How did you get started using Wyze technology?

Watercooler
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I thought this would be a fun WaterCooler thread to share how we got started using Wyze technology. About a year ago, a creepy guy would walk through my neighborhood late at night. My dog would bark at him from an upstairs window. He would sit in the street and watch my dog bark for awhile. He never came on my property, but it freaked my Wife out and she asked me to install some cameras. After researching, I decided on Wyze v3 cameras. I have not seen the creepy guy lately, but I like to swipe through Event videos to see what is going on over night.

The initial cost of a v3 and Cam Plus Lite fits my budget as my employment situation is off and on. All my v3 cameras are at my house and I do need to power cycle them from time to time. If your devices are at a remote location, I can see how that would be problematic. Firmware and Apps can be buggy but I donā€™t upgrade until I see positive comments on the Wyze forums. Just wanted to share how Wyze is working for me and fits my budget and my needs.

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Short and simpleā€¦

Because Vivint failed me multiple times and their cameras were over priced to match their overpriced services. I went looking for an alternative and found Wyze cams bought a V1 then shortly after came the V2s and I loved the quality that matched the priceā€¦ Now I have everything they offer and still have spent less than I would have with a year of Vivint (Ok maybe not, I get a little overboard)

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Great idea for a topic @StevenA!

When I bought a house to renovate, I wanted a security system I could install myself, didnā€™t require drilling holes everywhere & fishing miles of wire, and could be professionally monitored without breaking the bank like the corporate alarm companies wanted. The Wyze HMS was my first purchase. Then I saw I could incorporate cams so I bought some V3 and installed them. Then I added a Wyze Thermostat and I think that is what triggered the addiction. It quickly ballooned to nearly every type of cam they were selling (except for the outdoor cams. I have no tolerance for charging batteries), every type of sensor, vacuum, plugs, bulbsā€¦ currently 78 devices (no where near the several hundred some users have) with one on the way, 6 on the bench awaiting install, 2 on the shelf as spares, and an itchy order finger for when they release some of the product ideas they mentioned they are developing.

What I find most rewarding is the creative solutions for automation. Rules, routines, applets, macros, triggers, actionsā€¦ some of the Rube Goldberg automations I have put together had to be mapped out on a flow chart for me to visualize it all.

But, the addiction continues. Canā€™t wait for the next release!

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Looking to depart apartment life and explored camera systems for potential single family house life in late 2018. Found Wyze and their cams, good reviews and I was starting to read about their up and coming Maxdrive. Started my vast collection of cameras and got super involved in the forums. Got hooked on the brand and the future low cost central recording solution. Welllll Maxdrive never came to be but I was hooked still. And here we are today. :slight_smile:

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Mostly I was looking for an affordable smart scale in 2020. I was really looking at getting, I think it was a Renpho (hard to remember for sure), but they only did measurements in 0.2lbs minimums instead of 0.1lbs. I was having a hard time stomaching that. I kept researching and I made a big spreadsheet with everything about tons of different smart scale options. I was pretty thorough. Eventually I saw an article about this new Wyze Scale. It was easily beating out all the other scales in almost every way and it was the cheapest. I couldnā€™t believe it. I got it on preorder just a week or two before it officially launched and shipped and I LOVED it! It was definitely the best smart scale of all the ones I considered.

Then I was also in the market for security cameras. I was initially going to buy Nest cams because I love Google, but I hated the cost. I saw there were some cheaper options, though not as many features. After enough research I quickly became convinced I wanted cameras that would work with the Tiny Cam app, and there were a TON of articles about Wyze with Tiny Cam. I think I narrowed it down to Wyze and some company that started with a Y. I quickly became convinced Wyze cams were the best option out there for being usable by themselves as well as with Tiny Cam (which would give me options for free AI detection, local storage and so many other cool things no other affordable camera could do basically for free.

I think those two events were fairly separate from each other, but after both the scale and the cameras, I was in love. The sensors were best price out there and so exciting, and I just started buying everything they sold because it was always a killer price for the amount of features and options that it could provide both itself and through 3rd parties with cool automations and such. And with their long-standing dedication and history of keeping prices low with low-profit margins I always felt like I could safely know I wasnā€™t being ripped off like most of the other companies who jack prices up exponentially higher than their costs. I wanted this kind of competition to be rewarded.

The scale and the cams funneled me into their ecosystem hardcore. I have hundreds of Wyze devices now. Iā€™m coming up on 40 cams, lots of sensors and almost everything Wyze has made with few exceptions (Watch, Band, and WCO v2 among the few things I donā€™t have).

I have since checked out many other companiesā€™ cameras, plugs, and other smart devices, but none of them compare IMO. They arenā€™t 100% perfect, but the other companies are worse in every way. Wyze is way more transparent and unbelievably listens to customers a billion-fold more than any other company Iā€™ve interacted with, no matter what others want to believe. Iā€™ve been in communities of other companies, and tried to share suggestions and wishes and countless things and I can tell you itā€™s totally different in my experience. Not to mention all the disruption they do in the industry to cause others to mimic their strategies to compete at lower prices and start offering things that Wyze started doing. I love the innovation and competition they drive into the industry. I want more of that.

I had the opportunity to meet the Founders last fall, and they are amazing, great guys with a great positive vision for Wyze. I continue to be impressed with the overall general progress and intent.

I totally respect people having different preferences, but thereā€™s a big reason why Wyze remains my primary go-to system.

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In the winter of 2021 I began looking into cameras. Before I even bought any cameras I already knew the house hold names like Ring .

I bought a ring doorbell camera and liked it so I decided on researching their cameras. I also watched other reviews of other smart cameras such as Ring , Wyze , Eufy , Google Nest, Vivint, Arlo , Blink etc

Price and features were my two main objectives , i narrowed it down to Eufy and Wyze at the end and decided on picking up a v3 for $35 at Home Depot.

I wanted to cover my front porch but didnā€™t want to have the camera outside and easy to be messed with and just at the same time I bought the v3, wyze released their v3 window mount and I bought it. Helped me be able to record from the window looking out to the front porch and helped reduce the glare .

And that same month i had an old dumb floodlight that was getting to the EOL and wasnā€™t working well anymore . One night it finally died on me , and another coincidence. Wyze has just released their wyze floodlight at the end of November , I remember driving all the way to the a Home Depot 2 hours away from me because my local HD didnā€™t have any in stock to get this thing.

I needed a new floodlight and also wanted to have 2 cameras covering my long driveway , one v3 facing the driveway entrance and another facing the end where I park my car and also that end of the house.

I loved the floodlights and v3 so much I started buying more v3ā€™s to cover my house outdoors.

Iā€™ll be completely honest , even some in this forum and in the discord can attest to this. In the beginning I had lots of issues that were mainly my own fault such as network and settings etc that made me frustrated and I blamed Wyze for it. I was a completely wyze hater at one point .

After about 6 months of using v3ā€™s and still having issues I still decided to expand into the wyze ecosystem. I got a wyze thermostat in the summer of last year and it left a good impression on me and thatā€™s when I decided to stay with Wyze for my smart home.

I upgraded my home network and fixed my issues and quickly began adding more devices.

So far I have 8 v3ā€™s , 1 wco v2, 1 pan cam v2, thermostat , air purifier , wyze sense kit with HMS, 5 wyze bulbs , 2 light strips pro , noise cancelling headphones , floodlight , 2 robot vaccums , 1 VDP, 1 wyze switch , 1 cordless vacuumā€¦

I really like Wyze for the affordability. I can go to a competitor and get more but itā€™ll also cost way more. In this economy I really respect Wyzeā€™s commitment to offering affordable tech to everybody. And thatā€™s what got me into them .

I plan on buying many more devices for the future but Iā€™ve expanded quit a bit from my first v3 to now ā€¦

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Color me ā€˜ambivalentā€™ about surveillance cams in general - among a tiny minority on these boards. :slight_smile:

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SlabSlayer:
You may already know this, but the solar panel is the perfect accessory for the outdoor camera. I put the solar panel on my Outdoor Camera and itā€™s kept the battery at or above 90% for about a year. (!!!) I have been absolutely amazed at how reliable itā€™s been and how long itā€™s lasted. Iā€™m thinking of a 2nd outdoor camera with a 2nd panel for an area on my house that doesnā€™t have any power close by.

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I am aware of the cam and panel capabilities. However I have yet to develop a use need for a remote cam. I have power to everywhere I need a cam.