The Ezviz C8C is a smart security camera for less than $ 100, which can be remotely panned and tilted to almost any angle of your choice, and it also has IP65 weather resistance.
Ezviz C8C ( Check Latest price at Amazon. ) offers reliable connection options, impressive video quality even at night, and has multiple customizable in-app settings to customize its security features according to your needs. In our tests, compared to other options, it provides above-average video and low-light performance, but its intelligent AI detection is often a bit lacking.
The biggest advantage of this system is that you can easily change your viewing angle remotely at any time. Even if you are not at home, you can use a camera to view a larger area.
What’s Included
Included with the camera you’ll find a manual, 12v power adapter, installation screws, a drilling template, a waterproofing kit for the cable connections, and a quick start guide.
Installation
The physical setup and installation of your camera requires some planning. For most users, one of the biggest limiting factors may be finding a suitable power source for the camera. Especially if it is installed outdoors, some users may choose to drill holes in their walls or accessories to pass the power cord.
It is important to note that although the camera itself is IP65 weatherproof, its connection and power adapter are not. Using the included waterproof kit will help protect and seal the connection between the power adapter plug and the camera cable, but you need to safely place the power adapter and any extension cables in a dry and covered place.
Since this camera does not have a built-in battery and needs to be plugged into a power source, you will need a power outlet that is only 4 feet away from the camera or an extension cord. For my outdoor front door test, luckily I have an outdoor socket, but I still need an extension cord.
Connectivity
Connecting to your camera is easy. At the bottom of the camera, there is a QR code, which you need to scan in the Ezviz app. In my tests, I used the iOS version, which is very reliable and feature-rich to a large extent. There is only a small issue that requires the installation of a Micro SD card to change the image.
Once the app scans the camera’s QR code, it will automatically recognize the camera model and guide you through a few simple steps to connect to your network and add the camera to your account.
In addition to the usual 2.4 GHz WiFi connection, Ezviz C8C ( Check Latest price at Amazon. ) also offers the option of connecting via Ethernet, which is very unique among such cheap smart security cameras. Whether it is to increase security, reliability, or because of WiFi blind spots, users will love this flexibility. However, it does not support Power over Ethernet (PoE), so you still need an external power supply or purchase a separate PoE splitter.
You can also choose to buy and install a Micro SD card up to 256GB. There are two small screws that must be removed to enter the card slot. After doing this, the application will ask you to format the card.
This allows the camera to save all its event records internally, which can then be viewed at any time. It can also record continuously for several days, at which time it will cover the previous shots. Compared to relying solely on Ezviz’s free cloud account, no shots or even snapshots will be saved to the cloud, which is of course a huge feature upgrade. Although Ezviz spares no effort to let users sign up for its premium cloud service, as long as you have a Micro SD card installed and your camera is always connected to your network, you can access all these same functions from anywhere in the world., but no cloud storage (Although some people may prefer this).
I have tested the strength of WiFi on several different floors and locations in my house (all of which are part of the same network name on different routers). After restarting the camera, it never made an effort to reconnect to my network and I did not experience any noticeable connection drops.
With this application, you can change the name and room / location of the camera, which is very useful when managing multiple other cameras. You can also choose to connect it to your Google Home and Alexa accounts. Using this in conjunction with Google Home, you can manage motion alerts, arming modes for many cameras, and stream video sources to compatible devices. Overall, smart home integration performed quite well.
Video Features & Quality
Camera Angles
Perhaps the most attractive thing about a camera like this is that it can almost capture the angle you need. Ezviz C8C is known as “the first outdoor WiFi pan/tilt camera”. With its 352-degree landscape view and 95-degree portrait view, you can move around to see anything ahead, behind, or below.
Since you can’t actually look up, in order to get the most from Ezviz C8C, you need to install it on top of anything you might want to see. Compared with traditional statically mounted cameras, you only need one camera to pan and tilt to view a larger area.
The application provides a virtual and responsive joystick that allows you to move the camera at any time. Similarly, if the camera is connected to the network, it can pan and tilt even if it is far from the house, which is great.
I think if you can save specific angles as presets so that you can switch between them more easily, I think this feature will be better. For example, suppose you mainly want the camera to bypass your front door to make sure no one steals your package, but occasionally when you are out of town you want to change the camera angle to survey your yard. Although it only takes a few minutes to return the camera to the main angle facing the front door, it is easy to forget and close the app before returning. As you can imagine, this can cause problems and a lack of coverage.
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The camera is equipped with f / 1.6 aperture lens and 2.7-inch CMOS sensor and adaptive shutter. Video is recorded at 30 fps with H.265 compression. This means that video files and streaming media use less space and bandwidth than H.264.
The camera can be configured to record in Ultra HD, HD or SD. In my tests, I kept the camera in Ultra HD quality because it is not limited by storage space. If you are using a smaller Micro SD card or want the camcorder to retain all recorded accumulations for as long as possible before starting to overwrite, then you may want to reduce the video quality.
Those who care about privacy will also like the privacy mode feature, which can rotate the camera vertically until it no longer faces outwards. This physically prevents the camera from recording any video.
The camera has three night vision modes. Since its two bulbs will automatically turn on when the camera detects darkness, it can achieve full-color night vision. If there is no reflector, the black and white night vision will automatically be enabled and still allow you to see about 100 feet away. When you turn on the headlights after detecting human movement, the smart night vision mode will change from normal black and white to full color. In practice, the camera can switch to these modes well whether it is indoors or outdoors.
Due to its automatic flood light, the camera can be used as an external security light, especially when configured to always maintain a full-color night mode. This can further help deter unwelcome visitors, as the entire area around the room will be well lit.
Smart Features & AI Detection
Through the Ezviz app, you can adjust a variety of settings, the most important of which are to arrange for alarm detection, set up active defense (if anyone’s movement is detected, it will cause the camera to flash its spotlight), and set the area to be in motion. Detection, which is done by clicking on the overlay grid of the camera source.
However, in my experience, it is difficult for me to make the camera reliably detect humans. After installing it on my front door, I conducted several tests to understand the reliability of its detection. I was able to simulate a porch pirate approaching my front door and stealing a package. I don’t even have to run so fast or move so fast to avoid detection by the camera.
Even during the day when there is plenty of light, I can enter the full frame of the camera, take something from the steps in front of me at a relatively leisurely speed, and then remain undetected.
I find that I have to stay in the frame for a long time, or actually turn around and face the camera before the camera triggers active defense or notifies me in the app. Perhaps future software updates can improve these functions, but at the time of this review, this may be the biggest shortcoming of the system, because the intelligent artificial intelligence function is currently not very reliable.
Obviously, the camera speakers are also missing. Therefore, when active defense is triggered, no audible alarm or alarm will sound. Alerts can, to a large extent, draw people’s attention to people who may be unwelcome, and I think this is a missed opportunity.
This also means that two-way conversations are not available. Even if you only want to use the camera to see and talk to someone at the front door, just like you can use many other security cameras and smart doorbells, the Ezviz C8C doesn’t offer this feature.
Overall, the Ezviz C8C ( Check Latest price at Amazon. ) is a powerful camera that performs well in terms of video quality and has some unique features that can help it stand out from the competition. If your first task is to get a highly versatile weatherproof camera that can be controlled, monitored, and stored locally remotely for several days of footage, but you don’t care about faulty (current) smart detection and alarm features, this may be it. a good choice. one Of choosing your home, property or business.
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