Wyze Cam V3 Pro Review

We gave the original Wyze Cam an Editors’ Choice award because of its ease of use, low price, and generous feature set. Since then, the company has released several new models that improved upon the original with features such as motion tracking, color night vision, and weather resistance. The latest entry, the Wyze Cam V3 Pro ($49.99), once again sets the bar for affordable security cameras with its 2K video resolution and new capabilities such as Smart Focus (which gives you a better look at anything moving in the frame) and a built-in spotlight. That makes it our top pick for budget-friendly outdoor security cameras, and it works equally as well inside.

A Familiar Design, Just With More Features

The Wyze Cam V3 Pro resembles earlier Wyze cameras such as the Wyze Cam V2 and the Wyze Cam Outdoor. It’s a small white cube that measures 2.3 by 2.0 by 2.0 inches (HWD) and sits atop a square magnetic stand that has a hinge and a swivel for adjusting the angle. Around the back are a speaker and a micro USB power jack. Rubber covers on the bottom protect a setup button and the microSD slot. You can use the camera indoors or outdoors; it has an IP65 weatherproof rating that protects it from rain, snow, and dust. The package includes a metal mounting plate and mounting screws, a 6-foot USB power cable, a USB power adapter, and a quick start guide.

(Credit: Wyze)

The camera captures 2K video (2,560 by 1,440 pixels) at 20fps during the daytime and at 15fps during the night. It has a 116-degree field of view and 8x digital zoom. An embedded 2.4GHz Wi-Fi radio handles connectivity. The front houses four infrared LEDs for black-and-white night recordings, while a Starlight sensor delivers color night vision in low-light conditions. There’s also an 80-lumen spotlight, a microphone, and a status LED that flashes red during setup and solid blue during normal operations. You can turn the spotlight on or off in the app, as well as configure it to turn on whenever the camera detects motion or sound. You can also activate the built-in 89dB siren from the app.

The Cam V3 Pro can record video when it detects sound (including crying, barking, and meowing) or motion and store it locally on an SD card, though you have to supply the storage. It comes with a free Basic Cam Plan that lets you view snapshots of events, but not video recordings. With this plan, you get motion and sound notifications, as well as smoke and CO detector sound alerts, but there’s a five-minute delay between events.

For person, pet, package, and vehicle detection, you have to upgrade to the $1.67-per-month Cam Plus plan that covers a single camera. This tier also unlocks video recordings of unlimited length with no delay, 2x and 4x fast forwarding, and access to live and recorded video via the Wyze Web View interface. For $9.99 per month, you can activate Cam Plus on all of your compatible Wyze cameras. Just note that this device doesn’t work with the Cam Plus Lite plan.

You get support for Alexa and Google Assistant voice commands, as well as numerous third-party devices via IFTTT, but the camera doesn’t integrate with Apple’s HomeKit platform.

Wyze Cam V3 Pro App Experience

You control the camera with the same app (available for Android and iOS) that other Wyze devices use, though there are a few new features this time around. For instance, the app provides a convenient Recent Events feature, customizable detection zones, and a Smart Focus feature that overlays a smaller window with a wider view over the main window that shows any moving objects in the frame.

(Credit: Wyze)

The home screen shows the camera in a side panel, which you can tap to view a live feed. Below the video panel are buttons that let you access local video recordings, take a photo, record a video, enable Smart Focus, activate the siren, view your photo album, and see time-lapse video (requires an SD card). There’s also a button for turning the camera on or off. The bottom half of the screen shows thumbnails of recent recordings, which you can view, download, share, or delete.

Tap the gear icon in the upper right corner to configure detection and notification settings, enable motion and sound event recording, toggle smoke and CO detection alerts, change spotlight brightness and schedule settings, turn on SD card recording, and set up integrations with other Wyze devices.

Seamless Setup, Reliable Performance

As with every Wyze device we’ve tested, this camera was very easy to install. If you’ve never used a Wyze product, the first step is to download the companion app and create an account.

I already had the app on my phone, so I tapped the plus icon in the upper left corner of the home screen, selected Add Device, and picked the Wyze Cam V3 Pro from the list. A few seconds after I plugged in the camera, the LED began blinking red. I tapped Next and pressed the Setup button on the bottom of the unit, confirmed that I heard a “Ready To Connect” prompt, and signed into my Wi-Fi network. Then, I held my phone up to the camera to scan the QR code on my screen, confirmed a successful scan, and gave the camera a name. After the app informed me that I had a two-week Cam Plus trial, I tapped through to update the firmware. To finish the installation process, I took the camera outside, attached it to a deck post in my backyard, and plugged it into a protected GFCI outlet.

(Credit: John Delaney)

The Wyze Cam V3 Pro delivered quality 2K video in testing. Color looks excellent and image detail is plenty sharp. Black-and-white night recordings also have good contrast and detail, but as is typical, they aren’t as vibrant as during the day. Two-way audio sounds clean and adequately loud.

(Credit: Wyze/John Delaney)

The camera sent motion alerts quickly and correctly identified people, pets, and vehicles in testing. The Smart Focus feature worked as intended, as did the intelligent audio alerts. The spotlight illuminated a decent portion of my backyard and the siren was loud enough to alert unwanted visitors. The unit executed my Alexa routines without issue and integrated seamlessly with other Wyze smart home devices. For instance, a rule I created in the app for the Wyze Plug to turn on when the camera detected motion and it worked every time.

Unrivaled for the Price

Despite its affordable price, the Wyze Cam V3 Pro has the kind of features you typically find on more expensive outdoor cameras. It offers 2K video, color night vision, a built-in spotlight, local storage, and intelligent alerts, all for under $50. It also works with Alexa and Google Assistant, plus integrates with lots of third-party devices via IFTTT. You have to pay a nominal subscription fee to access some of the more advanced features, but that doesn’t prevent it from earning our Editors’ Choice award for affordable outdoor security cameras. If budget isn’t a concern and you need HomeKit support, however, you might want to consider the considerably more expensive Arlo Pro 4 Spotlight ($199.99).