TL;DR
- The new Wyze Descriptive Alerts use AI to text you detailed summaries of on-camera activity.
- The feature is only available on the Cam Unlimited Pro plan, which is $19.99 per month or $199.99 per year.
- The plan also includes features like AI Video Search, letting you find specific parts of the footage with a text search.
Having cameras as part of your smart home setup is great, but the dream would be to have someone else watching them and letting you know when anything of note happens. Wyze’s new feature is the next best thing, with AI working out what’s happening on camera and then texting you a Descriptive Alert.
While this isn’t a brand-new innovation in the market, the Wyze Descriptive Alerts in the promotional video below are impressive. Instead of a vague indication such as “motion detected,” the new alerts can give much more detail about who or what is there and even describe the subsequent action. An example of this is an alert that “a dog steals a package off the front porch and runs away.”
The Wyze Descriptive Alerts can apply to indoor or outdoor cameras, so your external security camera could tell you exactly who is at the door (thanks to facial recognition) or at least what they appear to be doing around your property. The indoor cameras could signal that a fire appears to have started in your kitchen or describe what your toddler is actually getting up to while they’re meant to be sleeping. All of this can be done without you needing to watch the footage yourself.
The catch here is that the new Descriptive Alerts are only available on the top-tier Cam Unlimited Pro plan, which is $19.99 per month or $199.99 per year. That’s no small outlay, and given how affordable the Wyze cameras are, the subscription can quickly eclipse the cost of the hardware. On the flip side, it’s significantly cheaper than hiring people to keep an eye on the footage 24 hours a day.
The Cam Unlimited Pro plan also includes an AI Video Search feature, which lets you find specific events without going through the video yourself. For example, you could search for “delivery truck,” and you’ll have any points in the footage with a delivery truck highlighted.
If you already have this plan and a compatible camera, it’s easy to set up the Descriptive Alerts. Just go to the Wyze app and go tot the Account tab, then hit Wyze Intelligence > Descriptive Alert > Push Notifications.
