Wyze announces two new security cameras

Smart home company Wyze has released two new budget security cameras that aren’t short of features. The Wyze Cam OG and the Cam OG Telephoto 3x will serve as a new camera line that provides similar features to the Wyze Cam v3 at a more affordable price.

The $19.99 Wyze Cam OG comes equipped with an integrated motion-activated 40-lumen spotlight to pick up greater image detail and help deter unauthorized individuals from your property, while the $29.99 Wyze Cam OG Telephoto 3x instead provides a zoom lens to help users get a clearer view of distant areas such as a mailbox, garage, or shed.

Wyze claims that both cameras offer “upgraded two-way audio, and livestream performance” compared to the older Cam v3 and confirmed to The Verge that the Cam v3 will still be available “for a time” as a standalone camera and as a hub for the Wyze Cam Floodlight.

In addition to being highly affordable, the Wyze Cam OG and Wyze Cam OG Telephoto 3x both support a new feature called Picture in Picture Live View, which allows a user to pair the cameras together — either two of the same model or one of each — to view a livestream of both camera feeds simultaneously via the Wyze app. The livestream feeds can be enlarged, moved around, or collapsed entirely in Picture view mode.

Wyze says the Cam OG is capable of delivering 20fps video in daylight and 15fps at night, while the Cam OG Telephoto 3x (which lacks an onboard spotlight) can achieve 20fps video in daylight and 10fps at night. The Wyze Cam OG and Cam OG Telephoto 3x both come equipped with a 90-decibel user-activated alarm that can be used as an additional deterrent to ward off unwelcome guests.

Otherwise, the Wyze Cam OG and Wyze Cam OG Telephoto 3x both have similar specifications outside of each security camera’s respective selling points. Both offerings are wired indoor / outdoor cameras (rated to IP65) powered by a six-foot (1.8m) USB-C cable and can capture footage in full-color night vision at a resolution of 1920 x 1080 thanks to Wyze’s 4-megapixel CMOS-Starlight Sensor. Inside, you’ll find an ARM v8M 500MHz processor and 512MB of memory. Both cameras also support microSD cards up to 256GB for 24/7 recording, which Wyze claims should be sufficient for around 30 days of footage.

The Wyze Cam OG and the Wyze Cam OG Telephoto 3x feature two-way audio so you can interact with anyone in front of the camera via the Wyze app for iOS or Android. As with all Wyze Cams, both cameras also support integrations with Alexa and Google Assistant for alerts and voice controls. Unfortunately, the Wyze Cam OG and the Wyze Cam OG Telephoto 3x don’t support 5GHz Wi-Fi and can only be used with 2.4GHz networks.

Both of the new cameras allow users to upload recorded footage to the cloud, but neither product supports the free Cam Plus Lite software, which allows Wyze Cam users to view recorded video stored within the cloud. Instead, you’ll have to subscribe to Wyze’s Cam Plus service ($1.99 a month / $20 a year, per camera) to view recorded video footage without pulling the local storage from the cameras.

The Wyze Cam OG and the Wyze Cam OG Telephoto 3x are available to buy today. For folks who want to set up two security cameras in the same location, Wyze will soon be releasing the Wyze Cam OG Stack Kit, a dual-camera mounting accessory with a split charger that allows users to stack the cameras together. Pricing for the Wyze Cam OG Stack Kit is currently set at $9.99, but Wyze hasn’t provided a release date.