So I’ve had this camera for around 3 months. It’s my first battery camera from any manufacturer. I’m currently running hikvision nvr and 8mp cameras setup on the front and side this is all wired connections and after have some work done on the house it created a blind spot for the front camera. I thought maybe trying out a battery camera. I’d looked at the 365 day battery cams and base stations but decided to try this out as it’s slightly smaller and all in one albeit with 120 days battery which I knew when purchasing would not be the case in real world test.
The device was really simple to setup and to get going. Once I charged it up I put it up in a few minutes and it was ready to go. It shows in the app the Wi-Fi signal test to see if your position is going to be ok. Mine was quite far away from the router but still had a decent signal.
Set up motion detection in the app and created the area I wanted to be alerted. The motion detection works as advertised and will only record from the moment it picks up a detection. If you need to see what happened before the incident then these systems are not suited for that obviously battery limits it. Sometimes you might catch the last few seconds of someone moving. Maybe extending the motion detection zone to just have full motion so you might pick the event up earlier.
On my nvr you can set it 5- 10 - 30 second or more before event as it’s recording all the time.
I’ve been impressed with the nightvision but decided on not using it as we have a street light that the camera picks up the light really well plus motion lights on the front of house
The eufy app is easy to use and notifications come through really quick with option to stream event or download the event.
The camera apparently with AI on the chip does seem to learn the area and the motion setting like human. At first it wasn’t detecting people going to the car from behind the car but now it seems to pick them up no problem half a person or head :-)
Quality of video at night without nightvision and with small motion lights you can see the person clear enough to see who they might be. I can’t say about nightvision as I haven’t used it enough to give honest opinion.
Now for battery and this is where you would obviously need to think about what your usage for this camera will be. I have this set up on the front and for only human motion detection at sensitivity level 5 out of 7 on the driveway which covers two drive (next door).
I’m averaging about 20 to 30 detections a day at the moment some days might be less and it’s using just under 3% a day or slightly less of the battery which is giving me about 35 days until around 10% then I charge it. This is on the optimal surveillance where video clip can be up to 60 seconds. The other you can limit it to 20 seconds. You also have option to customise length of video and detection to whatever you want but will drain battery faster. I personally haven’t tried this yet.
I purchased the small Eufy solar panel on offer just after I got the camera thinking at the time I might move the camera eventually to garden where you could just put it on and have the panel slow charging through the winter as I honestly not sure the panel would look good at all on the front of house or even where to place it.
I’m going to keep it on the front as I really haven’t got a problem with it.
It works great and has a great video for what it says it is. Does it match my hikvision cams for video quality? No because they are wired and are 8mp and of course that’s a completely different setup.
I purchased this knowing it might have limitations and have come away really happy with the purchase.
The storage is 8gb which is about 7.3 on device. It’s been running non stop and 3 months used 5.9gb of the storage which for 20-30 detections daily is pretty impressive
If you’re reading this a eufy solar panel on the front of the house might be ideal for you to plug into the back of the camera and you never have to charge it and you don’t have to think about position and how easy to take down and recharge the battery. (You can get a long usb cable and a portable battery pack and charge it that way outside.)
You might only get the occasional coming and going at the front or side of house which this again would be ideal for.
You may want to just have it in the garden and again I think that would be longer battery life especially with the panel.
It’s all down to what your needs are and what you expect.
For me it’s covering the blind spot well and gives me better security for it. Obviously I’d like better battery life but as this was a first test and purchase of a battery camera Im happy with the camera and I’ll see how it copes with winter and if that changes battery life.
I hope something in this review helps give a better understanding of the camera.
Update 26/2/22
Camera has had a few updates since release and seems to have improved various things especially battery life.
Battery is currently at 8% and since last full charge been on for 39 days with 963 recordings/events
Since I’ve had it on the front I’ve had two instances where someone has tried the car doors and the camera never picked them up I had to rely on my hikvision cameras higher up which is a shame as this camera was perfectly positioned to catch their faces clearly.
| Manufacturer | Anker |
|---|---|
| Part Number | T8131321 |
| Product Dimensions | 9.6 x 5.7 x 5.7 cm; 399.16 Grams |
| Batteries | 1 Lithium Ion batteries required. (included) |
| Item model number | T8131321 |
| Size | 1 Count (Pack of 1) |
| Power Source | Battery Powered |
| Wattage | 5 watts |
| Item Package Quantity | 1 |
| Plug profile | Wall Mount |
| Special Features | 2 Way Audio, Night Vision, Motion Sensor |
| Usage | Outside; Professional |
| Included Components | SoloCam E40, Micro USB Charging Cable, Screw Mount, Screw Pack, and Owner's Manual. |
| Batteries included? | Yes |
| Batteries Required? | Yes |
| Battery Cell Type | Lithium Ion |
| Item Weight | 399 g |
