2K video and smart alerts make this is a great camera, just not with HomeKit
A great, compact security camera, the Eufy Indoor Cam 2K isn't much of a looker, but is small and lightweight enough to tuck away anywhere. Its 125 degree field of view is a bit small however, and we'd strongly recommend the Pan & Tilt version for just $10 more if you have a larger space to cover. But otherwise all the features are here: 2K video, good night vision, person/pet detection, sound alerts, and local storage. It works with Alexa and Google, plus HomeKit, although it's better without Apple's restrictions.
Pros
- 2K video
- Inexpensive
- Local storage option
- Built-in siren
- HomeKit Secure Video
- Alexa, Google
- 2FA
Cons
- Basic Design
- Only 1080p in HomeKit
- Quiet speaker
- 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi
- Short power cord
Eufy’s diminutive indoor security camera does everything the big boys do for a lot less. You get 2K video, person and pet detection, sound alerts, activity zones, and even the option of continuous recording, all for under $40 and without any required subscription fees.
It also connects over Wi-Fi so there’s no need for a hub and it does plug in, so no worrying about dead batteries. But it won’t work if power goes out, and the short power cable will limit your placement options.
It’s one of only a handful of smart security cameras to work with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple’s HomeKit (with HomeKit Secure Video).
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It all sounds too good to be true, so is it? How does it compare to other budget security cameras such as the Ezviz C6CN, Wyze Cam, Blink Mini or the TP-Link Kasa Spot?
We’ve been living with the Eufy Indoor Cam 2K for a few weeks now, read on for our full review.
Eufy Indoor Cam 2k: Design and setup
A small, lightweight camera on a short, stick-like base, the Eufy Indoor Cam has a flexible head so you can angle it where you need – although the range is quite limited.
The design is similar to the original Nest Cam, although there’s no magnetic base and only the camera portion is adjustable, not the mount itself.
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Encased in white plastic with a black front holding the camera lens, IR lights, and LED status light, the camera is powered by an included Micro USB cable, which is about 4 feet long.
Around the back is the port for the power cable and a reset/sync button. The slot for a MicroSD card is on the side.
It’s an indoor-only camera so there’s no waterproofing, and it comes with a small mounting bracket for attaching the camera to the ceiling or wall. It can also just be popped on a shelf or table.
It doesn’t require or work with Eufy’s HomeBase, instead it connects wirelessly over your Wi-Fi network, 2.4GHz only.
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Setup was straightforward using Eufy’s well-designed app. Plug it in, scan the QR code on the base of the camera with the app, and follow the instructions to connect to your Wi-Fi network.
Connecting it to HomeKit currently has to be done through the Eufy app, so you have to sign up for a Eufy account first – something not everyone will be keen on.
You can also connect to Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa through the Eufy app, which gets you the option of streaming security footage to a smart screen.
Eufy Indoor Cam 2k: Features
Like its stablemates the EufyCam 2 and the Eufy Indoor Cam Pan & Tilt, the Eufy Indoor Cam has a ton of features. Pretty much everything you might want is here – with facial recognition being the only missing piece (and you can get that through HomeKit Secure Video).
You get 2K streaming, motion-activated recording, a slightly small 125 degree field of view, IR night vision, artificial intelligence-powered alerts for pets and people, audio notifications for loud sounds and crying (making this is great option for a baby monitor), customizable activity zones, and a built-in siren that can activate on motion.
A feature we love is the Pet Command, which will play an audio alert automatically when it detects a pet in an activity zone.
You can even record your own command, so the camera will yell “Fido, off the couch” every time the dog lays down for a comfy nap.
Continuous recording of up to 12 days is an option if you use an optional MicroSD card, and you can set the camera to record or not based on your location, a schedule, or changing the status of your home to Away, Home or Disarmed in Eufy’s app.
For the privacy concerned there is two-factor authentication and the option of local storage with an up to 128GB microSD card. However, your device is still connected to the Eufy servers for features such as AI detection, so it’s not completely local.
Cloud storage is also an option and you get a free trial, after which it’s a competitive $2.99 a month for 30 days of video history for one cam, or $9.99 for 10. You can also pay annually for a discount.
The fee is only for storing video however, if you don’t sign up for the subscription you still get all the features, which is not the case with the likes of Nest, Wyze, and Arlo.
As we’ve mentioned it also works with HomeKit and HomeKit Secure Video, which will store your videos as part of the minimum 200GB iCloud plan you need for HSV.
Read this: Apple HomeKit Secure Video explained
However, you lose a lot of Eufy’s best features when you use it as a HomeKit camera (more on this in a bit).
Eufy Indoor Cam 2K: Performance
The Eufy Cam 2K does brilliantly with daytime footage. Delivering vivid, clear 2K video, with detailed images and vibrant colors.
Night vision was a little disappointing, still good but with less clarity, although it has a great range, making it possible to see pretty much the whole room at night.
Zoom is quite limited, surprisingly as there’s all those pixels to play with, but with an indoor camera it’s not as crucial.
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The two-way audio is pretty thin as there’s a tiny speaker in there. You can hear what’s happening but can’t be heard well and you’ll not be carrying on any chats with someone in the room.
The speaker does pack a decent siren however, which is loud enough to get someone’s attention. Both of these features are easily accessible from a live view for quick access when needed.
The smart notifications worked reasonably well – with alerts for people and motion coming in reliably and quickly.
You can adjust the alerts if you want them even quicker – opting not to get the thumbnail (which slows things down).
Those rich notifications are super helpful however, coming with a zoomed-in snapshot so you can quickly see what triggered the alert and whether you really need to launch the Eufy app or not.
Animal notifications were less reliable, which is not an issue we’ve had with other Eufy cams we’ve tested, and could be because we mounted this one on the ceiling (there’s an option to rotate video 180 degrees when you ceiling mount).
Sadly, this made using the Pet Command feature less reliable than when we tested the Pan & Tilt version.
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Sound detection is an excellent feature and one you don’t often find in cameras at this price point. It would be nice if it had a “dog barking” identification, but as it is it offers “all sound” or “baby crying” (we weren’t able to test the latter).
There’s a lot of customization in the settings to get exactly the notifications you want and avoid notification fatigue, have the camera shut off when you’re home, and even disable the status LED (which is red when recording and light blue when streaming). You can also shut off the night vision LEDs if you wanted to put it up against a window.
Eufy Indoor Cam 2K: HomeKit
And then there’s HomeKit. We love HomeKit Secure Video and have tested number of compatible cameras, including the Logitech Circle, Eve Cam and the Ecobee SmartCamera. But we wouldn’t heartily recommend this as a HomeKit option.
While it has all the features you get with HomeKit Secure video including using motion to trigger HomeKit automations, a scrollable timeline view of your video events, 10 days of recorded videos with your iCloud subscription, person/pet/vehicle detection, and facial recognition features, you lose most of Eufy’s best bits.
As soon as you pair the camera in HomeKit the 2K video is disabled in favor of 1080p Full HD, and the downgrade is noticeable – with substantially more artifacting, less clarity, and duller color.
AI alerts and sound detection are gone (although person, pet and vehicle now go through HomeKit), you can’t access two-way talk, and there’s no way to activate the siren from that app.
We also had some issues with notifications through HomeKit, they were much slower than with our other HomeKit cameras and sometimes didn’t record events at all.
Additionally, while a major feature of HomeKit is the secure video and privacy features, you can’t pair the Eufy Cam directly to HomeKit, you still need to sign up for a Eufy account and your device is still tied to Eufy’s China-based servers.
Finally, there’s no pet command option, or baby cry detection. So basically adding it to HomeKit turns this super useful camera into not much more than a simple stream and record device.
