Eufy E340 Dual Cam Solo Video Doorbell review: Double vision
I review the Eufy E340 Dual Cam solo video doorbell, which uses two cameras to track packages as well as visitors with a simple app.
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Pros
- Second camera gives clear vision of deliveries
- Great battery life
- No ongoing subscription cost
Cons
- Not the quickest alert system
- No HomeKit support
- Only 802.11n support on 2.4GHz
In the age of Amazon Prime deliveries and working from home, having a video doorbell that can see when you receive a delivery makes a lot of sense.
Announced back in October, the Eufy E340 is a dual-camera video doorbell that will notify you when you’ve received a delivery, as well as when it has been picked up.
It boasts on-board storage, so you don’t have to pay an annual subscription just to record your visitors, and it seamlessly integrates with the rest of the Eufy smart camera ecosystem.
It’s not really a friendly installation option for renters, though, as you’ll need to screw it in to the wall near your front door.
But if you own your home, installation is simple and the performance is pretty great.
Eufy E340 Dual Cam Solo Video Doorbell review: Design
Compared to a product like the Ring Video Doorbell 4, the Eufy E340 is quite tall and narrow.
Measuring at 138 mm x 50 mm x 27.5 mm, the doorbell comes in a shiny black finish. The large 2K main camera, which captures footage in 2048×1536 resolution, rests at the top of the unit, mirrored below by the large, circular doorbell button.
The bottom of the doorbell tapers down at an angle, and it’s in this bottom part that you’ll find a second, downward-facing camera. It only records in 1080p, but given it’s pointed at the floor, you don’t need super high resolution to see what’s there.
The reason for offering a second, downward facing camera is obvious: packages. The Eufy doorbell offers smart object recognition, including when a package is left at your door, and when it is collected.
The camera can also detect human bodies and faces, and if you have the Homebase 3 it can also detect familiar faces. I tested without the Homebase, so I can’t speak to how well it works, but it would be useful to have the doorbell not send an alert every time my kids take the rubbish outside.
The E340 Dual Cam Solo also boasts integrated lighting on the top and the bottom of the doorbell. This allows you to see who’s at the door in colour at night, as well as helping illuminate the locks on your front door when you get home after dark.
Installing the E340 is fairly easy, with options for both battery and powered installation. You will need to screw the bracket into your wall, though, so it may not be an ideal option for renters.
No cloud subscription necessary
While the dual camera setup is probably the biggest selling point for the E340, it’s also worth noting that it comes with 8 GB of onboard storage.
That means you don’t have to have a cloud storage subscription to get the most out of the doorbell, though Eufy does offer one for peace of mind.
8 GB is about enough for about 3 months worth of recordings, based on an average of recording 30 videos, each of 20 seconds in length, per day.
If you need more storage, you are going to need to invest in the Homebase product, though. You can’t update the storage on the device via a MicroSD card.
With a Homebase, you can add up to 16 TB worth of storage, which is complete overkill for the doorbell but may make sense if you have an entire ecosystem of Eufy cameras.
Winging it with Wi-Fi
The E340 only supports 802.11n speeds, which is a couple of generations old now.
It also only works on a 2.4GHz Wi-Fi frequency, which means it can possibly end up interrupted by your microwave or network congestion.
I’d love to see the Wi-Fi updated on future models. Being able to support dual-band Wi-Fi, as well as support for newer, faster Wi-Fi 5 or Wi-Fi 6 standards, could help performance and battery life.
Eufy E340 Dual Cam Solo Video Doorbell review: Performance
The good news is that the Eufy E340 Dual Cam Solo works. When someone presses the button, it chimes, and you’ll receive a notification on your connected smart device that you have a visitor.
It’s not the quickest connection, though. I found that couriers would be halfway back down my driveway by the time I got the notification on my phone that someone had rung the doorbell.
The chime itself isn’t too loud, either. Fortunately, the camera works with both Google Assistant and Alexa, which means you can have the ring announced via your home’s smart speakers.
Unless you use HomePods, of course. Currently, there’s no HomeKit support, which seems like a missed opportunity given other Eufy products support the smart home platform.
While the doorbell function itself is a little on the slow and quiet side, the camera side is fantastic.
2K footage from the main camera looks clear, with plenty of detail. Even in high contrast situations, you can easily make out features on visitors to your home.
At night, the picture quality is equally clear. There are numerous settings for night vision — including colour mode — and they all deliver a high-quality image during recording.
I ended up leaving the E340 in optimal infrared night vision to save on battery life, as the colour mode uses the integrated lights to bring enough light to the subject to capture colour.
The bottom camera’s quality, despite being 1080p, was more than enough for its purpose, which is to monitor for packages and notify when something has been left or collected.
Battery life
I’m hugely impressed by the E340’s battery life. After 32 days, the battery indicator is still sitting at 65%, meaning I should be able to get 3 months from a single charge.
I have to recharge the Ring Video Doorbell 4 every 2 months at least.
Obviously, your usage will impact the battery life significantly, but I have motion alerts active, and get deliveries at least once a week, typically 2–3 times.
Eufy security app
It’s not exclusive to the E340 video doorbell, but you will need to take advantage of the Eufy Security app if you want to get the most from the product.
The good news is that the app itself is solid. It’s easy to navigate and use, and while some settings can be buried behind other menus (like trying to find how to change the night vision setting), on the whole it’s easy to navigate.
The app gives you a snapshot of the camera’s view, plus a quick summary of the number of events, the battery life and the Wi-Fi strength. Below that sits a quick summary of the number of visitors and the number of packages received on a given day.
It’s a nice summary that helps you stay on top of your front door and is easy enough to use for even the least technically minded homeowner.
Eufy E340 Dual Cam Solo Video Doorbell review: Verdict
There’s a lot to like about the Eufy E340 Dual Cam Solo video doorbell. If you’ve never had a video doorbell before, it’s an easy option to recommend thanks to its impressive video quality, long-lasting battery and easy to use software.
It’s a little slow to notification, though not so slow you’ll miss visitors. And my understanding is that performance can be improved by pairing it with the Homebase 3.
But even without that extra investment, you get solid value for money. The E340 doesn’t require an ongoing subscription, will notify you when you receive packages or visitors, and can integrate with Alexa and Google Assistant.
It’s a comprehensive solution, and made even better if you have multiple Eufy security products around the home.
Buy the Eufy E340 video doorbell online
Eufy E340 video doorbell
Eufy's E340 Dual Cam Solo video doorbell may have a confusing name, but it is remarkably easy to use and offers plenty of great features to make it a viable option.
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