Summary
Wyze’s most recent video doorbell, the Doorbell v2, is an impressive advancement in comparison to the Wyze Video Doorbell that was initially released. The design is improved, it is capable of recording video at resolutions up to 2K, and it enables color night vision. Doorbell v2 is superior to Wyze Video Doorbell Pro in a number of respects, including the fact that it supports 2K video and has a broader field of vision than the professional model. In addition, the additional capabilities come with a new beginning price of $39.99, which is an increase of $10 in comparison to the original Video Doorbell (albeit it is still less expensive than the Video Doorbell Pro, which now costs $99.98).
For customers who are in the process of replacing an existing doorbell with a chime, Wyze has also included support for physical chimes in the Doorbell v2 product. Nevertheless, this indicates that the Doorbell v2 does not come with a wireless chime and does not support one either.
Review of the Wyze Video Doorbell v2: Pricing and Availability Analysis
The Chime Controller is simply an adaptor that you hook into your home’s real doorbell chime that enables the doorbell to activate it. The Wyze Video Doorbell v2 may be acquired straight from Wyze for the price of $39.99, and it comes with a Chime Controller.
You may get the Doorbell v2, the Chime Controller, plus a microSD card with 128GB of storage space for local video storage for the price of $54.99.
An analysis of the Wyze Video Doorbell v2’s design
Because of its amazingly compact size, the Wyze Video Doorbell v2 is exceptionally simple to install next to doors that have a restricted amount of space. The Nest Doorbell is perhaps the most offenders (pun intended) when it comes to being too large to put in confined spaces. On the other hand, the Wyze Video Doorbell v2 is the exact reverse of that, being 4.3 inches in height, 1.7 inches in width, and just 0.9 inches in thickness.
Doorbell housing is completely black on the front, with the camera lens located on the upper half of the housing and the doorbell button located on the lower half of the housing. The doorbell is equipped with a button that is surrounded by an LED light that illuminates when it senses motion or when it is pressed repeatedly.
The phrase “microSD” is printed on a rubber door that is located on the right side of the doorbell at the doorbell. The microSD card slot, which allows for the addition of up to 256GB of local storage to the doorbell, is visible once the door has been opened, as the name of the device suggests.
My opinion is that the microSD card slot should be available to everyone who is standing in front of the doorbell, but I am not completely convinced by this approach. Simply flipping up the door, pressing on the card to eject it, and walking away with it are all things that can be accomplished in a matter of seconds.
Despite the fact that I am aware that the likelihood of that happening is probably rather minimal, the part of my brain that deals with privacy and security just can’t seem to get beyond its location, especially something that is so obviously labeled.
The Doorbell v2 comes with everything you need to attach it, including a wedge angle for the camera, screws, anchors, a mounting plate, and two extension cables. If you need it, you may use the wedge angle. On one side, the wires are attached to the back of the doorbell, and on the other side, they are connected to the wiring of your current doorbell in order to complete a hardwired installation. The Doorbell v2 does not include a mechanism that allows it to be powered by a battery.
The Chime Controller is also included, and if you want the doorbell to activate your chime, you will need to connect it to the hardwired chime that is already installed in your home. You may use the app as a tutorial to accomplish this. You may rely on the push notifications that are sent to your phone through the Wyze app in any other case. There is a momentary lag between the moment you push the button on the doorbell and the moment the notification is sent to your mobile device. Nevertheless, it is not sufficient that someone will leave before you notice who is at your door or have the opportunity to answer it, unless that person is a delivery driver who is really eager.
A look at the video quality and functionality of the Wyze Video Doorbell v2 gadget
A field of vision of 166.8 degrees is available for the Wyze Video Doorbell v2, which is capable of recording video at a resolution of 2K (2048 x 1536). When compared to the Wyze Video Doorbell Pro, which has a video quality of 1440 x 1440 and a field of vision of 150 degrees, this is superior. Another model that may be compared is the Ring Video Doorbell, which is the company’s entry-level product and features a field of vision of 155 degrees and a video resolution of 1080p.
The view on the Doorbell v2 is sufficiently expansive to encompass my entire back porch; however, I do wish the view was taller so that I could see what is just below the doorbell. This is a function that comes in useful when you have things delivered and placed directly at the foot of your door. The Video Doorbell Pro 2 from Ring has a wide field of vision that captures everything that is just below the camera, and it has completely spoilt me.
The Doorbell v2 is equipped with Wyze’s Color Night Vision technology, which allows it to record video in full color even when there is very little light. Whenever there is insufficient light, you will receive an infrared video that is black and white. The presence of sufficient light, such as a porch light that is located in close proximity to the doorbell, is essential for the Color Night Vision feature to function properly. The ambient light that was coming from the television and lighting in my family room was not sufficient to activate the function.
In terms of video quality, the Doorbell v2 appears to be rather excellent; nevertheless, it is not as nice as I had anticipated to see from a camera with a resolution of 2K. There are instances when there is a lot of clarity and the definition that you would anticipate, but in clips that have a lot of motion, there is some clipping and pixelation around the moving item. This is because the frames per second rate is 20 during the day and 15 during the night. On the other hand, this is quite normal for all household surveillance cameras.
One of the most significant issues that I have with the video that is taken by the Doorbell v2 is that it is frequently overexposed and occasionally blown out. The exposure level was something I was on the fence about until I looked at film from a day when there was cloud cover. Each and every one of the gray clouds appears to be a brilliant white, and even the roof of my garage, which is bright red, appears to be white.
That being said, all of those things are far away in the distance, and they are not the things that are right in front of the camera. On the other hand, I cannot think of another camera that has overexposed and brightened such a significant amount.
When you are viewing a live stream from your camera, whether it is because someone pressed the doorbell or you noticed a motion alert, you have the ability to trigger three pre-recorded voice responses directly from within the app. These responses can be used to ask the person what they require, to let them know that you are on your way to the door, or to instruct the person to leave the package at the door. Because of this convenient function, you are able to communicate with another person without having to engage in the awkward dance of talking to them via the doorbell, waiting for it to play, listening for their answer, and ultimately talking over each other.
Review of the Wyze Video Doorbell version 2: Features
Wyze boasts that the Doorbell v2 camera features a pre-roll option that records six seconds of footage before motion is detected. This feature is comparable to what you’ll find on some of Ring’s video doorbells. The pre-roll feature is available on the landing page by Wyze. You are able to see the path that the individual traveled to arrive at your door, as well as what they were doing along the way, thanks to the additional five seconds of video.
On the other hand, I am unable to figure out how to activate the function, if there is even a setting that allows it to be activated, or if there isn’t any setting at all, there is no indication of any kind inside the application while I am watching pre-roll video or a clip that was recorded beginning with motion detection.
A perplexing encounter is what it is. There are certain Rings cameras that have a function that is comparable to this one; however, the footage that is included in the pre-roll area has a lesser definition, and it is labeled inside the app, which makes it simple to recognize. This is one of the aspects that I enjoy the most about Ring cameras.
For the simple reason that there are video footage of me leaving the home and going past the doorbell to go to my office in the garage behind our house, I am not 100% certain that the function is working on the Doorbell v2 that I tried. On the other hand, rather than watching pre-roll footage from six seconds before going by the camera activated its motion sensor, all of the films that the doorbell has taken began the minute I went out the door and close to the camera.
If there was a clear sign that indicated when pre-roll was being utilized, or even if there was a toggle that allowed the function to be turned on and off, that would be nice.
Taking a look at the Wyze Video Doorbell v2: video storage
When it comes to video storage, you have two choices available to you whenever you use any Wyze camera. You may either sign up for Wyze’s subscription service and keep your recorded clips in the cloud, or you can add a microSD card with a capacity of up to 256 gigabytes to the camera and store your film locally. You may use one way independently of the other, or you can use both together, which is ultimately what I believe the majority of people will want to do because the subscription also provides you with access to extra services in addition to cloud storage.
Continuous recording is a feature that may be activated in the Doorbell v2 when a microSD card is used. This feature allows the camera to record everything and everything that occurs inside its field of vision. As soon as the storage capacity of the card is exhausted, the oldest video will be removed in order to make way for fresh clips.
I have come to adore the Wyze function of continuous recording, and I wish that every security camera was equipped with this capability. It is advantageous since it is able to catch everything, even if it is far away and outside the range of the camera’s motion detection capabilities. When I was testing the Wyze Cam OG over the summer, I used it to see a hail storm that caused significant damage to our property. A few weeks later, when I was testing the Wyze Cam Floodlight Pro, I used it to figure out how a hose became detached from our swimming pool, causing hundreds of gallons of water to flood onto the yard. In spite of the fact that neither of those scenarios resulted in an incident being recorded on either camera, I was still able to review the footage that was captured since I had a microSD card mounted on the camera.
In addition to providing you with smart alerts for people, dogs, cars, and parcels, Wyze Cam Plus, the company’s subscription service, provides you with cloud storage for a period of fourteen days. In the event that you choose not to subscribe to the plan, you will continue to get motion alerts on your mobile device; however, rather than a video clip being recorded, you will only be able to view a still image. At regular intervals of five minutes, these photos are sent. You will then be able to examine your local recordings or see a live feed from your camera in order to determine who or what caused the alarm. If you have a microSD card loaded, you will also be able to view the live stream.
In addition to the smart alerts and cloud storage, you will also have the option to fast-forward films and access Wyze’s website to monitor live feeds from your cameras. These features are included in Cam Plus, which does not have a motion alert delay.
Additionally, the price of Cam Plus is determined by the number of Wyze cameras that you have, as well as whether or not you choose to pay for the entire year in advance. You have the option of paying $2.99 a month for a single camera, or it is possible to spend $20 for the full year, which will bring the monthly cost down to $1.67. On the other hand, you may get limitless cameras for either $9.99 each month or $99 per individual year.
Evaluation of the Wyze Video Doorbell v2: Conclusion
If someone is looking for a video doorbell that has this level of video quality and feature set, I am hard-pressed to think of a better price than this one, which costs just under $40. Is there anything about the experience that I could possibly criticize? Indeed, it is. There are a number of easy beginning points, including a microSD card slot that is accessible to everybody, a larger field of vision, and increased exposure.
It is, however, forty dollars. You can get a video doorbell that has local recording, cloud recording, and smart alerts for less than $75 if you add a microSD card and an annual membership to Wyze Cam Plus to the package. If you were to get a Ring Video Doorbell Wired, which does not include any kind of local recording or a year’s worth of cloud storage, you would have to pay an additional $10. That is difficult to beat.
WYZE VIDEO DOORBELL V2: SPECS
Camera resolution: 2K (2048×1536) 20 fps day/15 fps night
Field of view: 166.8° (diagonal)
Size: 4.3 x 1.7 x 0.9 in
Wired/Battery: Yes/No
Weatherproofing: IP65 water resistance
Wi-Fi: 802.11 b/g/n wifi connection @2.4GHz
Pros
- Super affordable
- Cloud and local video storage
- Existing chime support
Cons
- 2K video quality could be better
- Poor placement of the microSD card slot
- Pre-roll video is confusing