If I haven’t mentioned it before, I’m a fan of Wyze, a technology company founded by a small group of people who worked together at Amazon.
Its first product was the Wyze Cam, a small wireless surveillance camera that entered the market at the ridiculously low price of $20.
Jump ahead a bit, and now we have Wyze Cam version 2, which still costs just $20 with no recurring costs. It features 14 days of free cloud storage for clips and has a microSD card slot for continuous recording, night vision and motion detection, all accessible from Wyze’s mobile app.
I have four of these cameras inside and outside my house, and I couldn’t be happier with them. But this is not a review of the Wyze Cam.
Wyze Sense
Wyze has released what amounts to the beginnings of a home security system, but for now, it’s calling it Wyze Sense, which is a $20 set of two door/window sensors, a motion sensor and a small bridge.
The sensors are very small and battery-operated. Wyze says the batteries in the sensors should last a year before they need replacing.
The bridge enables the sensors to talk to your home network. It plugs into the USB port on the back of a Wyze Cam, so you have to own at least one Wyze Cam to use the Sense.
You set up and configure the Sense bridge and sensors through the Wyze app. If you’ve been using the Wyze Cam, you should be ready to go with the app.
The bridge and sensors use the same Wi-Fi connection the cameras use, so there is no network setup.
The bridge can support up to 100 sensors, and the range covered my small house with no issues. I connected the bridge to a camera in my home’s front window and had no problem placing a sensor on the back door.
The Wyze website calls the Sense a “starter kit.”
If you need more sensors, a four pack of door/window sensors cost $19.99, and extra motion sensors are $5.99.
How do they work?
The sensors monitor and report their status to you through the app.
The door/window sensors can push an alert to notify you if a door is opened or closed, or if a door or window has been left open or closed for a period of time.
This is handy for a garage. You could put a sensor on the garage door to notify you when the door is left open for more than 15 minutes (or whatever time period you’d like).
The sensors are handy for telling you when your kids get home from school. You can also place them on drawers. If you look after an elderly relative, you can put a sensor on their refrigerator or medicine cabinet to make sure they’re eating and taking their medicine.
The door/window sensors can be used to activate recording on your Wyze Cams and to initiate routines involving other Wyze products (more on that below).
The motion sensor can trigger notifications in spots where you might not want to place a camera such as a bathroom or bedroom.
You can also place them in areas that you want to keep tabs on, like the living room.
I’m not calling these sensors an alarm system, but with sensors for doors, windows and overall motion, plus video recording, you have everything except a siren and a way to notify the police.
What you do have is the next best thing: a way to notify you when any of the sensors are tripped.
The notifications are almost instantaneous but are subject to the limitations of whatever network you use at home and for your cellphone.
When I open my front door, my phone buzzes in less than two seconds.
The Sense kit is something every Wyze Cam user should consider buying, even if you don’t have a specific use in mind. You’ll find uses pretty quickly.
The sensors can be used in an IFTTT (If This Then That) workflow, which allows you to let them work with other smart home products.
Wyze Bulbs
When I installed the Wyze Sense system, I couldn’t help but think that the sensors could be used to automatically turn on some lights around my house when I get home.
I began to look at smart bulbs that were compatible with the Wyze Sense, and I didn’t have to look far. Wyze makes smart bulbs. (I honestly didn’t realize they made them.)
Not only does Wyze make bulbs, but they also make the cheapest smart bulbs I’ve come across at $7.99 each or $29.99 for a 4-pack.
They’re white lights, but the color temperature of the bulbs is tunable from the Wyze app. You can move a slider to change the color of the light from a bluish, cool white to a yellowish, warm white.
The bulbs are set up with the Wyze app. Once they’re configured and named, you can also use an Amazon Alexa or Google Home device to control the bulbs with your voice.
The Wyze bulbs are dimmable with the app or with your voice.
The bulbs can also be incorporated into Amazon routines. You might put a Wyze Bulb in your porch light and use the Alexa app to set up a routine to turn on the porch light every night at sunset and turn it off at sunrise.
Wyze has a similar feature called Rules, which let you control the Wyze Bulbs based on interactions with the sensors.
The bulbs don’t need the Wyze Cam or the Wyze Sense to work, only the Wyze app, which is free.
If you’d like to dip your toe into home automation, Wyze Bulbs that work with Alexa (no hub required) is a great and inexpensive way to start.
