EufyCam E: Poor range, sensivity

#1

For years, I owned a first-generation Arlo camera system, and generally was pleased with it. But when eufy came out with its systems, I decided to update to the newer technology.

I am disappointed in the eufyCam E cameras for several reasons:

  1. My eufyCams do not trigger videos until a moving subject is almost directly in a straight line of sight from the camera. If a subject enters an activity zone, it is not picked up until it is almost directly in front of the camera. If the subject is 10 to 15 degrees off the front of the camera, it will not be detected. (My old Arlo cameras have a much wider area of sensitivity.)

  2. The range of the eufyCams is poor. Anything further than about 10 feet from the cameras is not picked up, even if the movement is well within the activity zone. (My old Arlo cameras would pick up motion not only at my front door (8 ft. away), but on my driveway (20 ft. away) and my mailbox at the curb (30 ft. away. All of these spots are in different directions.)

  3. My eufyCams, with only 2 LED lights (Auto night vision is on), make it almost impossible to recognize people at night. (My old Arlo cameras have 12 LEDS (!) and light up the recording area nicely.)

Note: I am well aware of the limitations of wireless cameras, including lag time, reach, etc. But my eufyCams are mounted in the exact same spots as my old Arlos were, but the Arlos performed much better. In addition, the Arlos had the ability to trigger other cameras when motion was detected in one camera.

Three things I DO like about the eufyCams are the sirens, the two-way audio and the long battery life. However, later Arlo models have added these features, so I may take another look at them.

#2

I have 2 eufyCam Es.

I generally don’t have an issue with the motion sensor system on the cameras. I do get some false alarms (mainly on rainy or windy days), but most of the time these cameras seem to work really well.

As I understand, and please correct me if I am wrong, the camera is triggered by the PIR motion sensor (infrared sensor). It is not triggered by image of the camera.
If the PIR senses motion, then the camera turns on, and checks for movement.
If the PIR does not sense motion, then nothing happens.

In the eufy app, you can fine tune the sensitivity of the PIR sensor (Camera Settings - Motion Detection - Sensor sensitivity). That is all you can do to make the camera turn on quicker/slower.

While I don’t know the Arlo cameras, I imagine they use a similar type of sensing.
But maybe their PIR sensor is more sensitive or has a wider “field of view”. That could make a difference.
And if this is the case, there is nothing that you can do to make the eufy more sensitive.

I think that the range could depend on the position of your camera.

One of my cameras is looking at an open porch, with no walls nearby. This camera picks up motion from about 3-4 yards (max).

My other camera is looking at a smaller hallway, with columns in it, and a door right underneath it. As soon as I open the door, the camera senses the motion. And I have another door at about 5-6 yards away, in the end of the hallway. The PIR picks that up too.

As for the night vision, it is a nice feature. And if the camera is positioned correctly, the image can be quite nice. But it has its limitations. I don’t think that the night mode is good for face recognition. The IR light makes the face not very natural looking. And, the quality of the night image is lower than the daytime one (I don’t have any big issues with the nighttime image quality).

I picked eufy because of good battery life, decent image quality and no monthly fees. At the time Arlo could not provide all of that.

There are many different manufacturers out there. Every one has a few strong points, and then a few which as not so strong.
If what you are saying is correct, maybe the Arlo is a better fit for you.