Wyze launches another ridiculously cheap camera (this one has a light)

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.

Wyze's forum report on the latest breach includes an update from February 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.

Tech startups love to claim disruptor status, though few can actually do so honestly. Wyze is one of those rare companies in recent years to truly disrupt a whole market, though -- in this case, the home security industry. Wyze's dirt-cheap devices, from security cameras to video doorbells, pressured everyone, from tech giants to other startups, to dramatically rethink pricing. And Wyze is doing it again with a new $50 Spotlight Cam.

The Wyze Spotlight Cam, launching today on Wyze's website, isn't a new camera: it's 2020's Wyze Cam v3, one of our favorite smart cams of the last year, with a spotlight clipped to the top. The Wyze Cam launched at $24, but has since seen price bumps up to $36 as a result of material shortages, according to the company.

Even at $36, though, the Wyze Cam v3 offers a nearly unbeatable value, and compared to other spotlight cams on the market, that value is even more pronounced.

Of course, the comparison isn't exactly apples to apples. The Wyze Cam Spotlight doesn't have adjustable colors or brightness, and it only puts out about 70 lumens of light, versus, say, the Ring Floodlight's 1,800 lumens, or the Ring Spotlight's more than 300 lumens. In addition, the Wyze Cam Spotlight must be wired for power.

Otherwise, the Wyze camera maintains all the specs of the v3, including a 130-degree field of view, 1080p resolution and an IP65 weatherproofing rating.

The Wyze Cam Spotlight is available for preorder starting today.