Anker’s EufyCam Is Nearly Everything I Want in a Secure Security Camera

I do n’t know about you , but I ’d like to be able to take the air around my neighborhood with my kid without headache that my neighbor ’s tv camera isdisseminating picture of it to anyone who want it in the area . As the possessor of a camera , I do n’t really desire it to answer as an anchor for data scrap fellowship who make their money via the commodification of my personal information . Enter the EufyCam 2C Pro , a security camera from Anker that works with HomeKit to lock down all the footage it grabs .

The update version of Anker ’s HD HomeKit Secure video recording - compatible tv camera , the 2C Pro record 2 chiliad video , has 6 - calendar month battery life history , and apply on - gadget AI to detect people and … whether they ’re crying ? I could n’t get the cry detection to work by faking it , and while I thought about watching the intro to Up to make the tear fall out , I ca n’t handle that decent now . The 2 - ingroup I tested came with the bridge , called Home Base 2 , and two cameras and retail for $ 320 . The bridge circuit bet a little like a small , tapered Airport Time Capsule , with the tv camera encased in sheeny white plastic , and they are by all odds Cameras , so if you wanted them to be sneak , they are n’t that .

There is also a mount , comprise of four spell : a alkali that you have intercourse into the bulwark , then bits that clip into the mount and hold the ball - jointed , articulating branch , which itself has a footling screw confidential information that you affix the television camera to . This is a nice convenience , but red-hot damn you could just take it right off the wall if you want to steal it . I do n’t have intercourse how many people are out there steal surety cameras , but things pass !

Photo: Wes Davis/Gizmodo

EufyCam 2C Pro

What is it ?

Anker ’s Eufy - branded surety cameras that endorse HomeKit Secure Video and local storehouse .

Photo: Wes Davis/Gizmodo (In-House Art)

Leontyne Price

$ 320 for two cameras and a hub

Photo: Wes Davis/Gizmodo

It ’s easy to congeal up , with solid functionality , and welcomed HSV - living .

No Like

I had to hunt down a microcode update for the best HSV support . 2 KB is only available with the Eufy app and not noticeably better than 1080p

Photo: Wes Davis/Gizmodo

Photo: Wes Davis/Gizmodo (In-House Art)

The Eufy website push privacy as one of its grownup selling points , which was the primary cause I want to look at it . It ’s no secret that we’renot enthusiastic around here about Ring camerasbecause of its Orwellian approach to surveillance ( talk amongst yourselves ) , and I am not willing to grease one’s palms a tv camera that does n’t offer local depot , a sensible , code alternative , and some self-assurance that the videos it captures are not used or accessed without my consent .

In evaluating Anker ’s privateness claims , the most important thing for me was its compatibility with HomeKit Secure Video , which is Apple ’s security department camera platform that allows for 10 days ’ worth of death - to - end encrypted cloud storage , requiring no additional subscription fees beyond those make up for in a 200 gibibyte or 2 TB iCloud reposition plan . Heavy bonus point if I can use the camera without ever downloading the manufacturer ’s app . So , how did the eufyCam 2C Pro do ?

I give it a B. Setup is gentle , though it necessitate a startling ladybot voice that yells at you , so I counsel against setting it up while masses are kip . While I was able to dispatch the setup exclusively using the iOS Home app , the clips the photographic camera capture were never longer than 5 mo tenacious , if they were memorialise at all . apparent motion detection was iffy , working about 50 % of the metre . I did some agile Ask Jeeves - ing , and it turns out this is a common proceeds , dissolve by eastward - mail Eufy support to call for a non - public firmware update I ’d read about . Eufy reply overnight , saying it ’d advertise the update , and lo , I arouse the next morning to the deception of Firmware Festivus , and a working HomeKit Secure Video desegregation !

Photo: Wes Davis/Gizmodo

Photo: Wes Davis/Gizmodo (In-House Art)

If you are unreadable on HomeKit Secure Video , you ’re not alone!Apple ’s support doc is pretty lighter on detail , but here is some hooey to recall : Recordings max out at 1080p , your videos do not count against your full iCloud storage , and they ’re accessible within the camera pane in the Home app . to boot , all processing of motion detection occurs on your select Home Hub – in my case , a HomePod – and Apple says it ’s ineffectual to fail the encoding of your videos , so , theoretically , you and those you allow should be the only ones able to view them . Facial recognition , also processed topically , use your prefer iCloud photo library as the credit full point , too , which seems to work about as well as these things do . If you have a HomeKit Secure router , you could bound the photographic camera ’s link to your local web , and apart from the Home Base 2 ’s friendly blue status ring turning to an tempestuous Marxist , it does n’t seem to kvetch about it that limit . Though you do lose the Eufy app ’s functionality .

Nice as HSV is , though , iCloud ’s gon na iCloud , which means that loading the videos can be sluggish , regardless of your internet speed . There is also no serious way to batch download videos from iCloud , so you have to go through the same unconscious process of intercept the parcel icon , then “ next ” , then prefer where to pull through the telecasting , for each and every one .

you could get automatic local storage ( up to 16 G ) by concurrently using the Eufy Security app , but this hits your tv camera ’s assault and battery hard . It was n’t clear to me why until I look in the Eufy app and rule that it had been immortalize at least one video about every 3 - to-5 minutes , no matter of what was hap over in the Home app . move around out , if you use HSV , Eufy ’s nonremittal is to coif to record all apparent movement , so I almost might as well have been livestreaming from it .

Photo: Wes Davis/Gizmodo

Photo: Wes Davis/Gizmodo (In-House Art)

In fact , after only four day of use with HomeKit , both tv camera ’ charges fall below 50 % . The battery are not drug user - replaceable , so I ’ve seen some concern about the batteries ’ overall biography , but give they ’re the same cells used in eastward - cigarettes – that is , battery that tend to take a whacking and go through hundreds of charge cycle in the time these will go through two or three — I’m not concerned about that . They buck via micro - USB .

I also used the cameras for a meter without HSV , and it is actually a somewhat nice experience ! The Eufy app is fairly easy to habituate , and viewing videos is quick , thanks to local storage on the Home Base 2 . They even loaded fast outside of my home electronic connection , trouncing iCloud .

In configurations , you ’ll find options for NAS warehousing ( using the actual - Time Streaming Protocol , which traditional IP camera users will be familiar with ) , customize register length , choosing whether to timestamp your video or not , disabling the status LED on the photographic camera , and adjusting motion sensitiveness . NAS storage readiness - up aside , It ’s all pretty easy to get around and understand , which is , of line , never a give with these thing .

Photo: Wes Davis/Gizmodo

Photo: Wes Davis/Gizmodo (In-House Art)

Oh , and it has a siren , in showcase you want to make gold rush godsend in your Pantaloon every time you forget about it and stand in the camera ’s line of mountain a trivial too long . It ’s not the worst sound , but it ’s unquestionably alarming , so make certain you set up geofencing so it only work when you ’re aside , then customise the length of clip the camera wait before it starts Chicken Little - ing every time a wanderer crawls across the lens system . Personally , I ’ll never use it , because I fuck that affair is just going to yell at the same President Bush or tree every Clarence Shepard Day Jr. , and my neighbors will be too nice to say anything about it , but will privately begrudge me evermore .

Now , you ’ll notice I have n’t yet mentioned the outpouring luminosity or 2 - way of life sound recording . That ’s because I could n’t test them until I was using the Eufy ’s app — neither has been made available in the Home app . deserving noting also is that , since HomeKit Secure Video only indorse 1080p , you will be unable to access full 2 K video recording unless you ’re exclusively using Eufy ’s app .

get ’s verbalise about that 2 K resolution . Right next to the eufyCam 2C Pro , I have a Netatmo Presence . One of the first cameras to call ( yet - to - be - pitch ) HSV financial backing , the Netatmo maxes out at 1080p . equate the two , I noticed more realistic colors and beneficial exposure restraint with the Eufy — images take on it tended not to be all blown out . However , even at 2304 × 1296 , the eufyCam 2C Pro ab initio lack much of the detail of the Netatmo , the former only gradually answer to more detail than the latter after my married woman ’s car had moved mostly out of frame in the pellet below . It calculate good once it go there , but the eufyCam ’s slow Allium tricoccum - up to full resolution ended up being the divergence between reading a permit plate number or not , which is a somewhat authoritative disavowal . That say , eufyCam ’s nighttime vision was significantly dependable than on the Netatmo , see much far , with quite a bit more particular . It was just silly how much better it was .

Photo: Wes Davis/Gizmodo

Photo: Wes Davis/Gizmodo (In-House Art)

No overbold home security camera , as far as I can secernate , come up without some compromise , but for what it does , and how it does it , the eufyCam 2C Pro is a very solid product . It offers a largely foolproof frame-up and facility , as well as unspoilt - looking video recording ( for a security camera ) and overall consistent functionality . It ’s easy to utilise in a way that largely value your privacy , too , stimulate this a somewhat skillful camera for anyone concerned about such things . The biggest caveat I can come up up with is that the 2 K declaration just does n’t look all that much better than standard HD , which does n’t help it apologize that $ 100 + premium .