When we reviewed the EufyCam last year, we were impressed with its sharp 1080p video and excellent battery life rating, but not so much with its recording performance, finicky installation procedure, and lack of support for IFTTT and Google Assistant voice commands. The EufyCam E 2-Cam Kit ($298.40) also offers long battery life and delivers sharp 1080p video, and it exhibited none of the installation and recording issues that we experienced with the earlier security camera. It now supports both Alexa and Google voice commands, but it still doesn’t work with IFTTT applets and its audio performance was spotty in testing. You’ll get better all-around performance, 2K HDR video, and a built-in spotlight with our Editors’ Choice, the Arlo Pro 3, but be prepared to pay more for these (and other) features.
Design and Features
The EufyCam E 2-Cam Kit comes with a HomeBase E hub and power adapter, two EufyCam E cameras, a 16GB microSD card, two magnetic camera mounts, two screw-in camera mounts, a USB charging cable, assorted mounting screws, and a quick start guide.
The hub looks identical to the one that comes with the original EufyCam. It measures 5.0 by 5.1 by 2.7 inches (HWD) and uses RF and 2.4GHz Wi-Fi radios to communicate with the cameras. The top of the hub contains a Sync button that can be used for pairing the base to the cameras during setup and for silencing the built-in alarm. The back of the hub holds a LAN port, a USB charging port, a power jack, a reset button, and a microSD card slot.
The EufyCam E is a 1080p camera with a wide 140-degree field of view. It uses two infrared LEDs to provide up to 33 feet of night vision and has a built-in 100dB siren. The cameras are completely wireless and are powered by a non-removable battery rated to last up to one year under normal conditions (your mileage may vary depending on outdoor temperatures and the frequency of recording activity). Each white enclosure has an IP65 water resistance rating, measures 3.1 by 2.0 by 3.3 inches (HWD), and has a glossy black front face and base. Around back are a Sync button for pairing the camera to the hub, and the same round magnetic mounting indent used by the first-gen Eufy camera as well as every Arlo outdoor camera. There’s also a threaded hole for mounting the camera using the screw-in mount. A small reset button is located on the base.
The camera sends a push alert and records video when motion is detected. Event-triggered video can be stored locally on the included 16GB microSD card, but if you also want to store video in the cloud, you can subscribe to a Eufy storage plan. The Basic plan costs $2.99 per month or $29.90 per year and gets you 30 days of rolling storage for a single camera, and the Premier plan costs $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year and provides 30 days of rolling storage for up to 10 cameras.
As mentioned, the EufyCam E supports Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant voice commands, but it doesn't work with IFTTT applets or Apple’s HomeKit platform. It uses the same mobile app as the original EufyCam and the Eufy Video Doorbell. The app opens to a Device screen with panels for each installed camera. The panel displays the camera’s last captured still image and has a play arrow that launches a live steam that can be viewed in full-screen mode by turning your phone sideways.
At the bottom of the live stream panel are buttons for manual video recording, saving a snapshot, initiating two-way talk, and muting the speaker. There’s a fifth button that launches even more function buttons. Here you can view a history of recorded events, turn off night vision, sound the alarm, and access the settings menu where you can turn the camera on and off, enable auto Night Vision, adjust motion detection sensitivity settings, turn audio on and off, and configure notifications. There’s also a Theft Detection setting that when enabled will sound the alarm when the camera is moved.
Back at the main screen, there are four buttons along the bottom edge of the screen. The Devices button takes you back to the Devices (home) screen and the Events button opens a screen that displays a list of all motion events with video thumbnails. The Security button takes you to a screen where you can set the camera to Home or Away mode, disarm the camera, set up a recording schedule, and configure geofencing where the mode is automatically switched based on your location. Finally, the Explore button takes you to a screen where you can shop for more Eufy products.
Installation and Performance
We experienced a few issues when we installed the original EufyCam, but this time around the EufyCam E system installation went smoothly. I downloaded the app and created and account, then tapped Add Device and selected HomeBase from the list. I followed the on-screen instructions to connect the hub to my router and power it up. I tapped Next, waited a few seconds for the hub’s LED to begin blinking white, and pressed the Sync button until the voice prompt informed me that the HomeBase was ready for setup. I tapped Next again and the hub was immediately recognized and added to the app. I gave it a name, waited a minute for the firmware to be updated, and the hub installation was complete.
To add the cameras, I tapped Add Device on the home screen, selected the EufyCam E, and tapped the sync button on the camera when prompted. When the camera beeped I tapped Next, and it was immediately added to the account. I gave each camera a name, watched a short video on how to mount them, mounted the cameras in my backyard, and the installation was finished.
The EufyCam E cameras delivered excellent 1080p video in testing. Live daytime video quality was colorful and distortion-free, while black-and-white night vision video showed good contrast and appeared sharp out to around 30 feet. Motion alerts arrived quickly with very few false triggers, and recorded event video quality was as good as the live stream.
Two-way audio performance was hit or miss. When it worked, audio was clean and loud, but on more than one occasion, the audio would momentarily cut out or become choppy to the point that it was unintelligible. On the plus side, the cameras had no trouble responding to my Alexa voice commands to stream live video to an Amazon Echo Show.
Conclusions
There’s a lot to like about the EufyCam E 2-Cam Kit. It delivers sharp 1080p video, offers a full year of battery life depending on usage, and will store recorded video locally on the included 16GB microSD card or you can subscribe to a cloud storage plan. The system is easy to install and motion detection works well, but audio quality was inconsistent in testing. Moreover, the EufyCam E doesn’t support IFTTT applets that allow it to integrate with other smart home devices. If you shop around, you can pick up our Editors’ Choice, the Arlo Pro 3 (also a two-pack system), for around $400. It offers stunning 2K video, color night vision, and intelligent motion detection. It’s also completely wireless, supports IFTTT applets, and works with Alexa and Google voice commands. Or if you're looking to save money, you can pick up a couple of Ring Stick Up Cams for $100 each, though you'll need a cloud subscription to record video.