Budget-friendly Wyze unveils a bunch of new tech and services
Wyze is one of the go-to companies if you want smart home tech on the cheap. Its latest round of announcements is sure to appeal to all the money-savers out there once again.
There’s a good amount to cover, but let’s start with the juiciest parts: Wyze’s “24/7 Professional Security” service and a low-cost way to make your dumb light bulbs smart.
So far Wyze has only given us a tease of Wyze Cam Plus, which looks to be a subscription-based security service that works with existing Wyze range of budget security cameras.
You can watch the video Wyze released below, but here are the key points:
- Arm/Disarm
- Person Detection
- Visual Alerts
- 24/7 Professional Security
These suggest you’ll be able to turn a Wyze Cam into a fairly fully featured smart home alarm system.
And we already know roughly what “24/7 Professional” monitoring means because Wyze offers it in its Home Monitoring System package.
Wyze partners with Noonlight for this service, which offers fast response to emergencies from real people, and can connect you to the emergency services.
The Wyze Cam Plus is likely to offer access to a similar service, but with less of a hardware investment — around $40.
Wyze’s existing Home Monitoring System service costs $59.99 a year, and is only available in the Unites States.
Wyze Switch
The company’s new Wyze Switch ($32.99 for a 3-pack) replaces a traditional light switch, and can be used to make non-smart lightbulbs act more like smart ones, or control Wyze bulbs just like in the old pre-smart days.
A Wyze Switch might be handy when you go on holidays, if you don’t already own smart lights. Its Vacation mode automatically turns the lights on at points to make it look like you’re at home. You can also set schedules.
It supports gestures too in its Smart Control mode, which you’d use if you’re controlling Wyze bulbs rather than a classic bulb.
One, two or three button presses can be set to fire off commands in other devices. They don’t have to be Wyze ones either, as the Switch supports IFTTT. It can also communicate with Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa.
Wyze Lamp Socket
The next Wyze pick is one for the DIY crowd. A Wyze Lamp Socket ($9.99) is an E26 light fixture with a USB port to let you power a Wyze Cam V3 without needing a separate plug socket nearby.
Wyze’s idea is you might use this outdoors, offering a headache-free way to setup an outside security camera or motion detector.
You don’t lose the light fixture either. There’s a thread for a bulb, and the Wyze Lamp Socket once again can turn a regular bulb into a quasi-smart one.
The obvious benefit here is you can setup the light as motion-sensitive. Up to five lights can be grouped together, using five Wyze Lamp Sockets, too.
There are a few bits to bear in mind here. The Wyze Lamp Socket is not water resistant, and neither is the bridging USB connection you’ll use to plug in a Wyze Cam V3 — a little care and attention is required to avoid an unfortunate incident when it’s wet out.
Finally, Wyze has given its white light bulbs a new feature, Sun Match. This alters the color temperature of the light through the day.
This means it’ll start out warm in the morning, become cooler in the afternoon, which can help you feel more energized.
And it will then head back to a warm light towards the evening. These bulbs have a temperature range of 2700K – 6500K, so there’s plenty of scope here for Sun Match to do its thing.
A four pack of Wyze’s bulbs costs $31.99 and is available to pre-order for shipping “in November”.
The Wyze Switch and Wyze Lamp Socket are available to pre-order too, for delivery in December. We’ll be on the lookout for more information about the company’s Wyze Cam Plus sub.
