The era of the $200 security camera is over

When I started writing about that intelligent home influential startup Dropcam in 2013, Bought from Google’s Nest in 2014, set industry prices for DIY surveillance cameras. The Dropcam Pro, an HD camera with an intuitive app and solid performance and predecessor of the Nest cam indoorcost $ 199.

Dropcam cameras weren’t the first to offer impressive features. The Samsung SmartCam HD Pro and the Arlo Q. have similar capabilities, but Dropcam was one of the first to pack all of these things in a way that they felt accessible to consumers. His products have helped define the contemporary concept of home security technology, and especially video camera technology.

But that era is over.

Companies like Wyze, Yi and Tilt for sure and even the notoriously expensive Arlo contribute to a burgeoning trend of cheap cameras (and other smart home devices) with the same functionality as these $ 199 cameras – only for a lot, much less money.

The Seattle based Wyze is a particularly good example of what works well with its range of extremely affordable and powerful products Security cameras, Light bulbs, smart plugs and sensors.

I am not ready to say that you should never Buy a more expensive camera (or other device), but Wyze and his colleagues strongly advocate spending less on your smart home. And I’m pretty sure this is just the beginning.

What does a Wyze Smart Home cost?

Wyze’s current lineup is $ 30 Wyze Cam Pan, the $ 20 Wyze Cam, the $ 8 Wyze Bulbwho have favourited $ 15 Wyze Plug (pack of two) and the $ 20 Wyze Sense Starter Kit. The Wyze Sense Starter Kit contains a hub, two Wyze contact sensors (door / window sensors) and a Wyze motion sensor. It’s a reasonable foundation for devices for a fairly comprehensive smart home security system.

My house is approximately 2,000 square feet, roughly the average house size in the United States, according to the Census Bureau. If I were to equip my house with cameras, light bulbs, plugs and sensors, I would want two cameras, 30 light bulbs, six intelligent plugs, two door / window sensors and a motion sensor.

With Wyze’s prices, my total pre-tax amount for all of these devices would be $ 355 (with the Wyze $ 20 camera as my camera of choice over the $ 30 Cam-Pan ). Wyze also does not charge cloud video storage fees. Therefore, do not expect monthly fees for viewing saved clips.

What would that sum be like if I chose more expensive products with similar functions that we tested – and that we liked very much? For example, if I bought two $ 199 Nest cam indoor Cameras, $ 30 20 Lifx Mini White Lightbulbs, six $ 23 TP-Link Kasa Smart Wi-Fi connector Mini With smart plugs and a $ 399 Nest Secure system (which includes two door / window / motion sensors), I would end up spending $ 1,535 (excluding taxes). That’s over $ 1,100 more and Nest does If you want to use these saved clips, you’ll need to pay at least $ 5 a month.

Eigenvalue

Wyze’s lower prices wouldn’t mean much if the products didn’t hold up to more expensive options. But of the Wyze devices I’ve tested, they do so (with a few limitations that I’ll cover later). Here’s what I wrote in my post about Wyze Cam, my current favorite indoor camera best house cameras for indoor use::

Let’s start with the price: The Wyze Cam costs only $ 20. In a sea of ​​expensive surveillance cameras, the Wyze Cam offers a killer value. Combine this with its straightforward app, easy installation and solid performance – and you have an excellent surveillance camera for indoor use.

The special thing about it is the free two-week cloud storage and the integrated microSD card slot for local storage. You need to buy a microSD card separately, but this is standard for most cameras with local storage. It supports voice commands from Alexa and Google Assistant and has a motion detection zone.

Basically, Wyze cameras have most, if not all, of the things that many high-end DIY cameras offer – but Wyze offers them for free. The only limitation is person recognition. Wyze offered this feature, but discontinued it in January and said that she was working to reinstate the feature sometime.

Nest fees for cloud storage, movement zones and personal notifications through the Nest Aware subscription service; There is no local storage at all. Nor can it listen to specific frequencies like the Wyze cameras can.

The comparison applies to the Wyze Bulb and the Wyze Plug. You can do about the same thing as Lifx Mini White lamps and the TP-Link Smart Plug for considerably less money. I can’t speak directly to the performance of the Wyze contact sensors and Wyze motion sensors since I haven’t tried them yet.

Wyze has limitations. It works with Alexa and Google Assistant, but not Siri over HomeKit. The app could use a design update and the Nest Secure system for $ 399 contains more than a few sensors. It also comes with a keyboard with a built-in Google Assistant speaker, keychain and door / window sensors that are smart double as motion sensors.

But how?

How exactly does Wyze manage to offer its products at such low prices? Scott Wilson, Wyze’s marketing director, said:

Our team set about developing a product that we wanted for our own home but couldn’t find: a camera that we could use for a variety of use cases that didn’t break the bank.

Although our margins are small, we sell a high volume. In our first 17 months after we launched our first product, Wyze Cam, we reached 1 million users.

Lifx is aware of falling prices. “We have seen a number of cheap light bulbs appear on the market, which is tempting for customers. We welcome this type of competition – [it] helps the industry grow faster [it] forces us to constantly think about how we can create more valuable products and services for customers, “said Sam Moore, Global Marketing Director at Lifx, via email. Then he noticed Lifx ‘” more features, “” integrations, “and other things Lifx believes it differs from its cheaper competition.

TP-Link is also familiar with the product landscape. “Although there are cheaper options, consumers are often more willing to pay more for features like remote control, scheduling, voice integration, scenes and smart actions, grouping control and soft control (when users can program multi-click functions). Customers also know that the cheapest option is not always guarantees the best experience and takes customer reviews, mobile app design and app reviews into account when making purchasing decisions, “said a representative via email.

Nest declined to comment.

Data protection talk

Given that many smart home devices are connected to proprietary cloud storage networks over the Internet, privacy concerns have become a focus for the entire smart home category. Amazon and Google have admitted that Employees hear your conversations with Alexa and Google Assistant through smart speakers. Other privacy concerns have plagued the brands – by Surveillance network growing and Face recognition patents to Google data collection guidelines.

These problems are not limited to large companies. Hacked security cameras and other Smart home devices Dot news headlines, from startups to big brands we’ve all heard of.

You can read Wyze’s full privacy policy. An important aspect, however, is that Wyze uses Amazon Web Services for Wyze Cam and Wyze Cam cloud storage. Amazon Web Services or AWS is a cloud platform. If a remote cloud server isn’t your thing, you can use a microSD card to view saved clips recorded on your Wyze cameras.

The future of the smart home

The tide is changing for the smart home. The industry started with a number of small startups fighting for supremacy. Some of them have since been taken over by large companies such as Nest (bought from Google) and Ring (bought from Amazon). But some of these outstanding smart home products from years ago are not as appealing as they used to be.

New startups like Wyze are emerging with affordable products and functions similar to their more expensive counterparts – and some existing brands like Arlo are starting to lower prices. Together, they pave the way for a new era in the smart home, a buyer’s market in which customers have even more options in a broader range of prices. I am sometimes willing to pay more for a product if it really is the best option, but this new value landscape gives us more Well Decisions than ever before – and I’m here for it.