Top critical review
1.0 out of 5 starsLong Term Review - EUFY Indoor Cam
Reviewed in Canada on October 26, 2020
Update: 3 year long term review.
3 of 4 cameras have stopped working.
Camera 1: Unable to pair. Returned.
Camera 2: Became foggy over time (indoor, climate controlled). Daytime images are acceptable, but night vision was unusable. contacted EUFY, out of warranty, no solution. Camera is still online and in use, but cannot be used at night.
Camera 3:: went offline suddenly, removed from EUFY app and Homekit, cannot reset. (holding the sync button and wait for two beeps that never happen). Camera fails to connect to wifi network when trying to re-pair. 3rd Camera, same issue
Conclusion: Do not buy.
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Finally, a great priced camera with good specs that supports not only Homekit, but Homekit Secure Video. I purchased an initial camera, and it was delivered next day from Amazon. The packaging is nice, and the camera looks to be of good quality for the price.
Version Reviewed:
EUFY Security App: 2.0.1-2.2.1
Camera Firmware: 2.0.8.9
IOS: 14.1
Initial setup requires use of the EUFY App. A HomeKit device should pair directly from the QR code, scanned from the Home app, and this camera does not. You need to initially pair in the EUFY security app, which requires making an account with EUFY, and then pairing to Homekit through the EUFY app. One Star off.
With the firmware that shipped with the Camera, you are immediately asked to do a Firmware update through the EUFY app, which is fine. At this point, I attempted to pair the Camera with Homekit, and was left with hours of frustration, as no matter how many pairing attempts, factory resets, camera restarts, phone restarts, network resets I tried, it won't pair. One Star off.
Contact EUFY, and they are very responsive, and try to be helpful, but as this is a $60 (CAN) camera, their tech support is limited to "Send it back and we will refund you in full, or replace it with another one". Which again, is fine and appreciated.
Second camera, same issues.
Third Camera, same issues.
After more than a week of back and forth, EUFY recommend sending it back for refund. Just as I am about to send it back, I log on and there is a new release of the EUFY APP (2.0.1), which is released to fix exactly the problem I have been having
"1. Fix the bug that causes newly registered users failed to add Wired Doorbell and Indoor Camera"
So I try again, and this time, everything pairs perfectly as it should
I have now been using the camera (and 4 others purchased subsequent), and these are my impressions:
1. Upon initial setup, the cameras stayed online for a few hours, then went offline and became unresponsive. I had to reset, and re-pair a couple times. Since the initial install (late Sept 2020), the cameras have become more stable (there have been a few more app updates since my initial purchase (2.1.0, 2.2.0 and 2.2.1), and I believe that each subsequent release has contributed to camera stability.
2. The camera's still go offline sometimes, and can be flakey or slow to show a live view in the home app. A close/open of the app generally fixes the issue.
3. I have had some issues with the camera (through Homekit) not picking up motion in some cases. This has not been wide spread or repeatable.
4. Quality is limited to 1080p in the home app (this is a limitation of Homekit, and not the fault of EUFY).
5. Even with the reduced resolution in HomeKit (1080p vs 2k), the image quality is fine, in both day and night vision modes.
6. After pairing to Homekit, you can turn the Cameras "OFF" in the EUFY app, but you must (as of the current firmware) keep the "motion capture" setting turned on in the EUFY app (even though the camera is "OFF") or it will not record motion in Homekit.
7. Same with watermarking the timestamp, turn on in EUFY app to add the timestamp, even when turning off the Camera
8. I have now installed 5 different EUFY Indoor cams at a couple locations, and they all exhibit the same issues outlined above.
To sum up, I think the camera is a good value for $60 (CAN), and EUFY has been responsive in updating the APP and the camera's firmware, with each subsequent release. I would not recommend for a mission critical environment as the uptime is not 100%. However, as the firmware/app matures, the product is becoming more reliable and effective.
Note: This review is biased towards the Homekit and Homekit Secure Video capabilities of this camera.