I’ve been a dedicated consumer since Jan 2019. This outdoor cam is the worst product that I have ever purchased. I activated it on Aug 16 and today Sept 1 is at 10% battery level and I didn’t receive a low battery notification. !! It doesn’t record unless I leave the app open and yes it does have an sd card. All the motion notifications are turned off, the traffic area is low, the sensitivity level is at 30%, I’m frustrated and have opened a ticket. I hope to hear back from them soon. I feel like I’ve just thrown money away.
Welcome dontmesswithTX. Make sure you have motion detection turned on:
For your example, I would increase detection distance and sensitivity to at least 50, even greater just to test.
Any recorded Events on your WCO are cloud-based and located under the Events tab in the Wyze app. You don’t need an SD card to record these events nor does you phone even need to be turned on.
If you’re Live Streaming, doing a Scheduled Recording or Time-Lapse… your WCO will not record Events.
You need to enable the “Send Notifications” toggle to receive the low battery notification. Toggling that off defeats all WCO notifications.
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It doesn’t record even with the motion turned on. I turned it off In less than a week because of how fast the battery was draining. I haven’t recharged it because I’m still monitoring it. I haven’t placed it outdoors yet because I wanted to do a trial run inside first.
*** edit: the motion is on. I lowered the sensitivity from 80 to 30 because I thought that’s what was making it drain the battery.
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Understood… I did the same, testing mine indoors b4 going to the trouble of mounting outside.
What/how are you monitoring if you have motion turned off? With motion off, it won’t capture events. Live Streaming will drain the battery in a day or two at most.
The battery will drain VERY fast if you are live streaming. The outdoor cam is meant to stay in an off state until the PIR sensor picks up a heat signature, then it turns the cam on to start recording. If you are live streaming it will not record motion events and it will kill the battery extremely fast. I would try exiting out of any live streaming and make sure notifications are on, motion detection is on, and see if it picks you up when walking in front of it (after the cool down period). After the 1-5 min cool down (whatever you have it set for), it should pick you up and record a 12 second clip and then turn back off. The battery should last decent when using it that way. Mines been mounted outside for like 3 weeks now and its still at 85% battery
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I’ve posted screenshots of my current settings. Where is the live motion and where does it indicate that it’s on?
What is live view? I don’t have that turned on, I was going to set it up in the backyard to monitor the pool area. I had the motion on and turned it off because I thought that’s what was draining the battery. It’s currently set up in a room that gets daily use but is not high a high traffic area. And thanks so much for your replies!
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Live view/Live Streaming is when you select a cam and have it streaming its video feed to your viewing device, as in your example where the title reads, “Wireless outdoor 1”. Some just call this active/live monitoring:
While in this streaming mode, you will not record Events, i.e., no motion will be detected. When you keep this video feed/stream up on your viewing device, it places an enormous drain on the WCO battery. And because of this battery drain, unfortunately, streaming is not what the WCO is designed for. If you plan on using this functionality for your pool area, you’re better off using a continuously powered cam like the v2. If the cam needs to be outside, you can install a v2 in an inexpensive outdoor housing or place it in a protected area such as under an eve or deck rail. Or you could take a chance at keeping your WCO plugged in while monitoring although that will defeat the weatherproofing and invalidate your warranty.
Note that a lot of us here purchased the WCO for reasons similar to yours. I tested the heck out of all of my WCO cams, put a lot of effort into placement (location, distance, angle, etc.) in order to feel confident enough that I could leave the cams un-monitored (no live streaming) and place my trust in Wyze sending me a notification that a motion detection event occurred, upon which only then would I stream the live view to my viewing device to “check upon things” and possibly go outside to confront or whatever. I don’t view my WCO feeds unless I receive a notification of a motion event and I’m getting acceptable battery drain levels. Again, unless you need a cam in a location where running a power cable is not an option or you frequently move cams around to temporary locations, this may not be the best choice of cam for your needs.
I had already purchased another Wyze camera and protective housing for the pool area. But was holding out for the actual outdoor cam. Yes, I did have more expectancy for this Camera and I’m very disappointed. I had tried to use the motion recording without the sd card but it wouldn’t work without it. Kept saying it needed the card. I just wish I can get my money back. This is my first post because I hadn’t had any other problems with all the other devices I have: multiple Waze cameras, bulbs and plug ins. I would’ve rather spend the money on their other products. This cam is useless to me.
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I’m using 2 WCOs to monitor a friend’s house while he’s deployed… one front angle and one rear to cover all sides. One is temp mounted on the neighbor’s siding using a slip-under siding mount and the other is attached up high in a tree using a GorillaPod mount. Both leave no marks. I have two other WCOs performing a similar function. They’re perfect for my use because I don’t have to do any invasive mounting, just need to set up the base station inside the house and ask for neighbors’ permission to temp mount the cams. I do get notifications and Event videos when someone walks onto the properties so I’m content with my purchases.
I’m sorry the WCO isn’t meeting your needs and expectations. You can request returns/exchanges/refunds by contacting Wyze Customer Support @
1 (844) 999-3226 or (206) 339-9646
Available Monday - Friday 5 am - 6 pm PT
Saturday 8 am - 4 pm PT
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Thank you. I will look into it!
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