YI is committed to using innovative technology to make everyday life safer, richer and more fun. With our passion hard work and commitment to combine the highest quality and value, millions of users from every corner of the world and all ages are feeling greater peace of mind, inspiration and connection with their families, friends and communities.
Most reviewers were let down by their experience overall. Consumers highlighted that the mobile application is heavily cluttered with intrusive advertisements and pop-up banners, making it extremely difficult to quickly check live home security feeds. Reviewers also reported that the company suddenly introduced mandatory subscription fees and restricted live viewing times for older devices that previously operated without any extra payments.
Some people were satisfied with the reliable hardware and good video quality provided by the devices. Consumers noted that the physical cameras worked well initially for their needs before recent software changes and intrusive advertisements ruined the overall utility.
Been using their cameras for years have over a dozen but now almost totally useless unless you sign up for cloud services. Latest trick is to bombard the app with adverts, then have a 90 second viewing window and the feed stops. Total ripoff now.
AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE
There is nothing good about Yi and their home cameras or app. All negative reviews here on TP are a glowing example on how poor a company Yi-Kami really are. My 7 Yi cameras are now sent to landfill, replaced with another make. Yi sold me my HD/2K cameras on the pretext I would be able to view them without subscription. I knew I had to buy my own SD cards. Yet now they limit MY live viewing to 90 sec, limit viewing to standard definition SD... unless I pay an extortionate £/year. Adverts pop up all the time. I could go on and on but a score of 1.1 on Trustpilot should alert everyone just how poor this company is. Zero Star. Useless. Robbing. Ahhhh. Don't buy or invest any more time. Check out the poor App Store reviews aswell.
I've been using YI for almost a decade. Initially they were great inexpensive cameras. In the past few years the ads have gotten out of control. Today I'm getting rid of all 8 I have because they're basically useless. I put SD card in them since I choose not to pay for their cloud, fine, whatever, I like having more memory anyhow NOW you get 90 seconds to view any camera then you are stopped!? Literally useless unless you pay for their cloud and subscription.
I should be able to view my camera without being forced to subscribe to your over price subscription there should be a law against this it was not made clear when I purchased my cameras that I'd be harassed. And now there is a time limit on what I can watch live.
I have had YI cameras for years, now they want to charge a fee for a live feed! YI YOU ARE VERY GREEDY!!!! NO OTHER COMPANY IS CHARGING FOR LIVE FEEDS!!! POEPLE SHOULD NOT HAVE TO PAY FEES TO KEEP LIVE FEED!!!!!! THESE CAMERAS ARE NOW GOING IN THE TRASH!!! I DO NOT RECOMMEND YI CAMERAS!!!!
Bought two new cameras to replace broken ones and the new ones have ads before you can see who’s in your yard. Old cameras did not do that. Looking for new system
I have regretted getting the cams I have from Yi since I got them several years ago. Today 12/20/2025 they have covered the screen with a timer of 90 sec. then shuts off view. They will be replaced this time next week.
These cameras started out good but went downhill fast Very hard to view the cameras without 50 fn advertisements
Ready to though them in the trash. DON'T EVER BUY THESE
Totally useless now. They have updated the app so now you have to watch adds and only get 90 seconds of live feed. Stay clear buy from another company. Mine are now useless
I purchased four of the Yi Iot cameras based on the capabilities advertised. Setting one up was a major PIA. The initial advertising makes it sound like you can record to your own DVD or hard drive. NOPE. After you are able to get it to work the rotational controls work sometimes. Then they hit you with a $139 annual subscription IF you want to be able to view what the camera has recorded. This thing is nothing but another Chinese made POS in an attempt to get $. I gave all four away that way the people wont feel bad about throwing them into the garbage where they belong. Hopefully they smash it first with a hammer.
There's taking the rip and taking the piss these guys go another level of lowlife , when i 1st bought these units 3 in total it was a excellent buy with a bit of cloud and SD card if you didn't have cloud or opted out you had the memory card, and all the alerts ,HD , ect ect , fast forward to now and you've some geeked up greased palm little import decides it would be good to piss off all the SD user's that ditch cloud services by absolutely destroying their home CCTV system with Adds that gone beyond adds adds appear when accessing alerts, HD, Selecting Camers, just about everything you do There's an ad pops up , YiHome ,Yi knot,Yi all Feck off ,this ia a home security systems not a Fecking Commercial TV Station, we purchased this for security and what your all doing is illegal but unfortunately your all hiding out in some far away land ,if I could get a hold of Shrek you'd all be getting a good O'le swift kick in the bullock's for the stress and anxiety you have created and totally ruined which was once a great value product , do the right thing and get the adds tae feck.
Unless you're willing to pay a premium to get past the paywall, the free version of the app is almost unusable. They hit you with ads and links to stupid games, and try to trick you into clicking links. Worst of all, you can't back out of the ads or links without closing the app. Trying to access your SD card in YOUR camera is as frustrating as it can get, to the point of making you wonder, how is this legal. I can't wait for the class action lawsuit, I'm all in. Avoid these cameras and stick with wyze if you want subscription free cameras with SD cards that you can actually access.
Had these a few years but now ive had to ditch them, and the reason why is the never endiing adverts , by the the time these have finished what ever you wanted to look at on the camera has gone. They are wanting you to subscribe all the time.I had 2 but there now in the BIN.
This is the most intrusive (Chinese) camera one can imagine. In the past it worked well enough. Since then it has become a total misery of extreme aggressive advertising, making it impossible to view your camera when you need to. Lately it has gone even further by allowing you no more than 75 seconds surveillance time… YOU ARE RESTRICTED LIFE VIEWING ON YOUR OWN CAMERA, OR YOU HAVE TO PAY FOR IT! UNBELIEVABLE ! Get rid of it ASOP and replace it.
Good app, good camera, ruined by ads that basically won't let you view the footage or the live camera feed before you get through them, and then more pop up constantly. Terrible way to induce people to move to monthly subscription and I suspect it actually has the opposite effect. Infuriating and counter-productive for them.
Don't waste your money. Will n9t stay connected. No connection makes it worthless. I tested wifi and excellent signal. Worthless! Had them for 6 months. I give up.
DON NOT EVEN THINK OF BUYING THIS CRAP CAMERAS AND THEIR RUBBISH SOFTWARE. THIS CHEAP USELESS APP IS FULL OF NON STOP ADS AND WILL NOT EVEN OPEN OR WORK PROPERLY BECAUSE OF THESE ADS.