I purchased these Wyze cameras a few months ago from WOOT. I had Arlo cameras before that. The Arlos became obsolete after several years and I was required to get a monthly subscription to continue to used them. The Wyze cameras are light years ahead of the Arlos. The video clarity is much better, it has sound in both directions, it’s recognition of people vs animals is amazing, and the sensitivity is adjustable. They record constantly to an SD card but still tag what they call “events” when it detects motion. The size of the SD card determines the length of the recording loop, as much as 48 hours. The Wyze cameras require a wired source if electric, the same 5V as a phone charger. The Arlos were battery operated. That sounds better, but it’s real annoying when at least one camera needs batteries every few weeks (I had 4 cameras), and the batteries aren’t cheap!
WYSE cams are NOT security cameras. The reliability of hardware and services in no where near the level you need for security. They do have good video, passable sound and are fun to play with. Wyse is also constantly playing games with features trying to drum up more income. The costs are already too high for the daily failures to capture and report events.
I have been with Wyze for a long time, I have their “outdoor camera” at first I was like this guy isn’t going to last a month. Fast forward to 5 years and record breaking temperatures. This little guy is doing it!!! Still work, voice is still going and it picks up sound like nothing. I have WyzeV3 camera now but I will not retire this old man till he says he is done. Definitely recommend these cameras!
Why would you say they’re not security cameras? I’ve been using them for a good while, and they very rarely give me any actual problems - they’re actually pretty solid for the cost.
If you want it to function as a security camera, though, you’re going to want to sign up for Wyze Plus, that comes in at $20/yr for a single camera, or $100/yr for unlimited cameras. It will record all of your events to the cloud, and will generally tag events with what it detects (Person, Pet, Vehicle, Package, etc), showing up in your app with the appropriate tagging. It does occasionally get the tagging wrong - my favorite miscategorization yet was this past winter, when it reported that I was out walking my “pet” snowblower, but it is incredibly solid.
That being said, since it is a cloud device, I wouldn’t really necessarily trust them to be peppered all around your house. Wyze occasionally has security issues - just recently (as in, this past week), they had an issue where some individuals were seeing cameras on their app that weren’t theirs. But it happens, I’m pretty sure ADT had a similar issue with their camera network a few months back. But putting them in places that you’re unlikely to be walking around naked in is probably okay - like your garage or something.
Personally, I have four cameras indoors: one in my garage to make sure I remembered to close the damn thing, one in my family room keeping an eye on my turtle tank, one watching over my cats food bowls for when I’m out of town so I can ask someone to stop by and feed them, and one keeping an eye on my cats’ Litter Robot litterbox to make sure it hasn’t gotten stuck or isn’t full or something.
Do NOT buy! I bought a 4 pack and 2 stopped working after a month. Not worth it at all!