Using the Wyze WebCam firmware on Chrome OS

Over on my blog, I have a post about the new webcam firmware for Wyze Cams. This firmware was released to help with the shortage of webcams available for those working from home in light of COVID-19. Instead of waiting for Logitech’s, or other webcam providers’, stock to replenish, those with a $25 Wyze Cam can now download the firmware, update their security camera device, and use it as a webcam on their personal computer.

My blog post, and the accompanying YouTube video, includes directions for installing the firmware and my performance test of the converted webcam on both Mac and Linux (Elementary OS) operating systems. Why I didn’t test on Chrome OS was a question by some listeners that even surprised me! The next day, I got to work. I pulled out my Pixel Slate and ran a test of the webcam on Chrome OS. The video below shows the results of my tests.

While I did share these video results on my personal blog, I thought it important to share here for listeners who may want to give this a shot themselves. You will notice from the video that performance is spotty at best for the microphone; however, video and speaker functionality work well. Knowing this, you may find a use case for these inexpensive camera’s with your Pixel device.

If you do use a Wyze Cam as a webcam, remember to select the Pixel devices built-in microphone instead of the Wyze Cams internal microphone. Especially on the Slate since it has some of the best microphones of any Pixel device. You can do this in Settings or selecting the input/output options button to the right of the volume controls in the Launcher settings.

Let me know if you give this a try. I’d love to hear your feedback. And how can you provide that feedback? Look no further than the information below:

Use the following methods to share feedback or ask questions:

• Send an email to steven@pixelpowerpodcast.com
• Leave a voice message by clicking here
• Join the conversation on Reddit
• Tweet using #pixelpowerpodcast