V3 Cam First Impressions

Cameras
,
1

Received the v3 Cam today.
Had some difficulty getting it setup.
It took 4 tries of plugging it in, and pressing the Setup button to get the ting to say the" Ready to connect" line, now a male voice, that was a surprise.

(Fresh out of box, the Wyze v2 cams have always been auto “Ready to connect” for me at first power on, never had to press the setup button for first setup.)

It setup fine after that stumble and had a firmware update.
(i noticed later it had another one, to v 4.36.0.248, but it did not show a pop up as i was testing the cam to update to this version, it only showed in the Firmware update section of the app)

I am having significant issues though getting it to work…
It is very often not loading/connecting in the app the live stream.
And it is saying Device Offline a few times now, requiring me to power cycle the cam.
Then after maybe 5 min, its back to connection issues, and then offline.
None of my other wifi devices, wyze plugs and such, are having any issues, so it is not my wifi.

There are a few things I would like to note about the v3 cam for my initial and brief test of it…while it will load in the app.
I still to setup one of my v2 cams next to it to fully compare.

The mic sensitivity does not appear to be any better. The sub par audio quality of the Wyze cams is the worst part of them.
Same as the V2, it is near field pickup, and no where near as good as the mic in my Unifi G3Flex cam which can pic up sound in other rooms, even very quite talking.
The volume for live playback is also quite low, even with my phone on max.
There does appear to be a tad better noise suppression processing in the V3, so it has a tiny bit better clarity to the audio capture than the v2, but again, only when it actuly picks up sound, like when you are standing no more than ~8 feet from the front of it.

The 'Talk" function, where you can speak through the cameras internal speaker…
It is very low volume. In a dead quite room, it is just like somone talking in a low voice next to you.
The V2 cams, your voice comes blasting out very loud, over powering the tiny speaker even.
The clarity and quality is significantly better though on the v3…but I would say that is due to it not being over amped and clipping badly, as is how the v2 cams sound when I speak through them, using the same phone.

Picture quality of the video image appears same if not better than the v2.
I have not had truly compared side to side the image captures yet.

THE SIREN!!!
Yikes! I started it, and the banner in the app gave a STOP option, but it did NOT work to stop it, does not even acknowledge the tap. So, it is stuck playing for 30 secs with no way to stop it. This needs to be fixed in the app.
Anyway, it is not that loud at all. Only a tad louder than your average smartphone ring tone.

I really like the Dual IR LED setup they have in the V3.
Long range and short range options, where the Shirt range are invisible when u look at the cam.

Not sure how a feel about the attached cable.
Really like the wall mount hole in the stand, that makes things so much easier in many use cases.

For sure looks more “Outdoor” type cam, as it is a but more chucky and solid feel to its construction, with rubber button and the rubber cover for the sd card.
However, i have had a v2 cam stuck outside for 3yrs+ now, and it has seen rain, hail, snow…temps well below (-30F)and above(115F) its rated specs, and it is still working fine)

Overall, decent evolution of these cheap, but amazing little $20 cams.

Hope they make a black model, for use in stealth setups.
(the “Panda” look sure makes it stand out and easy to spot)

Pixel 3 Android 11
Wyze app version: 2.17.6

1 Like
2

Had a chance to compare the V3 to the V2.

Picture quality is worlds better. Sharp and detailed.
Wider angle.
The v2 has always been mushy and overall blurry to my eyes, when used indoors.

The mic on the V3, noticeably lower sensitivity. Lower background sound, but a voice can only be picked up when very near the camera.
Standing on the other side of the room, just around a corner, the v2 cam picks up the conversation just so; the v3, wont hear anyone’s voice until they walk into the room and is at least 12feet from the cam, about 7 feet to actuly clearly understand what they are saying.

The sound output of the internal speaker when speaking through the v3 is indeed noticeably lower than the v2. I can barely hear the persons voice, in a dead quite room.
The v2, seems to vary a bit, i have had a couple cams that the voice comes out super loud and over blown, others that are almost as low volume as the v3 i now have.
I have noticed that the phone one uses has different results too, my Pixel 3 speaking through, super quite, my mother Moto G7 Play, tad louder pickup, but still to low to hear in the same room as the cam.

Low light performance is greatly improved.
Indoors, far far better picture than the v2, especially with no IR leds on.
I have not a use for this outdoors as of yet, but can believe what the main product page shows as an outdoor example for night use.

Overall, very good upgrade for video quality, but down grade for audio.
Quite happy to see the v3 replace the v2 in stores…sometime.
For $20 each, they sure are a good cheap/budget DIY stickup security cam/cloud cam device. The v3 brings the bar up and makes them far more on par with much more expensive cams for this use.

1 Like
3

My v3 arrived yesterday. I was hoping for basically a v2 with improved resolution and low light performance. I intended to replace a pan cam looking out over my front porch with it, keeping an eye out for package deliveries and such.

First impressions were a) no person detection, so I was getting notifications every time a car drove by after dark, and b) wide angle lens so the image is distorted. Depending on the use, that might not be much of an issue, but as it stands currently, the v2 and pan cams are better than the new v3. At least so far.

4

I’ve had my V3 a few weeks now. I’m no tech expert by any means, just stating what I notice about the V2 to V3

Picture quality- during the day I’d say is probably a little better than the V2 but not much.
But the night time is where the V3 shines!! I use mine for exterior security only and so to have everything in full color now at night with great resolution vs a B&W image…no comparison. This alone to me makes the V3 worth it. Great job Wyze :+1::+1:

Siren- it works, it’s nice to have. Will I personally ever use it? Probably not. But that’s me.

Issues- is it the cam or the app I’m not sure? But I notice the detection range from the V3 isn’t as far as my V2s. My V2s will pick up anyone walking down the drive (100’ away maybe? w/same sensitivity) all the time. The V3 range doesn’t seem to “reach” as far. I’d guess the range is about 75’ unless it’s a much bigger object like a car/truck. Even the kids on their bikes isn’t picked up or the dog running (80 lb dog) Not unless it’s a MUCH bigger object like a car coming in the drive does it pick up movement, so that’s disappointing.
But even the person detection seems glitchy lately. Getting a lot of false positives for someone at the door and it’ll be a car driving by or a cat on the porch. Hopefully the hard working folks at wyze are can get this sorted soon. But it’s a minor thing IMO.
Either way, for what I use it for, the V3 is far better than the V2. I’m very happy with it and will be ordering more once they get more inventory…hopefully soon!! :grin:

5

I’d like to know when the v3 low-light technology will be seen in the Wyze Cam Pan.