YI Technology Reviews 722

TrustScore 1 out of 5

1.1

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Review summary

Created with AI, based on recent reviews

Considering 277 reviews, most reviewers were let down by their experience overall. Many customers are highly dissatisfied with the product and the app, finding them to be riddled with excessive and intrusive advertisements that make the user experience frustrating and the cameras virtually unusable. People report that the constant ads interrupt critical functions like live viewing and motion alerts, making it impossible to monitor their homes effectively. This aggressive marketing strategy, often pushing for subscription services, has led many to consider their purchased cameras useless without paying extra. Reviewers also express significant frustration with changes to features, such as the removal of SD card support for recording and the introduction of time limits for live viewing, which were not in place when they initially bought the products. Some customers even report that the app's intrusive nature and the inability to bypass ads have led them to discard their cameras entirely.

What people talk about most

Product

Reviewers express strong dissatisfaction with the product, often describing the cameras as useless or garbage... See more

Subscription

Reviewers highlight negative aspects of subscription, with many expressing frustration over forced... See more

Application

Customers had negative experiences with the app, primarily due to an overwhelming number of intrusive... See more

Marketing

Consumers find marketing to be negative, with many reporting that the app is now riddled with constant and... See more

User experience

Customers consistently express frustration and dissatisfaction with the user experience, primarily due to... See more

Reviews shaping this summary

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Imagine trying to log into your home camera in an emergency only to be served 2 or 3 ads for trash mobile games. Yi technology / Kami Home believe that this is more important than being able to use th... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Total junk. The only reason this app exists is to push endless ads. So many ads that it makes the cameras you purchased because a subscription wasn’t required totally useless. Ads pop up every 10 s... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

I purchased 8 of these over the years as they advertised use of SD cards for recording. Over the past few months they are now slamming ads & no longer support SD recording. Can no longer access thes... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

This Company is a scam. -Cannot Review SDCard -Live view has been limited to 60 seconds without subscription. -Cameras AI never worked, not worth the money -Camera has unbelieve ADs th... See more


Company details

  1. Software Company

Written by the company

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.


Contact info

1.1

Bad

TrustScore 1 out of 5

722 reviews

5-star
4-star
3-star
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1-star

No history of asking for reviews

This company hasn't invited their customers, so reviews may not be representative

Hasn’t replied to negative reviews

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Rated 1 out of 5 stars

The app limits access to the point rendering the cameras useless

If I could, I would give it 0 star to express my frustration towards the company. I have 11 of their cameras and have used them for years. They are ok, served their purpose, not top of the line... until recently they started to limit the use in the app rendering it almost useless unless you pay for their expensive subscription. Not a chance! They could have done it more tactfully but forcing their customers to buy their subscription is a very cheap way of doing business. I will switch to other brands.

January 18, 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Yi camera unusable!

Yi camera worked well to begin with but this year it is totally unusable due to pop up subscription advert for £24.75 a month, for a £15 dome camera. This was a dome also only capable of 2.4 gh connection not 5gh which is becoming the standard. Now in the Bin.

January 17, 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Reoccurring charges

Please be careful. They will continue to charge you even after asking several times to cancel your subscription. They reply to messages several days after sending them and trying to get answers. They will close the ticket without your response to their "resolution". I've messages no less than 5x and been told they fixed things in their end and am still being chatted.

January 17, 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Total rubbish

Total rubbish, don’t buy these cameras unless you want to spend ages looking at advertisements without any choice. Impossible to check camera footage because of the non-stop adds. Worst system ever.

January 17, 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Ridiculous

I have used these cameras for quite awhile now and was satisfied with equipment and app functionality. However the recent viewing timer and ad pop-ups have made it virtually worthless! I refuse to pay for a subscription for everything I use in life! It's beyond ridiculous! I paid for the cameras and that should be enough! Will be looking for a better replacement.

January 17, 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Run.

It was... Ok. At first, but it had quickly transitioned to garbage. Don't waste a cent on this. You couldn't get worse service because there isn't any service, even if you're a paid subscriber. I've paid the full amount and received my service promises. They won't respond.

September 12, 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Complete trash this camera used to be…

Complete trash this camera used to be good now complete trash full of add. you can't even used this camera due to boring add ,Don't make sense when you buy the cameras on the first place .they wanted you to buy subscription .I wish I never buy them

January 15, 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

STAY AWAY

A horrible company. Definitely stay away. I purchased a membership and was charged twice. I requested a refund, and they opened an inquiry in their app. First, they said there were no duplicate charges; then they said, “We replied to you, check the app.” I couldn’t view anything. I saw a footnote saying to update the app. The app no longer exists, so I downloaded their new app. I signed in, and guess what happened? There is absolutely nothing related to my account—no orders, no complaints, nothing else. It’s as if a brand-new account was created from scratch. Friends, you can never reach them. Stay away. STAY AWAY.

January 15, 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Total junk

Total junk. The only reason this app exists is to push endless ads. So many ads that it makes the cameras you purchased because a subscription wasn’t required totally useless. Ads pop up every 10 seconds, impossible to continuously view the camera feed during a security event, ads pop up when you try to pan the camera, you have to go thru a gauntlet of ads before the app will even open up making alerts useless. I would never by any camera or system that requires the Yi iot app.

January 12, 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Yi changed their app forcing intrusive…

Yi changed their app forcing intrusive adds and making the use unfriendly, they also did not honor their product warranty on one of their products making impossible to use . have been a customer for 7 year , will have to replace my three cameras

September 1, 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Forced subscription

Had this camera for a couple of years. Kept pushing me for cloud subscription. Now will only let you view a few seconds on your sd card. Do not buy from this greedy company.

January 1, 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Poor customer service

Poor customer service. Refusing to refund full amount. Bad quality cameras, the video play back is crap and they never alert to motion correctly. Don’t waste your money.

January 9, 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Disappointing hard sell app pop-ups

The hardware works fine and does what i wanted. I didn't want cloud storage, but a way to occasionally check on my pets.
However, the app is now so full of pop-ups and is pushing so hard for me to take on subscriptions. I can barely use the cameras because of the hard sell app approach. They even time how long you can view live feed, and then cut you off. This wasn't the case when I bought the system, but introduced over the last year.

January 10, 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Takes many minutes to get thru new ads…

Takes many minutes to get thru new ads added everyday it seems. You cant even click an x to bypass. So many it's not even worth it and now seems like a scam. Unfortunately we bought 3 and now they are garbage!!!!!!!
The Camera was ok for the price at the beginning ($45 and free app with no ads) but it's useless now unless you buy a subscription because the banner is Go Add Free on all the pop ups. Camera is not quality enough for a subscription.

January 9, 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Absolutely atrocious from beginning to…

Absolutely atrocious from beginning to end and this from a long-time user, however reluctantly so. They are combined with Kami - with no support contact provision that's not AI period! That certainly so as of January '26.

Search for and try for an e-mail address? Good luck as if you do e-mail, you'll get a returned (generated) message only. That's because it's full with 10s of 1000s unadressed, it details. Any e-mails that do come to youfrom Kami/Yi? Without exception they start with,"no reply..."

With some tenacity I managed to locate on their app, how to get an actual human response. Even that is buried right at the bottom of a page and you have to check it every time yourself. There's no e-mail message coming your way, to tell you there's something to see.

If you fail to check within 5 days with your query / contact message? It automatically closes, as 'Complete'!

I have been dealing with them for about a 1 1/2 weeks and they go out of their way to be uncooperative, with no names given, merely a generic customer service tag. Their very brief almost always unhelpful, company not customer focused replies are a frustration. In short, I detest the way they advertise endlessly, prodding you to buy premium, otherwise the app? It's unworkable almost.

I find their AI only model customer contact wilfully complex - minimal and you are left knowing that customers are an awkward inconvenience at best! That's once they've grabbed your money of course.

January 10, 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Keep away. No humans involved

With questionable subscription model and no humans to respond to your queries, this app and cloud storage subscription is just fraud.
I subscribed to 7 day cloud storage option only to have videos for 2-3 days maximum.

A complaint made on the 24th of December 2025. with the promise of response within 2-3 days hasn't still been dealt with as of 10th Jan 2026.

Ended up cancelling the renewal on the website,

December 24, 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Stupid brand they should decidento sell…

Stupid brand they should decide to sell software or hardware. I bought a camera and the app was so slow and full of ads each timenal I got a motion detected alert it takes me more than 30 sec to avoid ads and get to the screen. This was not enough now they are asking to buy.
Guys I bought the cam from you, you got your money and I have the right to use now you are trying to oblige me to buy the software to use the cam. This is unethical more over I will choose 1000 times to buy a new cam from other brand than to buy your stupid software. If you think this is clever marketing this is stupid and you are losing the clients

January 6, 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Garbage..unusable without subscription

Even with a memory card installed this camera is useless.
Almost impossible to get past the adverts andpop ups which even include scam virus warnings.
Do not waste your money on this piece of rubbish.

January 7, 2026
Unprompted review

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