How to choose the good home security camera

[agnes wang]

I am looking for a nice home security camera to secure the house and monitor the pets, any suggestions? I have searched the one is "Homiee", it is the baby monitor, the camera can rotate 360 x 100 degrees, any other suggestions?

 

[Burkhardt]

We use a the arlo pro for our home and has a great recorded videos, even at night. You can check it if you want. I just feel it's a bit expensive though.

 

[Lineman69]

I really like the blink XT from amazon. it has a great range, i pick one camera up from 150 ft away and there is no charge for the cloud to store the video. app is easy to use also

 

[Elly Wilson]

I purchased a Motorola MBP36 Remote Wireless Video Baby Monitor. Like how it is so easy to move from room to room and the sound on the monitor is really good just not on the camera end. Lightweight good size.

 

[BigNutz]

I am looking for a nice home security camera to secure the house and monitor the pets, any suggestions? I have searched the one is 'Homiee', it is the baby monitor, the camera can rotate 360 x 100 degrees, any other suggestions?

I won't use another brand other than Wyze Cameras. They have two models, a stationary fixed camera and a version w which can be controlled on your phone from anywhere. They were not designed by the manufacturer to be employed outside, but that didn't matter for a couple reasons.

First, the 3rd party aftermarket outdoor gear is plenty and allows both models to function without any additional limitations. There is a huge community of Wyze enthusiasts who play all sorts of homemade ideas as well, if that's your thing. I have not placed any outside yet because I still have a legacy wired BNC cable based CCTV system feeding a traditional DVR setup. Nice and secure, sure, but man there was some pain involved in running to cables, it's expensive to replace cameras, and it's very limited with respect to features. As those cameras die, they will be replaced with Wyze Cameras equipment for sure.

Second, and this should be scaring the hell out of the likes of Arlo and Nest, is the the cost of purchase and cloud storage access. What do the 'premium' companies charge for a stationary fixed 1080p resolution camera, $120.00? And then I believe you need to pay a subscription to have access to the cloud storage in most cases. Well, let's look at the alternatives:

For an equivalent Wyze Camera, stationary fixed 1080p resolution, if you took the same $120.00 to them you be getting..at $20.00 a pop if you can catch a sale, $25.00 each otherwise ...so that's what somewhere betwee 4 and 6 cameras which are at the very least, just as capable, but in most cases are actually more capable than those 'premium' brands.

Before we talk capabilities, what about if you need some pan, tilt, zoom (PTZ) action? Both Wyze cameras offer the same digital zoom feature which is adequate for most folks' needs. So you're upgrading to tune pan and tilt version, which they call the Wyze Pan model, and that will run you about 10 bucks more, between $30.00 and $35.00 each.

So even if you go through one camera per year because you placed them outside, you'll not reach the price of those other brands for 4-6 years with the fixed model and 3-4 years with the Pan model, and the capabilities are unbelievably effective.

These little cameras are enabled to do things that in some cases are not available in cameras 10-50X the cost you pay! So here's what they both offer:

Both the Fixed and Pan cameras offer these features:

Streaming Audio & Video (A/V) Feed
3 Levels User Selected Video Resolution (360p, SD, & HD)
Voice Streaming From Phone to Camera Speaker
User Activated A/V Recording
User Activated Still Image Capture
Digital Zoom
Digital Real-Time Video Motion Tagging*
User Configured Variable Time Lapse Video Recording
User Configured Event Triggered A/V Recording
Trigger Events Available:
- Video Movement Detection (variable sensitivity)
- Noise Detection (variable sensitivity)
- Smoke and/or CO Detectors Alarm Sounding
- Scheduling Based Recording or Activated of any
Trigger Events Types
User Configured Motion Detection Exclusion Zones
SD Card Slot For Local Storage (Available to View/Download via App)
IR Low Light Mode (On/Auto/Off) with illuminator
User Configured Video Watermarks (Time/Date/Wyze Logo)
User Presence-Based Activation and Deactivation of Modes
User Configured Push Notifications Based on Triggers
User Shareable Feeds

This is what a $10.00 upgrade buys you with the Wyze Pan:

Remote Streaming Pan and Tilt Funtionality Through the App
Pan Rotational Range of 350°
User Configured Variable Motor Speed For Pan Function
Pan Scan Function Utilizing User Defined Position Waypoints
Motion Tracking Based on Motion Tagging Feature*

Most of those capabilities are gained through the software and includes some very cool stuff that is normally reserved for professional systems. There are two specifically that I placed an * after which are the best examples of this. The Motion Tagging feature is great because it gets recorded and is part of the playback, so you can see what triggered it, and adjust the exclusion zones and sensitivities as necessary. That's not something you'll see with most consumer grade surveillance cameras, and is pretty awesome.

But the real Shock & Awe moment is had when you see how the Wyze developers leveraged this and came up with the Motion Tracking feature of the Pan camera. If you turn this on while you're at home, it will down right creep you out, it's that good! The thing will follow you around and if there are two movements being Tagged at the same time, it'll swing back and forth to capture them both until the location of one is outside the view.

So these little cameras come with next level features, have aftermarket latex 'gloves' you can pick up for around $5 - $10 if you want them outside, you can add as many as you need (I believe), and they are a fraction of the cost. BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE!! While most folks use the SD Card slot to record locally, Wyze provides each camera with 14 days worth of video files for FREE FREE FREE!!!

Lastly, you're not providing the Chinese Government with free streaming access, the Wyze Company is based in the is ole' US o A!

I attached some screen shots so you can see the UI. I pointed the camera up towards my barn-wood ceiling so you wouldn't see how messy my place is!!!

Hope this helps!

BigNutz

 

[Ult1mat3X]

Go with a bundle of 8 channel DVR and a combination of wired/wireless cameras. Costco sells Q-See and Lorex. Look for a sale. While it is easy to open a port in the router and use from phone, having a OpenVPN capable router and tunnel into to home VPN and view cameras.is slightly more secure. Also never have cameras inside the house. If you can see so does others.

 

[crashnburn64]

I really like my ring cameras but I agree that the wyze cameras are a great deal for the features for such a cheap package. I have 2. One inside my bedroom for when the kids have friends over and the other making sure they close the garage. They hold 2 weeks of video for free with no plan and offer sd storage. The only gripe is they require being reset on occasion. I have my ring cameras outside for the weather. As mentioned they off many accessories for mounting wyze cameras inside and out.