Review on 📷 WYZE Cam Outdoor Add-on Camera: 1080p HD Indoor/Outdoor Wire-Free Smart Home Camera with Night Vision, 2-Way Audio - Alexa & Google Assistant Compatible (Base Station Required) by Ron Chang

Let me start by saying I'm a Wyze fan and user. I have their Wyze Cam Pan cameras indoors and am very happy with their motion detection, image quality etc. So this review is from someone who is hoping outdoor cameras will be just as good. There are several issues with outdoor cameras. Cameras I will list and hopefully help you understand where they fall short.1. Field of View (Night) If the camera is not aligned 180 degrees from the wall it is mounted on, it is useless at night. Let me explain: like most security cameras, they have a wide-angle lens. The problem is that if you try to capture activity along the wall of your house, for example, the wall in the camera's field of view will be illuminated and the darker areas will become pitch black. Result? You see nothing but your wall. See photo #12. Field of view (day) and motion detection. I'm not sure where the logic in the software puts the most weight on motion detection so it can be detected, recorded and then told to you, but unless you're literally in the center of the frame waving your arms crazy, it won't recognize you. I drove my car in front of the cameras, walked in front of her, opened the doors in front of her, and if I wasn't in the right place, nothing happened. What's really weird is that when I click on the camera in the app, I see myself standing in front of the camera. However, the recording does not start and the notification is not sent. See image #2, which shows a man walking away from the camera after waving it madly for about 60 seconds - he didn't notice the waving and after the "action" started recording (which was a bonus since he did it often). t rotates). at all).3. Camera mount The mounts themselves are fine, although the screws are too short if you're mounting to vinyl siding. The real problem is that because cameras are installed above the reach of the intruder, you have to point the camera down to get the view you want. This can be done with a mount, but it distorts the image instead of keeping it horizontal. If you look again at picture 2 it looks horizontal because the bracket has been fixed to the wall as in fig. Can be blown away or knocked over by a robber, especially when the magnetic base starts to lose some of its effectiveness. For example, the mobility of the mount is not very good, the connections must be able to be hand-tightened, and the mounting base must have a screw as standard that can be screwed into the camera base, which is already pre-threaded. In short, the image quality of the cameras is very good, but the usefulness of the camera is not enough as a security camera. Whether you want a camera to admire your garden, or be mounted in a tree and watch a bird's nest, or watch your dog dig while you're at work, that's fine. But as a security product, they don't work. All of this and I still don't know what can happen when it rains, snows or the cameras are exposed to the heat and humidity of New England. How good are the batteries? Finally, Wyze's customer service is polite, but it's hard for them to understand what the consumer is seeing. The consumer most often wants to buy a product, in this case assemble it and start using it. It should be easy. When you contact Wyze Customer Support with an issue, they will start WORKing to achieve the desired result (e.g.): Have you updated the firmware to the latest version? did you charge the battery Did you check A, B and C? etc. In a plug and forget society, they must ensure that the consumer is satisfied from the moment they open the package. They are being returned because another issue is that they are not charging 100%. . The best I can get is a 98% charge. Note. Just to clarify as I suspect Wyze might be seeing this review and questioning my ability to WORK to get the results I want from the cameras. Yes, I have the latest firmware. Yes, I turned off the battery. Yes - I have checked the WiFi/signal range. Yes - I fully charged the battery. Yes - I have removed the protective film from the lens. Yes - I contacted customer service and left the cameras on day and night for a few days and nothing improved 04/04/21 Quick update on the rest of the outdoor cameras I couldn't return as I bought them directly from Wyze and Wyze as mentioned don't want to let returns so i'm staying with them. I hope the fact that any would-be thief sees the cameras will make them look the other way. I say that because that is their sole purpose. They don't actively monitor anything, they don't send notifications and the batteries drain about 1% every day, although the cameras are off while I'm at home, which due to COVID happens every day except for an hour or two while running errands. .So at this minimum usage rate, the battery life is about 3 months. That's less than what Wyze claims since I don't shoot 10-20 videos a day (not even close). Beyond the hope of containment, these cameras are useless.