As a homeowner, protecting your home is one of the basic necessities. It is however in your power to protect its residents; your kids, wife, tenants etc. having these thoughts cross your mind, you might have thought about getting security cameras. In this type of technology, there is more to it than meets the eye and while it’s very helpful, it is also very fascinating. In this article we will review this two wireless camera for a home; Zmodo EZCam Pro and YI Home Camera 2. But before that, why do you need security cameras for your home?
This is a very smart question considering the fact that every homeowner/resident will sometime also ask this question. Actually, there are only two palatable reasons for getting a wireless camera for a home; to watch over and monitor the house and its environment when you are there and to also monitor the house while you are away. When expatiated, the first reason can be narrowed down to watching kids and old ones while they sleep play around or walk around the dangerous or harmful area of the house.
Also, a wireless camera for a home can be used if you want to check the door when it rings or when you hear a voice around the house. And it is wireless, you can even stay in bed to do all these things. The second reason can also be narrowed down to having any evidence of theft, checking if your children are back from school, keeping track of nanny/babysitters, handymen and maintenance works etc.
Table of Contents
Zmodo EZCam Pro wireless camera for a home
Main Specs
- 1920 x 1080 HD video quality
- 120 degrees Field of View
- Two-way Audio
- Cloud support
- Night vision
- Motion detection
- Mobile and web application
- Alerts
YI Home wireless camera for a home
Main Specs
- 720p and 1080p HD video quality
- 130 degrees Field of View
- Two-way Audio
- First class night vision
- Enhanced motion detection
- Alerts
- SD card support
- Mobile and web application
Wireless camera for a home: the design
Zmodo EZCam pro
The Zmodo EZCam pro design is more or less like the YI Home Camera 2 but unlike the later, it has more rigid edges and a thinner bottom. Although the semi-rounded bottom is thin, it still has a strong rigid balance. The camera is also rounded and it measures about 2.4 inches in diameter. Around its lens, it contains a microphone, which is capable of a two-way audio communication system and also a sensor for motion capturing. Its night vision is made possible by 11 LED beads around the lens. The design is user-friendly but also rated less than the YI Home Camera 2. It comes in both white and black color. Choosing the black color makes it ideal for being a hidden camera in dark locations.
YI Home Camera 2
The YI Home Camera 2 design is in the shape of a hockey puck. This looks almost like the Nest Dropcam Pro except this has a white rounded stand, unlike the black one. Being round, the camera measures about up to 2 inches in its diameter which is smaller than the Zmodo EZCam Pro. It contains a 1/2.8-inch CMOS sensor and infrared night vision containing 11 LED beads. Also under the camera, there is a microphone which can deliver a two-way audio communication system. The design is very slick compared to the Zmodo EZCam pro. It has a very rounded and smooth edge. It only comes in white color, unlike the Zmodo cam which comes in two colors.
Hardware comparison
Zmodo
Weighing about 4 ounces, it is constructed of mostly plastic with metal base making it an indoor camera. Using this particular camera outdoors or outside will destroy the camera quickly as the back of the camera has a lot of open spots. During the day, it videos up to 1080p clearly at 25 frames per second. Its field of view is just 120 degrees which are also enough to capture all the actions in a room if it’s being placed in a corner of the room.
It has IR lights which assist the camera for night vision and its night vision can reach up to 26 feet (claimed by the manufacturers).
The speaker is placed at the back of the camera making a two-way audio communication a little hard. There is a blue status light in front of the camera giving it away to be a “hidden camera” in dark rooms etc. although the light is important for the first set up; you can cover the light with a duct tape to hide the blue light. There is no SD card slot on the Zmodo cam, therefore making all your storage on the cloud.
YI Camera
This camera weighs about 5 ounces, it is also an indoor camera considering the fact that the materials used to make this camera cant withstand the outdoor conditions. It also videos up to 1080p and true to its word, customers have dropped positive reviews as to it being the best wireless camera for a home in terms of video output. Its field of view is 130 degrees which are more capturing than the latter.
It also has IR lights and about 11 infrared beads (that cannot be detected) to support night visions of up to 30 feet. The speaker is also placed at the back like the Zmodo. Using 2048-bit RSA private key encryption, it is well protected from hackers.
It supports and comes with 32GB SD card.
Home camera Installation
Installing the Zmodo EZCam pro Installation is very easy. It is mostly done through the mobile app. It takes time getting used to, mostly if you have more than one camera. It doesn’t come with an SD slot so you just plug it into a Wi-Fi router.
Motion alerts are supported in the app but sometimes you need to pay for a plan to use this feature. Although the EZCam supports motion sensor in the app there is no place to adjust the motion sensitivity making it difficult to work with. It also allows the night vision mode to be turned off and on simultaneously. It supports a free 6-month plan of their 7-day recording plan.
YI Home Camera 2 Installation
Setting up the YI camera is very easy, anyone could do it. You would first install the SD card it came with and then plug the wireless camera to a Wi-Fi router. To install the mobile app, you can scan the QR code from the setup booklet or download it from the Google store/app store directly.
Motion alerts are supported for free. You don’t need to pay for a plan for this. The YI also supports adjustments of motion sensitivity thereby making it better than the previous. It also allowed night vision mode turned off and on simultaneously which can go as far as 30 feet. The YI Home Cam does not support cloud at the moment but the company promises a cloud back up service in the future but it would be paid.
Pros and Cons
Zmodo EZCam pro
Pros
- Easy setting up
- Cloud storage available
- 120-degree field of view
- Motion detection
- Nice design
- Motion detection
- Alerts
- HD recording
Cons
- Service fee is required after free trial
- No SD card recording
- Not outdoor camera
- The HD video is doubtful.
YI Home Camera 2
Pros
- Easy setup and installation.
- Sleek modernized design
- HD recording
- 130-degree field of view
- Automatic recording on motion detection
- Motion detection
- No service fees
- SD card recording
Cons
- Limited to a power supply.
- Irrelevant alerts
- No cloud storage
- Less sleek than the previous designs
- Not outdoor camera
Conclusion
Both the Zmodo EZCam Pro and the YI Home Camera 2 has very nice and improved features, unlike their predecessors. It is no doubt as to the two wireless cameras for homes both has very similar features too, from very good audio to gesture recognition and crybaby alerts. The YI Home camera, however, is only limited to an SD storage system thereby putting the risk of the footage at risk when detected, although it can be hardly detected by the third party because the infrareds are hidden properly too. The wireless camera for a home costs a little far more than the later but the differences aren’t that wide apart.
On the other hand, the Zmodo EZCam Pro has no SD storage system but comes with a free 6-month trial. Since surveillance and information are backed up on the free cloud system, the risk of losing footage when detected by the third party is very minimal unless it is being hacked. Although the blue status light is visible when the lights in the room are switched off, it can be fixed by placing a tape to cover the blue light thereby making it undetected. The video quality is not fully 1080p but it is clear enough to monitor on a phone screen and get to see the details well. It doesn’t come with an SD support, but hey, who needs an SD support when you have free cloud storage? Lastly, the Zmodo EZCam Pro is less costly than the YI Home camera, so if you really need a very good camera with a high-quality video and a great price, free access to cloud for safekeeping of footage, I greatly suggest you go for the Zmodo EZCam Pro.
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I have over 15 years of knowledge in the technology field. Studied IT systems administration and now installing security cameras and smart home devices into user’s homes and offices.