By Gareth Butterfield
I’ve lost count of the number of video doorbells I’ve tested over the years, and they’re a gadget every house should have, so I’ve always got some more on the way for reviews.
But once I’ve spent a few weeks living with a new model, this is the one that always goes back up on my door.
It’s the Eufy E340, and I’ve had it for a few years now. That’s a very long stint for a piece of tech in my house. And there are a few reasons why I like it so much.
Firstly and, most importantly for me, it captures footage and records it for free. So you don’t have to pay a monthly fee for storing and sharing your videos. That’s always a big turn-off for me.
It has 2K footage, the AI detection is about as good as it gets, the battery lasts for at least a month even after two years, and the Eufy app makes it very easy to set up and use.
One of my favourite features, though, is its dual camera setup. One points at your visitor, as you’d expect, and another one points down at the door mat – where the visitor is likely to have left your parcel.
The AI system then cuts in and monitors the parcel that has been left, sending you an alert if anyone goes near it or if it gets picked up.
If there are some young ruffians inspecting it, you’ll know about it and you can use the two-way intercom to politely tell them to leave your property.
And when you get home and approach the parcel, the person detection will spot your face, know it’s you, and let you pick up the parcel without any fuss. It all works so seamlessly.
The price? At its standard price of 拢159.99 it’s pretty expensive for a video doorbell – but there’s an “Early Prime Day Deal” on Amazon right now, bringing it down to 拢89.99 – and that’s such a bargain.
The Eufy E340 is at its best when paired up to a Homebase, and they’re pretty pricey, but cheaper chime units are less than 拢30. You can just run it through the app though, which works fine. It just doesn’t make a loud noise across the house when someone rings the bell.
Amazon will give you the option to pay 拢90 for professional installation and, if you choose to hardwire it that’s probably worth doing, but mine’s mounted wirelessly and it took me five minutes. It was a doddle.
Amazon Prime Day runs from Tuesday, July 8 until Friday, July 11, so it’s likely this deal will expire after next Friday. But we don’t know how many are in stock and they’re likely to sell quickly – so grab one while you can.