Ezviz C3X outdoor camera: Colour night vision keeps you in the picture

Security in the home is more important than ever and it’s now a lot easier and less expensive to build a smart system over time rather than in one go.

I’ve been testing the new Ezviz C3X outdoor camera for the last couple of months, which features colour night vision, WiFi and directed wired ethernet support.

Design

EZVIZ C3X Dual-Lens Colour Night Vision Security Camera.

The C3X looks almost identical to the Ezviz C3N, which I reviewed this summer. The camera module is about the size of a sliotar with dual 2.4gHz WiFi antennas. The main unit hangs off a short extension arm that can swivel on a mounting base that has three holes for screws. The unit is all-white and shouldn’t stick out too much unless you put it against a dark colour.

On the base of the camera are a speaker grille, mic and a slot for a microSD card. The latter is covered with a cap that is secured in place with two small screws.

There’s a cable coming out of the base which is about 40cm long; it splits into a 12V DC power socket as well as an Ethernet socket as an option if WiFi isn’t practical in your installation. I would have preferred if this cable was a little longer to make it easier to use the connection installed on the inside, rather than outside.

Features

EZVIZ C3X Dual-Lens Colour Night Vision Security Camera with IP67 water-resistant rating.

The C3X is fully waterproof and designed for outdoor use with an IP67 rating. I didn’t have any issues with the waterproofing during my time of testing.

The camera is capable of colour night vision which isn't typical. It has a dual-lens setup with one which records the ambient brightness and the other captures colour data. The real magic is how the software manages to combine all this information to produce a colour image that looks detailed and realistic in near darkness. I was super impressed by the video quality which can capture excellent detail. If it gets too dark, the camera will default to using the two infrared lights to illuminate the scene for top-quality black and white video. The C3X can capture full HD with a 106-degree field of view.

Some additional features include the ability to stream to smart displays such as the Google Nest Hub and Amazon Echo Show. I was able to view a live video stream on both my Echo Show 10 and Nest Hub with simple voice commands.

Thanks to the speaker and mic, you can chat with those who come into the camera's frame. You do this using the Ezviz app which is free for iOS and Android. If your caller is a foe rather than a friend, you can attempt to scare them off with the 100dB siren or with custom recorded voice alerts.

Ezviz app

You need the app for the initial install which is incredibly simple. You can also view live video, configure settings, set up schedules and custom alerts that range from soft to more intensive warnings.

There are lots of options within the alarm notification tab. These include motion detection for human or vehicle shapes or both. You can set marking areas, which when enabled, will target set objects with a green box in the video. It did an excellent job of distinguishing between pets, people and vehicles.

You can also set schedules for specific time periods of each day of the week. I set this so that I didn’t receive notifications during late night/early morning hours.

On the home screen of the app you can tap on a camera (if you have multiple) to view a live stream. Below the live/playback and recorded video clips are icons for Video History, Snapshot, Record, Speak, Active Defense and video resolution options.

Storage

The C3X supports microSD cards up to 256GB but you can also choose to subscribe to the Ezviz cloud service. 7-day subscription costs €4.99/month (€49.99/year) or get the 30-day recording with cloud storage for €9.99/month (€99.99/year) all for a single camera.

Verdict

Overall, the C3X does all the basics well with the addition of smart detection features. The video quality is top-notch and the addition of the loud siren and lights should help deter would-be thieves.

The EZVIZ C3X Dual-Lens Colour Night Vision Security Camera is available from selected retailers including vikingdirect.ie €174.24