YI IoT Reviews

If you do not pay for the monthly recording service and click “unlock full clip” you are prompted to subscribe for $20 a month. Once you do that it starts recording from that moment. So if you wanted to see what happened before and or after the clip, you cannot... Even though you are led to believe that is what will be available.

There was a recorded clip that we needed to see what happened just after the clip around 9:45am. Once we noticed and paid for the subscription clicking “unlock full clip” and paying $20 it was just after 10:10am and that was when it started recording. We cannot go back before we made payment. So clicking “unlock full clip” is a scam to get you to pay $20 in a hurry to find you can’t get what was advertised and paid for...

I was enjoying this cameras I bought. Then out of nowhere I noticed they would stop randomly stop working, they would both take extremely long to open YIIoT to begin with, Then when on automatic motion tracking it would turn to face the wall and just be recording the wall and never return to its normal place. I even had an incident happen in my home where it never even picked up any of the incident happening. The fact you can’t really watch your replays without it crashing is a huge problem especially when I pay for the subscription... I am trying to hold off but I plan on buying better cameras without these issues... I also noticed lagging sometimes and it stops recording sound. BIGG problems for this homeowner.

Update : APP NOT LETTING ME LOG IN. App saying Invalid Data Format when I try to log in with my information. This is HIGHLY UNACCEPTABLE. There is noone you can even call at this time of night and phones not working because of CoVid-19. This is a bunch of crap. I will be ordering new cameras right now! I am done and I don’t recommend these pieces of crap to anyone. Screw yi iot.

I never leave reviews but I felt this could save someone the headache. The cameras themselves are actually decent so far 3 days in, but YIIoT is ridiculous. I’ve opted to buy the cloud space and it has never actually accepted my purchase, yet I can see I’ve paid for it multiple times on my Apple subscriptions. So basically the cameras are only available for real time monitoring which is useless for the most part. YIIoT has no customer service numbers, no email addresses, no way to contact someone for these types of issues. Also the fact that I’ve paid for cloud services and it won’t even show in my apps order history is frustrating. So I’m conclusion I wish I would have bought something with a better app, besides it’s bad operating it’s not the greatest layout.

I loved this camera for the most part until some recent updates to YIIoT . It has worked great for months and then all of a sudden after an update where the look of things changed, the sound would no longer stay on. After a couple of minutes the sound on the video feed stops and I have to toggle the sound off and back on to get it on again. This is seriously inconvenient as a baby monitor without sound, especially at night. There was an update where YIIoT seemed to revert visually to what is was before and it worked again. But now it’s back to not working. If this gets fixed I’ll give this camera 4 stars because honestly the only drawbacks of the camera otherwise are the clicking sound when going between day and night vision and the sound it makes when the camera randomly reboots.

I am so frustrated at this camera and app. First of all, it’s supposed to be a baby monitor, yet the camera restarts in its own and has a very loud chime sound that it plays when it does. Why?!?!
Secondly, if you have a slight amount of light coming into the room, it’ll switch between the normal camera and night vision, which is a very loud click each time. Back and forth, back and forth. You can hear it in the room AND over YIIoT . So annoying.
And lastly, the recent app update is the worst. Most of my issues were with the camera and not YIIoT , until a few days ago. Now, YIIoT removed the time stamp on the live feed, which was very helpful to see at a glance, both for the obvious reason and because sometimes the feed freezes. But now I don’t know when it’s done that.
It also changed in that I had to actually change my lock screen settings to “never lock,” when before I could just open the live feed and it would stay on.
And my last grievance with YIIoT is that now after a short period of time, the sound goes silent as if it’s muted, but it’s not. So I’m now I’m relying on hearing my child cry through closed doors instead of through the monitor app open right next to me.
Don’t get the camera. And don’t get YIIoT . I’m ready to ditch both.

I bought this camera a while back and it seemed pretty descent. So I put it out on my window facing outside. A few month passes and I keep hearing the camera sound go off in the middle of the night. I pay no attention to it because I thought the sound means they detected people moving. But one day I woke to the sound and looked at the camera the camera was facing us and the camera kept moving looking around the room. I immediately unplugged the camera and my husband told me the same day that the sound means that someone was on the camera. I have 2 little kids that sleep in the same room with me and it just haunts me that a stranger was watching me and my family for months as well as listening into our conversations day and night. Please be aware of this big issue and consider the problem of buying this product. Stay safe everyone.

After the two most recent updates that are basically trying to force you to buy their cloud service for $150 a year, these cameras are useless now! They freeze up after about 15-30 seconds!! There is no point in having a camera running all night if it doesn’t work! I had no problems before these updates!! And now I can’t find anywhere to email support like I used to be able to. Even from here it takes you to their website to purchase items. The update eliminated some great features that I’m sure I would get back if I paid for their subscription which I will not do. I will just invest in some better cameras because this used to be an amazing little gadget until they decided to start charging for everything.

After multiple car break-ins our neighborhood we installed the pan cam outside our garage. While
It has good quality images - there are major issues with YIIoT . I get regular alerts for bugs flying around or shadows from the sun but not people in our driveway trying to break into cars. One morning a neighbor’s car alarm went off so I happened to glance at the clock. Then another neighbor let us know their car had been broken into. I had no alerts (other than bugs) so I checked the playback around the time I heard the car alarm (had I not known the approx time I would have likely never found the footage due to no alert and the lack of functionality in YIIoT ). Sure enough we had people in our driveway checking several of our cars...but no alerts even though at times the person was dead center in the image and not trying to hide. My spouse also leaves the house early each morning and maybe 10% of the time the camera gives me an alert from his movement including a car pulling out of our driveway. Another negative is that to review any playback there is NO fast forward or pause functionality. So if you want a good camera and app just to check in on live feed and aren’t worried about alerts - this will do the job. Otherwise I wouldn’t recommend.

App is generally good, but please make a version that landscape mode actually works in for IPad or MacBooks. Landscape only works on an iPhone. Would also be nice to be able to easily change WIFI networks, as you can’t do this currently, and some of us have multiple WIFI networks. The 1080p FHD mode is also nice, but it has to manually be turned on, constantly. If there was a setting to constantly keep it on, and upload in this mode to the cloud, that would be nice. Final request…if YIIoT could be used side-by-side (on one screen) with other apps on iPad, as this is not currently available.

The camera works great. The software only shows a small clip and you have to watch that before you can watch the entire recording. Even if you are recording to your SD card, when you press the option to view the entire clip, it sometimes takes you to a page to purchase their cloud service. Other links also take you to the purchase cloud service page and it’s annoying.

There is not date & time with seconds showing on the video when you watch it so you only get an approximate time on their scale.

If I could use different software with this camera I might buy it again. Right know, I would not recommend it.

Before the most recent update I would get alerts when my baby would cry or if there was loud sounds. Since the update it won’t allow me to turn on the sound alert. Every time I go to turn it on it just switches back off. Also I usually leave the live video on at night Incase my baby cries to feed but since the last meet update after about 10-15 minutes the sound stops playing. It’s not muted or anything it just stops. Used to love this camera so much I would have given it a 5/5 but since the update it really isn’t as good as it used to be. If the bugs get fixed I would gladly change my rating a review.

The camera is cool and does a decent job of recording. However, it has a lot of flaws. For one it’s doesn’t have a fast forward button or a way to watch the video fast. You have to sit there and watch the video slow. Second, the motion detector is subpar at best. It always shows bugs flying into the camera but it doesn't show when something major happens(Unless you have the camera rolling all the time) Overall the camera is good but few updates here and there would make YIIoT even better. Is it possible to have loop recording for prowl using a memory card? That would go a long way.

I got the camera a few weeks ago it was working perfectly fine, now the camera won’t move or dictate any kind of motions or movements that goes on it just stares at the ceiling all day it won’t look down for some reason it says that it can’t go down, I have to manually move it to look down so I can see what’s going when I’m in another room, I use it for my dogs to watch them when I’m not around or close by, but if it just stares at the ceiling all day and won’t look down or sideways then what’s the point of having the camera, I’ve reset it already and still everything is updated so I don’t understand.

The camera and app are both decent for the price. I have them set up without any of the alert features turned on and I record via a SD card instead of using the web, I have a large piece of property and use them to monitor a gate and the inside of a barn. The one improvement would be if YIIoT allowed you to set up a “home” viewing preference so after you get done panning other views the unit would just return to it’s “home” view, just like it does if you hit the panoramic button, it runs the panoramic then returns to its starting point.

I wonder if I have the one camera that works? No issues to get it working and I regularly move it around the house plug it in a open YIIoT and it seams to reconnect without issues. I’m thinking everyone having problems probably needs to look at the security settings on Wi-Fi modem/ routers and have a strong signal so the camera can communicate and make sure your using 2.4GHz setting up. It’s cloud service is not something I’m interested in as it seems full of privacy issues. It is a low level budget system that surprisingly works great but I probably jinxed myself and tomorrow will crap out lol….

Both myself and my wife love the cameras we have. They are clear and mobile and convenient. Everything we could have asked for from a camera. One of two issues I have is that the cameras reset every so often while viewing. What makes this particularly annoying is that both cameras were purchased for our child while they are sleeping. When the camera resets however, it lags from view and rings and rotates waking up our child almost always. Is there a fix to this?! Secondly, YIIoT is very easy to use. We love the alerts and the control aspect for the camera. My second and last complaint is that with the new update game ads....like really....it’s a camera. Not a game. I don’t think ads are necessary. Otherwise, great product. We’ve talked about buying another for other parts of our home.

1. Where is human filter? I need to reduce so many false alarms with the wind moving tree limbs. Notes. By turning on the human alarm in the intelligent detection alarm, the camera can only alarm when a person appears in the picture, filtering out unnecessary wind and grass movements. You can also customize the alarm area to make the alarm more targeted
2. Need speed X setting to fast forward
3. Need to turn off lights as I put my bulb in a glass light fixture and the light just reflect and blurs the view

The camera was working fine, it had great quality and very useful features, until it went offline for NO REASON AT ALL! The internet was fine, a fuse never blew, and we don’t think the cats could’ve done anything to it. We unplugged it and plugged it back in, we emailed the contact number and haven’t gotten a response yet, and the only reason I didn’t rate it 1 star is because I’m willing to wait and see if we will be able to fix it. The people that wrote the good reviews I call the lucky ones, because I don’t think they had to deal with this. If we end up being able to fix it, than I will come back rate this a 4 stars because other than this very annoying feature, it’s actually really good.

Edit: we found out how to fix it, the USB port in the cord we used to plug it in was bad. I hope you reading this don’t experience this problem, too, cuz it’s incredibly annoying.

Though for whatever reason at times it has a hard time staying connected to the WiFi and every so often the camera has to reset... in the middle of the night. When it does this it makes a loud ring sound which wakes everyone up. Second, not a fan of the new update. Before we were able to do a playback while on the live feed. Now, we have to go out of the live feed and maneuver around into alerts to sometimes be able to get playback.

But, overall very much enjoy that I can use my phone as a monitor and the versatility of motion detection, baby crying, and panning is great.

I got this cámara on my baby Registry And to be honest I was a little skeptic with the price but I was reading the reviews and I saw a lot of good reviews and let me tell you I don’t regret one bit on putting this on my registry. camera Quality is pretty good easy to install easy to download on your phone the view is very clear, and it has all the features I need and more,I really don’t know what other expensive cameras offers But I believe this have everything I need. so only if the expensive cameras can cook ,clean and ironed clothes then that make will make a deal.

Update: cámara was working good for a few months About ( 3 months). Now It’s on night vision all day, it resets a lot, and for a few weeks i had “ the cámara is offline issue “ I’ve send them the issue about not having day time vision but I had no respond. I was hoping when I saw the update i will get it but NO!.

We’ve been using this camera for our infant since May & I previously loved it. We’ve had no issues until a recent update back in late August/early September. Ever since then, we are only able to get motion detection notifications. We no longer get baby crying notifications, in fact the option to toggle sound notifications doesn’t work. When we try to click the button for sound detection, the button tries to load but remains off. Luckily our baby is sleeping through the night & is close enough to our bedroom that I can hear cries without the monitor, but still. It’s kind of a half use-less baby monitor at this point. No complaints about the camera/video itself so we’ll be keeping it, but this sound issue makes me not recommend this camera/app to anyone.

YIIoT and the cameras get worse and worse with each update. They have an ever increasing hard time connecting and giving video. Even when they do connect they have a good connection for a few minutes and then it suddenly goes bad. From over 100kb/s to 37kb/s or less. Also the sound only lasts for a short time and then goes silent even though I didn’t mute it. These problems occur even with the camera only two feet from the router. I can’t constantly watch the feed, I have to keep going back to the home page and select the camera I want to watch again and again just to keep a good connection and be able to hear the sound.

App is good and overall stable but as stated in the title, should be able to view and hear two devices simultaneously. I have two cameras one for our infant and one for our toddler. They often nap during same hours and we require two devices to view both. Usually our phones, because of that I rated 4stars.

Researched tons of cameras, ended up buying a permanent wall mounted system for about $120 that I’m satisfied with. But recently we needed a portable version for a family vacation, and purchased this one.
WOW! Should’ve bought this from the beginning! Picture quality is “good enough” for the price, and the ability to move the camera lens remotely & zoom is AWESOME!
Don’t be like me and keep thinking about it. Don’t waste any more time. Click the “buy” button right now!

I used to like and enjoy the YI lo T camera app but it has become useless as a security camera app because of the ridiculous ads that come up. I am looking for a replacement app for my cameras without ads.

This company is horrible! Every time there's an update they take more away and then try to sell it back to you. Unacceptable!

I recently used the YI IoT app and was disappointed by the intrusive advertisements. Despite being advertised as free, the app is filled with ads that can easily lead users to unintentionally click on subscription prompts for their cloud services. Additionally, upon launching the app, users are now forced to watch an ad before accessing its features. Furthermore, the company's official website claims a 5-star rating on Trustpilot, while in reality, it holds a rating closer to 2 or 3 stars. JUSTUSEAPP Overall, the user experience is frustrating due to the aggressive advertising tactics and misleading information about user satisfaction.

This is the worst app you can get. It is False Advertising, and they hit you up for a lot of money in no time at all. They have to have a credit card in order for you to set up the security Light Bulb and they say you won't be charged but you have to get a small charge to set it up and then in 13 days you automatically get hit with a $173 reoccurring charge. It's a shame and they should be prosecuted.

Very disappointed in this camera/app. I tried for hours to setup the camera and install the app. The app installed on my Android phone but none of the functions worked except the swipe. When I contacted the Chat on-line they wanted my credit card to charge me to fix their app that does not work. This appears to be a real scam/con as reading through the reported issues people have, most are with the App not working. Good money maker, release an App that does not work properly, then charge everyone for advice on how to fix it. My solution is to trash the cameras and never buy again.

I want all my YI IOT subscriptions for the yiiot security cloud. I want all of them canceled right now

When it works it is ok. I use it on the out side of my house for security. But it doesn't show vehicles that drive in or out. It is constantly taking pics of it is windy. False advertising said didn't need a subscription, and can't call support u less you have the subscription. Wouldn't buy again.

2 Cameras & both reset at all the time. Alerts happen 3- 5 minutes after action. I expected the averts to be Quicker. program is worthless unless you contumely watch the camera. People com.ng to the door sounds the alert after they have left. I have found no support. The 1st 3 months at least it alerted all the time even if late. I believe it is not the camera, but the program

2 Cameras & both reset at all the time. Alerts happen 3- 5 minutes after action. I expected the averts to be Quicker. program is worthless unless you contumely watch the camera. People com.ng to the door sounds the alert after they have left. I have found no support. The 1st 3 months at least it alerted all the time even if late. I believe it is not the camera, but the program

This light bulb socket security camera. Works well when it wants to work. Camera and all its data is controlled by the company. They put u in a situation where u get convinced that u must buy their expensive plans. It needs to be reset, restart several times a month. Some features on it wont work till u buy into their plan. Bottom line ok camera but u have only 10%control of it!

I have 12 of these cameras. I bought most of them a few years ago and the promise was to always give a 6 second clip, well that change and now all they want you to do is buy their monitoring system, constantly being bombarded with ads and now their are so many ads its making all my cameras almost useless!! So sorry I bought these!!

DO NOT BUY THIS CRAP. Nothing about this camera and software works. The software is constantly working to get you to buy into a years subscription of cloud storage....Do not buy......

The App is holding my video replay hostage, as all I keep getting is a message to re-subscribe so that I can play back my videos, even with an SD card installed. Totally a SCAM!

The App is holding my video replay hostage, as all I keep getting is a message to re-subscribe so that I can play back my videos, even with an SD card installed. Totally a SCAM!

Where can I report what is happening to me?? Where am I supposed to place my complaint!? They are scammers and they can’t get away with it!! First, the app doesn’t let us see the 6 seconds video warning, unless we pay a stupid amount of money! Second, the app doesn’t let the camera record on the SD card. Well I believe it does record, but we can’t see it! The app switches off when we select the SD card! When a person passes by the camera, it turns to another place, where there’s nothing! I always have to reset the camera and now it doesn’t turn left. This scammmers just can’t get away with it!! Every time I contact support, they joke with me, they just “don’t understand” where the problem is, and then they try to sell the cloud!!

Hi I bought this camera in January thinking it was the bees knees. How wrong was I it was okay for the first few days then it stoped working . The reason I stop working is because I add to subscribe to the contract. In their infomercial it never says anything about having to subscribe 24/7. To me this is just like blackmail so anybody always purchasing this device please be aware you have to subscribe for 12 months. In my opinion I would not advise anybody to get this product ever again.

Extremely high priced subscription costs. $143.00 a year for 1 camera and the camera keeps falling off the app. They keep pushing a Premium subscription, when this happens. The sellers on Ebay are Chinese and have no clue as to troubleshoot the software.

These cams are absolute garbage!!! There out to be an invesitgation By the Consumer Protection Agence, primarily because after using them for about 3 weeks they wont even play their 6 second activity video. Instead, it shows the add for the YI cloud service and theres no X to get out of the add. Their cloud i also read is horrible. I bought SD cards for them but they are useless as the playback cannot be navigated and 90% of the time wont work. ALSO, the cams are totally retarded and will catch a tiny leaf but will not see and track a human or car. They also will track nothing at all and every few days will "park" facing the ground or the wall. And the alarm is a joke...not load at all. Also, if power goes out, every cam has to be re added. CHINESE JUNK!!!

Do not purchase this camera. Basically was advertised as having an app so you can view footage. Now you have to pay for cloud storage to even use the app after latest update. Not remotely fit for purpose, YI iot are a a disgrace. The product is completely worthless Chinese junk in anycase. Smart motion detection means the camera will start tracking an object, it will keep rotating until it sees a wall and will video the wall for 5 minutes instead of the target. The positive reviews on here are from people who only just had the device clearly, because anyone who has had it for any length of time will see how useless these products are. Avoid anything by Yi iot like the plague.

For outdoor use on entrances to my home, the camera's motion detection kicks in too slowly. When I walk past the camera coming or going from home, it often doesn't catch my movement. But it does pick up blowing grass or tree branches. 90% of alerts are false or blank (i.e. the motion occurred before the camera started recording!) If I wanted to watch the live feed 24/7 I guess I could, but barring that, this product is not very useful. I will chalk up the experience and look for a better security solution.

Everything upside down or backwards

All I can say is it's a POS Motion detection is joke The WiFi is horrible very weak connection Constant network problems The App is chinese crap The constant marketing ploy trying to get you to buy cloud storage is BS I will never buy another YI iot product

The Light Bulb Shape wifi Camera...was given to me as a present its tuned to 2.4G and nothing else it needs a strong uncluttered signal to function it needs to move in any direction without touching anything, especially metal(internal antenna in bulb, poorly designed.) it needs to be place where no wiring will interfere with the path of the signal - - - i had all the same complaints and problems mentioned in these posts/reviews. - - - one solution was a WiFi extender, Yi Iot was designed to be used one or two rooms away from your wifi - thus many folks having problems never realizing that Yi Iot was barely within range of their wifi's signal. I used a cheap wifi extender and was able to push the range over 70 feet. Your mileage may differ. This solved the range problem but not the other complaints. I got a SD card and will never need or use their cloud service. Why would you put you home privacy on somebodies else's hard drive? It's nuts! Now i can watch my car, backyard, driveway, but now i don't bother to reposition it as it has a mind of its own. The slightest bright spot and it aims itself in that direction - while when i walk to my car - it does and doesn't film me. like i said, has a mind of its own. ugh! - - - for general use, its okay for specialize use, avoid it. Save up and get something better.

DO NOT BUY THESE CAMERAS. I purchased 10 units through DOTCOM PRODUCTS and they don't do anything close to what they advertise. They take video every 4 to 5 minutes when there is NO activity and fail to take activity video. Can't get ANY HELP. SAVE YOUR MONEY!!!

To put it mildly the Yi lot Camera doesn't function well. It doesn't always return to the home position as it's supposed to, and it doesn't record events that actually happen in many cases as far as I can see. But the main problem is you pay a little money for the camera itself, but are asked to pay a lot more money for software to increase its ability, which should have been basic to the camera anyway. Frankly, I view the approach they've taken to be a bit dishonest. I'm throwing these two cameras away as I have found they don't work with any other camera software.

So I purchased this last year now no alerts can be seen unless you purchased a plan rip off no warnings this would happen when i purchased this so no don’t purchased unless you pay for a plan you won’t get to view any alerts now

Hi I am glad i bought one of your cameras The androud movement alerts are inly available when the app is open. Is there a way to receive live push alerts when the app is not ooen please?

Sound will not stay on - after about 10 minutes the sound turns off by itself on the app which makes it completely useless as a baby monitor. Also can no longer turn the baby crying alert on, probably because the sound turns off after a few minutes. Please tell me how to fix this, I loved this monitor until this started happening and now it’s basically useless, especially at night, because there is no sound!