Yi introduces various models of cheap home security camera including Yi home 720p camera and its newer version 1080p as well as wireless home PTZ camera either 720p model or Yi home PTZ 1080p camera.
Yi Home PTZ camera
Unlike PTZ outdoor POE camera for security surveillance to monitor your businesses, Yi home PTZ camera is appropriate to monitor your home, baby or pets. For businesses you require high performance PTZ outdoor camera with high resolution and multiple optical zoom factor for high quality image detail for zooming object in distance, such as USG 5MP PTZ speed dome camera, Sunba and GW Security auto tracking PTZ camera and new Amcrest IP2M-850 that comes with 20x optical zoom. For homes, cheap home security camera like Yi is enough.
What this product does
Let’s compare this Yi camera with Amcrest IP2M-841 which is almost the same features as Yi.
1080p resolution
Yi Home PTZ camera is designed based on high quality lens with 1080p (1920×1080 pixels) HD resolution and it comes with proprietary Lens Distortion Correction (LDC) technology to restore and straighten the edges to make wide-angle images more natural.
If you compare with the legend Amcrest IP2M-841, Amcrest is similar with the same 1080p resolution @30 fps, real time speed and the good thing the lens is built from Sony IMX322 4mm CMOS sensor.
PTZ
Yi home 1080p camera provides you what a home requires with its PTZ capability. It can rotate horizontally up to 345 degree in addition to its 112 degree wide viewing angle and tilting capability, you can completely cover the whole room.
Amcrest offers the same PTZ capability, endless 360 degree panning horizontally, however the focal length of the lens is longer so that’s why it provides only 90 degree view angle.
Night vision
Both Yi home 1080p and Amcrest IP2M-841 are capable of night viewing with the inclusion of IR LEDs. Amcrest with its 12x IR LEDs is capable of viewing darkness up to 32 ft, longer distance than Yi camera that can illuminate only up to 10 ft. For indoor usage, up to 10 meters night vision distance is more than enough. For outdoor usage you may consider longer distance night vision such as Ubiquiti UVC G3 bullet model, or Vimtag B1 and Amcrest wifi outdoor camera.
Audio
Both Yi camera and Amcrest come with the same two way audio, ideal for baby monitoring to let you listen and talk with clear audio.
Take a look at the following spec comparison table below, see that the price different is not so much only around $10.
Table 1 Yi Vs Amcrest PTZ home camera
| Model | Yi Home 1080p PTZ camera | Amcrest IP2M-841 |
| Lens | 2.6 mm focal length with LDC (lens distortion correction) technology | ½.7” 2MP Sony IMX 322 sensor 4mm f2.2 |
| Resolution | 1080p | 1080p @30 fps |
| Field of view | 112 degree | 90 degree |
| PTZ | 345 degree panning and 115 degree tilting
4x digital zoom |
Endless 360 degree panning and tilting |
| Night vision supports | 8x 940nm IR LEDs range up to 10 ft (3m) | Yes, 12x IR LEDs, range up to 32 ft |
| Audio | Two way audio with Crystal Clear Dual Microphones | Two way audio |
| Network | Built-in 802.11b/g/n single 2.4GHz band | RJ-45 10/100Mbps
802.11 b/g wifi |
| Storage | Up to 32GB micro SD Card local storage and Yi Cloud storage service | Local micro SD Card
Free 4 hrs Amcrest Cloud Amcrest NVR |
| ONVIF | No | Yes |
| Price | $60 | $70 |
To learn more detail each of the product, click the following link for spec details, current price and customer rating.
For outdoor usage, you may also consider Amcrest IP2M-848 premium outdoor camera, or Canary Flex wifi outdoor camera. However, both IP2M-848 and Canary Flex are not categorized to cheap home security camera.
For multiple cameras requirement, you may consider one of this kit – Top 5 8-channel wifi IP camera system. Click here to learn more details about the spec one of them – the OOSSXX 8 channel 1080p wifi camera kit with 8 1080p cameras.
