Wyze Cam Pan v2 Review

If you’re shopping for home security cameras you may have come across Wyze. This US-based startup is growing fast with its small, smart camera offerings. In this review I’ll take a look at the Wyze Cam Pan, one of the company’s flagship home security cameras. I’ll tell you what it can do, where it’s designed to be use and its special features, and if I can recommend it for you.

What is Wyze Cam Pan?

Wyze Cam Pan V2 is a compact home security camera that swivels 360 degrees, making it ideal for monitoring large or open spaces. You can use the Wyze app to view live feeds, or to access recorded footage.
With live monitoring, the ability to auto-record based on movement, and cloud-based storage, Wyze has what you’ll need for home-based monitoring.

Wyze Cloud recording

Before we get to the cameras, it’s worth talking about the recording options.

Wyze gives you the option of limited free cloud recording for your cameras. You’ll get 12 second videos only, and they only get saved for 14 days. If you want full length videos, and access to them for longer, you’ll need to opt into one of Wyze’s monthly plans.

Setting up Wyze cameras

Setting up Wyze Cam Pan was super easy and I was ready to view in seconds; essentially you’ll sign into or sign up for an account, then add the camera in the Wyze app. The app found my camera right away and it, and the WyzeCam v3 I’m also testing, were online and recording in an instant.

Make sure to turn on recording

The Wyze app is where you can view live feeds or videotaped events, and download footage too. Important to note that with each camera you need to turn on recording if it detects either motion or noise; otherwise you won’t have anything to look back at. You can do this by going into each camera, choosing Settings then Event recording. I’m not sure why this wouldn’t be enabled by default, but mine was not.

Key features

The Wyze Cam Pan offers many things the standard cam doesn’t, with the main upgrade being the ability to swivel the camera a full 360 degrees. Its spherical lens also gives the ability to tilt up and down. The

Cam Pan is taller but still somewhat compact, at 5x2x2 inches, and can be mounted with a full range of motion. Unlike the Wyze Cam v3, this version is indoor use only.

The Wyze app allows you to watch the camera live and control the motion and aim of the camera.

The Pan offers motion detection and will follow any movement detected. You can also set the Pan to “watch” different parts of its range, moving the camera in a pre-determined pattern.

The camera can be manually controlled within 360 degrees and sweep an entire space.

Video quality

The Cam Pan is a 1080p HD video camera so it’s very good quality and it’s easy to see and identify people, pets and whatever’s going on. It offers video at 15 frames per second and has a range of about 30 feet.

There’s also night recording and it’s in colur with the Wyze Cam pan V2.

A cool feature of this camera is the ability to auto-follow motion, particularly of children and pets, for those who are trying to keep a secure eye on large areas. The camera will auto-follow detected motion when the “motion tracking” setting is enabled. This can be done by tapping “More” below the three dots, then tapping “Motion Tracking.”

Another helpful feature is the “Pan Scan” feature where the camera will auto-rotate between 4 pre-determined waypoints. You can customize the waypoints by tapping the gear in the top right corner, then Advanced Settings >> Motor Controls >>  Pan Scan Settings.

Indeed the Cam Pan does a pretty good job of tracking people in its field of view, limited only by the range of its lens. Sometimes if the person is too close to the camera, you won’t see their head, but for the most part, the Cam Pan is a capable tracker, and will follow motion around the room, meaning there’s no worry about dead spots.

You access footage via the Wyze app and it’s easy to navigate and find what you’re looking for.

The overall video quality is really good; it’s clear and easy to see what’s going on. At night the camera does a good job of seeing in the dark. Overall, the video quality is top notch.

Power

Like the v3, the Pan is powered via a USB cable. A six-foot cord and wall plug are included, along with mounting hardware. You must keep this camera plugged in to use it, which also means that in a power outage, you’ll be dark.

While there’s all kinds of cases for battery powered cameras, you do need to keep recharging them so some folks find a powered and wired camera to be the most reliable solution. But it’s often a matter of choice.

Overall review: Wyze Cam Pan

Overall, the Wyze Cam Pan is a compact and capable camera. It offers clear video recording and you can move it manually around your space for a look, or enable the tracking to see what’s going on and it does a pretty good job of keeping tabs. Downsides? In some cases, the limitations of the camera lens mean you don’t see things when they’re close up. But these feel like minor cons. Some might knock on the price of the cloud recording and storage, but it’s not too far out of line for what you get with other cameras, and you can always opt for the free 12-second/14 day option.

I can recommend Wyze Cam Pan to you for a versatile, affordable home security solution. Wyze Cam Pan sells for about $39USD/$64CAD and its available on Amazon.

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