Wyze’s latest smart bulb is also a camera

The caller Wyze Bulb Cam adds a camera to a astute bulb.

Wyze’s caller information camera is attached to a lightbulb. The astute location institution has devised a genius, if janky-looking, solution to illuminating your structure oregon patio with airy portion besides keeping an oculus connected imaginable prowlers. The Wyze Bulb Cam ($49.98) is simply a motion-activated astute airy and information camera that doesn’t necessitate immoderate powerfulness cables oregon batteries and is powered by a airy fixture. 

According to Wyze, the specially designed camera tin beryllium installed straight into a compatible E26 airy fixture, eliminating the request to find powerfulness outlets adjacent oregon messiness with star panels oregon recharging batteries to support your information strategy up and running. 

The institution is besides selling compatible Wyze Accessory Bulbs ($16.98). These dimmable, 800-lumen, 3,000K lightbulbs are IP20 rated and tin brace with the Bulb Cam via Bluetooth to make a motion-activated astute lighting system. Both products are disposable present astatine Wyze’s online store.

The Wyze Bulb Cam has the aforesaid lighting specs, and its camera is motion-activated. It features a 160-degree tract of view, 2K solution with wide dynamic range, and colour nighttime vision. It besides has two-way audio, works implicit 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi, and offers section retention via an onboard microSD paper (sold separately, up to 256GB). The instrumentality works with Wyze’s app, and the institution offers cloud recording starting astatine $3 a month, which adds astute alerts for things similar people, packages, and pets. 

Wyze says the camera is besides compatible with Wyze’s caller AI-powered features, including descriptive alerts that summarize question events and its “NBD” Filter that aims to chopped down connected notifications — but you’ll request to wage for Wyze’s $20 a period Cam Unlimited Pro subscription. The camera and lights are compatible with Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and IFTTT.

This isn’t Wyze’s archetypal effort astatine leveraging existing outdoor lighting fixtures to powerfulness cameras. The institution sells a lamp socket solution for $17 that tin powerfulness a Wyze Cam v3 oregon v4 and turns immoderate connected bulb into a astute bulb. The Bulb Cam is somewhat much elegant arsenic it does distant with the wires. 

While determination are respective no-name bulb / camera combos disposable on Amazon, precise fewer established information camera companies connection this solution. Lorex precocious released a 2K Wi-Fi Smart Lightbulb Camera, with the camera embedded successful the bulb, which looks a small little odd, but besides makes for a immense lightbulb. The Lorex tin automatically rotate 360 degrees, whereas the Wyze cam tin lone beryllium manually adjusted. Lorex’s bulb camera does outgo more, astatine $70, and doesn’t person the enactment of section recording.

The downside of connecting a information camera to an existing airy fixture is that airy is astir apt controlled by a switch, truthful you’ll look the aforesaid occupation astute bulbs wrong the location have: erstwhile idiosyncratic turns disconnected the switch, the powerfulness to the camera volition beryllium cut, arsenic well.

However, Wyze’s astute bulbs tin beryllium activated by question via the camera oregon acceptable connected timers and to a schedule, truthful you shouldn’t request to run them with the switch. Another contented you mightiness tally into is that a batch of exterior lighting contiguous uses embedded LEDs and not a screw-in socket, truthful cheque yours earlier considering a merchandise similar this. 

Additionally, beryllium alert that Wyze has suffered from respective serious information and privateness issues successful caller years.