It’s an outdoor camera wire-free facing our house from about 15-20 ft. away. It gives a nice image of the house but it only detects things right in front of it like a few feet, or if it is moving due to wind. I thought this would be a good solution so I didn’t have to run power out into the yard. However, the wire-free cameras are very limited because increased activity depletes the battery. It has no adjustable zones to choose motion detection areas.
I also have problem with the motion sensor on my Kami wireless outdoor camera being much too sensitive. This is not with bugs, but just rain or just light changes (I live in the UK). If it is raining the motion detector goes off regularly. Also, rain drops can cover the lense making the picture unusable. The camera should have a lip or cover to keep most of the rain away from the lens. This all makes the camera pretty much useless.
There should be a way of changing the sensitivity of the motion detector in software. I also have a Yi indoor camera and it is possible to set the sensitivity in the Yi app. It seems that the Kami outdoor camera does not have the same option.
Also, with constant alerts I find the batteries only last 1 week with this camera. Again this makes it pretty much useless, as if I choose to go away on holiday for more than 1 week it will not be recording.
I’m wondering if I have wasted my money. (PS the indoor Yi camera works quite well)
Sadly all types of cameras of this type suffer from what you are experiencing. You could look at the placement to limit the effect of your environment.
Alternatively try creating a kind of hood for your camera. I have done this for a number of my external Ring cameras.
You could also try a product like RainX on your camera lense to reduce the effect of the rain.
I don’t have an external camera but I understood that the option to reduce the sensitivity was available. As too a schedule to turn off the motion alerts at a specific time. But I guess all this will do is prevent the alert going to your device and not the recording of such.
If this is not available then you are correct your batteries will deplete much quicker and therefore a review of your camera placement would be a good idea. Also the UK is suffering from some rather cold temperatures this too will impact the batteries.
@icecandy there is a number of factors that will go into the battery life of the camera and right now, the cold weather is going to have a big impact on that.
You can turn down the alert frequency level to the lowest and this will also help save the battery.
@YorkshireUser swears by RainX so that is something to consider for any water build up. And, definitely outdoor camera placement is a big help. My outdoor camera is under my patios covering and that has helped. They are meant to be outdoor but the elements happen, anything you can do to mitigate that, the better.
Here are a couple articles from our FAQ’s that will help.
https://help.yitechnology.com/hc/en-us/articles/115004480067-What-is-the-cool-down-cool-off-period-for-Alert-Notifications-
https://help.yitechnology.com/hc/en-us/articles/360041035394-Alert-Notifications-in-the-YI-Kami-app
@Steven_Kami thanks these tips are useful. However, the overriding problem is a problem the company should address: which is control over the motion sensor sensitivity in software. The camera is being triggered every few minutes just by wind in the bushes or any sort of movement at all in the field of view. This is not just a rain problem - which you seem to just be answering. The issue is the camera currently is not fit for outdoors use. You do it for your other cameras, why not for this one?
Also, if this is the case with this outdoor camera as having a problem with rain it should be advertised and marketed as such. ie customers told to only use it under cover!
PS the app is pretty ropy. It often doesn’t work or connect. The interface is inconsistent. Some pages don’t fit the screen - such as the alerts page for this camera. I’m saying this as a mobile software development professional who knows very well what good app design is and should be!
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Regarding the placement of the Camera I would suggest taking a look at this support article
When I bought into Y/Kami I performed a lot of research and decided against more battery operated cameras for the very issue you are experiencing. I have used many over the years and tested many over the years and they all suffer these issues.
Rain will detect because the camera is seeing it as motion.
What I did was to use internal mains powered cameras pointed through a window to the outside and use off device IR and other lighting to give me the monitoring I want.
I weighed up my needs, risks and costs of these reasonably cost effective monitoring cameras against a wired security system with remote capability. I have had such previously and didn’t need such this time.
You now make comments about the application. What platforms & operating system version are you using? Any screengrabs of your experience? Since you are a software developer I’m sure you will know the level of information and any troubleshooting attempted to diagnose any issue with your setup.
Given your limited information on the app fault I tried both iOS (two devices at different iOS versions) and multiple android devices and cannot replicate what you have described above. So more detail would be useful.
I do fully agree though that not offering some form of sensitivity level for this camera’s detection capabilities does appear to be a miss on the part of the manufacturer and that too many false-positives could create a ‘so what’ attitude to the alerts produced. To counter such experience myself I make so that my main risk areas are protected by at least two monitoring devices and/or sensors and if both indicate detection at a time I know to take more serious consideration.
Alternatively what you could try is getting a refund on your camera as it seems that this type of device is not fit for your needs. But don’t look at say the likes of Ring or Arlo as they suffer from rain motion detection too and they cost a lot more money. All these type of devices, in my opinion, should be seen as monitoring devices rather than security devices if you are expecting a traditional style functionality.
I mentioned previously I made a ‘hood’ for one of my Ring cameras that suffered from what you describe. This was from some plastic that was not required. It created a sort of dome roof above the lens. Now rain and snow and the condensation effect do not occur. It’s a low level battery operated camera so bouncing rain does still indicate motion. But having experience of these cameras and understanding what I bought I’m ok with this.
@YorkshireUser. Thank you for your comprehensive answers.
A while ago I was using the Yi Outdoor Camera https://kamihome.com/yi-outdoor-h30. This is a wired camera. As my new property is rented I can’t drill holes in the wall/window to wire an outside camera, hence the reason I bought the wireless camera. The Yi Outdoor wired camera has a sensitivity setting and responds quite well. The only issue I had was cats triggering it or sometimes on a very windy day, but it worked fine. With the new wireless Kami camera I get alerts every 5 minutes throughout the night. So the motion sensor is much more sensitive. If they can do it in one camera why can’t they do it another? (By the way I assume that Kami is just the Western marketing brand for Yi cameras and that they are all from the same manufacturer). The wired camera does also have a small lip at the top of the camera which could have been added to the wireless camera to help shield against rain a little.
Just seems like bad design to me (PS I am a designer as well!)
I’ll try and post some screen shots of dud screens in the app later.
I think the kami camera is more for a protected outdoor location. It looks similar to an Arlo I’ve used in the past and had issues with it.
Yes Kami is the US/European brand of Yi technology - sounds better Yi the western world I think. I have seen sone describe Kami as the top shelf brand.
I can feel your frustration. I have had them previously so moved to internal cameras looking out of a window with additional lighting and IR. it is not as simple as an outdoor camera and means I need to activate something before using some of the cameras. But I didn’t want to drill into my walls.
Not sure if you have space. But could you get a bird table and put the camera on the shelf? I do similar with one of my outdoor sensors for me weather station to protect it from the elements.
I assume the camera you have is
… agree with you it needs in my opinion some kind of lip or hood as I call it above that lens. Think they have tried to make it look streamline. But in real world conditions perhaps not the past in open conditions. I would get the front of that camera sprayed with RainX (it works) but that won’t stop the bouncing rain alerting of detection
Just reading up a bit more on the kami wire free outdoor (I’m a user just like you who was happy to take on a Admin role due to my activity here) I have noted the following:
- List item
PIR-BASED MOTION DETECTION: The integrated PIR sensor detects motion based on the heat emitted by the moving objects and can therefore identify people and animals and avoid “false alarms” such as wind-blown tree branches, small flying insects or flags -
- List item
ADJUSTABLE ACTIVITY ALERTS: Push notifications on smartphones (adjustable frequency) with 6-second video-clip of the detected activity.
Does your app not show these options? I do think it sounds like the camera is very sensitive though.
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@YorkshireUser. Your suggestion of using a bird table is a good one. I was thinking of how to make a wooden “roof” shelter for the camera. My thinking is that if rain is falling in front of the lens - if there is no cover at all from the rain - then the rain drops are by definition closer, larger and moving faster than if they were stopped by a roof. Rain further in the distance would be moving less. This might make the motion sensor too sensitive.
The PIR based sensor information is a joke (by Yi, not you!). It obviously does not work like this in this camera.
I have a mode tab where I can set the alert schedule, which seems to work. So I will mostly set it just for nighttime, but if I am on holiday away from the house I would set it on full time.
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@icecandy YorkshireUser is one of our very appreciated & very helpful moderators! 
He has a lot of useful information in regards to this subject in general. We are very thankful to have his assistance.
The article in regards to outdoor camera placement is a good one to start and really understand the best you can protect the camera from the natural elements the longer your camera will last. I feel for any outdoor product thats a pretty common thread.
I have yet to try RainX but would love some feedback on it if you do try
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@Steven_Kami. The overriding issue here is the sensitivity of the motion sensor. Nothing to do with rain or wind or cats really. I hope that you will feedback this to engineering, as I am sure it would be easy to add a software option in the app to control this, as you do for your other cameras.
I would send this ‘improvement’ suggestion onto Yi Support.
Support Email:support@yitechnology.com
They can assist you more on this matter.
I don’t have one of those cameras to play with but it would seem from your experience and the descriptive commentary on Amazon uk that this camera either should have this functionality in some sort of manner. Either way to me it could do with an improvement. If that could be one by software and or firmware upgrade so be it. If not I guess it may be accept it’s or ask for a refund.
I just got an email from support yesterday. It seems they think it should have a motion sensor sensitivity control in software. I sent them screen grabs to show it ain’t there!
Maybe it’s a software glitch.
Which software are you using and the platform?
If you are using Yi Home try Kami Hime and vice Versa.
Alternatively you could try removing the software and downloading it again
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Yep tried Kami Home as well as Yi Home apps. Exactly the same.
Interesting I noticed the last firmware update (which I have) - looks like it was dated April 2020 - says:
“Improved algorithm performance to avoid false alarm caused by some movement like snow, rain, leaf etc”
Oh really???
PS I am a mobile software developer by profession…
Clearly it is a work in progress. Problem they have with these inexpensive cameras is there are so many variables in play. Each set up is different to the next and this uniqueness makes getting it right first time almost impossible.
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Since the wirefree camera uses a PIR sensor there is not any kind of adjustment for it as far as sensitivity. Most PIR’s that have sensitivity adjustments require it to be done manually. One thing you could try, and I have used for PIR sensors on Halloween props, is to narrow down the area it covers by putting pieces of tape over the sensor to narrow it’s field of view or creating a tube to fit the circumference of the PIR and affix it thus narrowing the field of view. If it is a big concern I would suggest a Kami Wired Outdoor camera with AI technology. This is what I have installed on my garage and has cut down on false triggers tremendously. It’s not perfect but better than anything else I’ve tried. The thing I really like about that camera is the starlight night vision. With the lights I have on the outside of my garage I am able to have color night vision.
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@Pyrozman29 Interesting. You are suggesting there is nothing that can be changed. I have another wired outdoor Yi camera which works OK. I used it in my last property.
It seems the wireless camera is completely useless then.
An email from Yi support says:
"Hello Simon,
Thank you for contacting Kami Vision support. I hope you are doing great!
To change the motion detection setting for Kami wire-free please tap the “Mode”
Support completely failing to understand the problem as the Mode setting only adjusts the schedule that the motion detection works ie on or off on certain times or days.