Wyze Cam v3 Pro review: Brawny on a budget
If upping your home security is a priority, but money is a factor, the simplest way to get started is to pick up an affordable outdoor security camera. Wyze is a familiar name in the security game, known for its cost-friendly and easy-to-setup smart devices. In fact, they frequently top ourbest outdoor security cameraslist.
However, the company isn’t without its controversies. More on that later, but as far as devices go, their latest indoor/outdoor wired security camera, the Wyze Cam v3 Pro, is a decent option for a low-cost outdoor camera. Featuring a 1080p cam, 2K HD, and app compatibility with Google Assistant and Alexa, the Cam v3 Pro may be a great security camera for you.
Wyze Cam v3 Pro
The Wyze Cam v3 Pro is a great budget security option, featuring 2K HD video, a starlight spotlight, and an easy-to-use app. However, to unlock all the features, you have to buy the Cam Plus subscription to take advantage of what this camera offers.
Price and availability
The Cam v3 Pro goes for $50 for one camera or $96 for a pair, which is pretty reasonable. However, availability is more an issue here. This security camera seems to be a hot commodity and is currently out of stock at Wyze and other retailers.
Design, hardware, and what’s in the box
The Cam v3 Pro is incredibly tiny. It’s a great option if you want to hide your security camera, and it’s usable right out of the box. It’s a wired camera, so to use it outdoors, you will have to find a place to plug it in. At $50, that’s not exactly a surprise, but if you want this camera to be super discrete, you will need to hide the cable.
It comes with a magnet, a power adapter, a USB-C to HDMI cable, and a wall mount should you want to screw it into place. If you want to add some extended storage, you will need to pick up a microSD card.
If you do plan on using it outside, the Cam v3 Pro doesn’t come with an outdoor power adapter; that’s a little something you have to buy separately. Also, the magnet isn’t meant for outdoor use, so if you have the Cam v3 Pro sitting on your front or back porch, you’ll have to weatherproof it a bit by using the proper adapter and mounting it with the included set.
The camera has an IP65 rating, so it will hold up in rough weather, but you don’t necessarily need to use it outside. It works just as well as a pet cam or a baby monitor indoors.
Though it doesn’t come prepped for outdoor use, that’s where I put it to the test. I placed it in a spot protected from the elements, just under the porch roof. So unless nature started raining upward, the setup worked just fine. (If you aren’t a risk-taker, you are probably better off getting the outdoor attachment.)
Since our porch beams are encased in vinyl, we didn’t want to drill any holes. Instead, we put the magnetic strip to the test, and it performed WAY better than expected. The camera and the magnet stood up against a snap of cold weather that dipped below -2° Fahrenheit and had a wind chill factor of -15° (wind gusts up to 35mph). The Cam v3 Pro held up better than the chairs on my porch, which are heavy and metal. The magnet was strong enough to hold onto one of the chairs.
The Cam v3 Pro should be able to operate in harsh weather conditions between -4 - 131°F (-20 - 55° Celcius), and it definitely passed the frigid temp test. While the magnet and adapter may not be built for outdoor use, they certainly did a good job. So, kudos for some pretty stellar design.
Software, features, and video
The Cam v3 Pro is a very hearty camera that can handle the outdoors, but what good is a camera if it has terrible video and is difficult to use? Thankfully, that’s not the case here, but there are a few issues that can be quite annoying.
The Cam v3 Pro’s feed is crisp and detailed, as expected with 2K video and 8x digital zoom. Even in the dark, the feed is clear when the spotlight is set off. The camera has 20fps during the day, and 15fps at night, which isn’t bad. And it has color night vision!
My only gripe has less to do with the camera strength and more with how much you can actually see. Unfortunately, the camera’s narrow field of view, sitting at 116 degrees, made it a little hard to decide where to place it. It never quite goteverythingI wanted to see, so areas of view were sometimes cut off, like part of the door or sidewalk. I had to decide if I wanted to see people’s faces or my packages on the porch.
However, at the right angle, you can see quite a bit, which means you can easily get away with one camera, depending on how much space you have to cover. But, if you want to capture more activity or more than the street in front of your house, you’ll definitely need multiple cameras to get a bigger picture.
Before it’s possible to access your live feed, you need the Wyze app. You can download the app via the Play Store and create an account. Adding my device was super simple, and it only took a few easy steps before I could watch the stream.
The app itself is very easy to navigate. Here you can adjust your sensitivity setting, set up automations with other devices, and even set routines to turn the camera on and off at your whim.
A stand-out for the Cam v3 Pro is the spotlight and starlight sensor. It might be my favorite thing about the camera. I have a porch light, but I hate forgetting to turn it off. So, this solves the problem when I have to run the garbage out to the curb or when the mail carrier comes to drop off all the Amazon packages I most certainly don’t need. Plus, the spotlight addition allows for color night vision, making images in the security feed easier to see, even in the dead of night.
The Cam v3 pro has great motion detection - almost too great, nearly to the point of annoying. My phone constantly blew up with alerts whenever someone walked near my house or if the Cam v3 Pro jumped at a shadow. Most of the time, the alerts were spot on whether it was a person, vehicle, package, or… a “pet.” You can change the alerts for specific situations, like whenever your front door opens, when the sensor is triggered, or if sound or motion is detected, but you can’t really turn down the frequency, especially if you live on a busy street.
For the most part, the AI could tell the difference between a person, pet, or other moving objects, but it wasn’t perfect. For example, it detected a ransom squirrel on my porch as a pet, confused some people with cars, or picked up shadows.
The good part is that there’s an option in the Wyze app to help the AI recognize the error in its way and offer feedback to the developers. You can set your camera to manually record, take photos, and even create an album; there’s also a time-lapse option. You can download clips, share them, or delete them so they don’t pile up, or you can get a microSD and just let it ride.
You can also filter your video clips via checkboxes to have your camera zero in on things such as motion, sound, people, animals, vehicles, and even packages. Here’s the caveat, though: you can only access some of these features if you subscribe to Wyze Cam Plus, Wyze’s service. More on that later.
Since the Cam v3 Pro is a newer model, this camera features the Smart Focus Beta program.
The camera’s new UI adds a smaller view of the live stream while the camera focuses on motion. So, you can essentially view two things at the same time. This camera is also compatible with Alexa and Google Assistant. And if you plan to use it like a baby monitor, you can live stream it to other devices and create schedules or automations using the Wyze app orWyze Web View.
If you want to use it as a monitor, the Cam v3 Pro features two-way audio, allowing you to talk to your baby or pet indoors. Or, if you want to use it outdoors, you can surprise random people walking down the street. You can also make them jump a mile using the Siren option. Whatever floats your boat.
Subscription service needed
The biggest issue I had with the Cam v3 Pro was the reliance on the subscription service, Cam Plus.
With the subscription, you get unlimited cloud storage. you’re able to also record full-length videos and back-to-back events, get fewer false alerts, and detect people, packages, vehicles, and pets. You didn’t read that wrong. You have to pay for your security cam to detectpeople. However, it’s not like you don’t get anything at all without paying for the plan — you get snapshot alerts; you just don’t get video.
You could go with the basic plan, which is free. You’ll get event snapshots, motion-triggered alerts, sound-trigger alerts, and Smoke + CO Sound-trigger alerts. But that’s it. Oh, yes, and a five-minute cool-down between those alerts.
For everything else, you need theCam Plus plan, which bills for $2 a month, billed annuallyper camera.So, approximately $24 yearly cost for the service, provided you only have one camera. That’s not terrible, but it adds up fast if you plan to get multiple cameras, especially since the field of view isn’t that great.
Still, overall, I’m very happy with the alerts, even with just the snapshot. I get alerts anytime anyone passes by or drops off a package (which is a lot). Then, when you get the alert, you can instantly pull up the live feed through the app.
Some things to note about Wyze
If you do want Cam Plus, you might be out of luck. While it works with the Cam v3 Pro, it doesn’t work on all Wyze models. If you have older models, you might not be able to set it up with a plan.
What’s even shadier is that you may’t opt into the Cam Plus Lite plan, where you name your price for coverage. Only “select models” can do that, and this one ain’t in the club, as the Lite program only supports cameras released during or before April 2022.
Also, Wyze neglected to mention thatstrangers could up and watch your feed. While they eventually acknowledged the issue, they weren’t exactly forthcoming with this breach in security.
Competition: What other options are available?
If you’re looking at other cameras, the closest competitor is the Kasa KC420WS, which retails for between $45 - $60, depending on the sale. This model has many similar features, including the starlight sensor, night vision, 2-way audio w/siren cloud/SD card storage, and Assistant/Alexa compatibility. Kasa’s subscription service is a little higher, though, at $30 per camera.
If you’re looking for a little more expensive, battery-powered outdoor option, theBlink Outdoor camerais decent. It’s easy to set up and works with Alexa, but you need to buy the kit for this one to work. But that kit and battery option will set you back $100.
Should you buy it?
In short, the Cam v3 Pro is a pretty nifty camera. The app is easy to use, the camera is easy to set up, and if you have everything you need, it makes a decent security camera. While you don’t need the Cam Plus subscription, adding it will help you get the most out of your purchase.
If you could get past the company’s indiscretions and are just looking for a low-cost security option or pet monitor, the Wyze Cam v3 Pro is worth grabbing — if you can find it.
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