Current testing methodology is v1.2
May 30, 2018
$62.00
WYZECP1
13.6 oz
2.36 x 2.36 x 5.02 in
This Wyze Cam Pan review covers the 1080p security camera from Wyze, which, I have to say, quite loudly, is an incredible security camera all loaded into an affordable package!
Let’s dive into this detailed review to learn everything about this incredible device.
New Update Is Here!
Everybody loves when their devices get updated with new features. Wyze Cam Pan’s new person detection feature will surely make you the happiest!
It allows the camera to detect if a person is in the camera’s field of view. This is a pretty cool feature which also includes the ability to search footage based on the identification via person recognition using AI. It’s not weird when it’s in your own home, right? 😉
If you already own a Wyze Cam Pan, you can update the firmware; it is included at no cost. Bonus!
I always feel like I’ve made good decisions on my smart home and security hardware when I continue to get firmware updates for my products.
Table of Contents
| New Update Is Here! |
| Wyze Cam Pan Smart Integrations |
| What Does It Offer: FeaturesStandard Features |
| Connectivity |
| Wyze Cam Pan App |
| Indoor Only |
| Summarizing the Wyze Cam Pan Review |
Wyze Cam Pan Smart Assistant Integrations
The Wyze Cam Pan integrates with:
- Amazon Alexa
- Google Assistant
- IFTTT
This means you can speak to your smart assistant and ask it to show you wherever the camera is. e.g., ‘Alexa, show me the lounge’ or ‘Hey Google, show me the front door.’ If you have an echo Show or Home unit with a screen, you will see the camera view live-streamed to the device.
I think it’s also worth noting the Cam Pan has IFTTT integration. This opens up lots of options. While this camera doesn’t directly connect to my abode security system, I can make it all work together in an acceptable and workable solution.
What Does It Offer: Features
The Wyze Cam Pan has features to burn. This is where you start to wonder how they can sell it or any of their cameras at such a low price.
- It has the ability to rotate at 110° per second. That looks something like this (not 100% accurate):
- The Wyze Cam Pan camera can show you a 360° view of a room in less than 3 seconds. This means you can pan the camera, tilt it and zoom on the camera remotely. This allows a full 360° view all around with remote control access.
You can pinch zoom on the app to zoom in up to 8x on the camera. This is a significant zoom in, considering the size of the average room you’ll have the camera in.
- The scanning works by rotating, or swiveling, between 4 customizable points or positions. At each point, it pauses and records for 10 seconds and then moves on to the next point. It cycles through these 4 points.
- HD and SD recording options – if, for whatever reason, you don’t have the bandwidth or need for full 1080p HD, you can step down the quality to SD quality.
- Like the Ring Doorbell and many other home security cameras, you can do live viewing with the camera. With this feature, you can also choose clips to record and take still images and photos.
- Motion tracking & detection allows you to set the camera to follow any motion it detects. If you don’t want this feature, you can turn it off (it could get annoying if you’re in a room like a lounge and have the camera following you around).
As the camera records and cycles through its 4 set recording positions, or motion following setting, it also marks motion in the footage as it records. This means if you want to review and jump between footage on the camera as you review it, you can move quickly between sections of footage that show movement.
- It is also possible to set notifications in the app for motion & movement. So if you want to know when something moves in the camera’s view, you can get a notification to alert you. Similar to the Ring or Arlo doorbell.
- Another notification feature is to say, ‘Only alert me if there is motion or sound detected between these hours of the day.’ It’s little touches like this that make the Cam Pan so flexible and feature-rich for less than a dinner out!
- You can also customize the motion tracking and recording settings only to record if motion is detected in a certain area of the camera’s view. The challenge with having an always-on recording camera is having hours and hours of footage to review. The motion tagging in the footage helps move through this quickly.
- Similar to the new update to Amazon’s Alexa, the Wyze Cam Pan can use its built-in microphone to detect the typical frequencies of smoke alarms and CO monitors.
- For recording, an SD card option allows you to record to the local SD flash drive. I’m too lazy to bother with that feature and prefer to opt for the cloud storage option. This is managed securely on amazon’s AWS cloud storage network. The same one half the enterprise systems of the world use (NASA, Netflix, Slack etc).
By now, you should be getting a positive vibe throughout this Wyze Cam Pan review. It’s really quite a powerhouse of features! Amazing, isn’t it?
Standard Features
Standard features include:
- 2 Way Audio – speak and listen to and from the camera
- Night vision – when the lights go out (6 infrared LEDs)
- Motion alerts
- Sound Alerts
- 14-day free cloud storage – this is a rolling 14 days.
- Continuous recording (SD card not included. Online storage only includes detected clips – free for up to 14 days)
Connectivity
The Wyze, like most Wyze cameras, uses the 2.4GHz WiFi frequency to operate.
Important Note: It does not work on a 5GHz bandwidth on your home network. So don’t buy this and expect it to be able to free up the 2.4GHz and put it on the 5GHz.
Wyze Cam Pan App
The app is available on the Android and Apple app stores. You’re going to need it to work the camera and leverage all its great features.
Cam Pan Power
No batteries here, people. This comes packaged with a 6-foot power cable/adaptor. 6 feet isn’t huge in terms of reach to remote areas, but mostly everyone is going to have a power socket within 6 feet of the placement of the camera position.
If you decide to mount the camera to the wall or something similar, which is completely possible, then consider the power supply when doing so and before drilling holes in walls!
Indoor Only
The camera is designed for indoor use only.
Summarizing the Wyze Cam Pan Review
Follow your pets while you’re out of the house, secure your house, watch your goldfish from your desk at work, and whatnot! The Wyze Cam Pan is an incredible value-for-money security camera.
While it’s not perfect and may require the odd reboot from time to time, for the money, features and quality, it’s an A+ buying choice.
If you need 100% uptime with military-grade quality and precision, you’re probably overthinking it, but perhaps an affordable camera like this isn’t for you. I have the Ring Doorbell 2 on my front door and even that, for a lot more money, has its own quirks and frustrations – like slow app loading speeds etc.
You don’t have to pay a fortune in online storage fees. The 14 days free is plenty in my opinion.
See more reviews on the Wyze Cam Pan
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Endless hours of experimentation, professional work, and personal investment in Home Theatre, Hi-Fi, Smart Home Automation and Headphones have come to this.
Former owner of Headphones Canada, a high-end headphone specialty retailer.
This post was last updated on 2023-12-03 / Some images from Amazon Product API & some links may be affiliate links which may earn us a commission from purchases.