Wyze was an early player in the budget home security camera game, but it’s been slow to adopt 4K video resolution—until now, anyway.
Available starting today, the Wyze Cam Pan v4 marks the manufacturer’s first 4K security cam, following in the footsteps of TP-Link’s Tapo and other home security brands that have already gone the 4K route.
Landing just two weeks after Wyze’s dual-lens Duo Cam Pan (which packs a pair of 2K cameras), the Wyze Cam Pan v4 carries over most of the features of its predecessor, the Cam Pan v3 from 2023.
Among those features are 180-degree tilt coverage and 360-degree panning, along with IP65-rated weather protection, meaning it’s dust-tight and resistant to low-pressure water jets sprayed from any angle.
Compatible with Alexa and Google Home (but not Apple Home), the Cam Pan v4 also offers color night vision, two-way audio (albeit with an “improved” speaker and microphone this time around), and a privacy mode that points the camera lens straight down.
New for the upgraded Cam Pan is its 4K video resolution, which promises sharper image quality when zooming in on smaller areas of captured video events. Wyze’s previous cameras were capped at either 2K or 1080p resolution.
Bolstering the Cam Pan v4’s 4K resolution is its dual-band Wi-Fi, which allows the camera to connect to the faster, less crowded, and greater-bandwidth 5GHz wireless spectrum. In contrast, the Cam Pan v3 is a single-band Wi-Fi camera that’s restricted to the 2.4GHz spectrum, which is slower and more crowded than the 5GHz band and tends to perform better over longer distances.
Along with the Cam Pan v4’s 4K and dual-band Wi-Fi capabilities comes a new chip that offers on-device, AI-powered person, vehicle, and pet tracking. That marks a major boost compared to previous Wyze camera, which relied on the cloud for AI object detection. That said, you’ll still need a paid Wyze subscription to unlock specific person, vehicle, and pet motion alerts, a Wyze rep told me.
Also new for the Cam Pan v4 is a motion-activated spotlight with a built-in siren, good for scaring off detected intruders, while a new universal mount lets you affix the camera to walls, eaves, and ceilings.
As with its predecessor, the Cam Pan v4 supports MicroSDXC cards up to 512GB, which allows for local storage of motion events.
For those who prefer cloud storage, Wyze offers a trio of plans. Cam Plus gives you 14-day video storage, suspicious sound alerts, and (as previously noted) AI object detection on a single camera for $2.99 a month, while Cam Unlimited adds a multi-cam timeline, smart arm/disarm modes, and friendly face detection on all your Wyze cams for $9.99/month. Cam Unlimited Pro ups the ante with AI-powered search and descriptive alerts, 60-day video storage, and 24/7 emergency dispatch for $19.99 a month.
We’ll have a full review of the Wyze Cam Pan v4 once we check out a sample unit.
Updated with new details from Wyze clarifying that AI-enabled person, pet, and vehicle alerts still require a paid Wyze plan. This news story is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best home security cameras.
Author: Ben Patterson, Senior Writer, TechHive
Ben has been writing about technology and consumer electronics for more than 20 years. A PCWorld contributor since 2014, Ben joined TechHive in 2019, where he has covered everything from smart speakers and soundbars to smart lights and security cameras. Ben’s articles have also appeared in PC Magazine, TIME, Wired, CNET, Men’s Fitness, Mobile Magazine, and more. Ben holds a master’s degree in English literature.