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9 min readAdding a Wansview camera to your home security setup is a budget-friendly alternative to big-brand cameras like Nest or Arlo while getting many of the same features.
Each of these cameras—the Q5, Q6, W4, and W6—stream to your phone in HD video, send alerts and clips when they detect motion, have powerful night vision, and take a few minutes to set up.
Pros
Affordable equipment
Local video storage up to 128 GB
HD video
Wide field of vision
Strong night vision 
Cons
Video lag
Confusing website
W4 misses some features Wansview camera similarities
Despite Wansview having a collection of indoor and outdoor cameras, three of its four have very similar features. Each model works with the Wansview Cloud app and storage service, allowing you to control your camera remotely and safely store video footage. They also all shoot in crisp 1080p HD video.
Although the 1080p W4 is an outlier in some categories, for the most part, all four cameras work the same.
These are some features you can find on every Wansview camera:
- 1080p HD video
- Motion detection
- Night vision
- App control
- Cloud storage
- Alexa compatibility
| Wansview camera style | 1080p Q6 | 1080p Q5 | 1080p W6 | 1080p W4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Camera |  1080p Q6 |  1080p Q5 |  1080p W6 |  1080p W4 |
| Price | $33.99 | $29.99 | $33.99 | $35.99 |
| Weatherproof rating | None | None | IP65 | IP66 |
| Pan, tilt, and zoom |  Yes | Yes |  No | No |
| Two-way talk | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Local storage | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Buy in multiples | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Learn more | View on Amazon | View on Amazon | View on Amazon | View on Amazon |
| Read review | Read review | Read review | Read review |
*Amazon.com price as of 03/31/2021 at 2:01 p.m. (MT). Read full disclaimer.
Wansview privacy features and smart home compatibility
Wansview is a camera-only system, so you won’t get features like sirens or entry sensors. We prefer systems with all these components, but these cams can work with your Amazon Echo smart speaker as a central hub to view footage and link them to other devices.
With a smart home, you’ll want to protect the privacy of your devices. Instead of sending your footage to an online portal that could be hacked, all four of the Wansview cameras have a slot for an SD card and an option to use secure cloud storage.
Security camera safety
Have camera concerns? We outline a few ways you can protect your camera’s live feed from prying eyes in this video.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more videos like this one! Learn how to protect your home, your loved ones, yourself, and your belongings.
Local storage
Except for the 1080p W4, all the Wansview cameras have a slot for an SD card up to 128 GB. This means you can save the footage you record to this bite-sized card instead of online. Once your SD card fills up, you can either overwrite it with new footage or clear it by uploading what you’ve captured.
Wansview for businesses
Wansview plays well with other cameras and closed-circuit systems. If you own a business with a CCTV, NVR or Onif system, you can add a Wansview camera to your surveillance system.
These components may be a little too advanced for home use, but using multiple cameras throughout your storefront or business can help you keep tabs on security.
Wansview cloud storage
Like many wireless security cameras, Wansview offers an optional cloud storage service to safely keep any footage you capture. When you activate your camera, the app offers a 30-day trial of the service. If you don’t have an SD card or want recordings from multiple cameras, we recommend giving the cloud service a try.
Info current as of 03/31/21. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.
The right plan for you will depend on how many cameras you want to add to your system. All three plans offer the same seven-day alarm recording and different payment plans. But the Basic plan is the only one that allows you to pay every three months.
Sharing features
Through the Wansview Cloud app, you can allow multiple users and viewers to get the feed from the camera (with your permission, of course). Grant access to grandparents, babysitters, and partners when you need a few extra eyes watching the kids.
Alexa compatibility
If you have an Echo Show or Echo Dot device, you can access your Wansview livestream from your smart speaker. Connect your camera to Alexa through the Alexa app, look for the Wansview Cloud skill, and connect your devices.
Once they’re paired, you can ask Alexa to show you footage from any of your cameras. Simply ask Alexa to “show the backyard,” or “show the nursery.” The name will differ depending on what you name your camera, but with just a few words, you can pull up live footage of your home.
Wansview app
While we saw rave reviews for the Wansview cameras, the app was a different experience for a lot of folks. Tasks like adjusting notifications and controlling the camera itself proved to be a confusing user experience. This is bad news because the app is the most direct way to view live feed and see what’s happening on the other side of the lens.
These are a few things you can do through the app:
- Save video and screenshots to your phone
- Adjust motion detection settings like sensitivity, scheduling, and alerts
- Change image rotation if you mount the camera on a wall or the ceiling
- Turn speaker volume up or down
Wansview cameras
Wansview has four security cameras, two indoor and two outdoor models, all with many of the same features. In the indoor and outdoor cameras, you’ll find the same 1080p streaming quality, advanced night vision, and motion detection.
Indoor vs. outdoor security cameras
Not sure what type you should get? We outline the difference between indoor and outdoor cameras to help you decide.
Wansview indoor cameras
The Wansview 1080p Q5 and Q6 indoor cameras cost under $30, making both a good fit for new parents on a budget. The two have nearly identical features, so the right one for you boils down to which design you like more.
Both cameras come with a wall mount to place the camera over your baby’s crib to use as a video baby monitor. You can access the video feed from anywhere you have Wi-Fi and talk to your tykes from your phone.
Wansview 1080p Q6
Best indoor camera
This pint-sized 1080p Q6 camera sports a wider range of motion than the Q5, but both can pan, tilt, and zoom in on anything you need to watch. The 1080p Q6 indoor camera can see 350° around and tilt up to 90°.
So, whether you’re tracking a speedy toddler around the room or keeping the dog out of trouble, your camera’s placement won’t hold you back from seeing everything. Plus, the price leaves room in your budget to spoil your kids.
We watched videos from customers testing the pan, tilt, and zoom (PTZ) features through screen recordings on their phone. Controls within the app use a roller ball feature that takes a little patience to learn.
The camera makes some sound in the app when it moves, but it isn’t especially loud in person. And, while there was a slight lag in the video, it was nothing out of the ordinary.
Wansview 1080p Q5
Budget indoor camera
The 1080p Q5 has many of the same features as the 1080p Q6. It has the same strong night vision, Amazon Alexa compatibility, two-way talk, and local storage, but with a different look and slightly smaller field of vision.
The Q5 uses infrared lights. Both indoor cameras can see up to 16 feet in low light and completely dark conditions. Indoor cameras with these lights don’t emit a red glow at night that may disturb your kids’ naps or tip an intruder off to a camera’s presence.
Wansview outdoor cameras
Like the indoor security cameras, Wansview’s outdoor cameras have a lot in common with each other. Both the Wansview W6 and W4 sport 1080p HD video with a 2 MP camera. You’ll get clear HD video sent straight to your phone or the cloud when you want to record a moment like the kids arriving home from school or a package delivery in progress.
They also use customizable real-time alerts when they pick up motion in view. And both have excellent IR night vision that can see up to 82 feet in the dark.
Both Wansview cameras are Alexa compatible and use 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi connections to send footage to you. The company recommends setting up your outdoor camera up to 60 feet away from the router. If that isn’t ideal for your home, consider a range extender to stretch your home-network signal.
Wansview 1080p W6
Best outdoor camera
While the W6 and W4 outdoor security cameras have many similar features, the 1080p W6 has a little more to brag about. This outdoor camera has two-way talk, SD storage, and a slightly higher weatherproofing rating (IP66 versus IP65).
It costs $10 more than the W4, but that small price hike is worth the extra features. Two-way talk allows you to speak with anyone on the other side. You can tell intruders to take a hike, greet visitors, and speak to delivery folks when they drop off goodies.
Wansview 1080p W4
Budget outdoor camera
The Wansview 1080p W4 outdoor camera uses 24 powerful LED bulbs to see in the dark and detect motion night or day. And, while it doesn’t pan and tilt like the indoor cameras from Wansview, it has a wide 105° field of view to see your entire yard, sidewalk, or property. Not bad for an outdoor camera under $40.
If you’re looking for a camera to secure your property after a neighborhood break in or just want to add an extra layer of security, the 1080p W4 camera is a great budget choice for outdoor surveillance. But, if you want features like two-way talk or local storage, the W6 is a better option.
Setting up your outdoor cam
Most of the setup instructions for the outdoor cameras come in the Wansview Cloud app. But actual installation may take a little experimenting. Both the W6 and W4 need to stay plugged in to work, so make sure the cable can reach the camera from the outlet.
Both cameras use 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi or Ethernet connections. If you use Wi-Fi, be sure the signal is strong enough to reach your camera outside.
Wansview customer service and support
While looking at Wansview’s customer service and support features, we discovered the website isn’t the easiest to use. And, because Wansview serves multiple countries, the company holds unique customer service hours.
Folks in the US can call Wansview support between 6 p.m. and 3 a.m. PST—pretty late at night and early in the morning for most of the US. If making a customer service call after dinner sounds like a bad way to end your day, you can email or Skype Wansview with your questions.
The Support section of the website has a general FAQ section that’s searchable but not super organized. We saw the Terms of Service page links to this same FAQ, but we didn’t find any further information about warranties there.
Wansview contracts and warranties
Wansview cameras come with a one-year limited warranty and a 30-day money back guarantee. And there’s no contract required to use a Wansview camera, the Wansview Cloud app, or the cloud service.
You can find more details on Wansview’s Terms of Service page. However, we noticed some issues with the website that may prove confusing for some customers.
The good news is, users said Wansview customer service is friendly, but its website could use some updates and a little organization to make the experience better.
How Wansview stacks up
We compared some of Wansview’s common features to some of the best home security cameras on our radar.
| Company | Wansview 1080p Q5 |  Ring Stick Up Cam |  Google Nest Cam Indoor |  Wyze Cam |  Arlo Essential Spotlight Camera |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lowest price camera | $29.99 | $59.99 | $129.00 | $25.98 | $95.94 |
| Cloud storage | Yes | With subscription | With subscription | Yes | Yes |
| Compatible with security system | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Local storage available | Yes | No | No | No | Yes |
| Learn more | View on Amazon | View on Amazon | View on Amazon | View on Amazon | View on Amazon |
| Read more | Read more | Read more | Read more | Read more | Read more |
*Amazon.com price as of 03/31/2021 at 2:01 p.m. (MT). Read full disclaimer.
One of the best parts about Wansview cameras are the prices. Both the indoor and outdoor cameras are under $50, and you can buy sets of multiple outdoor cameras for a discounted price.
Wansview also offers better privacy options. With popular cloud-based devices like Nest and Ring under fire for breaches to their cameras, using local storage on your camera feels safer to many home security shoppers.
Final word
Whether they’re watching your kids play in the nursery or keeping an eye on your front porch, Wansview cameras are reliable and affordable. But, while the cameras are good, we ran into some confusion with the Wansview Cloud app and Wansview website.
If you’re looking for a cheap (but reliable) security camera in a pinch like after a break-in, a new move, or when a new family member arrives, Wansview is a low-risk option worth considering.
How we reviewed Wansview
To get a clear picture of these HD cameras, we checked every corner of Wansview’s website and camera user manuals. That’s where we learned about many of the camera’s features, the company’s cloud service, and customer service policies.
We also read dozens of customer reviews, watched set up demos online, and browsed through snapshots and videos from customers to see the real deal in action.
Learn more about how we conduct reviews like these on our methodology page.
Wansview FAQ
Wansview cameras are affordable, reliable, and easy to set up. They don’t come with a home security system, but if you’re looking for a quick camera-only security solution, they’re worth a look.
Generally, no. Most wireless cameras (also called IP cameras) need an internet connection to send footage to your phone or the cloud. Some cameras, like the Wansview ones, can work with an Ethernet connection, but you’ll still need the internet to get the most out of it.
Yes. All four of the Wansview cameras need to stay plugged into a power source to continue working. This is easier to manage for indoor cameras, but if you’re installing one outside, we recommend planning a cable path before getting started.
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Disclaimers
(Amazon only): *Amazon.com list price as of 03/31/2021 at 2:01 p.m. (MT). Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product. SafeWise.com utilizes paid Amazon links.
Certain content that appears on this site comes from Amazon. This content is provided “as is” and is subject to change or removal at any time.
(Google only): †Google, Google Nest, Google Assistant, and other related marks are trademarks of Google LLC.
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