I’m not entirely sure what you mean here. The cameras continue to provide the free services they were sold with. The person detection was added later and then removed (and then experimentally resurrected). How do you feel nickel and dimed? The only sleazy tactics I’ve noticed are (1) forced CamPlus trial and (2) hide and go seek $0 option for legacy PD and (3) disabling the Person filter button for paying legacy PD users.
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That’s a great summary, though I guess #3 was less of a tactic than an accident they say they are going to fix with an update (or so I remember someone told me when I brought it up…I thought it was you?)…so, if we’re talking known intentional things, then I would say we’re down to 2. Not too bad so far for a for-profit company. Can’t think of any off hand with fewer than that.
Though, I’m not too happy about there being not SD card or RTSP in the VDB here. That could fall under nickel and diming…but you can use it pretty decently as a VDB without a subscription or card (when someone presses the button), just not as a 24/7 camera unless you pay more.
I think you are confusing two separate and unrelated problems.
The locked button and a bug that asks you to sign up to Cam Plus, when selecting Person filter, even though you may already have Person Detection (Pilot).
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Well sort of. I left out the initial potential sleazoid. Many of the initial legacy PD payers found they could no longer filter by PD at all. It was reportedly prompting for CamPlus signup instead. I reported that in the forum as a bug. Wyze claimed it was a mistake and promised to fix it in the next release. So I didn’t count that.
But AFTER the new app came out people reported the nonsense with the disabled PD button (with the separate filter icon now working for PD). So I’m counting that one as a potential sleazoid. What’s the correct unit term for a single unit of sleaze, like datum? Sleazum?
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Ah, okay, makes more sense. I didn’t notice the first instance (because I had a CamPlus trial at the time, so it didn’t affect me) and I thought the fix was still forthcoming. Thanks for the clarification.
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I ordered mine as soon as it was announced. Can’t wait to get it.
Is there any feedback from beta testers?
I found a beta review on CNET that mentions reliability issues and many false alarms.
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I’m not trusting that, a month ago the loved it, also they said they tested a beta version of it. The public version will fix most of those bugs for sure.
That reviewer’s biggest complaints are all huge positives to me.
He wants a battery powered doorbell (those suck, they miss important captures. If there’s a porch pirate, it won’t start recording until they turn their back and are leaving already, totally missing their face).
He wants legacy chime compatibility, but this is reserved for either battery powered devices (terrible!) Or a separate wire being installed (no thanks). And I prefer using Alexa and the included chime instead.
I’ll also have CamPlus with it (thank you Black Friday promo)
He did say he gets some false notifications. That’s because he isn’t relying on the doorbell button being pressed. There would be 0 false notifications from that. He also needs to fix his detection zone. I’m sure motion/light triggered a detection event and saw someone across the street or something a few times. That happens.
Basically, most of his complaints are not negatives to me AT ALL… They were all praises for it being better than others.
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the review is rubbish, I don’t why they would even bother reviewing when the device is not even launched yet, it’s still in testing! I went through the past 2 days of doorbell events & 99% were legit events with a person detected.
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On the contrary, legacy chime compatibility is for wired doorbells that are on the same circuit as the chime and are supplied power.The Ring video doorbell is compatible with AC-powered door chimes operating between 8-24 volt AC transformers.
Don’t they just require a resistor to be wired to the existing chime.
I don’t mind the Wyze wireless chime, it just seems redundant if there is an existing chime and wiring in place.
It’s not redundant when the wired chime is bypassed to power the doorbell.
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My understanding may be wrong, but I was led to believe that most or at least many of those devices that use the legacy chime are primarily powered by a battery that occasionally get a slight recharge whenever someone presses the button. When the button is pressed, the device then connects the switch to allow power to the legacy chime, causing the Ding, and takes some of that power while the connection is made to slightly recharge the device. I have read tons of complaints from people that their video doorbell which allows using the legacy chime keeps dying because it doesn’t get enough power from the rare button press to keep it charged and functioning and they are at their wits end with them.
I don’t want any of that kind of headache. Again, I haven’t looked into them too deeply (because I prefer the digital options instead anyway), but those explanations make a lot of logical sense to me. The Chime is caused by connecting the circuit. If the circuit is constantly connected it will constantly ding. If it’s not constantly connected, then there is no power going out to charge your device and so it must rely on a battery or a separate power source. None of that sounds good to me in the least. I’d much rather bypass it and have a constant power source 24/7, recording all motion all the time, and not miss any events or have issues with not enough power.
If they actually function differently than has been explained to me, I am open to hearing how it’s possible to be different in some way. I’m not an electrical engineer, but I am pretty intelligent and should be able to follow a decent explanation.
I noticed the product page now says out of stock. Launch is eminent?
There’s a competing brand that has just started advertising a $20 video doorbell on TV. I know nothing about it though.
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I love that Wyze pushes for others to do similar things. The more competition, the better for everyone.
Still, I’ve checked some other cheap ones and not been super impressed so far. Some just do a few thumbnails, many are basically just an IP cam with a push notification…but then again, I guess that’s all that’s really needed eh? I am excited this will [eventually] allow me to have all the other detection functionality (package, person, pet, personal facial recognition, etc) with the free cam plus subscription I got for Black Friday. That’s a huge positive.
Is that the Kangaroo?
I am about ready to ditch Wyze products all together. I have had two contact sensors go bad in 3 months. It seems like person detection comes & goes. I wasn’t work for about two weeks then started working again. It takes over a minute for me to get the notification which kind of defeats the purpose. Yes, I still know someone was at my front door but they are long gone before I get the notification.
Yes, I was being polite to our hosts. 
Oh, yeah, I looked at that one a while ago. It doesn’t offer live streaming video and doesn’t store recorded video on the app. It takes a bunch of pictures and stitches them into a slow frame gif. You can pay $1.99/month to extend your cloud storage from 24 hours up to 1 year, and includes some theft reimbursement with limitations. Device also works with Google and Alexa to a degree supposedly (announcements?).
Not a bad price for the basic device, a lot more if you want their other bells and whistles (sensors, keypad, chime extension, etc) I’m supportive of such efforts, they’re just not for me…I like what Wyze is offering a little more for not much more cost. Still, it does beg the question…if this one will work with Google to send chime alerts through, will Wyze be able to do this too (not just through Alexa)? Maybe Wyze should check out how they pulled that off.
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All I wanted was to keep my home chime and not use a remote digital device to ring the bell. Misses likes our mechanical doorbell chime.
Happy wife, happy life.
Sounds like you’re stuck with a primarily battery powered option that will allow chime use then… So, not these…