First impression of the YI outdoor camera
What's in the box
The scope of delivery for the YI outdoor camera is generous. Almost everything is included that is needed for "out-of-the-box" use. The following parts are included:
- YI outdoor camera
- Ball head holder with ¼ inch screw thread
- Magnetic screwdriver for opening the camera
- USB power adapter (5V 1A)
- 10 screws and 10 dowels
- 8 cable clips
- drilling template
- Manual
The only thing that is not included in the scope of delivery is a microSD memory card. YI Technology recommends SDHC or SDXC memory cards up to 32GB. In the test, however, a 64GB SDXC memory card was also recognized without any problems.
Design and workmanship
The YI Outdoor Camera is a comparatively compact surveillance solution. The camera housing made of solid plastic measures 132 mm in length and 68 mm in diameter. The ball head bracket has a diameter of 70 mm. The weight of the camera including cable and bracket is 252g.
The housing of the outdoor camera is protected against splashing water on all sides in accordance with protection class IP65. Accordingly, the 3 meter long USB cable extends into the camera housing and is firmly connected to the camera. The microSD memory card slot and the reset button can be accessed via a flap on the underside. This is held in place by two screws. An additional seal prevents water from entering. The processing quality of the YI outdoor camera is nothing to complain about.
Equipment
In addition to the already mentioned microSD memory card slot and the reset button, features include a two-way audio system with microphone and loudspeaker. The front side is the 1080p 1 / 2.7 inch CMOS camera module with 3.9 mm focal length and 110 ° field of view. The camera sensor is surrounded by a total of 12 850nm IR sensors. These enable night vision up to 15 meters. There is a status LED above the camera module.
Videos are recorded or transmitted with a maximum resolution of 1080p (1920 x 1080) and 20 frames per second. A 3D noise reduction prevents excessive image noise. The Lens Distotion Correction (LDC) straightens the image that has been curved by the wide-angle lens. A 4x digital zoom enables the user to zoom into the image. The wireless transmission and app connection takes place via a 2.4 GHz WiFi module.
OPERATION
Equipment
The YI Home app is required to set up the YI outdoor camera. The app is available for both Android and iOS mobile devices in the respective app stores. The steps required for commissioning are explained in detail in the multilingual operating instructions.
As soon as the camera is connected to the power for the first time, the setup wizard will start. An English language assistant will guide you through the setup steps. Among other things, the camera is required to be integrated into an existing WLAN. For this, your own WiFi data must be entered in the app, from which it creates a QR code. If you hold it in front of the camera lens, the camera automatically establishes a connection to the WLAN.
The entire set-up process is simple and takes just a few seconds. A small note on the side: The YI outdoor camera can only be integrated into an existing WLAN. The camera is not able to set up its own WLAN!
Assembly
The ball head bracket is attached with 4 screws. The supplied drilling template simplifies assembly. The camera can be aligned easily and precisely with the ball head. Alternatively, the universal ¼ inch screw thread enables the YI Outdoor Camera to be attached to an existing universal bracket.
Functions and control of the YI outdoor camera
The YI outdoor camera is fully configured and monitored via the YI Home App (Android and iOS) or the YI PC Client (Windows and OSX). There is no WebUI that can be accessed via the browser! In the following I refer to the app, as it was mainly used to operate the camera.
The structure of the app hardly differs from apps from other manufacturers. After starting the app you are in the camera overview. All YI cameras linked to the YI account are listed here with a preview image.
Streaming
Live picture mode of the app
If you click on the preview image of the respective camera, you will enter the live image mode. With the smartphone aligned vertically, the live image is in the upper half of the screen with setting options for the image quality (HD - SD - Auto), a status for the transmission quality and further information about the date and time.
Under the live image there are shortcuts to mute the camera's loudspeaker, start a video recording, activate the microphone, take a picture or switch to full screen mode. Again underneath, in the lower half of the picture, the alarm overview is placed. This gives you quick access to the most recently triggered alarms. In full screen mode, the shortcuts are placed as an overlay on the right edge of the screen. The alarm sections can be selected in full screen mode using a practical timeline. To protect against unauthorized (app) access, every connected YI camera can be provided with a PIN.
remote access
Among other things, the video stream is encrypted and transmitted by the manufacturer's server. This enables remote access that cannot be deactivated via the app. Probably the biggest point of criticism, however, is that the camera needs a constant connection to the Internet. If you disconnect the camera from the Internet, it is no longer possible to access the app stream. Purely local operation is therefore not intended and also not possible!
An RTSP stream cannot (currently) be tapped! ONVIF is not supported. Resourceful hackers have shown, using previously released YI cameras, that the firmware can be modified to include RTSP support. It is currently not foreseeable when a modified firmware will be released for the YI outdoor camera.
YI Cloud
The YI Cloud is paid online storage. Recordings are automatically uploaded to the cloud and can be accessed via the YI account. If the camera is lost, the recordings are not lost with the camera, but remain in the YI Cloud.
The YI Cloud is offered in a three-tier subscription model. The lowest tariff with 7-day loop recording is available from € 2 per month, depending on whether you opt for a monthly or annual subscription. There are also price differences with regard to the number of devices and the upload mode (only alarm or 24/7 recording). The second tariff includes a 15-day loop recording. The most expensive plan with up to 17.99 € per month offers a 30-day loop recording. The prices are therefore based on the cloud offers of other camera manufacturers, such as Netgear or Ring.
The payment methods for the cloud subscription are PayPal and credit card, as well as the in-app purchase for iOS mobile devices. New customers receive a free trial month. The YI Cloud was not included in this test report. Everyone should decide for themselves how important cloud access is. Without a cloud subscription, a 6-second preview clip is saved in the cloud free of charge after the alarm is triggered.
alarm function
The YI outdoor camera is able to detect movements and trigger an alarm. The motion detection does not take place with the help of a PIR sensor, but on the software side. The detection area, the sensitivity level (low - medium - high) and the alarm frequency (low - medium - high) can be set in the camera settings. An alarm schedule can be configured for individual days of the week and hourly time periods.
In the test, the motion detection worked largely reliably. Depending on the sensitivity level and object size, the detection range is between 5 and 15 meters. At the highest level, motion detection is comparatively sharp. This triggers an alarm not only for people and larger animals, but also for the smallest insects.
If an alarm is triggered, you will be notified via push notification. The recording can then be called up via the YI Home app. An additional alarm tone signals the triggered alarm via the camera's loudspeaker. To the delight of the neighbors, this function can be deactivated in the settings.
Two-way audio
The two-way audio system of the YI Outdoor Camera enables voice transmission in both directions. Voice messages can be sent to the camera from the mobile device. Conversely, the sound is recorded via the camera's microphone. The transmission quality is acceptable. What is spoken is understandable, even if it is transmitted slightly tinny. The sound recorded by the camera is transmitted clearly up to a range of 5 meters.
Settings
The settings menu is divided into general settings and more specific camera settings. In the general settings you can define the camera name, activate the PIN protection and manage the memory. In the camera settings it is possible to rotate the image by 180 °, to correct the lens distortion, and to switch the IR night vision, the microphone and the status LED on or off.
The YI outdoor camera receives firmware updates via the YI Home app. These are transferred and installed fully automatically.
Recording quality of the YI outdoor camera
The surveillance camera saves videos with a maximum resolution of 1080p at 20 images per second. The 6-second alarm clips are transmitted with 640 x 360 pixels. The recording resolution, frame rate or bit rate cannot be adjusted by the user.
The recording quality is sufficient to recognize faces at a short distance. Only at a great distance does the image become increasingly blurred. The level of detail is acceptable. The output format for video recording is MP4. A 16GB memory card can store 30 hours of video material.
When it gets darker, the surveillance camera automatically switches to night vision mode. The visibility is around 10 meters at night. The software-based motion detection is not affected by night vision.
