I just started using Wyze cam v3 and Thermostat and i really liked these product that made me also buy the Wyze Cam Outdoor lately and this camera is terrible, it seems this camera was designed with the idea of having subscription to make more money. It not like the camera cannot record motion event to sd card. I have hardwire hikvision security system installed in my house. I install survailance security camera as a part time job, i have a lot of experience with Ring, Blink, Eufy, Ezviz, Arlo smart cameras. For somone that install reolink, hikvision, amcrest, annke I hate to hear about i have to buy subscription for smart cameras specialy Ring is the worst of all, these smart camera should be easy to install, use and no need for subscription. Your Outdoor Cam records only 12sec video and 5 minute cooldown, this is absolutely useless to anyone that exist probably [Mod Edit]. And you need your listings anywhere it being sold to have in the title ( Paid Subscription Required). Does wyze have any plans on updating this outdoor cam to allow motion activated events record to sd card, maybe you guys have already updated it or it in progress based on the reviews i read on amazon, i have already returned mine to amazon so i can,t check. I am concerned and care because i really like the simplicity of the wyze cam v3 and thermostat.
For the WYZE cam outdoor you do not need to pay , get Cam Plus lite and set cooldown time to 1 min. You can record to the SD in the camera also using scheduled event recording. See two links:
The camera was designed with battery life in mind, which is why they do not do all the things a V3 does. They are designed to stay asleep (not recording to anything) until a heat source passes by and wakes them up. Then they record the event, and go back to sleep.
So, the outdoor cam i have will no longer record clips to the cloud unless I pay? Ok, so why wont it record them to the SD card? Saying battery life is the issue makes no sense at all since the video is sent to the same base and then to the net.
On top of that, I have a regular cam that will no longer record events, no matter what I do, whereas my other one does. And, yes, all my cameras have the latest firmware installed.
Im at the point that I’m now considering junking these cameras, including a Pan Cam and replacing them with something else. Probably the wrong place to ask but Im open to suggestions. I’m just not interested in paying a subscription and would rather store my data/videos myself.
This has been frustrating since Wyze originally stated that you would not need a subscription, but now has gone back on that (or at least crippled the original features). The fact that i cant record clips to my SD card is the final straw.
Dude like i said, i have every single popular smart cameras, I understand this cameras better than you do. My concern is the camera is designed with subscription model and their sales listing online and in stores are not saying subscription required. Cam plus lite is useless 12 seconds 5 minimum cooldown this is the worst thing ever this shouldn’t even be a thing. Since your not knowledgeable let me explain, reolink argos is battery powered does the same exatly thing as the wyze outdoor cam except it records motion activated event to sd card. If i am a professional network and security camera installer i should already know battery powered camera don’t continuously record 24/7 obviously. My problem is Wyze needs to give buyers more information before they buy their products. No money is not a problem, greed is the problem here. All i am asking is for Wyze to make sure the reseller have it in the title or description says Subscription required for this device. And please don’t reply if you don’t understand next time.
Why your replying do you even have Wyze Cam outdoor. Cam Lite is a 12 second recording and 5 minutes cooldown, 5 minutes cooldown is the only option available for it the only way to get 1 minute cooldown is to pay for Cam Plus. Everyone stop talking about Cam lite. Let say you have cam lite something falsely triggered the camera and it records 12 and go back to a 5 minute cooldown there so many thing that can happen in that 5 minute cooldown. When i used to be a delivery driver 5 minutes i can deliver to 10 houses. In 5 minutes time frame i would probably delivered your package and someone else already stole it before your camera comes off the 5 minutes cooldown, so yeah it completely useless. I have single cameras that cost $600 with vehicle/human detection and still misses recognizing than, but they make it up by recording continuously 24/7 so i can play it and watch everything. No i am not asking for the Wyze Cam Outdoor to Record continuously 24/7. They either have to lower the cooldown to 10 seconds seems appropriate or Just say subscription required. Because for this camera to be viable you need Cam Plus, and even with cam plus it 1 minute cooldown. I am sure if your getting this camera your priority is gonna be security over battery life since that why your getting the device in the first place.
@Newshound understands perfectly. He is stating Wyze’s reasoning behind the decision to disallow continuous SD recording or longer than 12-sec event recordings.
If you wish to effect change to Wyze’s decision, please provide your use case as a reply to and/or vote for the following Wishlist items. Comments elsewhere and personal attacks on fellow Wyze users and volunteers will not effect the change you wish to see.
I am glad you’re a such a camera genius and yes I have had the same 4 Wyze Cam Outdoor since October 2020. While using CP lite the cams are set for 1 min. cooldown. I am doing scheduled event recording to the SD in the cameras, NO COOLDOWN and they will record motion up to the 2 min time limit I set, You can set it to a max of 5 Min. per video. And I can play the videos that are recorded to the camera’s album from the app.
I own 10 Wyze V2 and V3 cams and am very happy with its performance. HOWEVER, I just purchased 4 wyze outdoor cam camo bundle packs along with solar panels. Recently after installation, I realized that there is NO PLAYBACK feature unlike the V2 and V3. The camera is battery powered, and I understand that playback could drain power, however a connection to a SOLAR PANEL for unlimited power should enable this (UPDATE??). Also say you don’t have not purchased the solar panel, the base station is connected to electricity and has a SEPERATE SD card insert, and is connected via ethernet, so images/recordings from the camera are transferred to the base station, then the base station sends that info to your app (for playback). Now if this is the case, then you should be able to PLAYBACK from the BASE STATION. Its the same system of a V2/V3 but in 2 stages. WYZE PEOPLE, update this ASAP!!! this feature should be updated and enabled either by solar panels (that you sell), OR you should enable the playback feature VIA the base station!!! fix asap, or a lot of returns will be coming in soon…tick tock, tick tock…thanks Omer…
The WCO requires Cam Plus Lite to record videos, there is no way to playback videos from the base unless you remove the SD and use a PC or card reader as you have noted. Also back up to the base is questionable. See this thread.
Whereas the Solar Panel is overkill for keeping a Outdoor Camera charged under normal conditions (a sunny day or two every few months), it is not capable of running an Outdoor Camera in live view or constantly recording more than a couple hours a day (even to the Base station). Exceed that, and the battery will continually fall behind on charging. So they really can’t add the capability, even with a solar panel attached.
Best thing is to buy direct powered V3s for where you want constant recording. The WOCs specialty is going where you must use a battery-powered camera, where they stay asleep (not recording to anything) until a heat source passes by and wakes them up.
Thanks to this thread, I figured out how to keep my 3 outdoor cameras recording video. This is why I originally purchased the cameras: to not have a sub fee. For those wondering how to get video recorded to the SD cards again, do this:
This is silly. I have to sign up for something, pay zero dollars, to get this camera to do what the others do right now? For what? What are we giving up when we sign up / agree to some terms and conditions for this feature to get turned on?
Not going to jump through hoops to get a basic feature enabled for this camera. my goodness these outdoor cams are about useless.
Totally agree that lack of playback from the base (which remains on utility power) is a MAJOR oversight and should be corrected prior to things like scales being upgraded…
