Wyze Cam Pan Review
Wyze is one of the biggest bangs for your buck when it comes to a smart security camera. For under $40, the video quality and how well the Wyze Cam Pan functioned were surprising. The Wyze Cam Pan features two-way audio, night vision, and motion tracking—plus, it can scan an entire room in just three seconds.
Unlike other popular smart cameras, it’s much more affordable to buy multiple Wyze Cams to cover different rooms and living spaces. Although we wish you could get email alerts in addition to push notifications, that’s a minor complaint.
Find out what we think you’ll love about the camera and the things you may be less stoked about.
Cheap price Fast, easy setup and friendly service 360 degree pan Free cloud storage Quality images Automatic motion tracking
No email alerts Poor sound quality on speaker Limited cloud storage options Short customer service hoursWhat's in the box
- Wyze Cam Pan
- Power adapter
- USB cable
- Quick start guide
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Pricing
It’s hard to fault the price of the Wyze Cam Pan. The camera retails for just under $40 and comes with fourteen free days of rolling cloud storage. There are no hidden fees, subscriptions, or contracts required.
Though you can sign up for additional features through a Cam Plus subscription. While it's true that Cam Plus is an extra cost, it's the most affordable cloud storage plan we've seen on any security camera.
Wyze cloud storage plans
Info current as of 06/10/2021. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.
*Wyze plans to add the following premium features in the future: face recognition, package detection, pet detection, vehicle detection, and event insights.
This is one instance where the adage “you get what you pay for” is untrue. With the Wyze Cam Pan, you get much more than the price would indicate.
Features
First things first—you’re going to love the compact size and sleek design of the Wyze Cam Pan. It doesn’t detract from room décor or overwhelm the space with its presence.
Our expert used it primarily in her daughter’s room (she’s a little escape artist!) on the dresser. Other cameras Suzi tried had limited placement options due to short power cords. But she was able to place the Wyze Cam exactly where she wanted thanks to an extra-long cord. That made it easy to find the perfect perch for the camera to keep a watchful eye.
Pan, tilt, and zoom
The Wyze Cam Pan stands out with its ability to pan up and down (not just side to side). Suzi could watch her wee one whether her daughter was in her bed or playing on the floor.
Suzi also enjoyed the two-way communication, which let her peek in on her daughter as she sang herself to sleep (although the night vision video of the child is reminiscent of Poltergeist).
But the sound quality is better when you receive it through the Wyze app, rather than the speaker on the camera. Our expert’s son sent back a lot of “huhs” and “whats” when she tried to talk to him through the camera.
Wyze Cam Pan uses IFTTT technology. If you have a Gmail account, you can create an IFTTT applet to get email notifications from your Wyze camera.
Limited cloud storage without a subscription
The only real downside we found is related to video storage. Although the camera comes with fourteen days of rolling cloud footage, it’s limited to automatic alert videos only. When motion is detected, the camera automatically captures a 12-second clip.
That clip is instantly stored on the Wyze cloud. But if you want to capture a longer segment for playback later, you either need to use a microSD card or pay for Wyze's cloud storage plan (which is affordable, but still an extra cost).
“With the setup, it was really instant. The camera just automatically connected to my Wi-Fi network after a few easy steps. Other cameras I’ve used required you to put the camera near the router or move it around the room to connect, which was weird. This was easy—like a quick start.”
Suzi Brzezinski, SafeWise Security Expert
Motion alerts
The Wyze Cam Pan isn’t shy when it comes to letting you know what’s up. The first few mornings after taking the camera home, Suzi got an onslaught of alerts as her daughter started waking up. (No more need for an alarm clock!) Because that was not a fun way to start the day, our expert dug into the Wyze app to see if she could turn off or adjust the motion alerts.
Ultimately, she ended up turning the alerts off. Although you can adjust motion sensitivity in the app, it was difficult to find a happy medium between no alerts and ALL the alerts.
Wyze Cam’s motion detection may be too sensitive for a nursery. Although customers are split on this, our expert found the constant push notifications to be too much for a parent who needs to catch a little shut-eye.
Motion tracking
Motion tracking is another cool Wyze Cam Pan feature. If you have a kid or a pet in a room and the camera picks up movement, it will lock in and track the action so you can see exactly what’s going on. You can also use a feature called motion tagging.
With motion tagging, you tag a specific zone or area that is designated by a box. Then the camera follows motion in the tagged area. Suzi used the box to keep track of her daughter’s tossing and turning in bed.
No email alerts
One improvement that Wyze could make would be to add email alerts as an option. This way you could still get all the alerts you want, but wouldn’t have to send them to your smartphone. We’re not the only ones asking for this feature—there are a number of forums online where other customers are begging for email alerts from Wyze.
Wyze Cam Pan works with three smart home platforms: Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and IFTTT. You can learn more about how Wyze cameras work with these smart home systems in our Wyze cameras review.
Customer service
Suzi had reason to contact customer service and was pleased with her experience. Because she recently moved, the company had the wrong shipping address. When Suzi contacted customer service online, she was happily surprised to get a response within an hour.
In addition to our own interaction with Wyze, we also checked out what other customers had to say. Wyze Cam Pan has a positive rating from customers—and we couldn’t find any complaints about service or technical help.
Wyze customer service is available via email or phone. But customer service hours are pretty limited:
- Monday through Friday from 5:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (PT).
- Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (PT).
The Wyze support website also provides a number of articles online that are actually helpful. There’s also a Wyze community forum where customers can share their experiences and get (or give) advice.
“It felt like an intimate, small company—it felt human. The person I talked to was so responsive and nice, and they got my camera sent out again to the correct address with no hassle."
Suzi Brzezinski, SafeWise Security Expert
Compare Wyze to other cheap security cameras
Here's how Wyze Cam Pan stacks up to other cheap security cameras:
| Top pick | Outdoor pick | Video pick | Smart home pick | Privacy pick | |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| List price | $37.98 | $29.99 | $49.99 | $39.99 | $39.99 |
| Field of view | 120º | 90º | 87.5º | 125º | Not specified |
| Night vision | Up to 30 ft. | Up to 80 ft. | Up to 40 ft. | Up to 32 ft. | Up to 10 ft. |
| Pan and tilt |
 Yes |
 No |
No |
No |
Yes |
| View on Amazon | View on Amazon | View on Amazon | View on Amazon | View on Amazon |
*Amazon.com list price as of 06/10/2021 at 01:40 p.m. (MT). Read full disclaimer.
How we reviewed Wyze Cam Pan
To create our Wyze Cam review, not only did we research the specs and technical details of the Wyze Cam Pan. One of our security experts, Suzi, took the Wyze Cam Pan home for a month to see if it could deliver, or if all the good reviews were just a bunch of hype.
Our security expert used it as a de facto nanny cam, a security camera, and a general tool to check in on things when she was away from home. We also compared the Wyze Cam’s features, price, and customer reviews to other similar security cameras from Arlo and Google Nest.
Check out our full methodology to learn more about how we rank and review products.
Final word
The Wyze Cam Pan offers expensive features at a budget-friendly price. Its swiveling body and eye give it a range of view wide enough to see an entire room. If you’re not sure you want a security camera—or if you need to add more than one to your home—the Wyze Cam Pan is a low-risk solution that won’t disappoint.
With its motion sensing and tracking abilities, it can follow the action from one corner to the other. So whether it's your dog having a party on the couch, your kids in the playroom, or something more sinister like an intruder, this compact camera will catch it.
Wyze's prices democratize home security to a level we've never seen before. See how the Wyze Cam Pan compares to other Wyze security cameras in our full review or check out the Wyze security system for a slick DIY security option.
FAQ
Other than a slightly different size and shape, the panning and motion tracking features are the biggest differences between the two cameras.
The Wyze Cam Pan also stands on its own, without the awkward base stand that comes with the Wyze Cam v2. You’ll also pay about twice as much for the Wyze Cam Pan—$40 vs. $20.
No. You can add as many Wyze cameras as you want. But you can only live stream from one device at a time.
All communication over the Wyze app, including videos uploaded to the cloud, are transmitted using Transport Layer Security.
Wyze also uses both symmetric and asymmetric end-to-end encryption to make sure that if a hacker does get into the cloud, they won’t be able to decrypt the data.
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Disclaimer
*Amazon.com list price as of 06/10/2021 at 01:40 p.m. MT. Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product. Safewise.com utilizes paid Amazon links.
Certain content that appears on this site comes from Amazon. This content is provided “as is” and is subject to change or removal at any time.
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