My Car was Broken Into.......Viofo +1 - If only myGeckoGear had hardwire kit

[Harsh]

There are now some reasonably priced weather resistant and waterproof cases/mounts available for the Wyze cams.

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There's also a new outdoor WyzeCam. Much more expensive than the original though, but still reasonable.

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Yes I've seen these on AE. One is looking at a staircase and the other one is also covered as it's under an awning, so never felt the need to waterproof them.

 

[DT MI]

I would be hard pressed to recommend the Wyze cameras right now. While their cameras are pretty good for the price they have a major problem in testing their software and firmware. The last 3 significant S/W or F/W changes either broke the cameras or made them incompatible with some other product. I bought their 'smart' plugs but the app version needed to control the plugs didn't work properly with the cameras - you had to choose one product or the other. Took about 2 months for that problem to be fixed.

The most recent update caused the IR lights on the cameras to activate when going into 'night mode' even if you have them set to stay off. Makes placing the camera behind glass a real problem. So now I have to wait until each camera goes into 'night mode' and turn off the IR lights.

If ever there was a case of a company using their customers to do Beta testing Wyze is winning that race. Not happy at all.

 

[Dashmellow]

Yes I've seen these on AE. One is looking at a staircase and the other one is also covered as it's under an awning, so never felt the need to waterproof them.

Yeah, I just mentioned them because you commented that they're not waterproof. I've considered something like that as an adjunct to my CCTV system and current Wyze Cam because even under an awning or porch the weather conditions here would probably cause a moisture problem eventually from mist, fog or windblown rain.

 

[Harsh]

The Chinese version on more recent firmwares is quite stable. Earlier the most frequent issue I faced was either camera going offline once in a while.

The 2 new ones with 4 IR LEDs have better video quality but the lens is much narrower compared to the 2 IR LED version. The offline issue was with the older model, with the new ones it's happened once with one of the cams. Have had the new ones for about 4 months.

 

[Harsh]

If you're looking to capture faces beyond 5 metres, I'd give these a miss.

 

[Harsh]

At night, 2-3 metres.

 

[Dashmellow]

Anybody have experience with the Amazon Blink cams? Occasionally, they go on sale at very attractive prices and I've considered trying one.

https://www.amazon.com/stores/page/C5DECBBE-4F56-4C36-B933-E62144578691

 

[HonestReview]

Anybody have experience with the Amazon Blink cams? Occasionally, they go on sale at very attractive prices and I've considered trying one.

https://www.amazon.com/stores/page/C5DECBBE-4F56-4C36-B933-E62144578691

Includes free cloud storage. Those look very attractive in pricing. I wonder how they perform, too. Will have to research them.

 

[Dashmellow]

Includes free cloud storage. Those look very attractive in pricing. I wonder how they perform, too. Will have to research them.

If you decide to buy one please let us know your experience.

I forget what the price was but last year on Amazon Prime Day they were selling them dirt cheap. Black Friday too.

The 2 year battery life on two AA lithium batteries appeals to me. I have a full time CCTV system but living on a rural property I can think of a couple of places I would use a cam like this out where I have no power available. Depends on what the WiFi range is.

 

[SawMaster]

The Cnet article I linked to has links in it to a lot more cams and more info. Cnet is trustworthy but they're not really camera experts so their reviews and thoughts need to be taken as such. The way I see it, tucking a standard WYZE in tight under a soffit or similar will work for awhile, and it's cheap enough to risk, easy to use, and one he!! of a lot better than nothing. Get one or two (or something similar like Ring or Arlo) and learn from them, then decide on what you really need after that. Doorbell cams work well up close and a lot of people have them now.

These 'simple and basic' cams aren't great or terribly secure but darn few regular criminals or vandals are going to try to attack them electronically because A- They probably won't notice them B- They aren't going to put that much effort into anything without a certain and valuable payoff C- They likely don't know how to do an electronic attack. The biggest risk is that they'll do a physical attack on the cam(s) if they can locate them. If they see more than one they'll likely reconsider if their apparent coverage area overlaps as then they will be seen by one cam or the other when they try to neutralize one meaning they're going to get caught.

Same as dashcams they can't prevent anything or guarantee you'll catch the bad guy(s) but they're a step in the right direction and they can serve as a deterrent.

Phil

 

[HonestReview]

The Cnet article I linked to has links in it to a lot more cams and more info. Cnet is trustworthy but they're not really camera experts so their reviews and thoughts need to be taken as such. The way I see it, tucking a standard WYZE in tight under a soffit or similar will work for awhile, and it's cheap enough to risk, easy to use, and one he!! of a lot better than nothing. Get one or two (or something similar like Ring or Arlo) and learn from them, then decide on what you really need after that. Doorbell cams work well up close and a lot of people have them now.

These 'simple and basic' cams aren't great or terribly secure but darn few regular criminals or vandals are going to try to attack them electronically because A- They probably won't notice them B- They aren't going to put that much effort into anything without a certain and valuable payoff C- They likely don't know how to do an electronic attack. The biggest risk is that they'll do a physical attack on the cam(s) if they can locate them. If they see more than one they'll likely reconsider if their apparent coverage area overlaps as then they will be seen by one cam or the other when they try to neutralize one meaning they're going to get caught.

Same as dashcams they can't prevent anything or guarantee you'll catch the bad guy(s) but they're a step in the right direction and they can serve as a deterrent.

Phil

Yep. Like the dumb kids who broke into my car. They could have trashed the cameras but didn't even bother. Too stupid, distracted, or unaware. The arlos look nice. So do those Amazon Cameras. However, the Amazon ones have mixed ones. Lots of people unhappy that arlos charges subscription fee per camera. So if you have say 4 or 5 units. it'll cost $15 USD or something a month. Or so was the example that someone gave of $3 USD per camera.

Im looking into cameras. Glad I have them on my car. Just want to see which system may work best before buying anything. When / if I do.