Wyze Cam's new friend: The $20 Wyze Sense security kit
Already have a Wyze Cam? Expand it with these crazy-inexpensive contact and motion sensors.
The Wyze Sense kit includes a bridge, a motion sensor and two contact sensors. A Wyze Cam is required but not included.
Disclaimer: We aren't recommending that consumers purchase Wyze products at this time. Over the past several years, Wyze has suffered from repeated data leaks and security breaches, including a 2019 user data leak, exposed databases in 2022, and exposed video files that same year. More recently, Wyze has seen both 2023 and 2024 security flaws that let at least 13,000 people see through other Wyze security cams owned by unrelated users.
Currently, Wyze's forum report on the latest breach includes an update from February 19, 2024: "Our engineering team has added a new layer of verification between users and event videos to prevent this from happening again. We've also removed the client library and will not be using caching until we can find a new client library and stress test it for extreme scenarios like we saw on Friday."
This response is a start, but Wyze has repeatedly struggled to reliably update its approach to security and meaningfully communicate with its users. While we have seen security companies bounce back from security problems in the past, we haven't seen this kind of improvement from Wyze yet. So we are not endorsing their products or any services where you need to create a Wyze account with your personal info.
We'll keep you updated on Wyze's security and privacy if our recommendations change. If you're looking for security brands that have made notable security improvements or have good privacy track records, we can recommend products from Ring, Google's Nest, Blink, and Arlo.
I haven't written about Wyze Labs for a while, because the company hasn't introduced a new product for a while. You might remember the awesome $20 Wyze Cam from 2017 and even better $30 Wyze Cam Pan from 2018. (Both were among my "top cheap products" of their respective years.)
So, what's up next for Wyze? We just found out: The Wyze Sense is a security kit that adds contact and motion sensors to either Wyze Cam model. Price: $20. Yep, $20.
Available for preorder now (via the Wyze app, meaning you need to already have a Wyze Cam), the Sense consists of four components: the bridge, which plugs into the back of the camera (so that's what that USB port is for), two contact sensors and one motion sensor.
The contact sensors are designed for things like doors and windows -- basically anything that can be opened or closed. When either activity occurs, the sensor will trigger the Wyze Cam to start recording, or just send an alert to your phone. The motion sensor can do likewise.
What's more, if a door or something is left open for a specific length of time, the sensor can notify you of that as well.
The bridge, which can manage up to 100 sensors, is powered by the Wyze Cam; the sensors run on replaceable button-cell batteries, each good for about 12 months, according to Wyze.
The kits are due to ship in May, and preorders are available only until April 10. After that, you'll have to wait until they officially go on sale (also in May).
There's more to come from Wyze this year: a smart bulb due this summer and Sense expansion kits.
In the meantime, I'll be test-driving the Sense pretty soon, so stay tuned for some hands-on coverage. On paper, it looks like an excellent -- and crazy-affordable -- way to add security sensors to your Wyze Cam setup.
Read more: The best home security devices for 2019
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