WiZ jumps into home monitoring with its first security camera

Signify-owned WiZ is wading into a new category, with the smart lighting company unveiling its first home security camera, plus a series of features designed to ward off intruders.

Slated for release later this month in North America and Europe, the WiZ Indoor Camera boasts 1080p video resolution, a 130-degree viewing angle, a motion-detecting and night vision-enabling IR sensor, a speaker and microphone for two-way voice communication, local and cloud video storage, and the ability to trigger “light alarms” on your WiZ lights to scare off trespassers.

The arrival of WiZ’s new security camera follows last year’s debut of SpaceSense, a clever WiZ feature that allows two or more compatible WiZ bulbs to act as motion detectors by sensing disturbances in nearby Wi-Fi signals. (See our review of the WiZ Linear Light for more details on SpaceSense.)

WiZ says its new security camera can also detect suspicious sounds (such as breaking glass or smoke alarms) as well as motion, and it can work together with SpaceSense-enabled bulbs to monitor your entire house.

The camera itself sits on a flexible base and can be placed on a flat surface or mounted on a wall, even upside down. The cam is designed for indoor use only, although WiZ reps said the possibility of an outdoor version is certainly on the table.

WiZ Connected

Besides the $69.99 security camera, WiZ also announced a cloud subscription service that will store event videos recorded by the cam for up to 30 days, versus 10 days without a plan.

The cloud service will be bolstered by end-to-end encryption, meaning your clips won’t be accessible by anyone else, and it will enable customizable motion and privacy zones.

WiZ didn’t offer pricing for its subscription service in pre-briefing materials, although it did reveal a “Starter Kit” that includes the WiZ Indoor Camera, three WiZ lights, and a year’s worth of the subscription plan. We’ve reached out to WiZ for more details.

If you don’t want to sign up for WiZ’s subscription service, you can store event videos locally on an SD card. Local videos on the SD card are encrypted, but can be downloaded in standard MP4 format via the WiZ v2 app.

Also not requiring a subscription plan is person detection, which is performed on the camera itself without any help from the cloud.

WiZ Connected

Naturally, the WiZ Indoor Camera boasts tight integration with the WiZ app. Besides being able to switch the camera from live streaming, privacy, and armed modes, the app will let you control nearby WiZ lights as your view the live video feed of a given room.

Meanwhile, “Monitoring Routines” will allow you to customize what happens when, say, the camera or your SpaceSense lights detect movement.

The first pre-baked routines will include “Away from Home,” which can turn your lights off and arm the camera’s motion sensor when you leave the house, and “Vacation,” which boasts a “presence simulation” mode that turns your lights on and off to fool would-be trespassers.

The routines can also trigger notifications and intruder-spooking “light alarms” on your WiZ lights when motion or suspicious sounds are detected.

More routines will be coming later, as well as the ability for users to create their own monitoring routines.

WiZ’s new security features–namely presence simulation–will initially require the Indoor Camera, although that functionality will eventually roll out to everyone, WiZ reps said.

We’ll have a full review of the WiZ Indoor Camera once we test out a review unit.