Eufy SoloCam S340 review

Product identify: Introduction

• Sort: Out of doors safety digital camera with photo voltaic panel
• Connectivity: 2.4GHz Wi-FI
• Ecosystems: Amazon Alexa, Google Dwelling

Becoming a member of Eufy’s rising ranks of dual-lens safety cameras is the Eufy SoloCam S340: an outside motorised pan-and-tilt digital camera with AI object monitoring and built-in photo voltaic panels for fuss-free set up.

Associated: EufyCam S330 assessment

Subscription-free recording and high-quality video assist this digital camera stand out, however it’s a little costly, and many individuals could possibly get away with a fixed-lens digital camera as an alternative.

Learn on for our full Eufy SoloCam S340 assessment.

Design and set up

• Wall- or ceiling-mount choices
• Two choices for the photo voltaic panel
• Twin-lens with motorised pan-and-tilt

With two cameras and motorised pan-and-tilt, the Eufy SoloCam S340 is kind of a chunky safety digital camera. That doesn’t imply that it’s not versatile, and it’s good to see flexibility for set up, beginning with the selection of the place to place the mount that the digital camera slides onto.

Should you’ve obtained a wall, then the mount may be hooked up to this, with the digital camera sticking straight out. Should you’ve obtained an overhang, then the digital camera mount may be screwed to the ceiling as an alternative.

My solely piece of recommendation is to hold the digital camera fairly excessive. Though the motorised pan-and-tilt means that you may regulate the place the digital camera appears, the best place isn’t fairly parallel to the bottom. Place the digital camera too low, and also you may discover that you just don’t get a very good view and the digital camera can lower individuals’s heads off.

There’s a 70-degree vertical adjustment accessible, with 360-degree rotation, so as soon as the digital camera is excessive sufficient, it’s simple to regulate in software program to get the proper view.

A photo voltaic panel comes within the field, designed to maintain the interior battery topped up with out intervention. It may be onerous to seek out someplace to put a digital camera the place it’ll get sufficient solar, so it’s good to see two choices for the panel.

First, the photo voltaic panel may be hooked up to the digital camera’s high after which angled in direction of the solar. That’s the choice I went for, as I put in the digital camera on a south-facing wall.

If you wish to place the digital camera some other place, there’s an extension cable within the field, and the photo voltaic panel may be mounted elsewhere. It’s a neat resolution to a typical drawback.

The digital camera ought to be charged absolutely earlier than connecting the photo voltaic panel. Then, it may be put in and added to the Eufy Safety software program, connecting to your property Wi-Fi community.

Options

• Programmable place
• AI object detection and monitoring
• No month-to-month charges

Controls for the Eufy SoloCam S340 are similar to these on the indoor Eufy SoloCam S350, together with the choice so as to add a default house place. After a brief interval of inactivity, or after recording an occasion, the digital camera will reorientate itself again to its house place.

This can be a essential function that many pan-and-tilt cameras lack: with out this feature, the digital camera may very well be left dealing with down, away from the place the motion is more likely to occur.

Further preset positions may be set, together with the route the digital camera factors in and the default digital camera to make use of. These positions are accessed by means of the stay view, letting me rapidly leap to my favorite places.

It’s neat having the ability to scan round with the pan-and-tilt function, because it meant that my complete backyard was coated.

Plus, having the ability to swap between the 3K most important digital camera and 2K telephoto digital camera gave me an additional dimensions. For instance, I may zoom into my kitchen to see what was occurring inside my home.

This digital camera has 8GB of built-in storage and no subscription charges. It doesn’t have a microSD card slot. Should you do need extra storage, you should utilize a Eufy HomeBase; join the digital camera to that (the 2 units must be inside Wi-Fi vary), and add a 2.5-inch onerous disk or SSD.

Utilizing a HomeBase additionally upgrades the detection algorithms to incorporate facial recognition, with the digital camera marking clips with recognised faces.

With out the HomeBase, detection choices are nonetheless excellent: there’s an choice to be alerted about your selection of individuals, pets or different motions. These are normally the sorts of options that solely include costly cloud subscriptions.

To additional cut back the variety of alerts you get, the digital camera can be configured with exercise zones. Solely movement occurring in these zones will set off the digital camera to document.

AI movement monitoring is a formidable function. When movement is detected, the digital camera will use its pan-and-tilt to maintain monitor. It signifies that clips are fuller, capturing what occurred from begin to finish with out the hazard of that particular person shifting off-camera.

Monitoring is good and clean, with out the judder and movement blur that related techniques on rival cameras introduce.

Recordings can be found within the app, and the simplest solution to get to them is through the Occasions tab. From right here, you may filter the record by gadget, date, and movement sort (individuals, pets, automobiles or different), with an inventory of thumbnails making it simple to seek out the occasion you need.

The default view is to document utilizing the primary 3K digital camera, which is the best choice, because it captures a wider view. The choice is to activate Twin View, which information the footage from each cameras concurrently. This has the impact of lowering total picture high quality, so it’s not a mode that I like to recommend.

Management over when the digital camera is energetic is thru the app, with modes controlling which cameras are energetic through the Dwelling, Away and Disarmed modes. Modes may be set manually, scheduled or triggered by your location. It’s a disgrace that there’s no IFTTT integration to regulate the mode based mostly on one other gadget, say setting Away mode when your good alarm is turned on.

Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant help can be found, so you may stay stream a feed to a suitable good show, such because the Amazon Echo Hub.

Efficiency

• Sharp 3K video
• Detailed full-colour night time imaginative and prescient
• Twin-mode is slightly disappointing

With its most important digital camera, the Eufy SoloCam S340 shoots video at a 3K decision (2880 x 1616), a step down from the 4K footage shot by its indoor brethren, the S350. Even so, the outcomes are spectacular.

In daylight, the video is well-exposed and sharp, and it’s simple to identify people. There’s nothing extra that you would really need.

There are alternatives at night time. The default is to document in black and white, utilizing IR lights. The picture is noticeably softer, though the vary is superb, and persons are good and sharp up shut.

I want the full-color mode, which is accessible solely from the stay view part of the app (it’s one of many icons on the backside of the display), quite than in the primary settings.

Mix this with the highlight, and the Eufy SoloCam S340 can shoot in full color.

There’s a little bit of movement blur, besides, I discovered it simple to seek out frames the place individuals had been completely sharp and their options clearly uncovered.

Twin Mode activates each cameras without delay, however the footage is compressed right into a single video with a decision of 2304 x 2592.

Picture high quality actually suffers, and I discovered that the view from the telephoto digital camera usually cropped heads out of the image.

Don’t use this mode, and keep on with utilizing the telephoto digital camera while you’re viewing the stream stay.

I discovered that with the solar on my photo voltaic panel the digital camera saved topped-up with out having to be manually charged.

Nonetheless, it’s essential to set the house place in order that the digital camera isn’t pointing at a busy location, corresponding to a avenue, as you would find yourself with plenty of alerts, many recordings and a battery that drains.

Ultimate ideas

A intelligent little bit of package, the Eufy SoloCam S340’s intelligent pan-and-tilt know-how means that you may see extra of what’s occurring, each when manually viewing and through computerized monitoring. With no month-to-month charges and good object detection, rather a lot goes for this digital camera.

Twin cameras and the motors imply that it’s slightly costly although, so a set digital camera could also be a greater possibility for some, such because the Eufy SoloCam S40.

How we take a look at

After we publish our critiques, you may relaxation assured that they’re the results of “dwelling with” long run checks.

Good safety cameras normally stay inside an ecosystem, or a spread of merchandise that – supposedly – all work in concord. Due to this fact, it’s inconceivable to make use of a safety digital camera for every week and ship a verdict.

As a result of we’re testing good house package all day, on a regular basis, we all know what issues and the way a selected digital camera compares to alternate options that you may also be contemplating.

Our critiques are complete, goal and truthful and, in fact, we’re by no means paid on to assessment a tool.

Learn our information on our assessment course of for good safety cameras to be taught extra.

FAQs

Eufy SoloCam S340: Specs