Category Cameras, Security, YI Camera

Does YI Camera Require Subscription?

Author Adam B Published on 5 min read

The YI camera is the choice of many homeowners who want to increase their home security and keep an eye on their property when they’re away.

This device offers many features that allow you to properly monitor your home including 1080P video resolution with a night vision option, motion detection, a mobile app to access your cam remotely and much more.

The YI manufacturer offers a monthly cloud subscription for users to improve the features and performance of the device to get the most out of it. So people wonder if this cloud subscription is mandatory and if they can use the YI Camera without paying the cloud subscription.

YI Cloud subscription is not required to operate your camera and you can use it without it, but keep in mind that many options will not be available on the free plan.

In this article, I will show you the features offered by this subscription and their advantages and what are the functions that will disappear when you do not pay for this subscription.

What Does The YI Cloud Subscription Offer?

Now we know that a cloud subscription is not required but will give you additional features that will allow the cameras to work efficiently, so let’s see what those features are.

  1. Advanced AI Detection: YI Camera has the ability to detect motion and send you alerts directly to your smartphone via its app, but when you pay for the subscription, you’ll get upgraded smart AI detections.

    YI cloud storage comes with the latest smart AI features that are able to accurately distinguish a person, vehicle or animal, which will reduce the number of false alerts you’ll receive from the app.

    With animal detection, you will monitor your pet and capture stray animals in your neighborhood, also with sound detection you can detect if your baby is crying or someone is calling you.

    Also, with Smart AI detection, you can avoid inefficient alerts caused by insects and capture passing vehicles in front of your home.
  2. Cloud Storage and Longer History: The second feature offered by this subscription is that you can store all the clips recorded by the camera on the YI cloud without the need to buy an SD card.

    Recordings stored in the cloud can be retained for up to 30 days. During this period, you can instantly access your recordings anytime, anywhere. The YI camera can start recording when a motion is detected or 24/7, depending on the plan you purchased.
  3. 24/7 Video Recording: When you pay for the Premium plan, your YI camera will record 24/7, your device will never stop recording, and you can see everything before, during, and after an event happens.

    You can quickly scan through your recording and jump directly to the important events of the day with fast-forward speeds of up to 32x. You can easily take snapshots, download videos or clips into your SD card, and delete unwanted footage.
  4. Increase Storage Encryption: One of the biggest benefits of a cloud subscription is that the data is super secure, and users get secure access with financial-industry standard encryption.

    With this feature, hackers will have difficulty accessing your recordings, giving you extra peace of mind. You’ll never have to worry about storage, it’s all there and secures in YI Cloud.
  5. Rapid video access: When clips are stored in the cloud, you can instantly watch them as soon as they are recorded, so footage can be accessed with reduced load times from the cloud, compared to clips viewed from the local storage and this option is only available to people with a subscription.

What Can You Do With YI Camera Without a Subscription?

If you decided to use your YI camera without paying for the subscription, you should be aware that many of the functions offered will disappear including AI detection, cloud storage, and 24/7 recordings.

In the following lines I will show the features that will continue to work without a subscription:

  1. Local Storage: When you’re not on the paid plan, you won’t have the option to upload your recorded clips to the cloud, so you’ll need to store them locally on a micro SD card.

    YI camera can support a microSD card with up to 64GB storage, SD card is not included, so you need to buy it separately. the advantage of this feature is that you can download the footage on your computer and see it on a bigger screen.
  2. Motion Detection: The YI camera will continue to detect motion around it, but without the AI smart detection function, as this feature is only available on the paid plan.

    Your camera won’t be able to distinguish between animals, people and vehicles, so you will receive many false alerts, sound detection will not be available either.
  3. Live Streaming and Two-Way talk: You can still access your YI camera from the app and see what’s happening around your house with real-time viewing, and also talk to people inside your home using the built-in speaker and the microphone.
  4. Voice and App Control: The YI camera is compatible with Alexa and Google Home, so you can control it through voice commands and integrate them with the rest of your smart home gadgets.

    Controlling your YI camera from these third-party apps is possible without a subscription so you can use the YI Home app or the voice assistant app to control your cam.

How Much Does The YI Cloud Subscription Cost?

The price of the subscription varies depending on the plan you decided to buy, if you opt for the “Standard Plan” it will cost you from $9.99/month to 14.99 per 5 cameras, and if you want the “Premium Plan” you’ll have to pay from $9.99/month to $19.99/month per camera (You can save more money by paying yearly).

Final Words.

For me, subscribing to the YI cloud subscription is essential if you want to access all the features and enjoy all the options that this device offers.

Regardless of your decision to subscribe or not, I hope this article helped you make the right choice and I invite you to visit other articles on our website regarding the YI Security Camera.

Adam B
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