In the nearly seven years since its first camera launched, Wyze has seen a huge surge in popularity as an affordable home security solution thanks to its dynamic range of indoor and outdoor cameras. While other cameras cost hundreds of dollars, Wyze has kept its devices under $100 without making major sacrifices in quality.
The Wyze Cam v4 is the latest addition to the brand’s core camera lineup. It promises some new features, including the most detailed image quality in the lineup yet and a new feature. You might think the new camera would be 15-20% more expensive than its predecessor, but nope — this latest generation is only $36, the same price as its predecessor. With the Cam v3 now on sale on the heels of its new sibling, is the new Cam v4 worth buying?
Wise Camera Version 4
Cam v4 is Wyze’s newest and most feature-rich camera yet. Use it indoors as a pet cam or baby monitor, or outdoors for continuous protection, day or night — with color night vision that preserves detail, 2.5K video, and a motion-activated spotlight to welcome guests, both welcome and uninvited.
- The camera quality is great for this price range.
- Wired to provide continuous power
- Local storage without subscription required
- Although marketed as an indoor/outdoor cable, the outdoor cable is another purchase.
- The brand has had some recent security issues.
- Does not integrate with Apple HomeKit
Price, availability and specifications
Since its launch in late March of this year, the Wyze Cam v4 has been widely available at most online electronics retailers. You can get the Cam v4 directly from Wyze or from your favorite online store, such as Amazon, Best Buy, or Home Depot. Its manufacturer’s suggested retail price is around $36.
What’s good about Wyze Cam v4?
The features and specs of this camera are truly impressive, given its price range. The image of a visitor or passerby won’t be quite as clear as it is on higher-priced cameras, but the Cam v4’s 2.5K QHD resolution provides a clear enough image to keep important details, like faces, well-detailed up to about 10 feet away.
So, as an outdoor security camera, Wyze’s greatest strength lies in close-up surveillance, like a porch. The further away you go, the more fine detail starts to blur. The example below shows a passerby 15 to 20 feet away from the outdoor camera, uncropped versus cropped.
Installation is quick, easy, and versatile. Wyze includes an option to mount the camera via a magnetic base that you can attach to the camera using 3M tape. While I couldn’t think of any useful applications for myself, this sounds like something that might benefit some users and that I haven’t seen on other cameras.
With guidance from the Wyze app, getting the Cam v4 up and running indoors took less than five minutes—just set it up where you want it, plug it in, and follow the steps in the app. Outdoor setup takes a bit of work, as it involves mounting and finding a spot with good Wi-Fi and a strong signal, but my outdoor Cam v4 was still up and running within 10 minutes.
My experience with the Cam v4 indoors was very simple and almost identical to the Cam v3. Due to the close distance, the pictures of pets and people became much clearer. The floodlight was not used much indoors but unexpectedly became a very useful motion activated night light.
The new motion-activated light is 72 lumens and offers two brightness levels. At 72 lumens, it’s not enough brightness to blind unexpected visitors at night, but it’s definitely enough to get their attention. The same goes for the remotely activated siren; a lawyer or intruder will definitely know they’ve been detected, but you won’t wake the neighbors.
Now, let’s move on to the app. An unexpected feature of the Cam v4 release is that the Wyze mobile app appears to have gotten a major update to coincide with the launch of the new camera. This update addresses some of the navigation and general UI issues I encountered in my two years as a Cam v3 user. But if the Cam v4 is your first Wyze device and you’re new to the app, you’ll find a smooth, easy-to-use platform that makes live streaming, using two-way audio, viewing photos or video history, or adding timelines a breeze.
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One note: When you purchase a new Wyze device, you get a free trial of Cam Plus, a subscription service that offers a variety of features like cloud video storage and activity recognition for people, vehicles, and animals.
However, if you purchase two Wyze devices — for example, one for indoor use and one for outdoor use — they won’t be included in the Cam Plus trial period. Only the device that activates first will get the temporary benefits, so keep that in mind when setting up your new products.
While you can subscribe to cloud-based video storage, it’s not required. The Cam v4’s MicroSD slot can store up to 512GB of archive footage. Wyze is one of the few security camera brands that I’d say is worth it when used without a subscription, thanks to local storage and the fact that even without a subscription, the app will store a screenshot of motion detected in case you can’t access the live feed in time.
I love that professional monitoring is an optional add-on to the Wyze ecosystem and is competitively priced. Finally, one of my favorite features of the app is the list of pre-set rules. Here, you can set up instructions for the cameras to follow when you’re home or away, and these pre-set rules become useful widgets at the top of the app’s home screen.
What’s bad about Wyze Cam v4?
Aside from the Cam v4’s drawbacks of staying in the budget range, there are a few complaints to note about Wyze’s latest camera. Starting with a minor annoyance first: Why did Wyze release the Cam v3 in black and white, but the Cam v4 in white and a light gray that also looks like white?
I received one camera of each color for this test, and as you can see in the photos of this review, which show the white and gray cameras, the difference is barely noticeable. I generally prefer black housing on my electronics to hide dust, fingerprints, and pet hair — so I’m hoping the black model becomes a permanent option for Wyze cameras after version 3.
It also seems a bit misleading that the Wyze Cam 4 is an indoor/outdoor camera, but it doesn’t come ready for outdoor use right out of the box. The USB-C to USB-A power cable included with the Cam v4 isn’t weatherproof. Sure, that’s probably mentioned somewhere in the small print of the manual, but it seems a wise question to ask. heDo you have your horses, your partner; do you have a weatherproof outdoor power adapter? When the user indicates in the app that he is installing a new external camera.
Alternatively, you probably won’t realize you don’t have everything you need for outdoor use until you install the camera, power it with the apparently indoor-only cable, and activate it on the app—if you realize it at all. So you need that extra $6 power adapter to use the Cam v4 “safely” outdoors, but it’s not clear that this is necessary.
My v4 outdoor camcorder has been plugged in and running for several days using its default power cable, so I’ll be sure to let you know if the electrical infrastructure in my home or elsewhere is damaged as a result. (This issue predates the v4 outdoor camcorder and applies to the v3, so if you don’t have a weatherproof outdoor cable, you’d better get one!)
Competing outdoor cameras, like the Blink Outdoor 4, still cost double or triple (at least) the price of the Wyze Cam v4, even with the purchase of the additional adapter, so the inconvenience pales in comparison to the affordability.
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The Cam v4’s automatic color night vision was intermittent at times. Color night vision can be set to always on, off, or auto-on and can be turned on in dusk (fairly low light) or dark (very low light) conditions.
Regardless of my lighting preferences, the camera seemed to switch between color night vision and black and white night vision at random, despite no changes in lighting conditions, as shown below, with the camera recording in most cases, except one, in black and white despite my preference being set to automatic color vision and this was in the middle of the night. On the plus side, it looked excellent when color night vision was on.
Some other quick points: Wyze cameras have a less-than-perfect reputation when it comes to security and user privacy. There’s more background on the latest security issue (February 2024) in previous Android Police reports, but this could be a major setback for users who value the tight security and privacy of a home security brand. Also, while Wyze cameras work well with Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa, they unfortunately don’t integrate with Apple HomeKit.
Should you buy it?
After recent privacy concerns, it’s hard to recommend Wyze’s latest camera for indoor use. There are alternatives to indoor cameras, like the second-generation Ring Indoor Cam , that don’t have a recent security scandal to blame. For shoppers who didn’t close this review and remove the Cam v4 from their shopping carts after reading about the security issues, I think this camera is a great option for close-up outdoor monitoring like a small patio or patio/stairs. Of course, without a wireless battery, outdoor use may not be for you.
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If you need a wireless camera, the Wyze Cam v4 isn’t for you. This line of cameras doesn’t offer a battery-powered model and probably never will since Wyze has its own line of wireless cameras. This doesn’t make a huge difference when using the Cam v4 indoors, but wired cameras can be a challenge to use outdoors, depending on the layout of your home.
The Wyze’s features are highly competitive, with cameras costing three to four times as much. Comparing the Cam v4’s footage to higher-quality cameras will reveal the first camera’s weaknesses in detail retention and clarity. However, if you’re confident in the safety of your neighborhood and don’t need a crystal-clear view of everyone walking by, the Wyze Cam v4 is a great choice.
Wise Camera Version 4
Cam v4 is Wyze’s newest and most feature-rich camera yet. Use it indoors as a pet cam or baby monitor, or outdoors for continuous protection, day or night — with color night vision that preserves detail, 2.5K video, and a motion-activated spotlight to welcome guests, both welcome and uninvited.
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