Hi all,
I am using multiple Wyze cameras and I am trying to figure out whether the Wyze Battery Cam Pro is suitable for a driveway use case with fast moving vehicles.
Current setup
Wyze Cam v4 (wired, Cam Plus subscription)
Wyze Battery Cam Pro (battery powered, no subscription yet)
Both on the same WiFi network
Both using microSD cards for local recording
My Wyze Cam v4 performs extremely well and detects motion and fast moving vehicles almost instantly. Ideally I would prefer a solar or battery solution for my driveway, but I am concerned the Battery Cam Pro may have detection limitations.
Detection and solar questions
Is the Battery Cam Pro expected to reliably capture fast moving vehicles on a road or driveway when running on battery or solar, or are there inherent limitations due to PIR based wake detection?
Does adding Cam Plus improve detection speed and recording start time on the Battery Cam Pro, or does it only affect cloud clip length and AI labels?
Are there recommended mounting guidelines for vehicle detection with the Battery Cam Pro such as height, angle, or distance from the roadway?
Does detection behavior change at all when using the official Wyze solar panel versus battery only?
SD card recording questions
I sometimes see motion events or timeline markers, but playback fails or shows “no video available”. This happens more often on the Battery Cam Pro. The v4 is much more reliable.
Does the Battery Cam Pro record to SD continuously or only during detected motion?
Are gaps in SD playback expected behavior on battery powered cameras?
Are there recommended SD card sizes or speed classes to improve reliability?
Goal
My goal is to get vehicle detection performance as close as possible to the Wyze Cam v4 while using a solar or battery powered camera if that is realistic with the current Battery Cam Pro.
Thanks in advance for any clarification or guidance.
Unfortunately due to power saving features of battery cams, their detection is going to be slower and potentially miss stuff (like the beginning of the motion, etc). Cam plus won’t help with that, actually smart detections will probably make it even slower.
The solar panel just charges the battery, as far as I know it does not “unlock” higher performance on the cam, but someone with a BCP may be able to confirm.
PIR has its own set of challenges too, motion across the cam will be more likely to trigger it than moving toward/away from it.
Are you able to use a wired Wyze camera looking out through a window? Here is a picture of my v3 over looking my driveway through a double pane window. With Detection Sensitivity set at 90, I get Notifications of people walking on the sidewalk across the street.
I would suggest that comparing the WBCP to a v4 is apples and oranges.
To get the longevity using a battery a number of compromises were used.
The WBCP has an aggressive low power mode. Less than 1 or 2 mA (a Drok usb tester sees 0.00)
It takes ~9 seconds to come out of sleep and live view the camera feed (observed). 3 seconds to live view a v4.
Wired cameras have what is referred to as a “pre-roll”. This allows the software to add a few seconds in front of a motion event that shows what led up to the event. The WBCP has no such ability.
When on battery or solar, although you can select it, continuous sd recording is not recommended. The battery will only last 8-10 hours, not making it through the night. The battery does not have fast charge capabilities which limits it’s recharge capabilities when using solar arrays larger than the Wyze solar panel (3 or 5 watts?). The solar will keep the battery charged when SD recording is *Events” only.
The performance is not affected by battery or solar use. The unit does not know how it’s being powered (the previous battery Cam did have a selection for solar).
The WBCP excels when there is no power available. Such as above our garage door. It has been monitoring our driveway for 2 years and I have never had to climb a ladder after installation. I do not care, nor want to know, about the cross traffic. I want to know any event that happens in my driveway.
The unit has performed admirably. A year ago thieves tried to steal our Kia. When they saw the camera they moved on to our neighbors and stole thier car. We had footage the showed their faces and their car. Police took the footage and were able to make an arrest and return the car within a few days.
My other half gets home at approx the same time every day. The camera is able to record the car pulling into the driveway. I have never seen the car coming down the street (your v4 would).
We have 2 other WBCP monitoring the perimeters of our property.
These are well engineered cameras. Just don’t expect v4 flexibility.
Hi Yes i considered it but that side faces the sun and the window is doubleglazed which creates both reflections and haze from the sun. I will have to resort to drilling through the side of the house and put a usb cable through. It’s tough but i really do need the detection time of the V4 in this instance.
My v4 is powered by USB cable running out through a window. The flat cable allows the window to fully close and lock. In fact all of my outside cams are set up that way through a few types of windows, and one garage door.
