I come bearing bad news: The Wyze Cam Outdoor is… exceedingly bad.
However, hope remains as Wyze generally leverages its Early Access purchasing program as an extended beta test. So, with pre-order shipments scheduled for October, they have plenty of time to work these issues — perhaps most can be corrected or, at least improved, via software updates.
Before we delve into the ugliness, let’s pause to praise Wyze for some clever packaging and hardware that feels quite solid, belying it’s low price point ($50 + shipping). Perhaps most impressive is the single-screw, magnetic mount. Because no one wants to deface their home more than they have to and periodic charging of the batteries comes with the territory – you want an efficient release.
My go-to for connected cameras is LifeHackster. And it turns out that he’s not a huge fan of the Wyze Outdoor Cam either, having itemized a variety of deficiencies — including some I’ve experienced, such as significant alerting delays and subpar speaker volume+quality, given placement at the bottom rear of the camera under silicon. And while the speaker is weatherproofed to its detriment, I conversely worry about long-term durability of the two port gaskets (vs an o-ring sort of seal utilized by Arlo, Ring, and Blink).
Having run the Wyze Outdoor Cam a few days, I can tell you (and show you) the video quality is awful. It’s full of artifacts and even appears to periodically drop frames. For testing purposes, I ensured I had all firmware and app updates. I also hung the Wyze bridge off two different eeros to try and improve performance. I was not successful. In fact, I even ran a test in my basement with the camera about 18″ from the bridge to ensure max 3-bar wireless – yet the video remained poor. My shirt (below) was still muddy, albeit legible, at this short distance even with slow, minimal movement; There’s no way you’re getting the license plate of the jerk who turned around in your driveway and took out the azaleas. Perhaps that’s not even reasonable for a camera of this stature. However, I will tell you my Wyze Cam v2 suffers from none of these video defects.
On the flip side, the ding against Wyze’s 12-second video clips is easily remedied with an inexpensive $15/year subscription that includes full-length motion capture (and person detection, for those not grandfathered) once it becomes available. In fact, given frequent alerts for passing cars in the distance during my testing, you’re going to want Wyze Cam Plus to limit the false positives.
Like all their products, the Wyze Cam Outdoor’s top feature is its price point. No other “known” brand can compete. Now they’ve got about two months to turn this into a compelling solution.
Thanks for the heads up.
I was considering giving this a try.
I had the indoor version and sent it back because of notification delays.
I guess that’s still an issue.
Thank you, this was an honest and excelant review, thanks
I have not experienced any of these issues. My cam is located 15 feet of from my base station and three walls away and performs great. I find the video quality far superior to the other better known brand I returned due to its inability to link up to my FiOS system.
Good to hear it’s been working out for you. However, I gots tons of cameras coming and going (currently possess a number of Ring, Eufy, Blink, Wyze, previously Logitech, Arlo, Samsung, D-Link), and this is the worst video performance I’ve experienced in years. Hopefully it’s software. Or maybe a bad batch. As, beyond my small sample clips above, Lifehackster also demos terrible artifacts and dropped frames in his travel mode review: https://youtu.be/TPUoXeBD4g4?t=320
My only concern is the battery life since 24 hours later mine has dropped to 94% so I doubt if it will make promised 6 months between charges
Have not had any of the problems relayed by the reviewer. Video is rock solid, with no pixelation, and I have not been plagued with false alerts
Another great product from Wyze, I am becoming a ” fan boy “
Wyze says it should be good for 3-6 months, but I always take those estimates with a grain of salt. Especially in high traffic areas and winter months. The Ring Stickup Cam over my garage is rated for 6 months too, and I probably charge it monthly.
Have had my Outdoor Wyze camera a week now! I Love it.
Picture video great. No problems at all. Wyze boys know what they are doing!
Testing it to see how to make it a wifi free security cam for places without wifi. Small solar battety charger and big SD card. Travel mode is super.
My experience has been the complete opposite. I’ve had some Arlo cameras up during the past year and couldn’t wait to replace them. My new Wyze camera is superior in every way. They’re not perfect by any means, but it’s one of the best on the market that I’ve seen.
“the ding against Wyze’s 12-second video clips, only recorded a maximum of once per five minutes”
That’s not entirely true, you can go into the settings and change the cool down period to 1, 3, or 5 minutes.
Thanks Brian, I tweaked the post to remove the forced 5-minute interval as I wasn’t aware it’s adjustable. Having said that, my advice to potential customers remains the same: pay the measly $15/yr. :) 12s is not sufficient, especially with the slower spin-up of all battery cams, and take advantage of the person detection.
I think it is funny when a reviewer and or commentators complain about super simple details-that in the end-don’t matter: yet compare to a product that costs 4x6x8 as much. People. It is $50/20 doll hairs with a combined $2 dollar monthly costs that far exceeds what is on the market.
I’m with others in the comments; I haven’t had any of these issues. My camera is not near the base station, either. I’m using an Orbi, for what it’s worth. The nearest router is 25 get away, one floor up, with a cement wall between. I really can’t complain at all.
I’m pretty sure that the Wyze Cam Plus is not available for the outdoor cam yet. I was about to sign up and did some digging and found on their site that is was yet available.
I have the Wyze outdoor cam and I can’t get it to trigger on motion on a regular basis. Best I can do is get maybe one out of every 10 incidents to be get captured.
Image quality is very good, just the lack of motion capture is what’s frustrating. I’ve read that other users are having the same problem. But no solution from Wyze.
I am disappointed with the WCO. Mine is positioned as a trail cam that refuses to switch on night vision automatically resulting in black screen events. The motion detection is inadequate for my use, so I tried an automation script with a nearby Wyze Cam V2. This was an experiment that is really impractical in real use.
The battery usage seems to be ok. After 3 weeks it shows 82%.
My Two Cents :
I am one of the backer and the camera came couple weeks back. i was excited but excited soon doomed.
Yes the picture quality is completely different than the regular wyze v2( i have 8 of them and they are awesome).Pictures are sometimes too warm and sometimes too cold, I think it is still learning. (which I don’t mind).
My biggest concern was the bridge, it literally sucks. ( I still question why do you even need bridge when you still can use wifi? They have talent and probably can think better). you don’t have to reinvent the wheel(although the patent might have been a problem) but there are other cheaper wifi router that can cover much wider space and much more powerful.
Now about the camera: the earlier version had magnetic and this does too. but earlier version can stick to magnet on the wall , this one is to the camera and you need to nail it. I have metal building and I don’t want to poke holes. (THINK WYZE THINK) :).
I did however tried indoor instead of outdoor as the wifi range sucks ( big FAT SUCKS). Battery life seems pretty good. And I was hoping there could be a replacement battery instead of attached to the camera. Now to charge you have to literally bring the camera to power source and charge while the camera is offline. Why not part it away so that we could purchase extra battery and immediately use it. Again that is big no no for me. (THINK WYZE THINK)
Wyze is still child company but with so many successful product, did not expect this bad product. they failed(may be just me). (THINK WYZE THINK)
Good to know, not that I am ever going to buy anything from them due to the worst costumer service ever, easier to speak with a robot than their lack of care after the product shipped.
I bought the outdoor camera as part of the early backers program and can honestly say your statements sound isolated to your experience or faulty hardware. My unit runs perfect, in fact the image is crystal clear and i have not had any issues with this unit, no video lagging, signal range issues, nothing, it runs perfect! The battery life is amazing, it has been running for 2 weeks and i am on 80%. I ordered three more of these outdoor units, they are great. I highly recommend it!
Good to hear so many positive reports on video quality vs what LifeHackster and I demonstrated – hopefully it’s just software issues for certain scenarios or a bad batch of hardware. I’ve returned my cam to its rightful owner, but may pick up my own in October (or whenever available via Amazon, for easy returns), assuming the situation will be improved across the board.
As to z’s comment, my $25 Wyze Cam v2 outperforms the Wyze Cam Outdoor despite its age and lower frame rate. With WCO video performance as it was for me, I’d rather have no cam at all.
Thank you for the review. I thought it was only me having problems with the long awaited Wyze Outdoor Camera. So bad I returned it. Too many problems to deal with. I love all the other Wyze products and I’ll wait awhile until they straighten out the outdoor camera. Still a huge Wyze fan.
I’ve been running two Wyze regular cameras outside for about a year and they’re very durable. One of them has no protection and gets hammered by incoming storms.
The big appeal of the outdoor cam for me is the power solution, but if you have power you may have better results just plunking on of the $20 cams where you need it
My order # is 003110_788, and I haven’t received my order yet, it’s been almost a month, please get my order to me ?
I’ve had each model so far and got in early on the outdoor cam. I have not had the issues mentioned at all. I truly believe some issues could be internet speeds. I’ve had Arlos for years and WYZE beats them hands down with the power source being the only issue. Now I will say I’m disappointed in the range of the new wireless outdoor cam. I’m good for about 75 feet direct line of sight. Maybe 30 feet thru 1 wall. I can be 30 feet from the hub and have a decent signal, then step around a corner and completely loose signal. Line of sight is basically a must for any signal.
Lol, I have had my regular Waze cameras sitting outside for 2 years, no issues, heavy rain, snow, hot days, high humidity, I live in Michigan. They are sitting under the roof partially, but out in the open. I thought about getting enclosures for them but since they haven’t had any issues I haven’t seen a need for it.
Horrible battery life. It’s going to take one big update to wring 6 months of life out of a battery that is giving 28 hours at best, out of the box, after a full charge. Not ready for primetime IMHO, Wyze
Picture has been great for me although I’m never going to read s license plate. My Ring cam is horrible at night. At least the Wyze can see the clearly. I purchased the extra motion pack but it won’t install on the outdoor cam! Is this because it’s battery!? Waste of a subscription.
I’ve had mine a few weeks and haven’t had any issues at all. Picture is great and connection hasn’t blipped.
However, you cannot sign up for CamPlus for Outdoor due to the larger amount of data an outdoor will send.
I haven’t had any of these problems I have it 40 feet for my router and it works fine. And you should check your facts because wyze cam plus does not work with the outdoor camera and at this time they don’t plan to have it work.
Shipping in October? I’ve had mine up for two weeks. Bad? Perhaps go in and adjust the settings. I don’t seem to have any issues that you’re speaking of. Notification is damn near instant.
Frank, I can’t speak for LifeHackster’s home with authority but given his business I’d assume his broadband is solid. Also keep in mind his pixelated video showed in travel mode – so video was being recorded straight to his SD card. I’m on FiOS Gigabit and house is well-covered in an eero mesh. I’m rarely under 200Mbps to the Internet from even the slower areas home. 300 and above is more common. The front door Wyze was placed next to my Ring 2 doorbell, which performs fine. The basement test was Wyze basestation plugged directly into eero gateway (meaning 900Mbps+ to Internet) and the camera was like 18″ away. There’s no way my Internet speeds are a problem.
Regarding Wyze Cam Plus compatibility, I did a little digging and turns out it’s not ready — which they fail to disclose on the marketing/subscription materials. I won’t take responsibility for their sloppiness Dan, but I will tweak the post to indicate that it isn’t yet available. For those that subscribed for WCO, forum chatter suggests the company will refund if you reach out.
Joe, “Early Access” sales are complete; Wyze is now accepting “Pre-Orders” for October.
I’ll add to mine from above. My camera is located about 35 feet away from the hub. The camera is out front, and the hub is in the partial basement in the rear of the house. I have used 12% battery in about two weeks, and it’s been over 100 almost every day. I get between 6 and 8 notifications a day, so let’s call it 7. That’s about 84, 12 second clips. In reading up on the tech of the camera, it used heat detection via the IR. So it’s a possibility that some users don’t have the camera close enough to the target to get Human detection working correctly. My camera is also set on Auto for the video quality. My internet speed is not the greatest, 70mbps is about the high end. I’ll for sure buy more of these cameras. I am also not using an SD card in the hub or the camera. Perhaps it affects the performance.