Wyze Cam Floodlight v2 review: Budget smart lighting & security

The entry-level Wyze Cam Floodlight v2 is an incremental improvement over first-generation model, which TechHive didn’t get a chance to review. It joins the higher-end Wyze Cam Floodlight Pro, which earned a TechHive Editors’ Choice award in late 2023. The higher-priced Pro remains an option for users with more sophisticated needs; namely, brighter lighting covering a wider area and support for 5GHz Wi-Fi.

Like Wyze’s other floodlight cameras, this is a hardwired solution intended to replace an existing outdoor light, attaching to a standard electrical box and connecting to household electrical wiring. All the hardware you need to complete this connection is included in the package, although I needed to use different size wire nuts with my wiring.

The 2.76-pound device installs in just a few minutes if you have experience with home wiring connections, relying on a single bolt running through the center of the housing to attach it to the box’s mounting bracket. Once it’s wired up, the device’s two large, adjustable floodlamps perch above its central camera and motion sensor, ready to light up the night.

Design

Since we didn’t review the original Cam Floodlight, an apples-to-apples comparison is a little difficult, but here’s a look at what’s new in the second-gen model, based on published specs. The changes are modest but measurable upgrades. First, camera resolution is up a bit from 1920 x 1080 pixels to the current 2304 x 1296 pixels. The field of view has increased from 130 degrees to a very wide 160 degrees, as well. The lights are just a bit brighter, up from 2600 to 2800 lumens, still at a relatively cool 5000K color temperature.

Some things haven’t changed, including the siren’s volume level (105dB), the inclusion of both standard IR and Starlight color night vision, and support for only 2.4GHz Wi-Fi. Support for Alexa, Google Assistant, and IFTTT also remain standard. Size, weight, and an IP65 weatherproof rating have not changed, but the v2 is now available in your choice of black or white (the first-gen device was only available in white). The overall design has changed modestly, with a more compact camera housing that Wyze refers to as “more robust” and which, frankly, just looks a bit cleaner.

This review is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best security cameras.

One feature has been removed, however: The ability to connect an additional Wyze camera to the Floodlight via USB. In the original Cam Floodlight, this secondary cam could be powered by a USB port built into the flood’s housing, giving you the option for extra video coverage without a separate power cable run, but the port has been removed in the new model.

For the sake of completeness and comparison, the Cam Floodlight Pro is still more advanced across most dimensions, including brighter floods (3000 lumens), marginally higher resolution, an even wider viewing angle, and support for both 2.4- and 5GHz Wi-Fi.

As with all Wyze products, setup of the Cam Floodlight v2 is done via the Wyze app, and the company has made things a bit easier with this product by eliminating the need to scan a QR code on the hardware during configuration. Now, app connections can be done completely wirelessly, which can save you an extra trip up a ladder. After I had all my hardware connections made, it only took a quick firmware update to get up and running with video.

Performance

Using the Cam Floodlight v2 was a near-identical experience to the Floodlight Pro, as many of the same features of the Pro have been ported to this device—especially if you have a Wyze Cam Plus subscription (more on this below). In fact, the system works much like Wyze’s other cameras, the primary interface providing a live view of the area covered, with “recent events” appearing beneath, in chronological order. You can drill down to additional events on a subsequent page, where they are organized by date. Clips load quickly and video looks good under daylight, night vision, or (especially) under those powerful floods.

Christopher Null/Foundry

I experienced no real problems with the camera during two weeks of testing, although I did receive a notice from Wyze on one day stating “Events are down,” which caused no event recordings to appear under the events tab. As it turns out, this was related to a “widespread service outage followed by a security breach that exposed private video events to more than 13,000 of its users,” as reported by TechHive’s Ben Patterson.

While I wasn’t among the Wyze users who were able to see thumbnails of video events from other Wyze owners’ cameras, I don’t know if other Wyze camera owners were able to see thumbnails from my camera. In any event, all my recordings returned in about 48 hours. I’ll leave it up to the reader to determine if that breach is a showstopper or not.

I found the Wyze Cam Floodlight v2’s motion sensitivity to be far less trigger-happy than the Wyze Cam Floodlight Pro, and even on maximum sensitivity levels it didn’t record when bugs flew by or shadows crossed its path. This might be a pro or a con depending on your point of view, but my Pro’s event listing is of late filled with false positives where nothing is actually happening. The v2’s video quality is solid, and its viewing angle provides very spacious coverage without too much fish-eye distortion.

Wyze Labs

The dual floodlights are powerful, though not noticeably different than the Pro’s three floodlights; and unlike the original Cam Floodlight, the v2 can be set to provide always-on ambient lighting on a schedule you set, instead of being tied to motion detection. Brightness can be dialed up and down as needed—and you can also set the motion sensor to fire off the siren if movement is detected (and flash the lights along with it).

As is common on Wyze cameras, you are free to record video locally to a microSD card or opt for a cloud subscription. The Wyze Cam Plus plan hasn’t changed since our last encounter, providing online storage and much more useful person/pet/package/vehicle detection for $3/month ($20/year) for one camera, or $10/month ($99/year) for unlimited cameras. You can turn any Wyze camera into a security system with professional monitoring via the Wyze Cam Protect plan, which costs $4/month per camera ($40/year).

Again, these are useful upgrades; namely, since if you don’t subscribe to one plan or another, you’re restricted to a lengthy 5-minute cooldown between recordings. We have another story with a comparison of security camera subscription plans from the major manufacturers.

Should you buy a Wyze Cam Floodlight v2?

The Wyze Cam Floodlight v2 is the cheapest floodlight camera model going—save for the original Wyze Cam Floodlight, which is still available for $80 ($4 less than the new model, direct from Wyze Labs, while supplies last). If you want video surveillance and outdoor lighting in one product, this one provides about 90 percent of the power of the Wyze Cam Floodlight Pro for 44 percent less.

All that said, you should also take into account the recent Wyze Labs security breach and decide if their promise to “do better” means you should trust them.

Specifications

Camera

• Camera resolution: 2304 x 1296 pixels
• Field of view: 160 degrees diagonal
• Night vision
• Color night vision
• Two-way audio

Lighting

• Dual LED light panels
• 2800 lumens combined brightness (dimmable)
• 5000K color temperature (fixed)

Other

• Color: Black or white
• Local storage: microSD card slot (user provides card, up to 256GB)
• Power: hardwired
• 2.4GHz Wi-Fi
• Onboard siren: 105dB
• IP65 weatherization
• Operating temperature range: -4 degrees Fahrenheit to 140 F (-20 degrees C to 60 C)