EufyCam E Review: Wireless Security Camera System with Up To 365 days Battery Life
An effective system for our home security consists of cameras that make recordings and allow you to remotely monitor the apartment. The market is full of diversified solutions for all budgets when it comes to IP cameras; a good video surveillance system, however, must be easily manageable, of good quality and complete from the point of view of the technical characteristics and features offered. We happened to try an excellent home surveillance system, produced by Anker the eufyCam E.
EufyCam E security system is wireless , equipped with completely waterproof cameras (2 included in the basic kit) and with a battery life of up to 365 days.
Design, Specifications and Features
The eufyCam E system includes a hub which constitutes the base station through which communications take place and 2 wireless cameras.
The base station (HomeBase) is equipped with a siren capable of emitting an alarm sound at 100 dB and can be connected via ethernet cable to our home router. A first interesting feature is the possibility of connecting the hub to the router via wireless connection in order to position them at a great distance between them.
The HomeBase has a simple rectangular design and is very light and small in size. On the back there are: a "sync" button to pair the IP cameras separately, a power connector, a USB port, an ethernet port and the microSD slot.
A 16GB microSD is already included which, by calculating 10 recordings of 30 seconds per day, allows you to keep the videos of two security cameras for 6 months.
The 2 cameras are identical and obviously it is possible to add more to expand your video surveillance system (up to 16). The single camera is very robust and equipped with an integrated rechargeable battery. According to the technical specifications, the battery lasts for 365 days (a lot depends on the events that are recorded) and can be easily recharged via the USB port or a small external power supply (not included).
They are also suitable for outdoor installation, being IP65 certified. These are fixed cameras but with a wide viewing angle of 140 ° and infrared for black and white shooting at night.
They have a resolution of 1080p (Full HD). The cameras are also equipped with a siren that can be configured according to our needs: it is possible to activate the alarm (100 dB) when detecting movement in the image frame and / or moving them (if someone tries to remove them).
They have the sync button and the microUSB port with silicone cover for charging and a built-in microphone and speaker (for two-way audio). In addition to the above, the package also includes supports for both outdoor and wall mounting with an adjustable magnetic sphere system (in both cases screws are required, included).
Configuration and App
The setup of the whole system takes little time and has impressed us favorably for the extreme simplicity of configuration, which make this product affordable for everyone. Currently, the only system to configure it is the use of the eufy Security App for iOS (iPhone, iPad) or Android but once the application is installed and an account is created to manage the profile, simply follow the instructions step by step:
Connect the HomeBase to the router via the included ethernet cable. We can also decide to connect the hub to the router via wifi later.
Update the firmware of the eufyCam HomeBase if requested automatically
Choose the devices to add to your security system and keep the sync button pressed for a few seconds on these devices (in our case the cameras)
The IP cameras are independent from each other and it is possible to assign a name and set preferences for recording / detecting movement between "Optimal battery life", "Optimum surveillance" or customization.
The interesting thing is to prepare and use the global operating modes and then switch from one mode to another by starting the App and choosing the "Security" tab.
For example, you can decide to disable the motion sensor when you are in "home mode" and activate the recording and alarm in "away from home" mode.
Performance
The cameras record on microSD in excellent quality (1080p) and through the App you can immediately have a live view of the framed scene even if there is no possibility to view multiple cameras at the same time.
For the most geeks, you can use an RTSP stream with a NAS server and record directly on a separate disk, while having an external program that allows you to view multiple streams simultaneously.
For the motion sensor , sensitivity can be established and in the various tests carried out it has never given false positives, which frequently happens with competitor products. The movement we see on the App has some delay, attributable to the fact that the communication between camera and HomeBase takes place wirelessly.
The reporting of security events takes place via Push notifications on the smartphone so you can quickly check the situation.
Conclusions
eufyCam E is a good complete solution and a real video security kit for the apartment. The first configuration and the start of the whole system does not take more than a few minutes.
The battery seems to meet the durability specs, although our test was too short to draw conclusions on this feature.
The sensor of the individual IP cameras is particularly sensitive and can detect movements day and night for distances up to 8-10 meters and the RTSP stream is undoubtedly one of the most interesting additions.
Unfortunately at the moment the only way to control the cameras is through the App already mentioned during the review; Eufy has promised an update to have a program also available for desktop computers.
The integration with Amazon's Alexa is also advertised, but currently the only use that can be made of this feature is the display of cameras on an Echo device with a screen; therefore they lack the "smart" features that could transform the eufyCam system into a must-have .
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