I’ve read pros and cons on the V4. I currently have 3 each V3. They are serving me well. I could definitely find space for another camera or two, but wanted some input on the V4.
Costco has a sale going right now for the V4. A 2-pack for $44.99. That’s about $7.50 less each compared to Wyze or Amazon. So here are my questions.
Is the 2.5K recording resolution noticeably better than the 1080p from the v3. I’ve got various dash cams where one is 1080p and one is 2K and during playback, I don’t see a “Dramatic” difference. Definitely a difference, but not dramatic.
I assume the light on the V4 can be turned on/off. There’s times when it’s recording that I don’t want the “Subject” being recorded to know it by seeing a light. Also does the light have an option for on or off during an event recording?
Are there any compatibility issues with the app or desktop having some v4 cameras and some v3?
It seems weird that the v4 and the v3 seem to sell for about the same price. Is the v3 actually better? Why wouldn’t the v3 be phased out.
Are there any real negatives for getting the v4 2-pack at this price - $22.49 each?
On a separate thought, Costco also sells a 2-pack of Wyze Pan V3 for $49.99. That’s a lot better than the $34.98 EACH from wyze and amazon. Any thoughts for this?
I replaced an OG with a v4 with one of the deals around Christmas. The picture is a bit sharper but not a huge difference, they add more compression to the v4 to make the bandwidth about the same so that negates some of the improvement. I do find the color night clarity to be a lot better, though the colors are more muted than the OG at night (which was very overexposed, so the v4 is probably closer to normal).
That being said when I compared the OG and v3 I liked the OG picture quality especially for motion much better. The v3 has a lot of ghosting and blur with motion and when it rained, etc. So for that reason you might find the v4 to be a lot better.
Can always return them.
As far as the v3 pricing I think they mostly want people to buy the newer cameras and they probably know that those buying the v3 have grandfathered Cam Lite plans and they’re leaving a premium cost on there for that.
I have a v3 in my garage. Works fine. In fact, I had an older Cam V2 in the garage and one day it stopped connecting. I tried to reset it, etc., but nothing brought it back to life so I purchased a new v3 to replace it. That was back in August 2024. Recently I got a cam v4 for the living room (so I can monitor the place while I’m on vacation – installed but turned off for now). I loved the quality so much that I bought another one and put it outside watching my back yard. Personally, the v4 is nicer than the v3. Seems to connect faster when I bring up the app on my iPhone. I originally got the one for my garage to check that the garage door was closed. v3 is just fine for that. The picture quality is way better!
I have six V3 cams and three V4 cams. I really like my V4 cams but I still think the V3 is one of the best cams WYZE ever produced. There are some post about some of the newer version V3 cams having strange issues,
You said the v4 uses a different GUI? Is the v3 compatible with using that GUI or would I have to use 2 different apps or whatever to view a mixture of v4 and v3?
Thanks
Mike
You use the same app, but when you go into each cam, things are a bit different. It is the same with the OG and the Panv3, there are differences but it is easy enough to figure out. The v4 seems to be a combination of all 3 to a certain extent.
That’s something I figured out when I first got these cams, the Wyze app is sort of just a container for the individual interfaces of each smart device.
Not anything too major, should be easy to adjust to.
If I was choosing between the v3 and v4 right now it would definitely be the v4, especially considering the lower price. If it was a matter of spending money to upgrade all 1080P cams to v4, I probably wouldn’t. Though I’m not a fan of the v3, if I had all v3s instead of OGs I might actually do the upgrade. Ironically even though the v4 has more compression, the compression artifacts are nowhere near as bad on the v4 from what I’ve seen.
@afacademydad if you look on youtube for “lifehackster” he does very in depth reviews of all the wyze cams with comparisons of image quality day/night etc. Might help make your decision.
From what I’ve seen, all of the cameras do a good enough job for what they are intended. Before I got my V3’s (Before V4 was really out), I compared it to my friend’s V1 and V2 cameras he had. You could definitely make out the features of the person standing there. I could easily read the license plate of a car parked in the driveway. That’s what this is all about isn’t it? Seeing what’s on camera to identify an intruder or scenario if needed. We aren’t trying to watch a 4k movie on the thing.
I guess if you’re using it for awesome bird watching or similar it might matter; but I don’t think the clarity of any of the cameras are an issue for what they are intended for. Each person has their needs, so choosing a camera because it has color, has a light, can pan/tilt/zoom, battery vs corded, etc. are all things to consider. But unless the compression on the recording is making it where you can’t identify what you’re looking at, I don’t think any of that matters. If I decide to get any additional cameras, I will most likely buy the v4 because of the price. But I won’t replace any v3 cameras I have unless they break.
For me, the most important thing I’ve noticed that is different between the cams is the blocking/blurring (due to compression) on moving objects, and when it rains etc. When I tried the v3, rain made the whole image blocky and blurry, and things moving often were blurred.
None of the cams will get a moving license plate very well, with the exception of my OG Telephoto which I have aimed just for that purpose. Even then though, if they’re going more than like 20, maybe 30 MPH, it won’t get it.
If you compare each cam, there are some differences in the way the image looks, but as you say, they ALL can make out features of a person about the same. The pertinent stuff you’d need will be there with just about any of the cams.
The main differences I’ve noticed between models is the quality/clarity of moving objects, and the quality/clarity when in “color night vision” mode. Those are where there can be some substantial differences. However, that being said, most likely you’d be able to find a frame on all of them where you can make out a person’s features. Except maybe the v3 when raining at night, that seemed to be the worst scenario for it.
I did post a comparison of my OG vs v4 in nearly identical conditions several months ago, but that probably doesn’t help much. Lifehackster I believe did a direct v3 and v4 comparison, and even if not you can find both in two different videos and compare.
Is that a v3? When I was testing it out, the biggest issues were in low light and active rain. You’ve got a lot of light there and it looks like the rain has stopped.
Not saying the v3 is junk, but unless you have Cam Lite, I don’t see any reason to buy one currently, given the other options.
Yea, my V3 in the front of the house is under the eave of the roof. Rain and such never touch it. It sees the rain and snow but none of it gets on the lens. I don’t have any problem viewing through the camera when it’s raining or snowing. Looks fine.
