Over the past few years the options available for DIY home security have been rapidly growing. Initially the available equipment had some drawbacks. It tended to be a bit on the bulky side, had less than ideal battery lives, and the integration with smart home technologies was limited. In an attempt to overcome some of these shortcomings, a couple of former Amazon engineers founded Wyze. Their stated mission is to provide customer-centric, high-quality smart home technology at prices that make it more accessible to a wider swath of people. Here are some details on the Wyze Smart Home Starter Pack which can easily become the foundation to build out DIY home security in your smart home.
What's Included
You need a solid bedrock made of some basic devices in order to build a functional security net for your home that will meet your needs. To achieve this, most home security technology manufacturers will offer startup kits that provide what you will need to cover the fundamentals. You need to know when doors are opened or closed, when motion happens in a room where there shouldn’t be any, and have a way to capture images, audio, and/or video if anything should occur. You also need a way to be notified with minimal delay when any sensor is tripped. Wyze has assembled a good starter kit that will make sure you get started off on the right foot.
- (x1) 1080p full HD Wyze Cam
- (x1) 32GB MicroSD card
- (x2) Wyze Sense slim style contact sensors
- (x1) Wyze Sense passive infrared motion sensor
- (x1) Sensor bridge to allow dedicated radio communication between Wyze devices
- (x2) Wyze Plug smart electrical plug adaptors
- (x3) Wyze Bulb smart 800 lumen tunable LED light bulbs
- Wyze mobile app to access and control your home security
The Benefits Of Wyze
Wyze was designed with ease of use and portability in mind from the beginning. One of the hurdles first experienced by those delving into DIY home security was the bulkiness of devices like sensors. They had to be large enough to contain all the circuitry required to communicate with your home network and still be small enough to be useful. The need for long battery lives also resulted in slightly larger than ideal device sizes.
Wyze has managed to scale down the size of its devices by having them communicate directly with a bridge plugged into the Wyze Cam. The camera then acts as the main communication portal to your home network. The downside is that only Wyze devices can communicate with the Wyze bridge. The upside is that, by using a dedicated communication protocol that does not rely on your home network setup, the size of the circuitry could be reduced drastically. This also greatly reduced the power requirements allowing the devices to be powered by smaller batteries. This reduction in size has freed up devices, such as contact sensors, for some creative uses such as for cabinet doors, jewelry boxes, appliances, or even treat jars! When these sensors are triggered a push notification will arrive within seconds on the Wyze smartphone app.
Wyze devices are easy to install where you need them. They come with double sided adhesive tape and do not require tools for installation. There have been reports of the provided tape not being strong enough to last, but this can easily and inexpensively be fixed by picking up some more at a home improvement or office supply store. With how inexpensive Wyze products are compared to similar ones on the market this can easily be forgiven.
The Wyze system is also designed to integrate with both Alexa and Google Home voice commands. As with all digital assistants, including Alexa and Google, this is still a work in progress and there have been reports of the usual irritations that come with using voice commands. This does mean, however, the system is IFTTT compatible which allows for wider integration into your smart home. Unfortunately, Apple Home is not supported at the time of this writing.
While Wyze does not offer live phone customer service, they do have a wide selection of the standard alternatives you encounter with technology companies. Live customer service is available via chat between the hours of 8 AM and 4 PM, Pacific time. They also offer an online support FAQ on their website, a help forum for Wyze users, and support via email.
Using Wyze
The Wyze Cam, which connects directly to your home network, and the associated bridge form the base that the rest of your Wyze devices will rely on. The camera will digitally record in 1080p when it’s associated sensors have been tripped. Depending on the type of plan you have, you will have access to the footage from the cloud for up to four days. The camera can also accommodate up to a 32GB micro SD card for limited non-cloud storage and access. Not only will you have video recordings, but the two-way microphone will save audio of the mischief it picks up as well as allow you to announce yourself to whomever may be the source of that mischief.
The bridge, which plugs into the back of the Wyze Cam via a USB type-A connector, communicates with your various Wyze sensors directly via radio frequencies. This allows the sensors to avoid the bulkier circuitry required to communicate with your home network directly. A LED indicator light will show steady blue when the connection is stable and functioning properly. It will show flashing blue when in pairing mode and flashing yellow when attempting a connection. With the bridge setup and in place, sensors can trigger cloud recording or be used to trigger third-party smart devices such as cameras and lights using IFTTT applets and Alexa or Google Home Routines.
Contact sensors are the most basic part of your setup. When your system is active, a closed sensor signals all is well and an event will be triggered when the contacts are opened. Each contact sensor has an LED indicator on its face that will blink red when an event has been set off. The sensors are powered by a CR1632 button battery that is rated to last up to a year. A huge benefit of the Wyze contact sensors is that, in the Wyze app, you can check to see their status at any time as well as a status history. The app will let you know if a sensors is currently in a “closed” or “open” state and for how long it has been in that state.
Motion sensors are another staple of a home security system. The Wyze motion sensor features a rage of 120 degrees and can detect motion up to 26 feet away. There is a LED status indicator light on the face of the sensor and it is powered by a bigger CR2450 button battery that should last up to one year. The motion sensor uses passive infrared light to detect radiant heat in the space. This will minimize the instances of false alarms from ambient light changes. Wyze recommends that the sensors be installed over six feet in height to avoid accidental pet triggers.
Wyze Blubs are a great addition which allow you to utilize your existing lighting as part of your DIY home security set up. You can have your system configured to turn the lights on when a sensor is triggered or even have lights turn on and off randomly when you are away to give the illusion that someone is home. This can be done through the app or using their IFTTT compatibility. The blubs are white, tunable LEDs with a max brightness of 800 lumens.
The Wyze app provides a convenient way to set up and organize your home security system. In this app you will be able to access your settings, enable and set up notifications, configure your video settings, and create a whole host of rules to trigger actions on your other Wyze devices. You can also create schedules to disable an enable various devices during specific hours and view a live stream from your Wyze Cam. The app will open to a home screen that contains a tab for all your installed devices. Tap a sensor’s name to view it’s status along with a list of settings and activities. Depending on the device, you can view when a sensor was triggered and for how long the trigger was detected along with a video clip if you set the camera up to capture the event.
Setting up your system is relatively easy. Just download the Wyze mobile app and create an account if you do not already have one. Make sure you have properly inserted the bridge into your Wyze Cam. Once the LED indicator light on the bridge has turned solid blue, open your app and tap on “Add A Product”. Select your desired sensor, then select the Wyze Cam you would like it to be associated with (if you have a multi-camera set up), then follow the in-app instructions . You will insert the provided pin tool into the sensor’s reset hole until the LED flashes red three times. A voice prompt should inform you of a successful connection. At this point go ahead and name your sensor, then repeat the steps for any other devices you wish to add. The guide’s set up makes this whole process quick and simple.
WYZE SMART HOME STARTER KIT
Everything You Need For Your Basic DIY Home Security.
Get a start at protecting your home today on your own terms. The slim sensors are both reliable and incredibly flexible in their use. Try out Wyze today.
WYZE SMART HOME STARTER KIT
Everything You Need For Your Basic DIY Home Security.
Get a start at protecting your home today on your own terms. The slim sensors are both reliable and incredibly flexible in their use. Try out Wyze today.
Pricing
A major reason people are turning to DIY home security kits is for affordability. Home security tech companies have realized this which is why there are now a wide variety of devices and systems on the market. Most of these come with free do-it-yourself monitoring usually via a mobile app or web based interface. Wyze has a few options available that can be tailored to meet the needs of your budget. Their basic plan covers the majority of what you need starting out and is included with the purchase price of your Wyze equipment. Other premium options are offered on a per camera basis at very reasonable rates. In fact, at the time of this writing, there are even more options in the works to make your Wyze experience even better!
Included with equipment purchase.
- 12 second clip recording when triggered
- 5 minute cool down period after trigger has been activated
- Sound triggers
- Smoke/CO triggers
$1.99/month or $15/year
- Pricing is per individual camera
- Unlimited clip recording length
- No cool down between triggers
- Sound, smoke, and CO triggers
- Intelligent person detection to minimize false triggers
Features in development!
- Face recognition
- Package/pet/vehicle detection
- Event insights and summaries
- Planned professional monitoring expected for 2021 via Noonlight partnership
*Pricing for plans and options are set solely by the manufacturer and are subject to change at their discretion.
Included with equipment purchase.
- 12 second clip recording when triggered
- 5 minute cool down period after trigger has been activated
- Sound triggers
- Smoke/CO triggers
$1.99/month or $15/year
- Pricing is per individual camera
- Unlimited clip recording length
- No cool down between triggers
- Sound, smoke, and CO triggers
- Intelligent person detection to minimize false triggers
Features in development!
- Face recognition
- Package/pet/vehicle detection
- Event insights and summaries
- Planned professional monitoring expected for 2021 via Noonlight partnership
*Pricing for plans and options are set solely by the manufacturer and are subject to change at their discretion.
Inexpensive And Expandable
The Wyze Smart Home Starter Pack has everything you need to make your home safe and secure. From video and audio capture to contact and motion sensor triggers, you can get what you need to get started easily and inexpensively. Wyze has managed to successfully miniaturize its sensors to make them some of the slimmest on the market. The contact sensors are so slim they can be used on cabinets, appliances, and even cookie jars! All of your devices can easily be viewed and managed on the Wyze app. Along with IFTTT smart home integration technology, Wyze is compatible with both Alexa and Google Home, though not with Apple Home yet.
Everything you need to cover the basics of your smart home security needs is included with the price of the devices while more options to increase your systems effectiveness are very reasonably priced. A really useful aspect of their pricing is that it is done per camera so there is no need to pay more for a room that doesn’t need the extra monitoring. This is a very reasonably priced, reliable, and portable system for those looking to start building out their own DIY home security.
The product price is set by the manufacturer and/or seller and is subject to change without notice. The price shown below is only a reflection of the typical price found at the time of this writing and is in no way a guarantee of that price.
Wyze Smart Home Starter Pack
$100
Pros
- Affordable equipment with reasonably priced additions.
- Slim design makes the system quite versatile.
- Alexa, Google Home, and IFTTT smart home integration options.
- Easy expansion. No hub required, just the Wyze Cam and bridge.
- Easy to install and easy device setup via the Wyze app.
Cons
- Security components only compatible with Wyze brand devices.
- No support for Apple Home.
- No optional professional monitoring for cellular backup as of 2020.
- No motion sensitivity adjustment settings.
- No local siren or alarms.
Customer Service
3
Coverage
4
Ease of Installation
4.5
Price
5
Expandability
4.5
Good starter kit for the money that is easy to install, set up, and use. Definitely would recommend for any beginner to get started off on the right foot.