wyze (obviously it's better) but to give you an idea as to what noise and sounds were actually present in the room while I was viewing the V3's live feed of the same room, and capturing it with my phone camera. The third portion is the same space with the same ambient noise, plus conversation from the television that is eight feet from the V3. I chose a scene that sounds a lot like regular conversation, set it to conversation volume, and it has some light score that comes in at the end. The final portion is what my iPhone picked up in the same space during the same time and conditions, and while playing the exact same scene/conversation on the TV at the same volume as while capturing it on the V3. If you listen VERY carefully you MIGHT be able to pick up a word or two in the V3's video that you can compare to the iPhone's. Maybe. It took me three tries. Hint: listen for the word "Garrett". Hope the video helps you make a more informed purchasing decision! Original Review: Picture is ok. Night vision/low light is very good. Motion detection is spot-on. The camera looks good, design-wise. Why the one star? Because that's where the good ends. The problem is the mic/sound quality is appalling bad. That's such an old, tried-and-true tech I have no idea how they managed to bungle it so much, but managed they did. Maybe they are using the very cheapest, most absolute garbage quality components on the face of the earth, which sucks, because better components don't cost that much, especially wholesale. They're just squeezing every penny out of profit and selling garbage wrapped up and promoted as quality. Frustrating. So, what sound does it pick up? From what I've read online there are various audio manifestations/issues ranging from nearly no sound at all, all the way to my problem, which is the sound picked up becomes a garbled, distorted, feed-backed jumble of sometimes jarring noises that maybe sort-of could be interpreted as words (in the case of people taking) but nearly nothing's decipherable by any stretch of the imagination. Pet noises, like barks, meows, growls, etc. are literally non-existent. If it picks it up at all it's just converted to "noise". All other sound is just as bad. Sometimes there's these random-seeming staticky "bangs" every once in a while. Who knows what that is. I hate it. You hear that developers? I. Hate. This. Camera. And I wish I didn't because otherwise I like so much about it. But, alas, I need sound so I am able to use the function where you talk to someone through the camera and hear them when they respond. I also need to be able to hear what's going on with my pets. I need to be able to hear when the camera's motion-detection is tripped and the cause of the trip has moved out of the line of the camera but is still out there rustling and bumping around, or otherwise making noise out on my porch and the surrounding area. If I had children I wouldn't be able to hear them, or speak to them through the camera. or hear when one is crying. So, be forewarned, if any of the above is one of your needs/goals you probably won't be able to do that with this camera. Buy elsewhere. It's incredibly stupid they didn't fix this problem before releasing the V3. A lot of people online report the V2 being awful as well, so the developers knew. That means you shouldn't put off buying one for when the next gen comes out (whenever that is). They probably won't fix it. The worst part, I think, is it doesn't support the use of an external mic, which would be such an easy solve. There's no input port and the simple hardware and software to support that, and that really is stupid AF. If it did allow the connecting of an external mic all I'd have to do is plug one in and I would have the sound I need. At least then I wouldn't be writing this scathing review. It would be a win-win for everyone! But no. Finally, apparently contacting customer support is a total waste of time, and the people you talk to (bless their hearts, it isn't really their fault) have no tech experience or understanding whatsoever of how these things work. I don't know about you, but I find that exhausting. If one were to spend the time necessary to troubleshoot all the garbage products we wind up with one would never have time to do anything else, and even with that effort 95% of the time it results in no improvement, and no resolution. I'm tired of it. Just make a solid product, and when something goes wrong, replace it or refund the money, don't make anyone jump through hoops. Finally, fix the issue, fast. And don't repeat it in the next iteration. Long and the short of it is I need a camera with a functioning mic and/or that has an input for an external mic. The end. That shouldn't be too much to ask, even at the price-point these cameras are at. I regret buying these, as now they're going to be tossed after I buy another brand (according to message boards even cheapo Chinese no-name brands have a better mic than these things!). What a waste of time, money, and resources.
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