Review on 🔔 Eufy Security Video Doorbell Kit - Battery-Powered, 2K Resolution, 180-Day Battery Life, Encrypted Local Storage, No Monthly Fees, HomeBase with Strong Wi-Fi and Integrated Storage by Mido Taylor

To make a long story short, the Eufy doorbell really does what it says on the tin. Setup is extremely easy, video is crisp and fast, motion alerts are relevant and customizable to your needs, and the app is *incredibly* easy to use. I appreciate having more control over who has access to my videos. While I would have liked the battery to be separate from the doorbell, when that is the case with other Eufy products, the battery lasts a very long time. Also, the support from Anker/Eufy is top notch so I don't worry about what happens if I need help. The actual device is quite large compared to other video doorbells and not exactly thin. ------ I'm a big fan of Eufy cameras (easy to install and set up, battery lasts long, very easy to use app, video is stored locally and cloud is an option, not a requirement). So when I saw the original Eufy doorbell, I was glad to see the product. Unfortunately, due to the age of my house, wiring the doorbell is not possible, so I'm forced to have a battery operated doorbell. I've had the Ring Doorbell 2 since it came out. It definitely works, but the longer I've had it, the more I disliked it. The sensitivity of triggering motion alerts varied greatly regardless of the settings made. (People will be outside without a traffic alert, but a car 20 feet away down the road will broadcast an alert.) Retrieving previously recorded alerts was always easy, but the recorded videos seemed a few seconds late. when the event actually started. Live View never seemed to work (even with Ring support), even though my WiFi hotspot was literally on the other side of the wall from where the doorbell was, and the Ring app showed a full WiFi connection. Battery life was pretty good, but I bought an extra battery to power the doorbell while the other battery is charging. As soon as the Eufy battery doorbell was announced, I received it as quickly as possible. As soon as you unpack it, the first thing you notice is that it's big. Much longer than the Ring Doorbell and slightly thicker. This is not a slim, flimsy doorbell. Also, the battery inside the doorbell is sealed; There is no separate battery. I think the trade-off is to have longer battery life, the device needs to be bigger to accommodate the larger battery. Since the doorbell is battery-powered, the way to mount it is to use a plastic shell that attaches to the wall and then the doorbell is attached to the shell. With the Ring Doorbell, even if it didn't have a battery, it still looked like there was a doorbell outside your door. Once you've removed your Eufy doorbell to charge, it's just an empty compartment. Since I've only had the doorbell on for a short time, I'm not sure it will last 180 days on a single charge. My concern is also that if the battery fails, the entire camera unit will become unusable. That being said, the battery life on other Eufy cameras I own is pretty close to what they claim and charges very quickly. Also the few times I contacted Anker/Eufy they were very helpful. While I don't know about the battery life, if Anker/Eufy is the same as it has been in the past then I won't worry if I need help. Video is significantly sharper than Ring. It also starts recording a few moments earlier than Ring, so you can see more activity before and after a typical Ring video clip. The EufySecurity app is easier to use and simpler than the Ring app. Extremely simple, all function controls are right where you think and you can download videos quickly and easily. The live view really works too. I understand that the issues I've had with live view on the ring may be due to issues unique to my circumstances, but the click to view live view and it just works is real Nice. Finally, if you have other Eufy products connected to the app, I really appreciate how it puts everything on one page (and can be customized in the order you want to see things). The video itself is stored locally in Homebase. If you need cloud recording, Eufy offers you one, but you don't have to use the doorbell. This means that the video is not located anywhere on the server (where other companies access it) unless you consent to it. The more I read about what Ring can and is doing with your video, I started to get uncomfortable. I want to know that the video literally "lives" in my house and it's up to me how I share it. The only thing Eufy doesn't have, like Ring, is the Neighbors component. Depending on what you're looking for and what area/district you live in, the Neighbors feature may or may not be helpful. To me, most of what was posted on it was unhelpful (most people shared videos of wildlife in the garden). I didn't miss it at all.