Wyze Cam Pan v3 Review

We've evaluated a lot of security cameras over the years, running all of them through a gauntlet of measurements and tests designed to rate their respective performances across three major metrics, recorded video quality, monitoring performance, and ease of use. Our metrics help to determine which models provide crisp, clear images and which provide barely usable footage.

Overall, we found the Wyze Cam Pan v3 performed very well, and is one of the more impressive home security cameras our team has tested.

Performance Comparison

Recorded Video Quality

Our recorded video quality tests are responsible for 35% of each camera's overall score, and are broken down into video quality, night vision, and field of view (FOV), and motion sub-metrics. The Wyze Cam Pan V3 outperformed the competition in these tests and generally outpaced the bulk of the competition by more than 10 basis points.

Video quality can make the difference between simply seeing somebody at your front door or actually recognizing a person at your front door. Higher resolution and frame rates of at least 20 FPS are the standard today. However, the sensor quality, lens, and processing technology of security cameras are not equal across the gamut of options available on the market today.

For our night vision sub-metric, the second set of recorded video quality test measurements, the Wyze Cam Pan V3 blew away the competition. In the world of security cameras, it offers the best color night vision performance with a built-in spotlight and incredible infrared vision.

Compared to the camera on a mobile phone, which recorded nothing but pitch black, the V3 recorded full-color night vision. The infrared vision also produced crisp video quality, with a single minor caveat that glossy white surfaces can be too bright when illuminated by the built-in infrared LEDs. For example, a license plate can be a little overexposed due to its glossy and reflective nature. However, while license plates were very bright, they were still easily readable in the recorded videos. As are the details of a human face and smaller details, such as the graphics on clothing.

The Wyze Cam Pan V3 also did well in our third recorded video quality sub-metric — field of view and motion. The camera lens offers a fairly normal 120 degree field of view, but the camera can pan and tilt, with a 360 degree horizontal range, and a 180 degree vertical range of motion. It's also capable of making those movements at a rate of 110 degrees per second, allowing you to attain the maximum amount of coverage of your property, indoors or outdoors.

Additionally, the v3 has a performance-enhancing security feature that can automatically follow movement, so you'll never miss a thing.

Monitoring Performance

The Wyze Cam Pan v3 did a great job in our monitoring performance tests, with only a couple of minor caveats. When watching a live video feed, there is a tiny delay in video (although it's hardly noticeable), but the sound has a noticeable delay of more than a second, which is much more noticeable.

Also, like many of the security cameras we've tested, video quality can get a little bit blurry on fast moving objects near the camera. While the video occasionally blurred, it wasn't bad enough to affect its usability, but it did keep this camera from scoring higher overall for monitoring performance.

Very few cameras that we tested performed better than the Wyze when it came to live video quality, speaker sound, or sound picked up by the microphone, and it earned commensurate high marks for that performance.

Ease of Use

Our test team found the Wyze camera app to be easy and intuitive to navigate and use. An 'Events' tab on the home screen lets you navigate to and view all of your recorded events. A 'Monitoring' tab provides controls for your home security if you are subscribed to those additional services. An 'Account' tab lets you check all of your account and service details. The home screen also lets you access and manage different features, enabling you to do things like toggle any connected camera on or off. You can also easily watch live feeds, manually record, or access any connected camera with a tap from the home screen, taking you to a screen of options specific to the camera selected.

The camera app provides options for a wide array of events for notifications and will alert for general motion, people, packages, vehicles, and animals. You can even receive notifications when sounds are detected.

Wyze incorporated both smoke and carbon monoxide alarm detection and notifications for when the camera is used indoors. It does this by listening for the specific alarm sound generated by smoke detectors and carbon monoxide alarms and then generates alerts — further increasing the safety and security of you, your loved ones, pets, and property while you are away from home.

Should You Buy the Wyze Cam Pan v3?

The Wyze Cam Pan v3 builds on the already great Wyze V3 and adds both tilt and pan to its features. Incredible night vision performance and quality, multiple wireless encryption methods, great FOV, 1080p resolution, Alexa, Google, and IFTTT compatibility, and a very affordable price tag with no real gotchas in terms of subscription services, all make the Wyze Cam Pan v3 one of the best security cameras for inside or outside your home. This is one of our all-time favorite security cameras that we've tested. So should you buy the Wyze Cam Pan v3? Yes. Yes, you should. There may be nuances that make you lean toward another camera, but overall the v3 will meet and probably exceed most expectations.

What Other Security Cameras Should You Consider?

The Wyze Cam Pan v3 records a relatively standard 1080p video at a rate of 20 frames per second with a 120 degree lens, so if you need faster frame rates or a higher video resolution, then you may need to look at models like the Arlo Pro 4 with a 2k resolution at 25 FPS, or the Arlo Ultra 2 Wireless with 4k resolution at 25 FPS. While they may not be our all-around favorites, they may meet your specific needs. A wider field of view is also available on other cameras, but with the ability to pan and tilt, the Pan v3 allows you to see virtually anything versus being limited to a static 140 degree field of view.