The C8W Pro is the most recent addition to Ezviz’s C8 outdoor security camera line. When compared to prior outdoor cameras from the firm, such as the C8C, it foregoes the fairly unattractive exterior transmitter in favor of internal ones that are not visible. And, despite its size, it does not appear to be enormous when installed on your house’s eaves. Unlike the rechargeable batteries BC1C, which was also evaluated, the C8W Pro is pipeline powered and meant to be permanently placed in one spot.
What will you see here?
Design and Features: Ezviz C8W Pro
The C8W Pro’s standard CCTV camera appearance should prevent anyone with ill intent who noticing it. In addition to collecting data, the software has a built-in siren that can be programmed to play automatically. Whenever a person is identified or activated manually from the live view interface.
Built-in LEDs may also be adjusted to flash further to dissuade someone. Although doing so disables color night mode, which is unfortunate. In addition, there is no method to turn on LEDs directly or use a smart assistant.
This is accomplished by the use of onboard AI, which allows the camera to pan and tilt as needed to follow its subject wherever it travels inside the camera’s field of view. It will then return to the point you specified by touching the star button beneath both the mechanical pan and tilt controls. You can store numerous ‘favorite’ places, but it’s unclear which one becomes the default following tracking someone. It looks to be the most recent one you selected on the Preset Locations page.
A built-in microphone enables you to hear what’s going on in real-time, and a speaker allows you to communicate with somebody at the front of the camera. What’s lacking is AI identification of deliveries and animals, which isn’t technically essential for this sort of security camera but is a nice-to-have for those that want it. There is also no facial recognition, so the C8W Pro cannot tell you who it saw or warn you just if an unusual face is observed.
Despite the ability to recognize cars, there is no option in the Auto Tracking settings to automatically track them. The software just offers a single option here: Human Tracking, which you may enable or disable.
Performance:
The C8W Pro’s 2K resolution captures somewhat more information than 1080p cameras, and the built-in light enables it to provide color night vision. In the app, you may select one of three modes: color, black-and-white, or smart. If you select the latter, the IR LEDs will be on until movement is detected. The white LEDs then turn on and give color night vision.
You may also adjust the brightness and duration of the lights using two sliders. They can illuminate a space a few meters at the front of the camera at their brightest and give good quality compared to standard mono night vision. Images seem crisp and have nice contrast during the day. You may digitally zoom in, but you’ll notice a notable loss of fine detail. For example, reading automobile license plates or recognizing people from a distance is frequently impossible.
When the camera is set to auto-track, it takes seconds to lock onto such a person. However, the system does a decent job of tracking individuals as they move around. Following that, the camera returns to the pre-set view you’ve selected. But first spins needlessly to face the wall you’ve installed it on. Tracking is also significantly less reliable at night.
Surprisingly, there is no setting in which the camera pans to observe what’s going on in other directions. This means it will only detect and track persons moving inside the 87° field of vision it has in its normal location. It is disappointing if you were expecting it could track somebody traveling anywhere within the 340° range.
App:
Any smart camera is strongly reliant on its phone app since it is only through the app that you can manage it, change settings, and see live & recorded footage. Unfortunately, Ezviz’s app isn’t really good. It’s difficult to use, the design is cluttered, and it’s never simple to locate what you’re looking for, even if you’ve been using it for a while.
When viewing a list of recorded clips, for example, you may skip between days by tapping the left or right arrows. Also, you can press just on the date itself to see a calendar and select a date.
There’s also a filter button, but rather than enabling you to filter clips by, for example, person or car. It merely pulls up the calendar for you all to select a date: the same purpose as pressing on the date. Furthermore, there is no option to filter humans to ignore any clips that do not show people.
Notifications are another example. Instead of providing valuable information about what’s been discovered, they all just state “Smart Detection Alarm” along with the time and date in a lengthy form. When you tap on one, the app does not launch and the footage is not played as expected. It will just take you to the playback page and let you select the most recent recording.
Stranger still, rich alerts with a thumbnail and a button to listen back to the footage display only if you have the Ezviz app open at the moment. There are three sorts of notifications available in the settings: human shape detection, car shape detection, and image change detection. However, you can only pick one of these alternatives at a time, which is an odd limitation to impose.
Price & availability
A C8W Pro may be purchased for $149.99 from
This service uploads recorded event clips and charge £2.99 per month for just a three-day history on a normal camera £7.49 / $8.99 monthly With a seven-day history. It is possible to cover up to four cameras, but with a three-day history, this is not possible. You can also choose 30-day history for an additional £14.99 / $15.99 per month or £149.99 / $159.99 each year for up to four cameras.
Is it possible to use EZVIZ without a subscription?
Simply download the free EZVIZ app to your phone and follow the directions to connect your camera(s). There is no need to subscribe. The software allows you to see and connect to up to four EZVIZ cameras. You may rotate the individual camera by selecting it.
Can the Ezviz camera zoom?
You may zoom in on the collected photographs up to 8x zoom. You may add a MicroSD card of up to 256GB inside the cover behind the camera. Also, you can utilize the Ezviz cloud solution for secured cloud storage you receive a 30-day free trial.
Conclusion
The Ezviz C8W Pro is intended to remedy some of the shortcomings of previous cameras. Such as putting the antenna within the camera body & automatically detecting subjects as they move.
Other critiques, notably those related to the unsatisfactory app, continue. And, because the C8W Pro costs far more than the C8C, the flaws are more difficult to overlook. It’s fantastic that you can use your own microSD card instead of paying for cloud storage. However, the C8W Pro isn’t clever or sleek enough to suggest above its competitors.
