Will Wyze’s latest cut-price Cam be enough to alleviate security concerns?
Budget smart home specialist Wyze is back, with the latest version of its cheap-as-chips smart security camera.
The Wyze Cam v4 takes a lot of the features from the Wyze 3rd-gen security camera, and also the likes of the Wyze Cam Plus and the Battery Cam Pro, but adds Wi-Fi 6 to the mix.
This means, according to Wyze at least, an extra 20m of range for the camera.
I’m not sure that’s exactly how Wi-Fi 6 works but it should definitely mean an improvement in wireless performance; provided you’ve got a Wi-Fi 6 router, such as the Eero Pro 6E in place, that is.
There’s still only 2.4GHz Wi-Fi on offer though, which is a bit of a shame, but I suppose some fat needs to be trimmed to keep the price tag below $40.
Back to what you do get and the Wyze Cam v4 also ups the resolution to 2.5 QHD (2560×1440), with HDR smarts on offer too.
The field of view has also had a bump, up to diagonal, 115.8º; horizontal, 98.5º; and vertical, 53.1º.
Like every single tech launch in 2024 there is, of course, AI on board too; with Wyze telling us that its Edge AI means faster notifications, more accurate detections, and Smart Focus.
The AI isn’t quite as smart as that of the, more expensive, Wyze Cam Plus but there is still person recognition available.
Now, while the price tag and the quality of Wyze’s ever expanding arsenal of budget smart home tech isn’t in question, some reservations still need to be made because of the company’s recent high profile security blunders.
Back in February, Wyze emailed customers and apologised after a camera breach let 13,000 customers briefly see into other people’s homes.
Wyze was keen to point out that this amounts to less than 0.25% of all of its Cam users but this breach was hot on the heels of a similar incident in September 2023, when the online camera portal was showing some users the wrong camera feeds.
So… if you’re looking at one of these cheap Wyze Cams, maybe don’t have them pointing at your bed.
If you are willing to take a punt with privacy roulette, then the Wyze v4 costs $35.98 and is available direct from Wyze right now. If you act fast, it’s actually available briefly for $29.99 for launch.
