Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsGreat outdoor cam for night security
Reviewed in Canada on February 6, 2023
I've had this cam for a couple of weeks now. I bought it for my apartment balcony because someone was using a barbecue at night several times a week and the fumes were blowing into my windows. Barbecues are prohibited in our lease. I needed a good night vision camera to find out who it was. When I first got the camera I was very impressed with the crystal clear picture quality for both day and night. The motion detection is sensitive (it detected the bird in my photo). I also liked the many features in the app to configure motion sensing, for example you can set it to detect human activity, pets, etc. This camera is designed to be installed in many ways. I ended up using cable ties to strap it to an old speaker stand on my balcony.
As soon as I installed the camera, the late night barbecue ninja stopped polluting my apartment. So they make a good deterrent. I also enjoy using it to see the view from the balcony. But tonight this camera really proved itself. I was watching TV and the cam's alert sound started going off every minute or so. I checked the event footage and saw that a balcony 100 meters away on the floor below me was completely engulfed in flames! Also, I could zoom in and see a person moving around among the flames. I could see that they were waving their arms around trying to get the fire under control. The camera had detected both the movement of the flames and the person on the balcony. This camera also has a web view feature, so I opened the footage on my large PC monitor which allowed me to see more details.
I called the fire department and they got here within a few minutes. By the time they arrived, the balcony was engulfed in white smoke. I wasn't sure which apartment number it was, so I went out to meet the fireman and showed him the video alerts from the camera on my phone. He was impressed with the clarity of the video footage which allowed him to find the apartment quickly. Luckily when he got there the tenant had put the flames out on their own. The fireman told me it was a barbecue fire, which is why they aren't permitted here. He also told me I did the right thing by calling them. Tomorrow the landlord's getting an email with some interesting video footage.
I'm so impressed with this camera that I'm planning on buying another one. Right now I have a competitor's camera system indoors (Blink), and they are vastly inferior to the Wyze cameras with a far more expensive subscription. I will eventually replace them with Wyze cameras as well. I also recommend the Wyze subscription, it's inexpensive and packed with extra features to configure the camera and its alerts.