New to wyze? overall experience with wyze products?

Lifestyle
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I’m curious about others overall experience with Wyze and whether you would continue to buy Wyze products. Here’s my experience:

I own Wyze (1) scale, (2) home monitoring system (door sensors, motion) and (3) outdoor cameras.

Wyze products are inexpensive compared to competitors and are very well-constructed. However, none of the products performs consistently as it should. My scale routinely fails to connect to the Wyze App and fails to record data. My cameras consistently fail to record “events” (people passing in view). I can correct all these failings by rebooting, etc., but it gets very tiring. The failure of my security cameras to capture basic images renders them virtually useless.

CONCLUSION: If low cost is your primary goal, Wyze is the unquestionable choice. But if you want products that work consistently and are maintenance-free, choose another brand. If you can afford to pay more, you should absolutely choose another option. For home security, the inconsistent performance of Wyze cameras makes them wholly unsuited for the job.

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Overall, I have minimal issues with Wyze products. I wouldn’t rate them as consumer level though or as a security rated. They require some level of technical knowledge and just exploration to understand and use most of the time (Thermostat, I’m looking at you!).

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I have two outdoor cams (one is a replacement because the first was causing trouble) and one V2 cam (v3 wasn’t yet available). All of them are about 6 months old.

Both outdoor cams are not functioning right. This is a recent problem I’m trying to solve.

Tech help has been overall pretty poor. It takes days to get a reply and then I get a canned answer to charge the camera, turn it off, etc. Very basic suggestions and I’ve usually mentioned that I have done these things when I report a problem. I reply that I’ve done that already and 2 days later they ask me to assess a person’s help, sometimes even a name I haven’t heard from. And I still don’t have a reply to my response! On facebook they are incredibly nice but just say that someone will help me, and nobody does.
Tech help took a 3 day vacation over the holiday. For someone dealing with a serious security issue, this was appalling.

The website consistently since December does not acknowledge that I am a cam plus subscriber - yes I am logged in, yes I have used different browsers, yes I have tried incognito browsers, etc, and I cannot get the member pricing on items. Tech help doesn’t care, takes days to answer requests for help, and I just give up on ordering items as a result. Their only solution is for me to order at regular price and they will refund me the difference. I’m skeptical.

On the plus side: cams alert me much faster than Ring (which had a 2 minute delay!!), and the community forum is far more helpful and kind!
I’ve figured out how to upload videos and photos for a documenting task I need to do.
Cam quality is pretty good.
I agree with Vaaish that you need some level of technical knowledge and also you need the forums for real help.

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I do not consider any of the cams as security cameras. They are not reliable enough.

I also had a WCO replaced, for battery issues. They are probably reliable for monitoring a narrow area, with no regular traffic, that extends no more than 25 feet away. The replacement discharges 25% a week so did not resolve the problem. In cold weather, the batteries on both were discharging erratically.

I am considering a V3 for outdoors just to see if it can cover more area PLUS I am getting tired of recharging the WCO batteries every 4 weeks.

My V2 points through a window. It is hit and miss picking up movement beyond 30 feet. It has person detection, which isn’t that consistent.

My first generation sensors have been staying connected recently. They were disconnecting on a regular basis not too long ago. Same with my Bulbs.

My Band is OK. I had to stop wearing it to bed, so forget to put it back on often. The Do Not Disturb option does not work, so almost any movement and it lights up.

The scale is a good price if just used as a scale. The other measurements are estimates, and can sometimes not seem consistent. I lost weight, working out and on keto. The scale showed higher fat and less core. I can have a carb day and the readings show lower fat, higher core???

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Someone told me to not do the camera from behind a window, I put it outside on the windowsill and it improved detection and everything a lot.

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Cameras are pretty reliable for remote viewing and basic notification on detection of motion or sound. Person detection is terrible. Cam plus isn’t worth the cost.

The Wyze plugs and bulbs are GARBAGE. They fall off Wifi all the time and half the time they won’t rejoin the wifi even if you delete them and add try to add them back. I’ve got piles of plugs and bulbs from RMA and they don’t work.

Wyze Sense is complete garbage. Avoid it at all costs. Wyze utterly fell on its face with the version 1 Wyze Sense gear and are trying to abandon it as hard and fast as possible with no recourse to customers who own this defective stuff other than to buy new v2 sensors and subscribe to their home monitoring service. One of the ugliest bait and switch schemes I’ve seen in a long time.

Wyze support is awful. Their level 1 support has minimal technical knowledge and their support script is tone deaf. I can’t tell if I am talking to actual humans or chat bots - I suspect chat bots because their responses often indicate what I said is not actually read and understood. The Wyze support script goes like this: 1. Try power cycling everything you own. 2. Delete and re-create all of your rules. 3. Delete devices from your account and try to re-add them. 4. Send RMA replacement devices with the same defects. 5. Repeat the cycle all over again when you contact support because the replacement devices have the same problem.

I regret all fifteen of my Wyze orders and would return it all for refund if they’d let me but they don’t do refunds unless you figure out within 30 days that their stuff is trash. My mistake was giving Wyze the benefit of the doubt that they would improve, but they haven’t, ao, I am stuck in a cycle of death by RMA.

I’ll just keep doing RMA returns until the sun burns out I guess.

edit: I almost forgot how fun the are the frequent back end outages where nothing works or the delayed notifications and actions so you have lights turning themselves off and on in response to motion or contact sensor activities that are hours and hours old.

I bought into Wyze with the expectation of getting hobbyist level performance and they can’t even manage that.

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this helps, as I was wondering why tech help was so so bad. I get those exact same recommendations even though I specifically say I’ve power cycled (cant they use regular terms?) multiple times, etc.
I hate to be down on a company that is doing really innovative and inexpensive products - I want to like them. I just think I’m better off going with researching a new company and product.

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Yes, but I live in a condo so can not mount cameras on the building. I can mount them inside the deck area. The only way to directly monitor my vehicles is from inside and through a window.

I ordered a V3 today. I believe I have a viable way to run power to it. Every few years they power wash the building, including the deck areas.

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Have you identified another brand or setup that you would use if you weren’t stuck w/ the Wyze? As a new user, I did buy 4 V3’s but that’s a pretty small investment so far, so I guess I could still switch. Thanks.

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I couldn’t agree more. I’ve had the exact same issues with Wyze… I REALLY want to LOVE them because of the affordability, but with the reliability as low as it is and their support is as reliably unreliable as their products, it’s hard to recommend them to others, and I am seriously questioning purchasing from them again.

Speaking of purchasing from Wyze… it is SO frustrating that they offer new products so frequently, but their delivery schedule is routinely at LEAST one month behind what they promise - if not more. (example, look at their earbuds PRO - says they are shipping in Mid August, and today is Sept 7th and they still are on BACK ORDER!

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I guess I am an outlier here. I have the following Products and also hooked up my Nephew and In-laws:

  • Wyze Cam Outdoor
  • V3 Cams
  • V2 Cams
  • Video Doorbell
  • Vacuum
  • Scale
  • Hand held Vac
  • Indoor Plugs
  • Outdoor Plug
  • Home Monitoring System
  • V2 Motion Sensors
  • V1 Motion Sensors
  • V2 Contact Sensors
  • V1 Contact Sensors
  • Color Bulbs
  • White Bulbs
  • Watch 47
  • Wyze Band
  • Wyze Buds Pro
  • Wyze Headset
  • Wyze Car

And I have other items on order

I have not experienced any major issues with these devices. I occasionally have a few connection issues with the bulbs, but they do connect.

I should note, that I am not a Wyze Employee, I am a Community member as everyone else. However, I decided to enroll in the Beta Testing for the App and Firmware. This may be the reason I don’t have the same issues as others.

I am very pleased with my Wyze Products and have no plans on leaving anytime soon.

I should also say, I came from SmartThings to Hubitat and finally to Wyze. I like the simplicity of Wyze and coupled with Alexa and Home Assistant makes it a slam dunk to me. Note: Home Assistant Wyze addon recently removed the motion and contact sensors due to the load being placed on the Wyze Servers and the lack of 2FA. Once those are addressed, it should be added back :crossed_fingers:

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“CONCLUSION: If low cost is your primary goal, Wyze is the unquestionable choice. But if you want products that work consistently and are maintenance-free, choose another brand. If you can afford to pay more, you should absolutely choose another option. For home security, the inconsistent performance of Wyze cameras makes them wholly unsuited for the job.”

So my 1st Wyze purchase was 2 Cam Pan’s (which have been working fine)…sometime the Firmware Update will not reboot the Cam and I use Wyze Plug to Turn On-Off the device. Using 6 Plug’s connected to Routers, Access Points, Wyze Cam Pan, Cam V3 for frozen devices at times. I did buy the Home Security Package but wound up donating to GoodWill (not Trusting my home to Wyze). Have 2 Cam Outdoor’s (being replaced with Ring)…the door bell is working OK. Handheld Vac, Color Light Bulb, Pro, Buds Pro, Scale and Headphones are working fine. 47mm watch (in draw as to POS) with reports of Band Chemical skin reactions, power contacts corroding, battery going Poof. Still waiting for Coreless Vac, Night Light, Lightstrip Pro. So Yeh…I have been buying Wyze to see what Low Cost product can do for me. I have purchased Ring Security system and will be decommissioning the Wyze Cam’s and door bell in 2weeks.

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So what brand costs more but is better and more consistent - is it Ring? Also sorry but I don’t know what you mean by Wyze PLugs…would like to know as I find I have to turn the cams on and off periodically.

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Which is a better Car Company…Hyundai or Lexus? Wyze is the Hyundai of devices…Ring also started small but they also Focused on a Core Product Group(been with them 6-7yrs) but then branched out into other product groups.

WP

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But what is YOUR experience. Is Ring a Lexus and it’s worth it to you? I thought Ring was similar in price to Wyze actually. thank you for pic.

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Two of Wyze Beta residence will reply. I will eat some Pop Corn and watch.

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I had Ring and had nothing but problems with it. However, I am sure over the years they have improved. Please note, All vendors have there issues, there is no way around that. All of my products work as advertised with no major issues or issues at all.

In my journey, I have had IP Camera’s like Amcrest, Ring, Arlo, and Eufy Cam. Today I only have Eufy Cams and Wyze Camera’s. There are reasons for this. But you are the only one who can decide what is best for you. To me, one ecosystem is what I am striving for and something which wont break the bank, since I spent money in the others listed above :slight_smile: .

Ultimately, you are being provided what each community members opinion is of the products they have and where they hope to get to. Trust me, there will be a lot of opinions. You will be provided a full range of items from those who simply had issues or just don’t like Wyze to those who have had nothing but a great experience with Wyze.

I personally took this journey and plan on staying with it. I, like others was concerned at one time, but Wyze has had a marked improvement in support, products, firmware, and needless to say the Mods and Mavens, in these forums, are of top quality as well. I may even say better than most other Forums I am a member of.

Difficult decision to make, but personally, I think you can’t go wrong with Wyze. At least it won’t break the bank.

BTW: Hyundai is actually a much better car today than what they were in the past. Lexus is a well designed and made car, but you cannot compare the two. Unless you are convinced that paying higher prices means it is a better product, but I can tell you that is not always the case.

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I drive a Hyundai. It is adequate for my purposes. More knowledgeable/experienced folks’ perspective is a great education. This forum is really informative too. This is my first foray into security cameras and it was between Wyze or getting a DVR (not sure that’s the right term) and cameras recording to that plus cloud if that’s even possible. I went the Hyundai route first to see if it suffices. Thanks everyone for your invaluable insights.

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I have a Kia. :slight_smile:

So my son has the Lorex system with DVR/PVR. Works well but the software need to be updated. But it does work well. It all depends if you want to maintain your own DVR or not. My sons just went on the fritz, so he is looking for an alternative to that.

I wanted more of a hands off approach now and just have it work. Which it does.

Since you want to use it as a security camera, there is a delay because of the Cloud Processing. However, my Wyze Cams are now alerting faster than the Eufy Cams which are local processing - go figure.

Also, you have more control over what you want AI for. Eufy and some other camera systems you don’t. you go through a sensitivity setting which then equates that to an AI process for Person, Animal etc - Eufy does this and it does work, but you cannot indicate to only give Vehicle and person.

Also, I would add CamPlus if you are interested in more control. But it is faster if CamPlus is not on the camera.

Here is a site I look at to find out about Cameras. My Experience now a days is above par and to me alerts on everything now reports immediately. Back in the day, it was delayed. Not saying you wont run into issues, but I can only tell you my experience and how much things have improved.

Here is the site: https://www.youtube.com/c/LifeHackster

EDIT

One other thing to note, in both cases you will need to make sure you have POE or at least power to the locations you would like the power. I would run POE if you decide to test the Wyze Cams and later switch to a NVR like Lorex.

I would recommend to maybe start with one or two v3 camera’s and see if it works for you. Cheap investment and allows you to test and see. I would not put the camera inside facing out of a window, I would mount them outside somewhere. I have been happy with mine.

EDIT 2

Sorry for so many edits, I think of items as I time progresses.

You can also put an SD Card and set it up for continuous monitoring. you can then access the SD Card via the Wyze App or taking it out and plugging it into a computer. Look at this as an NVR per camera.

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Thanks. I got 4 cams and put outside. They seem to go offline a lot. I only really want them so I can look at alerts while I am away. While we are at home, not really watching them. One reason I chose Wyze was that they seem to keep your video clips longer than some others if you didn’t buy into their monitoring program. My thought was if someone broke in or whatever, we’d figure that out before the videos disappear. But I’m thinking of getting Plus anyway b/c every branch movement triggers an alert. When you say maintain your own DVR, do you mean you have to do something actively on a regular basis? Or just that if it breaks, you have to figure it out yourself. Which come to think of it is also true of these Wyze cams - if they break or go offline, you have to deal with it or pay someone to.

POE means what? Yeah I Googled but the meaning in this context isn’t immediately obvious to me.
Mine are using wifi which I thought they all had to do and anyway maybe is why they go offline. As for the SD card, I was under the impression that they actually would not work without one, so I put cards in all of the cams. I set up for continuous though haven’t quite mastered how to watch the card without sitting for a long time looking at branches waving. lol. Would really like to get my desktop or laptop PC or Surface set up so I can stop trying to peer at these images on a phone screen!