Wyze Cam Pan V1 (Open Box)

Update as of 3/2/21 DO NOT BUY I have had these cameras roughly six months. They REPEATEDLY stop recording at random, which means there are significant gaps in the footage that might be necessary if something goes wrong. Which, in this case it did. My son’s sled was stolen off our front porch, and we have no recourse because the camera that was supposed to be monitoring that area decided to stop recording again. I contacted the company, apparently the highest you can get is “a supervisor,“ who has no authority to do anything. The only way to speak to a “manager,“ is via email. They refused to contact you by phone or any other means. They offered me another camera, only after I send back the “defective” one. It isn’t the camera that’s defective, it’s the service. I have paid for the annual subscription on three of four cameras and a monthly subscription on the fourth camera. The failure to monitor happens on all four cameras which are on two separate networks in two separate locations completely at random. So it’s not the network, it’s not the camera, it’s THEIR service. I don’t know where else or how else to complain or bring this to anybody’s higher notice about the bogus claims of reliability. I have had to contact their (lack of) “support,” more times in 6 months than I did with 3 years of Arlo. I have had to delete and reinstall the cameras as spend more time on maintenance and power cycling and rebooting and correcting settings (because their “updates” randomly reset them), they should be paying ME as an installer and tech agent. NO device of ANY kind, especially when paying for an additional service, should require this much time and maintenance. Yes, they are “inexpensive,” but what I have learned the very hard way is that they are “cheap.” If you want the peace of mind of reliability, look elsewhere. I can’t make another recommendation except Arlo because those are the only ones I’ve had that were entirely reliable. The only thing I didn’t like about them was the fisheye, that they didn’t pan. But I never had to worry if they were doing their job and I never had to constantly check if they were working. I am absolutely incensed that the “manager,” tells me they “understand my frustration.” Do they? How is that possible? It wasn’t their kid’s gift from grandma that will probably be the last one from her in this life. It isn’t their constant worry that the camera is not going to be working if said grandmother falls on the stairs and I don’t get an alert. It isn’t their worry when there are constant erroneous “person detected” in their kid’s room but it’s only the cat. I can only speak to my own experience. If I had it to do over, I’d have invested my money in a proven product instead of trying to save a few beans. You can learn from my mistake or you can make them yourself. Maybe you’ll have better luck. But don’t count on it. Update as of 12/10/20 I posted this initially on their own site, but they “moderated,” it, which is a euphemism for “deleted,” it, so I’m going to post here where they can’t. These are facts as far as my experience, not a raving opinion. I bought four of these cameras, having two Arlo cameras to begin with. I bought them earlier this summer and up until about two weeks ago everything worked fine, and they all detected a person. I paid for the subscription on one camera; the one in my elderly mothers house, in order to have longer than 12 second recordings. All the sudden, the other 3 cameras stop detecting humans, after they updated their software. After going back-and-forth, back-and-forth, back-and-forth with their “tech“ support they finally just now told me that I don’t pay for a subscription so they’re not gonna detect humans anymore. What the H3L! is the purpose of having a security camera that can’t detect a person? Complete bait and switch. I’ve had the cameras long enough that now I can’t return them so the best I can do is warn other people: yes everything is fine and dandy, they’re easy to use, easy to install but they won’t work worth a d4mn for any applicable security purpose. Footnote: since the time that I posted this on their site and they “moderated,“ it, now NONE of my cameras detect ANYTHING; including the one that I pay for. They detect nothing. Not sound, not motion, not anything. Tell me that there is not some person in their “Tech Support,“ who is messing with the cameras because of my post or because they can’t seem to make them work. Update as of 072020: Got the 4th camera I ordered; amazon apparently has a limit of 3, which is stupid imo, so I ordered the 4th from another seller, “ Petiteadeline.” Avoid this person if you can. I haven’t even gotten to unpacking the camera yet but I almost afraid to. Packed in the cheapest, crappiest flimsy box, crushed all to heck, and taped so little that I presume the roll of tape they have must need to last the rest of their life. And that was after I finally got it. It sat for SIX DAYS before I wondered why it was taking so long to put it in the box, and I emailed them through the amazon app. No reply, but suddenly my camera finally shipped. To be clear, all the ones that came from AMAZON got here promptly and well packaged. I don’t know what was going on with this seller but I won’t order from them again. ********** Preliminary as of set up on 071320 Good stuff: loads quickly, EXTREMELY simple to set up (especially if you have the app installed, account made, and alexa skill enabled before you start), great resolution. Added 4 days after setup: the app features motion tagging, motion follow, pan scan, time lapse (requires SD card for storage) and some other handy features. The motion follow takes more getting used to than I am willing to give it currently. Our security cams have been stationary, so having something that “turns its head” to look at you feels a little too SkyNet. The impossible to believe something so high/simple tech overlooked: clunky. Why in the WORLD would you include an AC/USB adapter that sticks SO FAR out from the wall? Seriously. You couldn’t put it behind a piece of furniture if you had to. #2: WHY would you put the power input on the base, right up against the wall? The base obviously makes sense since the unit pans, but it would have been simple enough to offset the default stop/front position so the input is off to the side so you could get the unit closer to the wall. It does its pan/exorcist dance at power up so it isn’t prudent to put it any closer to an object in its current configuration. I’m pretty mind blown at the power adapter. There is nothing low profile or sleek about it. Yes, one could seek out another that doesn’t fry the unit, but the point and principle is: you should’t have to. Also, a little noisy when it movies. Not “loud,” but definitely noticeable in a quite room with all the clicks and whirring, and the sound is noticeable in the app. Overall, having been through 5 various camera manufacturers in the past few years and the latest and longest surviving being Arlo, I am pretty impressed with the compactness of the units and their simplicity, but with quite the powerhouse of resolution, night vision, and pan range. Very little lag time between event and showing on the app. As opposed to Arlo, who I still love, but with Arlo, you could leave a room, close the door, go to another room, and then watch yourself leave the room and close the door in the app several seconds later. Improvements I’d like to see: real time SMS notifications, and better low light definition. The lamp in one room seems to befuddle the camera in there, to the point that it’s bright enough to see, but the camera is constantly jumping between B/W night vision and a very grainy color/daylight mode. Also noted since set up 4 days ago: Arlo permits live monitoring of all cameras on one screen. I have 4 WYZE cameras and it’s like playing the kettle drums having to switch back and forth among them, waiting for each to load. The app on ipad is moderately annoying, as it does not flip in landscape mode. There IS landscape, but if you need to put down your tablet, the display remains upside down. Also, on the camera selection screen, the app on a tablet is just a larger version of the iPhone app: the list of cameras remains vertical when you turn the tablet sideways for landscape mode.