Color night vision works with any camera, if there is external light like a porch light or a light on the camera. But the term color night vision implies it’s something no other cameras can do and that’s just not the true. Look at the pictures Wyze shows for color night vision, it has nothing to do with a starlight sensor for better night vision, it’s more about either a light on the camera or some other external light to help the camera see better showing colors.
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It has everything to do with the Starlight sensor. Only minimal lighting is needed to see in the dark without using night vision, because of the Starlight sensor. The old V2, for instance, would show a black screen without using night vision under the same lighting conditions.
But I agree, the term “color night vision” is confusing, as the camera is technically not in night vision mode when it sees color at night (due to the extra sensitivity of the Starlight sensor).
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With the solar panel would I be able to record continuously(locally on SD card preferably) without draining the battery down to zero? Or does it just draw to much power?
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I want to use this camera in my camper van which doesn’t have wifi. Will I be able to view events from my smart phone ? I don’t want to have to remove the sd card every time I want to view events. I thought the outdoor cam v2 had the ability to do that.
We have 3 packs, but not 4.
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The reason it is called “starlight” sensor and “color night vision” isn’t because it shows color with no light, but that it can still see color in very low light conditions where most other cameras would not see as much or sometimes be mostly black. Most Cameras and other Camera companies have had to use IR black and white nightvision in low light conditions where Wyze could still leave their camera in color mode. Wyze spurred a color low-light revolution, and many big companies have started copying them with newer models, but that revolution and push for low-light support was started by Wyze with their V3 launch.
Examples of color night vision with a starlight lens vs without a starlight lens in the exact same light condition:
Those are massive differences for many people.
Of course you can add overwhelming light and then all cameras will see fine, but that’s not what is meant, and is not the usecase for the “color nightvision”… Wyze can see in low light (hence the term “starlight” sensor) where other cameras can’t see unless they add more light or switch to an IR filter.
I did a bunch of comparisons between the Wyze Starlight vs Eufy and Blink and others, and I found the Wyze starlight made a HUGE dramatic difference in low light conditions. But obviously if I turned on my floodlights or my porch light and only recorded areas in full light like my porch or back patio, then starlight sensors don’t matter because there is high amounts of light, not low amounts of light. On the other hand, I can turn off all my lights and still see in color just from the ambient light from my neighbors’ houses, while my other brand’s cameras go totally black and see nothing unless I switch their IR filter on, and then they can’t see color. That’s what it’s talking about. It makes a huge difference in certain use-cases, but not in others. It sounds like you always have plenty of lighting for the places you are watching, so it isn’t something that matters as much for your use-case, but it is still a big deal for some others for their use-cases.
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Took me a while to find all the accessories, but for anyone else looking for them, here they are to buy things separately:
- Wyze Battery Charging Dock
- Wyze Cam Outdoor Solar Panel
- Wyze Universal Mount (Long)
- Wyze Removable Battery Pack
If the Battery is almost $30 by itself, I kind of wish they would sell the Camera without a battery for those people who don’t plan to use this as a battery cam, but intend to have it wired to a powercord 24/7. That could bring the price down significantly for that use-case.
If that’s what you want, Wyze has your answer - The V3 Pro.
Or am I missing something?
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It’s a fair point, and one that is good for most people. Generally the Battery will be great to have with these, even if just to have as battery backup during power outages. There are some differences though where a wired WBCPro will win out for some people in certain use cases over the V3Pro:
- 5GHz preference
- Much more powerful spotlight (my personal 2nd main reason)
- Spotlight control options go 1-100 instead of the limited “Low” or “High” options of the pro
- Can have the spotlight only turn on when both PIR and Radar are triggered (person/large-animal), instead of every single shadow, headlight, branch movement, etc. (My main reason)
- Different event/notification cooldown options and even video length controls for cloud videos (even if recording to SD card)
- Picture in Picture feature
- Different design might be preferred
- Someone may want to buy split up the cost overtime and buy it without the battery for now, and add the battery later on with a different paycheck. There are lots of people on limited budgets or paycheck to paycheck. So the ABILITY to be able to upgrade it to Battery backup or as a battery cam later if desired (not as easily possible with a V3Pro)
- Maybe their WBCPro breaks (they drop it, or a goat eats it or whatever (hey, this has happened), and they just need a replacement without another battery.
- Some people don’t like the V3Pro for various reasons…it works great for me, but some people experience lag issues or stuttering, and would like a different 2K camera that may work better for them.
I’m just thinking there could be several reasons for a preference for this.
I actually have a couple of places I plan to use these inside my house, plugged into power, but with the brighter spotlight so that it better illuminates the room like a nightlight the instant I walk in while I wait the 4+ seconds for the rules to go through the cloud to turn the smart bulbs on. 3-6 seconds can feel like forever when you are in the dark and can’t see anything. Having a much brighter, instant light will be great.
I have some questions…
- Is there any improvements to camera connect speed?
- Is there any improvement to rewind/fast forward?
- Is there any improvements to the timeline playback?
I was excited about this camera until I remembered the wyze software still makes it incredibly painful for things like scrubbing through the timeline to find something the events didn’t capture. Any improvements?
I can’t really answer about connect speed (also, compared to what…the other standby/Battery cams, or compared to the faster OG’s or what?) but I can pretty much answer the last 2 questions:
SD card Playback hasn’t been added yet. on TikTok they said they’re expecting September.
It is a pretty safe bet that it will be the exact same playback UI as all the other cameras they’ve released this year that are using the same UI.
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I know there are a lot of TinyCam users, so just an FYI, for those interested in whether Tiny Cam will be supporting these new Wyze Battery Cam Pro models, Cofounder Alexey Vasilyev just told me:
Yes, it will. No ETA yet.
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Regarding comparing the V3Pro and the WBCPro, you do make a few good points.
That one is certainly a good thing (although it adds an expense).
All the spotlight and PIP, may be of a benefit to some one else, but absolutely zero value to me. Granted, I only have two cameras with spotlights (two V3Pro) and because of where they are being used, a spotlight would do more harm than good.
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I was wondering about that. This is tough, because a Battery Cam Pro without a great battery is a misnomer. And great batteries don’t come cheap.
Besides hub-less and swappable battery, what are the advantages of this over the Wyze Cam Outdoor V2?
Radar + PIR sensors for motion trigger, 2K streaming vs 1080p, direct connection to your WiFi via 2.4GHz or 5GHz, enhanced 2-way audio, easy Bluetooth setup, etc., etc.
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The short answer is yes, with a pretty wonky setup you should be able to make it work. But it is really not worth it. I was trying the same thing with the outdoor cam but needed two phones, one for hotspot one for viewing. Another thing to consider is even the cheapest rear cam displays have a software setting that reverses the rear cam otherwise cars on the left look like they are on the right. So for a lot less money and minimal wiring and wireless options I think you will find much better solutions.
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That’s what I suspected unfortunately. This camera might be great but they are all held back by the software. 
I have the “original” Outdoor Cam and would love to replace it with another battery-powered, weather-proof camera compatible with the Wyze solar panel that I bought for it - but only if it detects motion better than the Outdoor Cam. I have the camera mounted with full view of my entire driveway - but it only detects NEAR motion that is moving in a certain direction. I’ve been told this is a limitation due to the PIR being the only motion sensing that the Outdoor Cam has.
Will this new camera sense motion in its full field of “vision,” no matter what direction that motion is in?
Not a great start! Despite my forum account’s age, I’m a long-time Wyze supporter and have tried to support and buy these products whenever I can. This was the first new camera in a while that I was really excited about (2k resolution, can be placed outside, AND supports a solar panel), and didn’t hesitate at all to get mine ordered yesterday. Super surprised that it actually came with one day shipping and that it got here on time.
Unfortunately, looks like there may be some launch-day issues… For the life of me, this camera will NOT pair. I’m on the latest version of the app, and just cannot get this camera added. The wizard in the app finds the device, but always times out on pairing. Phone has been restarted, known-working wifi has been restarted, the new camera itself has been reset… nada!
I’ll try a few more things before contacting support, but we’re off to a rough start on an otherwise exciting product.
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