Wyze Cam Floodlight Review

The Wyze Cam Floodlight takes their stellar V3 camera and couples it with smart lighting functionality.

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When Wyze originally came on the scene a few years back with their standard indoor camera, they have continued to innovate and push the boundaries of what a budget-focused company can do across many different tech verticals. There aren't many Wyze products that I've tested in recent years where I wasn't impressed besides a few such as their wireless outdoor camera and their mini handheld vacuum.

This time around, Wyze has ventured into the smart floodlight business with an impressive offering that combines their high-quality cameras with a floodlight equipped with a motion sensor and speaker. It is about time that Wyze utilized their stellar V3 camera to couple it with a full-fledged floodlight that is controllable and customizable via their mobile application.

This review will be going through my testing of the Wyze Cam Floodlight in order to determine its viability as an outdoor security device. I will examine the pros and cons of this new Wyze Cam Floodlight product, while also pointing out some places where the product could be improved via future software releases.

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Wyze Cam Floodlight Price

The pricing of the Wyze Cam Floodlight is dependent on where it is being purchased from. It sells for $84.99 + shipping on Wyze's online store (currently in pre-order) and sells exclusively in Home Depot stores, where available, for $99.99. As of right now, Amazon is not carrying the Wyze Cam Floodlight, but I'd bet this will change over time as this is usually a trend with Wyze products.

To put this in perspective, this is dramatically cheaper than the Nest or Ring Floodlight Cam that sell for $279.99 and $179.99, respectively. Not only this, the Wyze Cam Floodlight offers significantly more features and functionality than either of these more expensive, popular competitors. There is also a Ring Spotlight camera that offers notably less features for $199.95.

It is also worth noting that this is not the first time that the Wyze Cam was used for a floodlight. There is an aftermarket Wasserstein Wired Floodlight that sells for $59.95 without the Wyze Cam included so you're basically at the same price once you add a camera onto it while lacking all of the smart floodlight features and customization.

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Design & Features of the Wyze Floodlight

Weatherproof Design Geared For Virtual All Weather Conditions & Climates

The Wyze Cam Floodlight is designed to be weatherproof, with a rating of IP65 that means it can withstand the elements and all types of weather. This is something the Nest and Ring cameras have been criticized for being unable to handle after frequent issues with rainfall and moisture getting into their internal components being due to it being only rated at IP54 weather resistance.

Motion Detection Up to 270 Degrees

The Wyze Cam Floodlight includes a motion detector that provides up to 270 degrees of coverage. There are 3 individually controlled PIR sensors, which detect motions up to 30 feet away. This motion sensor sensitivity can also be adjusted, so it will only trigger the movement of larger objects or animals as opposed to small breezes or other smaller movements.

Adjustable Super Bright LED Lights

The Wyze Cam Floodlight offers one of the most powerful and brightest lights in its class powerful enough to scare away intruders without being too bright for anyone inside or outside of your home.

The LED lights can be controlled by a number of different methods: PIR Sensor Detection, Camera Motion Detection, and Hybrid Motion Detection. In addition to that, the lights can also be activated by sound or custom defined rules

These lights can be adjusted by sensitivity level which makes it perfect for a fully lit path on Halloween, a night-time yard party, or a backyard BBQ with friends and family.

Extra USB Port Connection

One of the many features of the Wyze Cam Floodlight is an additional USB port. The USB port ultimately allows you to expand on the webcam's live-video surveillance by connecting a second Wyze Cam v3. This ultimately provides the option of double the coverage by adding a second camera while only relying on a single power source.

Starlight CMOS Sensor Offers Color Night Vision at 1080P HD

Color Night Vision is a standout feature of the Wyze Cam Floodlight which originally debuted in their standard Wyze V3 camera.

This camera’s Starlight Sensor enables you to see in color at night with very limited lighting which can be helpful for getting valuable details and information on poorly lit scenes in crisp 1080P HD video.

You might also use it to simply look at the night sky or shoot a time-lapse video of the stars with it if you want to get creative.

Loud Security Siren

The Wyze Cam Floodlight feature includes a loud security siren. This allows you to scare off pesky animals or potential intruders that might be up to no good. The siren can also be turned on and off using the Wyze app.

Cloud and Local Storage Options

The Wyze Cam Floodlight has the cloud and local storage feature. As with other Wyze cameras, free 14-day cloud storage is included. As a user, you can choose to store videos on the device's built-in memory card slot (no card included), cloud storage, or both.

Cam Plus Compatible

Cam Plus is Wyze Cam’s premium service which enables the Wyze Cam Floodlight to detect advanced motion and capture it to the cloud for extended periods. With Cam Plus, Wyze Cam Floodlight can send targeted alerts when new people, animals, or vehicles are detected on your property.

While it isn't free, Cam Plus is relatively affordable at just $1.99 a month and it's existence dramatically extends the functionality of cloud recording and notifications for their Floodlight camera.

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Hardwired Installation & Setup

Unlike a normal Wyze Cam which simply requires access to a traditional wall outlet to get up and running, the setup is a bit more complex for the Wyze Floodlight. This unit requires access to outdoor junction boxes for mounting and supplying wired electrical power. It does not work with standard wall outlets.

The process is straightforward for anyone with a bit of a handy side, but for those who aren't, you should hire a handyman to get the job done. Wyze states in both he included documentation and the installation process via the Wyze App that some countries outside the US will require a licensed electrician to carry out such an installation by law.

While I've never installed a floodlight myself in the past, I have installed new light switches and lighting fixtures so I figured it would be something within my wheelhouse especially since I was just replacing an existing “dumb” floodlight that came with my townhome overlooking my driveway.

Wyze conveniently included all the various accessories needed for installation setup including a new mounting bracket, various mounting screws, wiring caps, and an S hook mount for holding the unit up while you are configuring the wires.

The only trouble that I encountered with the installation had to do with the syncing process to the app. I've actually run into this same problem syncing my Wyze V3 cameras in an outdoor environment during daylight. The problem is that the sun or sky's glare on your iPhone's screen makes the Wyze cam unable to pair the device as it can't read the QR properly, a requirement for installation.

To fix this dilemma, I thought I would have to take it down and sync or wait until it was dark to sync (both valid options). I found the easiest way to sync the camera with proper QR code reading during daylight hours was using a towel thrown over the top of the camera and my phone held in front of it. This took a bit of finessing, but it eventually synced properly.

Given that most floodlights are powered via a traditional light switch like mine is, Wyze even included a ‘Do Not Turn On' sticker that can be placed over your light switch to ensure that no one turns it off and denies power to the Wyze Floodlight Cam.

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Functionality & Performance

Spotlight Illumination Performance

The spotlight performance of the Wyze Cam Floodlight has been iffy so far. I am able to easily adjust the brightness levels via the Wyze app. While I prefer peak brightness for security purposes, the amount of light emitted at this setting is heavy so you may need to tone it down in some situations.

So far, I have noticed that the light's motion sensor seems to misfire occasionally and doesn't always turn on with movements. I'm wondering if this has something to do with some sort of cooldown period as we already know Wyze Cam cameras have this sort of thing for a free motion recording account.

A few other users in Wyze Cam's Facebook group say they are having similar struggles with motion triggering for the spotlight being spotty, while others complain that there is no straightforward way to manually turn the spotlight on/off without changing the schedule to on all the time in dark settings.

There is a small spotlight button in the Wyze app when you are viewing the floodlight camera from within, but it turns off when you exit out of that screen. It would be nice if there was a way to disable this feature so users can manually control their light without having to go into settings or view a live feed within the app.

These floodlight issues may be bothersome, but we need to keep an open mind since this product just launched. Wyze is notorious for resolving early-on pain points in the firmware of their products, so here's hoping the spotlight issues are fixed in the near future.

Camera Performance

The Wyze Cam Floodlight Camera Performance is handled identically to the Wyze Cam V3 camera. There are plenty of settings to configure and potential adjustments to audio and motion tracking.

Wyze's free 14-day video cloud recording is a generous offer with all their camera models, however, Cam Plus is indeed worth it for most especially if you live in a busy area with a lot of pedestrian, animal, or vehicle movement within the camera's view.

This is for a few reasons, but primarily because Wyze Cam Plus users don't have to receive unnecessary app notifications all-day for random motion events and you can only be notified when Cam Plus AI notifications happen (people, cars, pets or packages).

One of the biggest advantages to Wyze Cams, in general, is their ability to capture both images to the cloud and an internal memory card. The Wyze Floodlight Cam is no exception to this and offers the same integrated microSD card slot. It, however, doesn't come with a card so I would recommend picking one up if you purchase this product.

The new Starlight sensor which debuted in their V3 cam is stellar. It allows you to see crisper images in low light and not have to utilize night vision IR modes which can muddle up details in an image.

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Wyze Cam Floodlight Review Verdict

Wyze Floodlight Cam is a newcomer to the market and frankly it is an industry disruptor when you compare their smart floodlight to that of Nest and Ring.

Wyze Floodlight Cam has excellent build quality that is smart in design and the unit comes feature packed with smart technology while still functioning as a high powered flood light. From a cost perspective it comes in at an insanely competitive price when comparing it to competing models, from the likes of Eufy, Nest and Ring.

I will be the first to admit that at the time of this review (only a few weeks since this product has hit on the market), the Wyze Floodlight Cam does have some software bugs and tweaks, but we give the company a lot of credit for nailing the hardware aspect which is the most important part.

In the past, Wyze has done an excellent job fixing up their software bugs with other products such the Wyze Cams and Wyze Vacuum, via future firmware updates which I'd expect to happen to the Floodlight Cam in the very near future.