No matter the particulars of the newest EZVIZ safety digicam, historical past has confirmed I’m going to get three issues: rock-solid surveillance options, a clean setup, and a number of storage choices to safe any video proof it might seize. The EZVIZ Outdoor Wi-Fi Camera (mannequin C3WN) hits that trifecta squarely. That it may be had for simply $50, is icing on the cake.
Design
The tennis-ball sized C3WN has twin Wi-Fi antennas and is connected to its mount with a ball joint for straightforward angling. A tail sprouting from the again of the mount splits into an influence jack and an ethernet connector (providing you with the choice of both wi-fi or hardwired connectivity to your community). The complete unit—minus the tail, which will probably be threaded via an exterior wall or overhang—is rated IP66, indicating it’s protected against whole mud ingress and from high-pressure water jets from any route, and operates in temperatures from -22 levels to 140 levels F.
The digicam has a 110-degree viewing angle and captures 1080p video. It has a built-in noise-cancelling microphone to offer clear audio at as much as 16 ft in cacophonous outside environments, and two infrared LEDs present as much as 100 ft of robotically activated night time imaginative and prescient.
This digicam additionally gives good motion-detection zones and notifications, so that you could be alerted to exercise in high-risk areas without having to be glued to the digicam feed.
The C3WN’s twin Wi-Fi antennas give you numerous freedom in putting the digicam exterior your own home, though they may additionally show enticing to vandals if inside attain.
As with most EZVIZ cameras, the C3WN comes with a number of storage choices. You can save video clips on the digicam with a microSD card (as much as 256GB, not included) or to the EZVIZ NVR (community video recorder, offered individually for $230). You can even retailer your video offsite with an EZVIZ CloudPlay subscription. A seven-day storage plan prices $6 monthly or $60 yearly, whereas 30 days of storage prices $11 monthly or $110 yearly.
Setup and efficiency
The ultimate spot for the CW3N is inside vary of each a transparent Wi-Fi sign and an indoor electrical outlet. Thanks to the twin Wi-Fi antennas, you have got appreciable latitude with the primary requirement (supplied you’re connecting to a 2.4GHz community); for the second, you’re restricted by the 5-foot size of the DC Power Adapter. If you’d reasonably wire the digicam to your router, you’ll additionally want to think about the gap an ethernet cable might want to cowl. EZVIZ missed a chance by not supporting power-over-ethernet (PoE); that may have made this digicam a lot simpler to deploy.
Once you have got that sorted out, you possibly can mount the digicam to any wall or ceiling that may assist 3 times the digicam’s weight and that you simply don’t thoughts drilling a gap via to accommodate the cables. Screws, anchors, and a mounting template are supplied for the mounting, however you’ll want to produce your individual instruments for this. After the digicam is mounted, you possibly can regulate the surveillance angle by loosening the adjusting screw on the mount, positioning the digicam—it may rotate 360 levels and tilt 90 levels—then re-tightening the screw.
Michael Ansaldo/IDGVendor equipped inventory artworkThe EZVIZ app has easy, inuitive digicam controls.
To join the digicam to your wi-fi community, create or login to your account within the EZVIZ app, scan the QR code on the CW3N and comply with the prompts to sign up to your Wi-Fi. When you’re accomplished, the digicam seems on the app’s system web page together with some other EZVIZ cameras you have got related.
Tapping the C3WN opens its stay feed. While viewing the stream, you possibly can flip the audio on and off, toggle the decision, manually seize video clips and snapshots, and activate a multi-camera view in case you have a couple of lively.
The video high quality is great, with no distortion that I may see regardless of the huge viewing angle. Details have been sharp and colours wealthy and correct. Night imaginative and prescient illuminated the scene sufficient to make out facial particulars even with minimal exterior gentle.
Audio readability was glorious, too; there have been a number of rainstorms after I was utilizing the digicam and will hear a customer talking within the downpour, even with automobiles whizzing by on the rain-soaked streets.
By default, you’ll obtain movement detection notifications 24/7. I discovered the detection fairly “hot” even at decrease sensitivity settings, so I set a notification schedule to maintain them from blowing up my cellphone all day. You set a time window that you simply need to obtain alerts after which select which days of the week you need to apply that schedule. So in the event you solely need to be notified once you’re away at work, you possibly can set a schedule of say 8 am to 6pm, Monday via Friday.
Motion detection areas can additional cut back movement alerts. To set them, you draw on a grid overlay to masks within the areas you need to monitor. The C3WN will notify you solely when it detects exercise in these areas.
Each movement alert features a thumbnail of the triggering object. Buried within the settings is a “mark face” possibility. When you flip it on, human faces are highlighted within the screenshot thumbnail. This isn’t the identical as facial recognition, although—the digicam can’t inform one particular person’s face from one other—it’s only a approach to attract your consideration to the human within the body.
Michael Ansaldo/IDGYou can set a schedule for once you need to obtain movement alters so your not bombarded with notifications.
Accessing surveillance video is much like different EZVIZ cameras. With a CloudPlay subscription, you possibly can scrub via a timeline and see recorded exercise recognized as orange bars. Scrolling to any of those spots play again these occasions.
A library of timestamped video clips is displayed on the CloudPlay tab within the order they have been recorded. You can obtain or delete these throughout playback.
Finally, video clips recorded to microSD card are accessed from the Messages tab on the app’s units display screen. These could be saved to your cellphone when you’re viewing them.
Verdict
The EZVIZ C3WN is simply an all-around nice outside safety digicam. And it’s priced low sufficient that you possibly can buy a number of to put round your property for the price of only one competing digicam. That’s a discount that compels us to suggest it.