YIUE Cam S4 — A Solar-Powered 4K Hybrid Security Camera With Real Color Night Vision

The security camera market has been full of small upgrades over the years, but once in a while something genuinely new shows up. The YIUE Cam S4 is one of those rare devices. It delivers a feature I would have thought impossible at this price: real color night footage with zero lighting, powered entirely by solar. No spotlights, no infrared glow, no noise-filled grayscale video — just clean color imaging at night using AI processing. After two weeks of testing, it genuinely surprised me in ways most cameras do not.

Triple-Lens Hybrid Design

The biggest innovation is the hybrid housing. Instead of one lens, the S4 packs three cameras in a single unit. The top is a fixed 4K bullet lens with a 130° view. Underneath are two 2K PTZ lenses — one wide angle and one with 8× zoom. The PTZ unit rotates 360°, allowing the camera to track movement smoothly while the 4K lens keeps recording the full area at all times. You get detailed tracking without sacrificing wide coverage, and the handoff between them actually works reliably in real-world testing.

The build feels premium and substantial. Four LED spotlights, radar, PIR motion detection, red-blue deterrent strobes, a 105 dB siren, and IP65 weather protection give it a true outdoor-ready feel. The detachable solar panel connects with a 10-ft cable, and the battery modules are quick-swap with USB-C charging if you ever want to top them up manually.

Battery + Solar or Full Wired Mode

Running the S4 on solar alone was effortless. With 4–5 hours of daily sunlight, the battery barely dipped below 90% during testing — even with spotlight mode, tracking, and AI features enabled. For users who want 24/7 continuous recording instead of only motion events, plugging in USB-C power unlocks full-time recording, something not usually possible on battery-only designs.

Setup and Mounting

Setup through the YIUE app is simple: add the home base, pair the camera, mount it, adjust the angle. The process is intuitive, and the app guides each step. Mounting beneath a roof eave or on a wall takes only minutes. Once installed, the camera immediately begins managing movement detection with both the bullet lens and PTZ unit working together.

Daytime Footage Quality

Daylight performance is extremely sharp. The 4K bullet lens handles bright backgrounds well and captures clear facial details from around 30 feet. When someone enters the frame, the PTZ takes around one second to lock on, then smoothly follows movement. The top camera continues recording the wider scene, so even if the PTZ makes a wrong decision for a moment, you never lose footage.

Motion Tracking With Multiple People

Fast movement and multiple subjects usually break cheap tracking cameras. Here, the PTZ still tracked well, and because the 4K camera records simultaneously, no moment is lost even if the AI hesitates. This dual-recording design is genuinely a strong advantage over single-lens PTZ cameras.

Real Color Night Vision With No Lights

This is the feature that feels futuristic. With no spotlight and no infrared, the S4 produced real color footage using AI low-light imaging. Faces, clothing, and environment details remain visible as long as there is minimal ambient light (streetlights or nearby houses). In rural pitch-black darkness it will struggle, but in suburban areas it works surprisingly well. Spotlight mode looks even better — close to daylight — and infrared mode remains available for classic black-and-white night vision.

App Experience and Controls

The YIUE app offers split-screen views of both the 4K lens and PTZ feed at the same time. There’s manual PTZ control with low latency, motion zone customization, sensitivity options, preset positions, and a clean live feed layout. A solar dashboard shows generated power vs consumption, which helps dial in battery performance.

The siren and strobe alarm system is powerful. Motion in a high-security zone can trigger loud alarms or be activated manually from the live view for deterrence.

Local Storage With No Subscription

This is one of the biggest advantages. The camera includes 32 GB built-in storage, expandable to 256 GB with microSD. The optional HomeBase adds 16 GB plus support for a 16 TB hard drive. All storage is local. No monthly fees unless you choose optional cloud backup. The HomeBase also unlocks extra AI features:

• Familiar face identification
• Cross-camera tracking
• Daily smart snapshots

If you use multiple cameras, the base station becomes extremely useful. For one or two cameras, onboard storage is usually enough.

Performance, Weak Points, and Final Thoughts

After weeks of solar-only use, performance stayed consistent. Night color mode works impressively well for suburban environments, and daytime footage is sharp. The hybrid lens design solves the biggest PTZ pain point — losing context when the camera zooms or rotates.

Weak points do exist. The AI tracking can misinterpret fast movements or multiple subjects. The app loads slower on cellular compared to Wi-Fi. The included solar cable should ideally be 15 feet instead of 10. None of these issues are dealbreakers, but worth noting.

Overall, the YIUE Cam S4 is one of the most capable security cameras in its range. It offers true wide + tracking coverage, advanced night color imaging, local storage with no subscription, strong solar performance, and powerful deterrent tools. For users frustrated with blind spots, weak night vision, or recurring cloud fees, this is genuinely a standout option.