Don’t really like being negative on something I haven’t yet used, but am I the only one who’s a bit underwhelmed with the Outdoor Cam and what I perceive as a lack of new features, and the limitations of the design? The Outdoor Cam doesn’t seem to bring many new features, and has its own limitations.
My issues on paper so far are:
1080p resolution - was hoping for 2k so I can pick out number plates and better detail at distance - Something that seemed a popular request for outdoor use, and definitely where the industry is moving.
Better support for big SD cards and continuous recording - its for outdoor use after all. I want to trawl back through footage to pick out an event or detail that probably wont trigger an automatic recording.
Confused about night vision performance - The older V2 cam has 4 x 850nm IR led’s and “delivers clarity up to 30 feet away even in total darkness.” The Outdoor cam has 8 x 850nm and Night Vision distance is 25 feet. Seems a downgrade and probably due to reliance on battery only.
Lens aperture is f2.5 where as V2 lens is f2.0 . Smaller number = more light sensitivity but also narrower depth of field/focal area. Not across design choice obviously but this might help explain why its apparently less sensitive to night vision.
Was hoping for MUCH greater night vision performance. Outdoor camera should do this well over a greater area than an indoor camera.
Should have a hard wired only mode to remove battery design limitations. This would facilitate better night vision performance. Don’t think it would be that hard to have the choice to run purely off USB (preferably USB-C now Wyze !!)
Stick an external antenna port on it for an optional antenna upgrade to boost wifi performance. Have done this hack on the V2 for much greater wifi performance & reliability. Would often remove the need for the hub (but I do see the point in having the hub for many use cases). The hub could often be unnecessary if Outdoor cameras are placed in good wifi range.
Can you hot-swap out 1 battery to recharge while it runs off the other? Hope so.
I can only say, that from an engineering design standpoint, there is always a trade-off among features, performance and cost.
I think Wyze Cameras, warts and all, are a great value for the money.
I would be happy to pay for a “Premium” line that had features like;
4K video, more connection options, etc. Wyze could probably do it and sell for a lower cost than equivalent cameras from the competition.
I agree, I feel that Wyze probably try to squeeze too much from the low price point. Considering the low cost, if they, for example, charged an extra $5 a Wyze Cam V2, then they increase their margin by a big % and use those few extra bucks to improve parts or features or development, but the price difference would be seen as negligible by nearly all consumers (especially as there is no real competitor in that price point) and wouldn’t hurt sales. The improvements that could be achieved would only improve reputation & sales over time.
Are there any battery operated cameras that offer continuous recording??
I was hyped when Wyze said that their outdoor camera also be powered by wire - now they say that the warranty would be invalidated if you keep the camera wired.
Ugh, I am so disappointed.
I’ve been looking forward to this since the original came out.
All I wanted was a V2 with some gaskets or an enclosure.
I live in a cold climate, so the battery makes all the other specs irrelevant. I’m not going to be out there in 4 feet of snow with a ladder messing with cameras that go dead every few weeks. (“3-6 months, based on 10-12 events per day”. What mountain do they live on that only gets 10 people driving by per day?!?)
If you turn off Night Vision mode, even if you add an external IR light source, the camera won’t see the IR light, so you’ll effectively be asking the camera to record in darkness, in 20fps. You’ll need a standard flood light with IR motion detector if you’re going to disable IR mode on the cameras.
I have 2 x V2 cams on the front of my garage, and found the IR mode with built in IR led’s producing pretty short range and somewhat grainy footage. I added a fairly cheap IR floodlight that comes on in low ambient light, and now my night vision footage is excellent. Crisp and bright, and actually useful at range and produces footage that would identify someone should I need it.
Standard flood light at least helps you at night, and is a visual deterrent for anyone who shouldnt be there. Will also allow the camera to switch to day mode & record in color. Just make sure they are bright otherwise the camera may stick to night mode. Will still record better than using the tiny IR leds.
The IR floodlight is brilliant though, and didnt cost much (less than $30 delivered) and took 5 min to install. 2 screws & a power cable extension. I run both on the front of my garage.
One issue can be the IR floodlight can trip the IR motion sensor on the standard floodlight. Had to adjust angles & the sensitivity levels on the standard floodlight and found they don’t interfere now.
Good concerns I would say. Though I’m currently running 64g cards in three of my four cameras and did have a 128g card working just fine in one for awhile as well. I also like to be able to go back and pull longer recorded segments off the sd cards.
It feels like they stuck a V2 in a more weatherproof case & made it dependent on 2 batteries at the same time, with apparently improved IR light/night vision capability & dependence on a wifi hub to improve connectivity over distance.
Considering you could already get V2, stick it in one of many aftermarket cases from ebay/amazon, and power it off a portable battery pack with much more capacity than those 2 little batteries, I kinda wonder why they bothered.
Could have instead been the V3 with an optional external antenna port & then sell Wyze antennas as upgrades. Include a battery slot or optional Wyze branded external battery pack, and Wyze branded outdoor cases. Basically option each camera to suit its needs.
I’m sure they’re working on it, but if this is all they could come up with being their “biggest announcement since 2017” then it’s kind of a joke. It took 3 years to “design” this? Seriously?
And why does the camera (by itself) cost 4 times more than the base station? Shouldn’t the camera by itself cost closer to $29? Can’t wait what their next product announcement will be in another 3 years… Underwhelmed to say the least.
To be totally frank there is literally nothing the outdoor camera brings of value to the table in comparison to the existing V2. In fact for a “successor” product it actually is worse in many ways.
Like many others I have used V2’s and Pan’s outside with little or no protection. At least with them I can have continuous recording. I can also rig them up to be battery backed and or solar powered. Yes it violates the warranty, but at 25 bucks a pop I don’t mind.
With RTSP I can keep the footage centralized. So literally the Outdoor Cam is a huge step backwards in so many ways. Maybe the value proposition will appear in future updates?
I agree with you 100%. Wyze set the bar really high with the V1 and V2 and since it’s been out for so long, users have found out ways to use them outdoors too (leaving it under a roof so it doesn’t get wet, purchasing a 3rd party weatherproofing kit/mount etc).
Unless i’m not reading the description correctly, the distance is limited by the cam and its receiver distance (which is limited by the cable to the wifi box). That makes it useless for me.
I have about a dozen wyze devices all over my house (big distances and stone walls) and an extender takes care of my farther away devices just fine.
So how do I use the outdoor cam when my router is in a house addition (not the main house), with a stone wall and 75 ’ away? I have cameras in that section and on multiple floors that work fine for me.
The restriction in distance is a show stopper for me. I’m surprised others don’t have that worry.
