Yi started rolling out their cloud service early this year and I got a notification from my app so I wanted to check it out. They have a 30 day trial which I signed up for. Here is my video on the setup, settings and sample cloud video footage.
As you will see, if you go to your camera feed, you will see a “cloud” icon button on the upper right of the screen. Now, this is only available to the cameras the supports it. At this time, the only home camera that is not supported is their 720p home camera which I think they will add on their next firmware update. Both dome cameras 1080p and 720p are supported.
You can go to your profile so that you can access the cloud storage menu. You will see a list of cameras if you have more than one, that are already subscribed to the cloud service or cameras that are supported and that you can add to your account.
As you can see here my Living room camera is already subscribed. In this menu you can update or change your settings, see your downloaded videos, your subscription status which right now, I’m on their 30 day trial service.
You can also see your order and payment history, and because that I’m on their trial period, I will not have any billing history.
Then you have the subscription management tab then the FAQs, if you have any questions and you will be able to see their pricing table. They offer 2 services the Standard which it will only record when motion is detected and you can add up to 5 cameras in one subscription and they have the premium service which will record and upload your videos 24/7.
Now, both standard and premium services have 2 options, the 15 day or the 30 day loop. So, basically you can choose how long your videos will stay up on their cloud.
The Standard 15 day loop costs $9.99/month or 99 bucks annually. Their standard 30 day is $14.99/month or 149 every year. Their premium service is $9.99 per month or 99 dollars/year for 15 day loop and $19.99/month or $199 dollars/year for their 30 day loop.Now, remember their premium service is only for one camera and their standard service, you can add up to 5 cameras in one subscription.
You will see on their FAQs section all the questions you have about their cloud service can be found here.
You will see on the main camera section, you will see that little cloud icon and if it is orange in color, it means that camera is subscribed to the cloud service and when you click on it, you will be able to see your recorded videos in the cloud.
I subscribed to their 15 day, motion only recording so their will be days or times that I will not have any recorded videos. You can scroll on the dates and if there is a little blue dot under it, it means that there is recorded footage. The quality is the same as your recording in your micro SD card just like you see here. And you can scrub left or right to find the videos that have been uploaded to the cloud. You will see that on the blue shaded areas, these are the times that video footage have been recorded. You will also see a blue checked icon stating that the video is being transmitted securely.
Also, you can take a snapshot of the current footage or download a video clip itself. You will also be able to hear sound and conversations from the video clip.
You can download videos from the cloud to your phone also. Just drag the yellow slider to whatever start and end time you want to download.
Now, I’ll show you how to get your camera subscribed to the cloud recording. If you already have a subscription on one of your cameras and you want to add another one, then you have to go a certain way to add your other camera. Don’t go to the subscription status menu because what it will do is to get you to subscribe again…This is only for signing up the first time. It will show you what option and pricing plan you want to subscribe, you click continue and it will show you your current cameras and any cameras that you can subscribe. As you can see here, I already have an active account and an other camera that is not supported. So, if you pick the standard option, then you have to add the camera on your active account. Remember you can have up to 5 cameras in one subscription account for the same price.
Anyways, I’ll just show you how it is if you are signing up initially or you want to subscribe to their premium service in which each camera will have a subscription.
So, click on the camera you want to use and agree to their terms and hit continue, then if everything looks good, confirm your subscription. It will
transfer you to Paypal where a subscription will be made. In my case, I will not get charged until my trial month is over.
So, if you are adding a camera to your current subscription, then you have to go to the subscription management tab instead of the subscription status. You can then click on the subscriptions orange link then you will be able to see your current subscribed camera and then there is an option add another device and it also shows how many more you can add. As you can see here, one of my cameras (I have the basic 720p one which is not supported) and another one that is already active or already subscribed. So, I’ll just check the camera that I can add and click ok. And now, I have 2 cameras on my subscription plan.
When you go back to your camera screen, you will the that the little cloud icon is now orange..which means that the camera is now subscribed to the cloud service and footage is being recorded and uploaded.
By the way, it might take a while for the videos to show up. When I first signed up it took around 24 hours before the videos showed up on my cloud account. As you can see here, there are no videos yet that were uploaded.
Overall, the Yi cloud service is a good back up plan in any event that your camera is stolen, vandalized or when the SD card gets corrupted. This is what I like about this system as compared to other cameras that only provides cloud recording. If your internet or wifi is disabled, then there will be no recording in the cloud but you will be able to retrieve video footage through your SD card. So, this is a good backup. Pricing is pretty affordable especially if you have 5 cameras and you just choose the standard plan with a 15 day loop.
I just need Yi to make an outdoor model for their home cameras and I’ll be in line to buy it.
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Check out my review of the Yi Dome camera 1080p version.
Click here to buy the Yi Dome camera 1080p
Check out my review of the Yi Dome camera 720p version.
Click here to buy the Yi Dome camera 720p