We bring you an exclusive review of 4K cameras eufyCam S330. It is a set of two wireless cameras with solar panels, including a central HomeBase unit with the possibility of connecting a hard disk.
In the review, in addition to the image quality, we will also look at the interesting intelligent AI functions that the camera offers. Let's not forget the endurance, the use of the solar panel, or the reliability of the movement alerts in front of the camera.
Where to buy eufyCam S330?
You can purchase the eufyCam S330 security camera set directly from the manufacturer on the official eufy.com website. The package will be sent from European warehouse, thanks to which you will avoid any customs fees. Don't forget to use our coupon to get a discount.
eufyCam S330 + 1TB disk
Technical specifications
Model | S330 eufyCam | |
---|---|---|
dimensions | camera: 6.5 x 12.9 x 6.5 cm / HomeBase: 7.8 x 10.9 x 14.4 cm | |
Weight | camera: 420 g / HomeBase: 656 g | |
Coverage | IP67 | |
Resolution | 4K (3840 x 2160px) | |
Angle shot | 135° | |
Nocturnal videnie | infrared and color with illumination | |
Drums | 13 000 mAh | |
Endurance per charge | 365 days + unlimited endurance thanks to the solar panel | |
Alarm | 100 dB | |
Connection | 802.11 b/g/n 2.4GHz Wi-Fi | |
Two-way audio | Yes | |
AI functions | person recognition with a self-learning algorithm; detection of persons and vehicles | |
Voice control | Alexa and Google Voice Assistant | |
Capacity memory HomeBase | 16 GB with the possibility of expansion by HDD/SSD (max. 16 TB) |
Rich packaging
The eufyCam S330 security camera set comes in a cube-shaped box that is made of strong cardboard, durable and thick enough to protect the cameras inside the package.
Inside, both cameras, together with the HomeBase central unit, are housed in molded plastic, where they stay firmly in place. At the bottom there is a space for accessories, which is quite rich.
Here you will find holders for cameras with a swivel joint, a power cable for the HomeBase with an adapter and a pair of terminals, an Ethernet cable, a needle for resetting, dowels with screws for mounting the cameras and instructions for use.
Principle of operation and connection of the HomeBase central unit
As we already indicated in the introduction, the camera set consists of two wireless cameras and a central HomeBase 3 unit. The cameras communicate with the central unit using a wireless connection (WiFi), which contains internal storage where videos are stored.
The first step is to connect the HomeBase unit. We connected it to the electrical network and to our local router using an Ethernet cable. This was followed by pairing with a smartphone using the eufy Security application, which we already tried when testing the eufy Video Doorbell 2K video doorbell.
The application requires registration and login, after which it is possible to add devices to your virtual household. Just search for S380 HomeBase in the list of devices and follow the steps that the application itself will nicely guide you through. There are illustrations for correct connection and pairing procedure with description in English.
In short, during pairing, we just scanned the QR code from the bottom of the HomeBase, pressed the Sync button on the back, and everything else happened automatically.
Finally, we could name the device with our own name and the application guided us through the face recognition function, along with the option to activate it. However, we will talk about this feature later. There was also a firmware update to the latest version.
Adding cameras to the eufy Security app
Adding cameras to the app works the same way. We searched for the S330 eufyCam in the list of devices and once again clear illustrations with descriptions guided us through the entire process.
For the initial pairing, it is necessary to have the camera near the HomeBase, within a range of one meter. From our side, interaction was required only in the form of pressing the Sync button on the back of the camera.
We placed the camera in a room in our virtual home and the app also guided us through the charging options along with useful tips for mounting and choosing the right place to place the camera.
In the end, we were able to test the quality of the signal at the place where we planned to mount the cameras, and then we started fixing the stands. The camera is then simply screwed onto the stand using the thread, where it can also be rotated thanks to the joint.
Image quality and night mode
eufyCam S330 cameras offer 4K resolution of 3840 x 2160 px with a viewing angle of 135° and a low f/1.4 aperture. The quality of the image is really excellent, and thanks to the high resolution, we can easily zoom in up to 8 times.
At 8x zoom, although the quality of the image is significantly degraded and you probably wouldn't be able to recognize a person by their face, 2 to 3x zoom is quite usable.
We can adjust the quality of the streaming video in the application. In general, the higher the quality, the more data is consumed. There is also an automatic mode that adapts to the quality of the Internet connection. Recorded videos can be in 4K, 2K or 1080p resolution.
As for the night mode, we have a standard black-and-white image with the use of infrared diodes or a color image. It is created with the help of white light from LEDs.
Night mode image quality is also very good, although there is noticeable noise when the LED light is on. Personally, we like the classic black and white night mode better. We must also highlight the sufficient afterglow of the infrared diodes, thanks to which visibility is good even in places further away from the camera.
Motion detection and notifications
As a matter of course, security cameras also detect movement in the camera's field of view using a PIR sensor, followed by sending a push notification to a smartphone using an application.
Since we have a set of two cameras available, the application displays notifications in the format "Camera name: Text" after motion is detected. It is immediately clear from the notification which camera recorded the movement.
After opening the notification, a short video will be played showing the movement captured by the camera. The video has a variable length based on the set working mode. We have 3 modes to choose from, which include:
- Optimum Battery Life - video length is a maximum of 20 seconds, the system automatically adjusts the detection time to prevent unnecessary notifications in which the same object is captured several times in close succession
- Optimal Surveillance – the length of the video is a maximum of 60 seconds and the system records every event
- Customize Recording – custom setting of video length (5-120 seconds) and minimum interval between individual events (5-60 seconds)
You can find these modes in the power settings (Power Manager), as they affect the battery life per charge.
Security modes
In addition to the mentioned modes, we also find security modes in the application that define alarm delay, exit delay, video recording, notifications, camera alarm, HomeBase alarm and light alarm.
The alarm delay defines the time interval after which the alarm (if enabled) is triggered when motion is detected. We have 0, 15, 30, 45, 60, 180 and 300 seconds to choose from.
Exit delay gives you time to leave the house if you pass through the camera's field of view. During this interval, all events will be ignored so that you can leave home without unnecessary notification of your own departure.
Subsequently, for each camera, we separately choose whether we want to record videos when motion is detected, receive notifications, trigger an alarm for the camera and the HomeBase central unit, and whether we also want to use a light alarm.
There are two main modes available - Home and Away. In both modes, both alarm and exit delay are set to 0 seconds and video recording is enabled along with notifications. Away mode also has a camera alarm on. The rest of the mentioned options are inactive, but if you want to use them, just turn them on in the mode settings.
Another option is Disarmed mode, which disables all devices. The Geofencing mode activates one of the previously mentioned modes (Home, Away or Disarmed) based on the smartphone's GPS, if we move away from the radius selected on the map. So if we leave the house, we don't have to worry about anything and the selected mode is activated automatically.
We can also schedule Home and Away modes according to selected times and days of the week. The last option is to create your own mode.
BionicMind artificial intelligence and facial recognition
Also interesting is the support for artificial intelligence (AI) called BionicMind, which is self-learning and is mainly used to recognize the faces of people captured by the camera. The manufacturer boasts an accuracy of up to 99.99%.
The system can distinguish between known persons and strangers, thanks to which it is able to filter notifications from, for example, household members. You will get rid of unnecessary notifications that you do not need to know about.
Real experience with identification of persons
So much theory, let's see how it works in practice. HomeBase can actually recognize the faces of people, which it then stores as unknown faces. In the AI settings, we can then mark selected people as known and add their name. We can also add known people manually, by taking a photo of them or uploading their photo.
If a known person appears in front of the camera, you will see their name directly in the notification, or even a photo in the preview if notifications with a preview are turned on. However, it must be said that such recognition works most reliably at a distance of 2-4 meters from the camera at a maximum angle of 40° horizontally and 30° vertically, which is also reported by the application itself. Character recognition of people in general (without their identification) works at a distance of 2-8 meters.
In reality, face recognition is quite reliable, but really mostly at a maximum distance of 4-5 meters from the camera and logically only at angles where the camera has a chance to see most of the face. You don't need to expect miracles, but sometimes it surprises and recognizes a person from the side, or at a greater distance. At the same time, we have to admit that face recognition works better after a while, when the system recognizes our face and body from different angles and distances.
Notification filtering and animal and vehicle recognition
Among the beta (testing) functions we can also find recognition of animals or vehicles. These features are also marked as Beta in the app, so they are not yet in their final version. This is how they should be approached, as they really do not work XNUMX%.
The camera was able to identify the dog almost all the time, but it was worse with cars. The camera only recognized our car if we drove slowly. In the notification, we are immediately informed that the camera captured the car. If we had the window down, the system also recognized us in the car.
However, the most interesting function for us is the possibility of ignoring notifications on which familiar faces from our household are recognized. In the HomeBase settings, we can choose which people we want to ignore, but unfortunately, this feature does not work properly. We kept getting notifications that someone had been spotted, but no name of the person.
We also informed eufy brand support about this fact, who explained the problem to us with the fact that the system is currently focused on sending a notification quickly, while the identification of the person is carried out only after that. Eufy engineers should continue to improve this feature, so we can only hope that they will tweak it to our satisfaction with a firmware update.
Reliability of notifications and their display
As we have already mentioned in previous chapters, the application displays the so-called push notifications about movement or changing settings or triggering an alarm. Notifications can display only text, or a preview with a photo of the captured person. The fastest are text notifications, which are usually displayed within 2 seconds of motion detection.
There is sometimes a slight delay in preview notifications compared to text notifications, but it's not a huge delay. The application can also display a quick text notification, followed by another that complements the photo. In this way, it is an ideal combination of how to be informed immediately and not lose a preview with a photo.
Notifications are displayed in the form "Camera name: Text", for example "Entrance: Someone has been spotted." Such a notification is displayed if a person flashes in front of the camera and the system does not capture their face. If the person's face can be captured, the word "Someone" will be replaced by the word "Stranger" or the name of the person if it is a familiar face.
Solar panels and battery life per charge
Both cameras have a 13 mAh battery and a small solar panel measuring 000 x 11 cm. According to the manufacturer, the battery itself should last for a whole year, but we personally think that this is not very realistic in our conditions.
But the great thing is that the energy obtained from the solar panel is used to recharge the battery, which theoretically makes it possible to achieve infinite endurance, absolutely without any recharging of the camera. According to the manufacturer 2 hours of direct sunlight is enough daily so that we don't have to charge the battery at all.
It could realistically be in the summer, but currently in the winter, when we test the cameras, the sun is low and shines only briefly during the day, if at all. In addition, it is sometimes difficult to position the camera so that the solar panel on top of it is set towards the sun and at the same time it monitors the space we want.
The integrated solar panel is an interesting idea, but an external solar panel is more practical, which we can mount wherever we want, which does not affect the location of the camera.
We used the camera in November, when the sun's rays are more of a wish than a reality, so the solar panels didn't help us much. Nevertheless, we recorded several sunny days when the battery capacity did not actually decrease at all thanks to the solar panel. Solar energy recharges a maximum of 158 mAh on sunny days, while only 0-2 mAh on cloudy days.
We had both cameras in fairly frequent places in front of the entrance to the house, where we received dozens of notifications a day. In addition, we intensively tested various functions. With such usage, we lost about 1-2% per day of battery on cloudy days.
Disk and backup
A huge advantage of the eufyCam S330 security camera set is the internal storage in the HomeBase 3 central unit. It has a capacity of 16 GB and also provides the option of expanding the memory by another up to 16 TB.
With such a large capacity, you could last the rest of your life. The external drive (2.5″) is simply screwed into the plastic case and inserted into the HomeBase.
Perhaps the biggest advantage is the absence of any cloud fees, but especially security, since the videos are not uploaded or sent anywhere. They still remain in local storage at your home.
You must have noticed that there are also USB ports on the back of the HomeBase. What are they for? You can use them to back up videos if your memory is full and you don't want to lose old videos.
Two-way audio transmission
Two-way audio transmission, which can be used for a standard conversation similar to a phone call, is nothing new. However, the audio transmission works extremely well with the eufyCam S330 cameras. The speaker of the camera is loud and the microphone serves very well.
With a good WiFi signal, communication via cameras is absolutely problem-free. If the signal is weaker, the quality is still quite good, but you have to expect a few seconds of audio delay.
eufyCam S330: Final evaluation
The set of wireless security cameras eufyCam S330 consists of two cameras with solar panels and a central HomeBase 3 unit. You will be pleased with the high quality of the video image with 4K resolution and true color rendering, a 13 mAh battery, a sophisticated application with many settings and AI functions for recognizing vehicles, animals, but especially the faces of people.
The system can thus recognize your acquaintances, which it immediately informs you about in push notifications. You will also be pleased with the high capacity of the battery, which can also be recharged using solar panels, thanks to which you can completely get rid of charging the cameras. Last but not least, let's not forget the HomeBase with internal storage and the option to expand the local memory by up to 16 TB.
Disadvantages include the high price and the solid construction of the cameras without the possibility of turning them, but especially not the best implementation of the function of ignoring notifications from known people.