Wyze Cam, the company’s first offering, is a tiny security camera that you can attach to almost any surface in your home or leave standing on a table or counter. When motion, sounds, or alarms are detected in your house, it starts recording video and notifies you via a smartphone app.
HD resolution, person identification, IP65 weather protection, color night vision, programmable motion zones, two-way communication, scheduling, device triggers, and more capabilities ordinarily reserved for pricey alternatives or locked behind a subscription are all included in Wyze Cam v3. Additionally, the Wyze app offers complete customization, allowing you to design countless “rules” that will make your gadgets shine.
Wyze cameras come in compact, cuboid casings with affordable costs and powerful functionality. Even Wyze’s most costly camera, the Wyze Cam Outdoor, costs less than $80, and the company also sells a straightforward interior camera for roughly $20.
However, I digress. When the camera is plugged in and the yellow light starts flashing, you just enter your home Wi-Fi password in the app, scan the QR code1 on the app with the camera, click the setup button on the back of the camera, and follow the on-screen instructions to finish the setup. After a firmware upgrade and a few minutes, you ought to be good to go.
So it wasn’t instant; there were some prompts to follow after downloading the app, and there were a couple of false starts (user error, most likely). But this is still modern technology, and there will always be some learning, waiting, or tinkering.
The Complete Wyze Cams Experience
I focused on two things while testing three Wyze Cams – Wyze Cam v3, Wyze Cam v2, and Wyze Cam Pan – the completely hassle-free setup process and the impressive features in these cams that other minimalistic cameras lack, such as person detection and color night vision. A more detailed camera-by-camera breakdown follows:
Wyze Cam v3 includes HD resolution, person detection, IP65 weather protection, color night vision, custom motion zones, two-way talk, schedules, device triggers, and other features that are typically reserved for more expensive alternatives or are locked behind a subscription. And everything in the Wyze app is completely customizable; you can create all kinds of “rules” to make your devices shine.
To be honest, Wyze Cams aren’t going to blow you away with amazing video footage to brag about to your neighbors. (Even if you could, please refrain.) Wyze isn’t known for sharp-as-a-tack video recordings that show every detail of your property, even though it records usable and decent quality video. Rather, the camera is made up of just enough “parts” to function as a “whole.” Let’s go over some of the components, or features, that make up the Wyze Cam v3:
When I wasn’t lovingly spying on my dogs, I went outside and used the Wyze Cam to do two things: test the camera’s night vision and track potential burglars. I’d been hearing reports of car and home break-ins in my neighborhood, and a small, inconspicuous camera on my front porch helped me sleep better. As far as we could tell, our house had not been a target.
Our Wyze night vision footage was colorful but not entirely clear. If you’re looking for a camera with clear, detailed night vision, I recommend Reolink. While these are more expensive than Wyze, they do record some excellent nighttime video, as detailed in my hands-on Reolink review.