With the strapline “Making smart home technology accessible to everyone”, Wyze is one of the most competitive new home automation firms.
There’s no doubt the key selling point of Wyze tech is the ultra-low pricing. The founding members of this VC-funded company based in Washington all met working at Amazon. With inexpensive tech and a customer-centered approach, it’s easy to see the similarities with Amazon.
Beyond this, Wyze gear also manages to outperform much of the competition despite that cut-throat price-tag. We took a quick look at Wyze as a company here.
We’ll launch right in then and deliver on our promise. We’ll walk you through a handful of ways to smarten up your home for under $100 with Wyze.
6 Ways To Smarten Up Your Home For Under $100 With Wyze
1) Wyze Bulb
If you’re looking to smarten up your home on the cheap, the Wyze bulb comes individually or in these 4-packs at a price so far below the opposition, it’s only natural to ask yourself if this smart bulb is any good.
The answer is a firm yes.
Set-up couldn’t be much easier and you won’t need a home hub.
Just connect the bulb to your home WiFi network. You should note that there’s
no support for 5GHz networks so make sure you have a 2.4GHz connection
available.
Wyze Bulb is dimmable so you can ratchet the brightness up from 2700 Kelvin to 6500 Kelvin. Where many basic smart bulbs only offer on/off functionality, you can create mood lighting in-app with ease here.
More Features
Brightness is an impressive 800 lumens, which is roughly in line with a 60-watt incandescent bulb. The advantage, though, is that you’ll use much less power than a regular bulb burns through.
If you want hands-free control, use either Alexa or Google Assistant as long as you have a smart speaker or smart display.
Day-to-day, you’ll get a great deal of convenience from these smart bulbs. When you head away on holiday, though, you can add security into the bargain. Hit Away Mode and your home will look occupied, even if you’re on the other side of the world.
While smart bulbs are convenient, they usually work out too costly if you want more than one or two units. Wyze allows you to roll out smart bulbs throughout the whole house on a budget.
2) Wyze Plug
Smart plugs are a superb way to upgrade the intelligence of small appliances like lamps, fans, and even coffee machines.
You can pick up these Wyze Plugs individually or in a 2-pack. Bundles are also available with an SD card, a Wyze Cam or with the Sense bridge. Even the most expensive bundles come in at well under $100.
Throw in an Echo device or Google Home smart speaker and you’ll be able to bark voice commands at the plug for complete hands-free convenience.
More Features
Control in-app is seamless. The Wyze app is pretty intuitive even if you’re not a smart home expert. You’ll be able to schedule lights or your coffee machine, so you can come down to a freshly brewed pot in the morning, which saves you a few precious minutes when you’re rushing around.
Grouping is a cinch, too. You’ll be able to deal with all the lights or other appliances in a given room with a single click or voice command.
Compatibility with other smart devices is first-rate. You’ll even be able to use IFTTT if you want to get more creative.
Wyze Plus proves that a simple smart plug needn’t be limited in functionality and you won’t need to spend much for the privilege either.
What if you’re looking for something a little more robust? Well, you’re in luck with the remainder of the Wyze line-up.
3) Wyze Cam (Second-Generation)
Now into its second iteration, Wyze Cam gives you complete coverage inside your smart home with a 1080p live stream available around the clock. Whether you want to check up on your kids, your teens or the family pet, indoor cameras have a range of use cases.
Installation couldn’t be much quicker or easier. This camera is battery-powered, so mount it wherever you like with no tools or screws required. A simple metal adhesive plate is all you need. Connect Wyze Cam to your home WiFi network (2.4GHz since there’s no 5GHZ support just yet) and you’re ready for action.
The 110-degree lens allows you to zoom in up to 8x with no discernible loss in clarity or focus. You’ll enjoy night vision to a distance of fully 30 feet, too. Stay protected 24/7 with Wyze Cam.
Note that Wyze Cam is not suitable for outdoor use. The unit is not weatherproofed so keep it inside. We’re pretty confident it won’t be too long now before Wyze rolls out an outdoor security camera, so keep an eye on this space.
More Features
You shouldn’t find that you’re plagued by too many false positives, thanks to the advanced AI-powered person detection. Motion-tagging technology clearly demarcates what’s happening whether you’re watching the live stream or recorded footage.
The rolling 2-week cloud storage offered beats the competition and means you won’t be forced into a paid subscription just to access your data. You can also store footage locally on a micro SD card, but you’ll need to buy this separately.
Wyze Cam manages to beat the opposition in this niche in pretty much all respects and the price is so low you’ll wonder why you didn’t invest sooner.
4) Wyze Cam Pan
Maybe you like the idea of an indoor camera, but you want even greater coverage with a more sweeping view inside your home? If so, Wyze Cam Pan is still priced well below most other indoor cameras and it packs a real punch.
The camera pans horizontally through 360 degrees and tilts to 93 degrees vertically. No area of your home should escape Cam Pan’s beady eye. The camera can make a full sweep of the room in three seconds. Set up and customize four waypoints and the camera does the rest.
A bundle of 6 infrared LED lights ensures that coverage continues even if it’s pitch black.
With two-way audio, you’ll be able to use this camera like a wireless intercom, which gives you even greater value for money. The class-K amplifier onboard gives you audio as crisp and the video is clear. Don’t make the mistake of thinking you’ll need to sacrifice quality in pursuit of a bargain.
More Features
With push notifications, you’ll get an alert pinged to your cellphone in the event of any unexpected motion being detected. The notification comes with a 12-second event video. You’ll enjoy the same rolling 14-day storage as with Wyze Cam. Keep in mind, this comes completely free of charge.
As an added bonus, you’ll be able to group and control
multiple cameras in-app to make your life easier if you’ve got a larger
connected home.
How else can you build Wyze devices into your home for under $100?
Well, the range is still small and young, but there is more up for grabs in the form of motions sensors and a nifty starter kit.
5) Wyze Sense
With Wyze Sense, you’ll get a sensor bridge along with a couple of contact sensors and a motion sensor, so you can protect just about anything you can think of in your home. In addition to this, you’ll be able to capture any security breaches with your Wyze Cam, too.
The bridge is equipped to support 100 sensors, giving you more than enough scope for the largest home.
Sense makes use of the WiFi connection from Wyze Cam, so all you need to do is pop it in the back and you’re good to go. This renders set-up plug-and-play in its simplicity. Include the sensors in-app – the bridge will automatically pick them up – and you’re all set.
The only real bugbear that needs ironing out is an occasional delay with the transmission of alerts. Hopefully, this will be tweaked in the next iteration of this package.
Dot the tiny sensors anywhere sensitive you need monitoring and you’ll stay aware of what’s happening remotely. Along with this, batteries should give you roughly a year of runtime from sensors.
6) Wyze Accessories
Wyze has a small but worthwhile collection of accessories to choose from, too.
Cam Mounting Kit works with either version of Wyze Cam. You’ll get 5 feet of cabling and a plate so you can adjust placement to suit.
If you have a Pan Cam, the Pan Mounting Kit has a magnetic base and a micro USB, so you’ll widen your placement options.
The Surge Protector keeps you safe against power spikes. The three outlets come with three USB ports so it doubles as a device charger, always handy.
With the MicroSD Card, you can keep all storage off the cloud and local. The 32GB card gives you room for a couple days of HD footage or a full week in SD.
Final Word
We hope you’ve been tempted by a few of these pocket-friendly devices from start-up Wyze. We’re pretty confident this customer-centered firm will be going from strength to strength as we approach 2020.
Not only can you pick up Wyze devices for well under $100, but you can also feasibly buy pretty much the entire range for that price, so why not treat yourself?
To make things even sweeter, if you sign up for our email newsletter, you’ll get 20% off your first order here at Smarthome. What are you waiting for?
The post Smarten Up Your Home For Under $100 With Wyze appeared first on Smarthome Blog.
Source: All Things Home Automation