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Review
Wyze Cam v4 review
Best cheap camera that is still worth owning. Records and keeps footage with no monthly plan. 4.3 stars from 11,539 ratings on Amazon.
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The verdict in one line
Best cheap camera that is still worth owning
- Resolution
- 2.5K (2560x1440)
- Field of view
- 120 degrees
- Weather
- IP65
- Night
- Starlight sensor + 72-lumen spotlight
- Storage
- microSD up to 512 GB
- Extras
- 100 dB siren
- Fee needed
- No for live and local
- Buy it if
- You want to put a real camera somewhere without thinking hard about it.
- Look elsewhere if
- You want person detection and cloud history without paying; Wyze gates some of that behind Cam Plus.
Is the Wyze Cam v4 worth it?
Drawn for this site. Not a product photo.
At this price the honest question is not whether it is the best camera but whether it is a real one, and it is. The listing specifies 2560x1440 across a 120 degree view, IP65, and an operating range from -4F to 113F.
The spotlight is 72 lumens, which is enough to put color into a porch at night but not enough to light a driveway. There is a 100 dB siren in the body. Wyze has had security incidents in its past that are worth reading about before you put one indoors, and they are well documented in the press rather than something this site tested.
Treat the subscription as optional and the camera as the product. If you want person detection and event history you will end up paying monthly, and at that point run the numbers against a camera that includes it.
What the subscription actually gates
Live view and local recording to a card work without paying. Person detection, event history and the richer notifications are Cam Plus features. That is the line to understand before you buy three of them, because three cameras on a per-camera plan is where the arithmetic turns against you.
On the company: Wyze has had publicised security incidents, including an episode where users briefly saw thumbnails from other households. They have been written about in detail by the technology press. That history is a reason to prefer local storage and to think carefully before putting one in a bedroom, and it is not something this site tested.
What it costs to keep running
Plan fees for the Wyze Cam v4 over five years: $0, because it keeps its own footage; the only thing to add is a high-endurance microSD card.
With a 128 GB card the Wyze Cam v4 holds about 6 days of round-the-clock 2K footage, or about 7 months if it only records motion (about 40 minutes of clips a day).
Different card or recording mode? The storage calculator uses the same assumptions.
If this is not the one
- Tapo C120Cheapest camera that works indoors and out
- Tapo C216 (2-pack)Best two-camera starter kit
- Tapo C320WSBest outdoor camera overall
Head to head
Updated October 27, 2026 by Henrik Halvorsen. Specifications were checked against the Amazon listings on that date. Prices are shown as bands because they change week to week; the listing shows today's.