INTRODUCTION

   I've always been of the opinion that it's better to be prepared for anything that comes your way and so safeguarding my possessions and family members has always been a priority. Not everyone out there thinks the same way however and so even up just until like 5 years ago certain people around where i live thought that installing surveillance cameras both around my home and office was too much. Fast forward to today and most of them have also installed surveillance cameras around their homes and stores and well, the way things are going (especially lately) it was just a matter of time before they did so. However just like with everything else in the electronics market it's not very easy to find a surveillance camera that combines high detail with plenty of features and installation ease and well this is where eufy comes in with their eufyCam S330 (eufyCam 3) 4K Solar Security Camera.

   At eufy, we believe great products and true smart home technology is thought out thoroughly. eufy's smart home technology is built from solid foundation of care from all of us as one company. We don't only care about functional performance, but we think ahead of our consumers to build our products with care, to suit their needs, all seamless with no hassle. That's how we create intuitive, human-first technology that frees our consumers and their families from worries. And enliven their life to be one they truly love. eufy, built with care.

   The eufyCam S330 (eufyCam 3) is currently available in kits of 2, 3 and 4 cameras paired with their S380 HomeBase 3 station which in turn is available with or without an 1TB HDD pre-installed (so, 6 kits in total are available). Each S300 wireless camera features 4K UHD (3840x2160p - 8MP CMOS sensor with f/1.4 aperture lens) video recording (15fps, 135 degrees angle lens), IP67 weatherproof certified housing, solar panel for day charging, motion sensing spotlight for color night vision (100 lumen), six IR LEDs for black and white night vision (25 feet range), two way audio, 2.4GHz Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n - 200m range) and an 13400mAh lithium-ion rechargeable battery pack. As for the HomeBase 3 station it features the Quad-core ARM Cortex-A55 SoC, built-in 16GB eMMC flash storage (up to 3 months of usage), removable 2.5" tray (supports SATA drives up to 16TB), 100dB siren, 2.4GHz Wi-Fi connectivity, two USB ports (for charging and data transfer) and an RJ45 10/100/1000Mbps LAN port. Moving to the software end the eufyCam S330 features an AI engine with Self-learning Algorithm (supports Face Detection, Human Detection, Vehicle Detection, and Animal Detection), AES-128 and RSA-1024 Encryption, intelligent alerts with subject detection and voice assistant compatible with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. So, let's see whether or not the eufyCam S330 is the security system you've been waiting for.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

eufy uses a white and blue box the front of which has a product picture, their logo and some of the main product features.

The eufy security app with its features is showcased on the left side while proper topology is showcased on the right.

At the rear eufy has placed the main product features in 8 languages just over several drawings showcasing the bundle contents.

Both cameras and the HomeBase 3 station are placed inside a formed piece of plastic.

Along with the HomeBase 3 station and its power adapter (two tips) and the two cameras inside the box you'll also find two wall mounts with their positioning cards and screws, place is being monitored sticker, sticker with the pros of the eufyCam 3, RJ45 LAN cable, USB cable, small bag with the hard drive mounting screws and the quick start guide.

THE EUFYCAM S330

The 420g heavy IP67 certified enclosures are white and black in color and measure 12.9cm in length and 6.5cm in diameter.

To have a better idea about size i placed an eufyCam 3 camera next to the ANNKE NC400 4MP and I91BL 8MP models, TRENDnet TV-IP1318PI 8MP model and what's clearly the best 4K camera to ever pass from the lab, the AXIS Q1798-LE 8MP model (massive in comparison however).

At the front of each camera, we find the 8MP 4k lens, two ports (probably microphone and speaker ones), 6 IR LEDs (3 on each side of the lens) and a motion sensing spotlight at the top.

Around 90% of the total top surface is taken by the solar panel which is of good quality and according to eufy it requires just 2 hours of full sun per day to keep the camera running forever.

Turning the camera around we find the wall mount port, USB-C charging port and a sync button.

The 656g heavy HomeBase 3 station measures 14.4cm in height, 10.9cm in depth and 7.8cm in width and is white and grey in color.

A round activity LED is placed at the lower front of the HomeBase 3 and as for the rear here we find the sync/alarm off button, two USB ports, RJ45 LAN port and the DC in.

The top of the HomeBase 3 station opens up to reveal the 2.5" HDD tray.

Unfortunately, my sample didn't come with the 1TB HDD in it so eufy had to shipped it separately later on.

The drive ended up being a Seagate Barracuda SATA III drive with a rotational speed of 5400RPM and 128MB of cache.

EUFY SECURITY APP

Once you finish installing the eufy security app you will have to add the HomeBase 3 station and the two cameras as seen above.

Afterwards you can access the HomeBase 3 features like volume, working mode, push notifications and check for firmware updates just by pressing on the icon.

Pressing on one of the camera icons reveals the camera menu.

From here you can access the motion sensing menu, enable/disable detection types, set working mode (recording time), adjust spotlight settings, enable/disable anti-theft detection, add watermark, set recording and streaming quality, set night vision mode (IR, spotlight or off entirely), adjust audio settings, pick your preferred notification style, name the camera, enable/disable the status LED and check for firmware updates.

Needless to say, you can share access to the cameras with other people.

Some features like image quality and two way audio can be accessed from the streaming/feed screen as seen above.

AUDIO / VIDEO QUALITY

Normally 4K (8MP) cameras have very good video quality but just like with most wireless models the eufyCam S330 lacks the bitrate needed for that (rarely goes over 300K/s).

As you can see image quality is still considerably good but again if your primary goal is image quality (especially at over 10-15 meters range) the eufyCam S330 might fall a bit short.

eufy has also added an 8x digital zoom with their eufyCam S330 cameras and well, digital zoom was never something that emphasized on detail and yes the same applies here.

In regards to night vision quality the 6 IR LEDs can illuminate up to roughly 15-18 meters so no problems here.

Needless to say, however the 8x digital zoom performs even worse at night.

CONCLUSION

   The eufyCam S330 (eufyCam 3) 4K solar security camera may not be perfect but it delivers on most things the majority of consumers are looking for in a security camera system. These of course include picture and audio quality, ease of installation, wireless connectivity, battery life, two way communication, local recording and of course a good number of software features. Of course, the spotlight is also a very good feature that we don’t see a lot (and it can be used to deter people trying to get into your home or car) but what really matters is battery life and thanks to the integrated solar panels I haven’t had to recharge them for the past 3 months that I’ve been using them. Yes, I happen to live in a sunny place so that certainly matters but the fact that battery life hasn’t dropped beneath 60% during these months really says a lot. Video quality on the other hand is surprisingly not the strongest selling point of the eufyCam S330 and even though 4K resolution is not something we see a lot in the market just like with many other wireless batteries powered models bitrate is an issue (again, rarely climbs over 300K/s). My guess is that eufy could had upped the bitrate but that would generate several issues including reduced battery life, reduced number of devices recording simultaneously and reduced total recording time (probably also higher temperatures inside the enclosures). For me these drawbacks would actually be well worth it so I do think eufy should have that setting available for more demanding users (with a warning attached that something may not work as advertised) but I guess we just can’t have it all.

   With almost a month left before Christmas the eufyCam S330 2-camera set retails for USD379.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 405.34Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de) a price tag which is quite balanced for what you’re getting (unfortunately at this time the 1TB kit was not available on Amazon but you can grab that Seagate drive separately for around USD50/60Euros). At the end of the day the eufyCam S330 may not be perfect and it probably won’t satisfy the really demanding users out there but it will be plenty for the majority and since it does deliver exactly what eufy claims it deserves the Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality (IP67 Certified Enclosure)
- 4K 8MP CMOS Sensor (Overall Image Quality)
- Wireless Connectivity
- Two Way Audio
- Integrated Solar Panel
- 13400mAh Battery Pack
- IR & Spotlight Night Vision
- PIR Motion Sensor
- AI Self Learning Engine
- Available Features
- 16GB Local Storage (Up To 16TB)

CONS

- Average Bitrate (For 4K)