Description
- Optional 24/7 professional-grade, video alarm system – The smart camera-based security system utilizes vision AI and 24/7 professional monitoring services to detect potential intruders and distribute verified video in real time via an app that replaces the outdated panel system.
- Smart AI Detections: YI cloud storage comes with the latest in Smart AI capabilities which can distinguish Person, Vehicle, or Animal accurately and reduce false alarms significantly (Subscription Needed)
- Reliable Wi-Fi Connectivity – Access your camera with YI Home App on mobile device at anytime, anywhere; support for 2.4Ghz (5Ghz currently not supported) Wi-Fi band
- Cloud & Local Storage: Store all your footage using the YI Cloud service, keeping it safe and available even if unfortunate events occur; for local storage, micro SD-cards up to 64GB are supported (micro SD-card not included)
- Works with Alexa and Google Assistant
Francisco Chaparro –
Good thing about this camera is easy to reuse mounting frame so i do not need to remove my existing one
Grayson Gilman –
MUY BUENA CAMARA, ALERTAS CONFIGURABLES, CALIDAD DE VIDEO ACEPTABLE, 4 AÑOS DE USO Y SIGUE OPERANDO 365 DIAS DEL AÑO.
DCifuentesJ –
Initial review and 1.5 year update.
After one full week of usage, I’m ready to review the YI 1080P camera system. Take that description with a grain of salt, because you get more than just a simple camera at a price that’s almost stupidly low. Over the next few paragraphs I’ll go over the included hardware, features, setup and value and compare each of those aspects to other systems on the market. Start your engines.
So let’s talk about the included hardware. Each camera comes in a small box similar to a new cell phone. They are so small that you will believe that they’ve forgotten something. Nope, inside that tiny box is everything for a single camera system. Open it up and you’ll get the camera itself which is attached to its own base and, again, like a cell phone, a micro USB cord and outlet plug. This means that if anything ever happens to your power cord, you can get a spare very quickly. You’ll also get some literature on setup and all that, which is pretty standard. There is no base unit like Arlo has. It’s just a camera, similar to the Piper/Nest/most other systems. The quality of the hardware is also very decent. We all know the quality difference between Lego and Duplo, an iPad and a $60 tablet, a Yugo and a Honda. These cameras are decent quality. Maybe not at Nest standard, but good all the same. They are not Duplo or Yugo but won’t break the bank like Nest will. That about sums it up for the hardware or included materials. As I stated earlier, the box the camera comes in is super small, so if you order two cameras like I did, you’ll be underwhelmed at the size of the box they come in. Don’t worry, good things come in small packages too.
Moving on to features. These 1080P YI cameras come with a boatload of features. You can of course view them from your phone in and outside of your wifi network, so if you are at work and want to check in on your home, you can do that. They have two way audio so you can talk with someone or mess with your cats while you are away (not that I’ve ever done this…). Is it nighttime? No problem, these have very decent night vision capability, so they can see in pitch black darkness. Did something move over there? These sense motion and record it. Is something in the room always moving, like a fan but don’t want that to set off the motion detection? You can select a specific area of the room to detect motion in, and not other areas, so if you have animals like cats or dogs that roam around during the day, set the selection area higher so it won’t detect them. You can also set the motion sensitivity and alert frequency. Maybe your cat is chasing a reflection on a wall from an open window and you don’t want to constantly get an update every few seconds. You can set the frequency lower and get fewer notifications. You can also take videos or pictures of what your camera sees at will. Of course all of this motion and recording can be set up to be stored on the YI servers or be saved to a micro SD card (not included, but you can get a 32 gb Samsung from Amazon for $12) for further review. Have a set schedule? Maybe you don’t want it to record motion at night, but you are gone for ten hours during the day. Set it up to record while you are gone. You can of course turn it off at will from your phone. There’s also a crying baby setting. I don’t have a baby, nor am I going to borrow one to test the feature, but it does exist. I’m guessing that it will listen specifically for that type of sound and send notifications specifically for it. You can also add a bunch of cameras to a single system and jump between those cameras at will. YI also makes a camera that can move and pivot 360 degrees. I have no idea if that camera would integrate into this system, but I bet it would. Most other good systems on the market have something along these features, so its par for the course here. The lack of a giant siren that the Arlo system has can be seen as a downside, but none of the other major systems have these either, so take that how you want.
So what about setting these things up? How hard is it? What’s involved? Well, this can be accomplished in just a few really simple steps. The first thing you want to make sure of; that your phone you are using to set these up is on the same network as the cameras will be. I run two separate wifi networks, a 2.5 and a 5ghz. These cameras will currently only work on 2.5 ghz, so I had to jump over to the other network, no big deal. So first, download the YI Home app and start it up. Let the system guide you from here. It will show you everything you need to know, but it’s pretty basic. Next you’ll hit a small plus button to add a camera. Plug in your YI camera and wait. It will take about 30 seconds to turn itself on and it will begin talking. Click on the app that you’ve heard the camera speak and your phone will display a barcode. Simply show this barcode to the camera and it will log into the network. That simple. Then you simply set up the preferences I spoke about in the features area above. It’s so simple that a child could do it.
Value. Here it is. If you’ve read this far, you know what’s coming. This system represents a value that cannot be ignored. I bought it figuring that if I didn’t like it, I’d force Amazon to take it back. At $60 a camera, I figured I’d either get a great deal or return it to get something else. Luckily, I got a fantastic deal. For two cameras and two micro SD cards I’m well under the cost of a single Nest/Piper camera or the dual camera Arlo system. The features and hardware quality are a serious contender against nearly any other system on the market. Look, I know how it appears; cheap Chinese made cameras with an app system that can’t be good, with features that probably don’t really work. All of that is wrong except for the “cheap” part, and that doesn’t apply to the camera build quality. This system WILL impress you. It is however a more basic system in terms of its compatability with other things you may have in your home already. I doubt that it will integrate with Alexa or any other system. It’s its own thing, and that’s not bad. The value is clearly there though and is easily seen once you directly compare this system to just about any other system on the market. There is no reason to take my word for it, so go and view a couple of youtube videos and watch for yourself. You can read any of my other reviews, and I think you’ll find a common theme; value. I always look for the value in something, especially in lower priced options. Sure, the Nest cameras are nice. Yes, the Piper system is good. But at $60 a camera, are those systems worth $x more? No, not to me they aren’t. I bought two cameras and the only thing I regret is not buying another one. Maybe I’ll remedy that right now….
1.5 year update!!!
So what’s life been like with this camera system over the past year and a half? Well, the road is bumpy and there are some faults, but overall, for the price you pay, it’s a decent system. Let’s start with the good.
The software seems to receive updates every few months, so that shows that the developers continue to work on the system. The overall quality of the equipment is still good, no complaints here. I did try out their premium service by paying for a subscription, and it worked well, but I didn’t continue it as I just didn’t think it added any value.
The bad stuff. Well, interacting with the system while away from home is mixed. Occasionally I just can’t access the cameras, and it isn’t like I don’t have good signal. The system is laggy and it can take quite a while to get a live image to show up on the phone. Sometimes you simply can’t get one no matter how hard you try. I usually just wait a few minutes and try again.
There was a period of time a while back where no notifications would show up about movement detected. I’d randomly open the app and see a pile of movement notifications that the system never let me know about….that angered me a great deal. So I unplugged the cameras and logged out of the system to try to reboot the whole setup and it didn’t work. It took a whole update from the company to finally get notifications back.
And the last problem I have with this system, is that sometimes it will tell me that there was movement on one of the cameras and when I go to look at the video, it gives me an error that simply says the video isn’t playable. This doesn’t happen often, maybe around 5% of the time or so, but still, that shouldn’t happen, ever.
I deducted two stars from the review because of these failures. I’m still using the system and I do think it’s worth the money you pay for it, but it’s far from perfect. It’s a great way to get into home security for low cost, but if you want something with more stability, look to higher priced options.
Vincent –
The camera is pretty good for the price. Setting it up is a little bit of a pain but not horrible. At one point couldn’t have 5G wifi. Was not compatible.
What bothers me is the amount of ads for the app! There’s many of them and they’re annoying.
DCifuentesJ –
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1st Edit (January 28, 2020) 3 Stars
READ INITIAL REVIEW FIRST!!!
After 8 months of use, I decided to update my initial review, and change my rating from 5 to 3 Stars. Let me explain why:
1. Kami from Yi: Yi decided to have a new line of products, focused on security (wireless and wired Cameras, a hub to avoid using Wifi for motion sensors and door sensors). It was such a strange and dumb decision, that actually two of Kami’s cameras are physically identical to the New Yi Dome X (good camera BTW) and to the Outdoor camera. Only difference? That now it not only uses 2.4 Ghz, but also 5 Ghz Wifi. That’s it! But now, instead of having to buy just new Yi products, to add to your system, you have to pay more money, and… USE ANOTHER APP!!! After some months, Yi made an update that made the Yi Home app, compatible with all Kami devices (including their hub and Zigbee? Z-Wave devices?).
This shouldn’t have happened in the first place. Kami is just a new line of Yi Products that should have been a part of the Yi Ecosystem from the beginning.
2. Amazon/Alexa compatibility: After an update, now you can use your Echo Show devices and you Firestick to see your cameras. Only problem? This doesn’t work. To the point where this skill is rated 1 star. On my brand new Echo Show 8, the video feed freezes and gets stucked in Buffering (see attached photograph).
3. No Google Home compatibility, IFTTT or SmartThings: Not everyone has an Amazon/Alexa ecosystem. Other companies have all this compatibility (Wyze for example).
4. Home and Away mode: You can now change mode through the app. Only problem is that without IFTTT or SmartThings compatibility, in case you have an alarm system, you have to go into the app to set it manually and not automatically.
If Yi wants to keep up with competition, it need all this compatibilities or make a Camera door ring bell, Siren, smart lock with keypad, etc. Right now, this is not the case, so Yi is being left behind. I’ve read rumors (and even filled one of Yi’s surveys through email about this, but until then, they need to make things happen).
5. Desktop App with no upgrades: I understand almost everyone uses their phone. But watching 8 cameras, is impossible to do at the same time through your phone (you should be able to see 4!!!). Desktop app is the same as ever and has no updates. If you have a desktop app, please update it.
6. Outdoor camera still can’t change sensitivity: From my first review, you can read that the Outdoor camera is WAY too sensitive (there’s even a video). Every night I had the Siren trigger because of bugs/insects. This makes this function useless. You should be able to set the trigger for this, for X amount of seconds of continuous movement, not only sensitivity. I had to turn this off completely. If it worked, it would be an AWESOME function, actually really useful.
7. Baby Monitor: Through Kami, Yi had a crowdfunding campaign for this. I supported them, and will be updating when I get it (march, according to the Indiegogo campaign page)
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1st REVIEW (May 14, 2019) 5 Stars
So, I’ve waited quite a while to write this review. I didn’t know where to do it, so I’ll copy/paste it in all of Yi’s Cameras I own (1080p, Outdoor, Dome, and 3), since I’ll write this review as an individual review for each type of Camera, and as a whole camera system.
1080p (4/5): At the moment of this writing, this is the best bang for the buck. You can get 4 of this for $118! or one for $29. The good thing about this is its simplicity and price. The fact that you can also mount this on the ceiling with screws makes it even better. One of the things you should take into consideration, is that even though this mentions its specs as a 112 degree FOV… it’s more of a real 90 degree.
I mounted my cameras on corners of my home, so I was expecting to see both walls… which I didn’t or barely did. I discovered that there’s a setting called “Lens distortion correction”, that can make your FOV wider, sacrificing distortion (obviously), helps quite a bit, but 112, compared to other options (like the Yi 3) is on the lower side of specs.
Night Vision is good. Quite contrasty, which I have to admit looks better to the eye, but won’t give you all the information something with a wider Dynamic Range can give you (like the Yi 3, again).
This comes with “Baby Crying Detection”, which I haven’t tried, but soon will, as I bought this one to work as a WiFi baby monitor placed on top of my son’s crib.
As all of the other Yi cameras, this has Motion Detection Alerts, which can also be switched On or Off with a Schedule, and you can change the frequency of the alerts.
I bought the Cloud service for 5 cameras, Motion Based recording, which works OK… and also use 32 GB micro SD Cards, to store things locally. One of the downsides of ALL the Yi Cameras I own, is that for some reason I can’t record 24/7 on the micro SD card locally, and motion based on the cloud. That would make a lot more sense. Another downside, is that if you record 24/7, you can’t know where there’s movement in the recording, you have to scroll bit by bit, potentially missing things you might want/need to see. I guess most would want motion based recording, but take this into consideration if you buy the Cloud Service.
Outdoor (3/5): Good camera, with good night vision (which for an Outdoor camera is a must). This also comes with an option to sound an Alarm if motion is detected (on a Schedule if you need, or always). This should sound for the whole time the motion is detected, not for only the 3 seconds it lasts. And the Alarm is not as loud as it should be. You should be able to change this to the amount of time the movement/motion happens (even though you only get 1 notification in the app).
Night Vision is something that should be better in future firmware. It’s not that the night vision is bad, is that it triggers alerts when a bug flies in front and close to the camera. Even a bug flying for half a second at night, will trigger the Alarm and the notification. Even at the Lowest Sensitivity, it gives too many False Positives. Which is obviously a problem. (I’ll try to attach a video about a simple insect trigerring the alert and Alarm).
The camera, since it’s designed to work on outdoors, works as expected. Rain (lot’s of it), wind, sun, etc., and still going strong. Please take into consideration that this cameras has a short cable, so placing it far away from the electrical outlet will create a need for an extension or some other option.
Dome Camera (4.5/5): This is the one that has the most features. It can pan and tilt (go up/down or right/left). It can follow movement (called “Motion Tracking”) or it can scan from one spot to another (you choose the spots, called Bookmarks). The only reason I‘m taking 1 star off is that it has the same FOV as the 1080p and when you have it one spot, and motion is detected and it starts to follow movement… sometimes, when it tries to go back to its original position, it won’t. It’s not that big of a deal, but it’s something that annoys me, and it makes the biggest selling point of this camera, not so good (Motion Tracking), since you have to once in a while place the camera again where you want it to be focused normally.
Night mode is similar to the 1080p Camera, which again, is quite contrasty.
For the amount of features, this would be the best Yi camera, but if you can place your camera in a corner of your house, paying for this model and not the 1080p (or even the 3), won’t make much sense.
3 (5/5): This is the newest option from Yi. It has a much better night vision (a little on the flat side, but you get more information), MUCH better FOV. This also has, instead of the Baby Crying alert found on the 1080p, Abnormal Sound alerts, which you can set from 50dB (conversations), to 90dB (harmful/dangerous sounds), in 10dB steps. I have set mine at 60dB.
One of the best features on this model, is that you can not only set Schedules for alerts, but Schedules for the camera to be on/off. This is awesome for some privacy in our Master bedroom.
All these features, at the time I’m writing this, come with a $49 price per camera… which for my needs, was justified.
The Yi 3 is a modern camera, with better technical specs and probably technology that the other cameras I own. I really don’t know if a firmware update could bring the 3’s features could migrate to past models or if it’s something about processor/chip capacity.
ALL CAMERAS: Unfortunately these are not Smart Cameras, so there’s nothing to do with Alexa, Google Home or something like Samsung’s SmartThings here. Everything is handled via the App, which as far as I’ve seen, the interface is pretty much the same as every other camera. They have the GREAT advantage that you can have your information stored on a Cloud based system or in the SD card (which at least IMHO, it’s a great PLUS).
Yi Ecosystem: One of the things that Yi has overlooked, is that the Yi App/Software is designed to work with one camera, not as a system. So for someone like me, that has 9 cameras (1 Dome, 1 Outdoor, 2 1080p and 5 Yi 3’s), it becomes a little bit of a problem. For example, I don’t have the chance to turn ON all camera’s setting an Away mode, or remove notifications in a Home mode… or any type of combination. If I need to turn on all cameras, I have to enter into the settings of each camera, one by one. This doesn’t make much sense. You can’t see two or several cameras at the same time… you can only see one.
NOTE: Yi Home Camera 2 and Yi Cloud Cameras, are the models I didn’t need so I don’t have any opinion or anything to mention about them. At the moment of this writing, version 2 is not available anywhere.
MarAW –
I have been using these cameras for over two years now and find them quite useful although it has some room for improvements.
Likes;
1. Small and easy to install.
2. The long cable gives me enough room to put the camera away from the outlet.
3. The video qualities are pretty good for both day and night even when it had to shoot the footage through the glass windows. IPC 360 fell behind in this category(my personal experience).
4. You have a choice of storage for cloud system(for money), or SD card(purchase separately).
5. The video recording of these cameras provided me a number of good backup information for me to verify some incidents and I could not be happier with the results.
Dislikes;
1. No magnetic plate. I had to purchase magnetic plates separately and glued them under the camera holder.
2. It only works with 2.4GHz only. In most cases, it is fast enough, but at times, it can frustrate me.
Overall, I find these cameras are much better than I gave credit for before. These cameras proved that the cheaper cameras do not mean poor quality.
I recommend the product but also would like to remind you that these cameras are not perfect, i.e. do not face the cameras directly the street lamps or lights and expect to have a good recording result. It just won’t.
Enjoy your shopping!
Vincent –
For the cost that you pay per camera, these are great devices allowing you to monitor the feed in real-time on your phone whether you subscribe to the cloud service or not.
That being said the device can be unreliable at times – sometimes if you change the camera’s settings in the app (The only way you can change the settings) the settings will not apply, leaving you vulnerable.
As well, I’ve found the motion detection to fail at times, while at other times a spec of dust will trigger the alarm.
I have not at all been able to get the PC app to function, nor do I see cross functionality and synchronicity between the phone app and the PC program running well at all.
That being said, it has good night vision, and gives you the option to record video only when motion is detected either on the cloud service which you can pay for or on an inbuilt SD card. 1080P recording is done with a small footprint while maintaining good image quality, and live streaming in full HD can be done from anywhere while using a fairly insignificant amount of data throughput.
Lastly – and my biggest complaint of all – you cannot make your password to login to the camera’s control centre complicated at all. I believe 16 characters maximum with no special characters allowed, which in my opinion is a bad feature for a home security device to have, and a problem that could be fixed in a very simple and painless update.