PROS
- Sharp 2K video
- Mechanical pan and tilt for 360-degree view
- Voice control
- Local and cloud storage
- Intelligent motion detection
- Color night vision
- Supports IFTTT
CONS
- Doesn't support HomeKit
- Lacks motion settings
- App issues in testing
Security cameras with pan and tilt capabilities are great for monitoring a whole room. You get a 360-degree view with smooth mechanical pan and tilt movement, as well as 2K footage and clever motion recognition, with the Ezviz C6 ($129.99). The C6 produces crisp video and is simple to set up, but its companion app was inconsistent in our tests. The $54.99 Eufy Indoor Cam 2K Pan & Tilt P24, our Editors' Choice winner, delivers more features for less money, making it a superior bargain.
Design and Features of the Ezviz C6
The largely white C6 camera is circular and is 3.9 inches in diameter, making it somewhat bigger than a baseball. It has a flat motorized base with 353 degrees of panning movement and a power socket as well as a LAN connection for connected connectivity. A dual-band Wi-Fi radio is housed within, allowing you to connect to your home network effortlessly.
The black motorized camera assembly tilts 133 degrees and records 2K video (2,560 by 1,440 pixels) at 25 frames per second. Two infrared LED clusters provide black-and-white night vision, while the camera's Starlight lens leverages ambient light to produce color night footage. A microphone for voice detection and two-way communication is included in the camera assembly, as well as an LED indication that lights blue when the camera is operating well and red when the camera or network has a problem. The camera assembly has a reset button and a microSD card slot below the lens, as well as a speaker built into the rear of the container.
Human and pet detection, picture change detection, aberrant sound detection, and gesture recognition are all included in the C6's intelligent alerts. When the camera detects a change in its view, it will send out an alert, and when a person waves their hands, the camera will capture a shot. When sound or motion is detected, the camera will capture video and transmit an alarm. The footage will be stored locally on a microSD card slot, but you'll have to supply your own media.
You may use a CloudPlay storage subscription instead of a microSD card to have the C6 save video in the cloud. There are a variety of plans to choose from. Three days of video history for a single camera is available for $3.99 per month or $39.99 per year. For a single camera, $5.99 per month or $59.99 per year offers you seven days of video history. You also get 30 days of video history for $10.99 per month or $109.99 per year. The seven-day plan costs $8.99 per month or $89.99 per year for up to four cameras, while the 30-day plan costs $15.99 per month or $159.99 per year for up to four cameras.
The C6 lacks Apple HomeKit connectivity, but it does function with IFTTT applets to connect to a variety of third-party devices and supports Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant voice commands. It works with the same mobile software as the Ezviz C8C camera we tested earlier this year, and it has its own section on the Devices screen. The last image recorded and the number of video clips presently kept in the event library are displayed on this screen. By rotating your phone sideways and tapping the panel, you may see a live broadcast in full-screen mode.
Pause, mute, two-way chat, and pan and tilt controls are all included on the video panel. When you press the pan and tilt button, a circular four-way dial appears below the panel, which you may use with swiping motions to modify the camera's point of view. A button in the upper right corner allows you to grant access to the camera to friends and family, and another opens the settings page, where you can activate intelligent motion detection, setup alerts, calibrate pan and tilt, enable auto zoom tracking, and enable audio recording. You may also alter your Wi-Fi connection, subscribe to a cloud storage plan, and update security settings. Motion sensitivity and activity zone options, which are available on the Wyze Cam V3 and Eufy P24 cameras, are absent.
Installation and Performance of the Ezviz C6
The C6 is simple to set up, but you must first download the Ezviz mobile app and create an account. I connected the camera, launched the app, and pressed the plus symbol in the upper right corner. When prompted, I chose Cameras and scanned the QR code on the C6's base with my phone. I double-checked that the camera was turned on, hit Start, and then picked my Wi-Fi SSID and entered my Wi-Fi password when the LED began blinking blue. I gave the camera a name, and it was connected to my Ezviz and Alexa accounts right away.
In testing, the C6 produced high-definition video. Colors seemed highly saturated, and image clarity was clear with no obvious distortion. Color night video was a little too dark and colors seemed bland, but black-and-white night vision was clear with strong contrast, as we experienced with the Ezviz C8C. The two-way audio was very clear.
Motion and sound detection, as well as motion tracking, functioned as expected. Pan and tilt motion was smooth and responsive, and alerts arrived quickly.
I couldn't get footage from the camera to play on an Amazon Echo Show at first. This is due to a bug in the app: by default, the camera is given a lengthy name that contains the serial number, which Alexa couldn't detect. I updated the name in the Alexa app, but I couldn't stream video until I remembered that I had the same issue with prior Ezviz cameras, and that I had to disable the C6's security settings to get it to operate with Alexa. I was able to transmit live video to my Echo Show after that.
Aside from this issue, the Ezviz app was a little unstable in testing. It wouldn't allow me modify the camera name, and everytime I tried, it reverted to the original lengthy default name. In addition, the software would stall every time I choose Cloud Storage from the options menu, causing me to quit and restart it.
With a poor app, you can't have a good camera.
Mechanical pan and tilt, motion tracking, and intelligent alerts are just a few of the features that make it simple to watch an entire space with the Ezviz C6 2K+ Smart Home Camera. In testing, the camera was simple to set up and offered crisp 2K footage, with motion alerts arriving swiftly. Its motion tracking component worked well as well, although I had to jump through a few hoops to stream video to an Amazon Echo Show, and the mobile app had some glitches. The Eufy Indoor Cam 2K Pan & Tilt P24 is our Editors' Choice winner because it offers many of the same capabilities as the C6, plus a few more like Apple HomeKit connectivity, motion settings, and a built-in siren.