eufyCam 2C Review – Is it better than the ANKER eufyCam E & Arlo HD?

I reviewed the eufyCam E almost a year ago, and I was extremely impressed with it, to the point that I still use it to this day.

The claims of 365-day battery life are probably not far off, I have only charged one of the cameras since my review, and that was because I had a kitchen extension done so the builders were triggering recordings constantly for 6 weeks.

Since then Anker/Eufy has launched the 2^nd generation of cameras with the eufyCam 2 and the eufyCam 2C.

While all of them are similar, there are some important differences between the three, including price.

eufyCam 2C vs 2 vs E Comparisons

You can currently by the eufyCam 2C system for just £199 (after £50 voucher applied) while the eufyCam E is £269.99 (after £60 voucher applied).

Preview	Product	Rating	Price
	eufy Security eufyCam 2C 2-Cam Kit Security Camera Outdoor...	No ratings yet	£148.00	Buy on Amazon

Preview	Product	Rating	Price
	eufy Security Wireless Home Security Camera System, eufyCam...	No ratings yet		Buy on Amazon

Based on the specification, I would say there is almost no point opting for the eufyCam E currently. Yes, the battery life is superb, but with this, you get human detection, a spotlight, improved night and improved night vision while saving £70. The lack of theft detection on the 2C is perhaps worth considering, depending on where you plan to place the camera.

There is a £100 difference between this and the eufyCam 2. With that, the battery life jumps back up to a year, and you get theft detection. More importantly, it uses a Sony Starvis sensor which offers exceptional low light performance.

Preview	Product	Rating	Price
	eufy Security eufyCam 2 Wireless Home Security Camera...	No ratings yet		Buy on Amazon

Eufy Homebase vs Homebase 2

The Homebase has been reduced in size considerably. the older Homebase uses a 16GB microSD card which you can optionally upgrade, the newer model uses built-in memory and there should be an option to expand this via USB in the future.

Set up & App

As I was already running the eufyCam E, I have the Eufy Security app installed, so I skipped that part of the setup.

Pairing the hub and cameras to the system was perhaps the easiest example I have experience yet. All three devices paired quickly, with no issues. There were no Wi-Fi passwords to pass over because the hub uses Ethernet, and the cameras sync to the hub.

The downside to using a hub is that the cameras need to connect to that rather than your Wi-Fi, so if you live in a very large property you may need to consider placement. I live in a moderately large 4-bed semi, and with the hub central in the house it can pick up the signal from the camera on my garage door across the garden, then on the other side of the house on the front gate.

Performance

Performance is superb, much better than expected considering this is considerably cheaper than the eufyCam E.

Daytime video recordings are about the same as the eufyCam E and generally on par with most other 1080p cameras I have used recently.

However, even though this is not listed as using a Sony Starvis sensor, I still get colour night vision. This seems to be if you have it on the spotlight on mode, but I have found that I get good quality colour footage even when the spotlight doesn’t activate.

I find this dramatically improves the quality of footage and will significantly improve your ability to identify individuals that do any criminal activities around your property. It would be interesting to see what the difference in night footage is like between this and the more expensive eufyCam 2.

Unlike the eufyCam 2 and eufyCam E, this includes a spotlight to boost night-time footage. In my location, I found that it doesn’t improve the footage that much, there is already enough light from the streets to enable the colour night recording. The spotlight itself isn’t very bright compared to floodlight cameras or other spotlight cameras. One of my cameras is located next to the bedroom window, so quite high from the ground, I can’t imagine it will make much if any difference to any recordings. The 2^nd camera is located above my garage side door and the spotlight is quite bright when up close, so in this case, it would work well.

Even if the spotlight doesn’t help much, I feel like it is useful, making any would-be burglars aware of the cameras when they enter my garden.

As always with wireless cameras, the footage it captures can sometimes a little hit or miss. It is motion-triggered so you are only ever going to get a short clip, this may not always result in a clip with any identifiable information. You can improve this and sacrifice some battery by adjusting the surveillance settings per camera under the camera working mode. For example, you can increase the maximum clip length from 20s to 60s and reduce the retrigger interval down to 5s.

The human detection dramatically reduces the notifications you receive. You can have it set up so that you only get notified during the day with human detection, or have it as standard with all the time.

A bit more control and clarity about the settings would be nice. I would like to have it with motion sensitivity as low and recording motion events all the time, but then only ever be notified about humans.

NAS recording via RTSP

Similar to the eufyCam E, you not only have microSD recording via the included 16GB EMMC card but the option to record over RTSP to a NAS, this can exponentially increase the storage at no cost if you already have a NAS.

I have tried this with Blue Iris and Synology, you can’t get 24/7 recording, which makes sense as it would trash the battery, so the stream starts whenever motion is detected. With Blue Iris, I have found this causes issues, you can add the feed to the system when it is live, but Blue Iris doesn’t poll the feed enough to notice when it switches back on.

I have however set it up in Synology and it works perfectly.

I covered this more in my in this post.

Cloud Recording

Alternatively, Eufy does have a cloud storage option too, and it is similarly priced to other big names. There is a 30-day retention and it is either $2.99pcm/$29.99yr per camera or $9.99/$99.99 for up to 10 cameras. So that is roughly £7.75 for 10 cameras vs £8 for unlimited with Ring and £7.99 for 5 cameras with Arlo, and considerably cheaper than the £5 per camera fee of Ezviz.

Price and Competition

The eufyCam E was suspiciously similar in design to Arlo, and they are the most obvious competitor.

The Arlo HD VMS3230 is £209.99, but lower specced than the 2C with 720p, motion alerts only, and limited cloud storage.

Preview	Product	Rating	Price
	Arlo HD Wireless Home Security Camera System CCTV, Wi-Fi,...	No ratings yet	£316.69	Buy on Amazon

Reolink has a range of excellent camera, these are bought singularly and don’t require a hub. I have found that they work well, but they lack human detection. The Argus 2 does have a Starlight sensor though, so you get colour night vision.

Preview	Product	Rating	Price
	Reolink Rechargeable Battery Solar Camera Outdoor Wireless,...	No ratings yet		Buy on Amazon

Blink XT2 is a superb option if you want something as cheap as possible, I was impressed with the original XT. However, I think for the extra £20 you will still be better off with the eufyCam 2C.

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Ring has a few options, the Spotlight Cam Battery has much better spotlight performance, but I found the battery performance to be poor because of this. The new Ring Stick Up Cam is only £69.99 and offers 1080p making this more affordable upfront, but you will need to use the cloud recording service, and Ring have had some publicity issues recently regarding their poor privacy.

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Overall

If you are on the lookout for a wireless outdoor home surveillance camera, the eufyCam 2C should absolutely be on your shortlist. The price point is far more attractive than the only eufyCam E, 6 months battery life if more than enough, and the AI human detection is a vast improvement over the basic motion detection from the older model. The night time footage in colour was a welcome surprise, making the overall video quality superior to the eufyCam E and most other wireless surveillance cameras I have used.

It is cheaper than its main competitors, notably Arlo, who’s most affordable model is still £10 more, has a lower resolution, limited free cloud recording and basic motion detection.

Overall I think the eufyCam 2C  is superb and there is very little if anything competing with this at this price.

James Smythe( Editor-in-chief )

I am James, a UK-based tech enthusiast and the Editor and Owner of Mighty Gadget, which I’ve proudly run since 2007. Passionate about all things technology, my expertise spans from computers and networking to mobile, wearables, and smart home devices.

As a fitness fanatic who loves running and cycling, I also have a keen interest in fitness-related technology, and I take every opportunity to cover this niche on my blog. My diverse interests allow me to bring a unique perspective to tech blogging, merging lifestyle, fitness, and the latest tech trends.

In my academic pursuits, I earned a BSc in Information Systems Design from UCLAN, before advancing my learning with a Master’s Degree in Computing. This advanced study also included Cisco CCNA accreditation, further demonstrating my commitment to understanding and staying ahead of the technology curve.

I’m proud to share that Vuelio has consistently ranked Mighty Gadget as one of the top technology blogs in the UK. With my dedication to technology and drive to share my insights, I aim to continue providing my readers with engaging and informative content.

Last update on 2024-10-07 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API