Eufy's impressive new smart cameras use AI to identify you and your pet

Smart home company Eufy's new wireless security camera, the EufyCam 3, bumps up the resolution to 4K and adds a built-in solar panel to extend the year-long battery life even further. But its best features come from the new HomeBase 3 hub that the camera connects to wirelessly. It combines local processing of video to send you alerts about a person, pet or vehicle, as well as facial recognition to let you know it's a stranger or a family member.

Another interesting feature is the option to upgrade the storage to up to 16TB of local storage, along with a hard drive slot. Eufy says this is enough for 60 years of motion-activated video footage. The system isn't capable of traditional continuous recording, but if you have a 4TB external storage drive installed, it's capable of recording 2-months of back-to-back 120-second clips with short intervals between them.

The Edge security system, which is HomeBase 3 and two EufyCam 3s, costs $594.99. Additional EufyCam 3 cameras cost $219.99, and there are three and four camera kits. But the really good news is that almost all of Eufy's existing smart cameras, video doorbells and sensors will be compatible with the new HomeBase 3 (see sidebar).

This means that if you bought the Euficam 2, you can switch it from HomeBase 2 to HomeBase 3, and your existing camera can recognize faces, recognize your pets or animals hiding outside, and Can differentiate between vehicles and others. will acquire the ability to do so. speed events.

The system works with the Eufy app, where you can view recorded and live footage. The new cameras have two-way audio, so you can talk to visitors or use a built-in siren to scare away intruders. It may integrate with Amazon Alexa and Google Home, but there's no Apple Home compatibility at launch. (The Eufy HomeBase 2 and many EufyCam 2 line of cameras are Apple Home compatible).

The EufyCam 3 is Eufy's first 4K resolution camera; It has 1.4 f aperture lens, color night vision and built-in spotlight. The 13,400mAh battery should offer up to a year of battery life, plus the integrated solar panel can keep it running for a long time with a few hours of sunlight a day.

"Most current home security systems are motion-triggered digital video recorders, creating a constant stream of false alerts and vast amounts of wasted video data," said Frank Zhu, general manager of Eufy Security. "Our new edge security system solves both issues while maintaining our commitment to customer privacy and value. Our customers pay no subscription fee to store or access their data."

While Eufy does provide a cloud video storage service, it does not require recording or viewing of footage. Instead, all videos are stored locally on 16GB of built-in 256-bit encrypted local storage, which can be expanded up to 16 TB. HomeBase also does video processing while keeping your footage local. It uses a self-learning AI Eufy calls BionicMind, which the company says will learn and improve over time.

The option to upgrade to 16TB of storage with a hard drive slot, not relying on cloud storage, and getting consistent video recording will be very appealing to many. There aren't many alternatives to off-the-shelf smart home camera systems with 24/7 continuous video recording, most of which use motion-triggered recording. Google Nest offers it on some of its cameras, and Google Nest also has facial recognition, as does Apple's HomeKit Secure Video. But Eufy doesn't charge a monthly subscription fee to view recorded footage—which Google Nest does, and with Apple's HomeKit Secure Video, you'll need to pay for iCloud storage.

The Edge Security System is available today at Amazon or Best Buy in the US and is coming to the UK, Germany and Australia on September 30th.