I recently bought the Wyze Battery Camera Pro (2 pack) since it was a decent price. I’ve use other cameras and have been happy. So far I am a bit disappointed in the performance.
The battery life appears to be very poor.
The pick-up of motion is sub-par. These cameras appear to grab motion at random. I have noticed when a person or car appears in the detection zone I don’t always got notified. I have increased the sensitivity and have tried to make good zone but nothing helps.
Is this just how these cameras work? Anything I can do so I get motion detected?
Firmware is up todate and cameras have a good signal.
Keep in mind that nearly all battery cameras (not just with Wyze) go into a suspended status to preserve battery life. They use PIR or Radar sensors to check for motion, which means that typically motion the size of a human has to be within 30 feet or so (sometimes within 20feet…can be less depending on the sensitivity settings) to trigger the sensor. It takes a moment to boot the camera on to start recording. Depending on the angle and the speed of a car, they can be close to the end of the view by the time it starts recording.
Make sure your Detection sensitivity is set to the highest setting. This will make the camera use only the PIR sensor and not the Radar sensor anymore. This allows it to detect things a little farther away but it is still limited to around 30 feet for normal human size heated objects. It will also allow more things to cause a lot more events (including temperature changes or plants or anything where heat may change, and drain the battery faster than a lower detection sensitivity. You can also turn off any detection zones, but again, it will make your battery drain faster too.
This is where you need to figure out how to balance things. If you have high sensitivity then lots of things will trigger events or at least trigger the camera to turn on and check if there is motion within the detection zone. This will drain the battery faster.
You can offset this by using a solar panel.
Battery cameras are a tough thing to do right. They are not meant for high traffic areas or areas where you need to detect something farther away than 20-30 feet or objects that move relatively fast. That is what wired cameras are designed to handle better.
Note that I have battery cameras from 4 different companies and they are all designed and work this same way. They are EXCELLENT options for certain use cases, but they are not ideal in other use-cases.
It sounds like a wired camera would be more ideal for the particular uses/needs you have, but I am guessing you don’t have a nearby outdoor outlet in that area which is why you got a battery camera. You could try to have a solar panel help with the battery issues, and possibly try a different position and angle for the camera. This kind of testing and attempts to balance events sensitivity vs battery life is commonly needed for battery cameras trying to be deployed.
Thanks! It makes sense. I am basing a lot from a previous battery camera I had. The pickup was decent and that battery life was not the greatest, it was decent. Compared to my last one, I am a bit disappointed.
Maybe I will need to get someone to run power to the camera.