Review of “Eufy Indoor Camera” 2K Pan & Tilt

They need to be useful, have privacy features and look great. The Eufy Indoor Camera 2K Tilt and Pan are good enough for two.

This white, bulbous, plastic blob is great at keeping an eye on multiple rooms and areas while you’re away. It can also go dark when you return home, unless your dog begins to surf. In which case, it can shout at you.

It costs only $50 so we won’t complain about the ugly design. The camera’s chunky shape makes it difficult to use one of its best features, the ability to pivot 360 degrees on the base. The camera can live stream and record up to 2K video and also has AI smarts on board that can distinguish between people, pets, or general motion.

The Eufy Indoor Cam P&T can be wired and stores footage locally. There are no subscription fees, but cloud storage is available.

It’s also compatible with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and HomeKit including HomeKit Secure video.

Is it really the best indoor smart security camera? What does it do against other budget security cameras like the Wyze Cam, Wyze Cam, Blink Mini, and the TP-Link Kaa Spot?

The Eufy Indoor Cam has been with us for two months. Read on to see our complete review.

Eufy Indoor Camera 2K Tilt & Pan: Design and setup

The Eufy Indoor Cam Pan and Tilt has strong department-store-security-camera vibes, resembling a mini version of those large dome cameras that hang on the ceiling and follow you as you check out the dinnerware.

Eufy’s black, round, large camera face follows you wherever you go, which can be very unnerving. My household insisted that it be turned off whenever anyone was home. The camera doesn’t make a loud motor noise when it moves, which is a plus as the thing is obvious enough.

This is likely why pan and tilt has not taken off in smart homes yet. While we won’t be mounting it on our ceiling, but it can be done, you still get some of the functionality by placing it on a flat surface.

It was easy to set up, as we didn’t have to mount it on a ceiling or wall (a mount is provided). All we had to do was scan the Eufy app and then follow the instructions to connect it to our Wi-Fi network (2.4GHz). It was also easy to connect HomeKit, which works with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant to stream security footage to a smart-screen.

Features

This camera is feature-rich, which is a term that is often overused in the smart home industry.

The motorized tilt and pan (360 horizontally and 96 vertically) are the main reason to buy this camera. However, the Eufy Indoor Camera has 2k video quality, customizable activity zones and a 125-degree field view.

You can store local data to a microSD Card (upto128GB), as well as continuous video recording (upto 12 days with the biggest SD card), IR nightvision, pet detection, person and pet detection and sound detection (including a crying baby setting). These features are available at no additional cost, but they are included free with this service.

Cloud subscriptions are available for $2.99 per month for 30 days video history for one camera or $9.99 per 10 cameras. However, it is only for video storage and not for SD cards (which are not included).

You can set it up with HomeKit to enable HomeKit Secure Video. Your videos will be stored using your iCloud storage. You can also use geofencing and scheduling to instruct the camera when to record.

Sound detection can detect all sounds and just baby crying, so it can be used to monitor your baby. However, there is currently no two-factor authentication (Eufy claims it’s coming), so it’s best not to put this in a child’s room until it’s more secure.

Pet Command is our favorite feature. The Pet Command is a camera that can draw an activity zone. It will then bark a command to the camera every time it spots an animal in this zone. We set this up to shout at our dog when he comes looking for scraps. Our dog is an awful counter-surfer. The command can be recorded to your voice, which makes it more powerful (see video below).

Eufy Indoor Cam 2K Pan & Tilt: Performance

We have tested many security cameras, and the Eufy Cam 2K offers the best daylight video. The 2k produces vivid, detailed images. We could zoom in to read notes on the fridge’s side. Even though there is no color option, night vision is also excellent. Objects are clearly identified with no blurring or distortion, and it’s easy to identify people and animals.

Due to the small speaker at its base, the two-way audio can be a bit weak. Although you can hear the noises in the room, it is not very loud. However, the speaker has a loud siren that is loud enough for someone to pay attention.

We tried a few locations for our test unit. We started as we do in our kitchen on a shelf at the far end. It was clear that it would be more practical to place it in the middle, since we could see into every corner of the living space and kitchen with the 360 rotation.

Rotation is more like an owl-like back-and-forth than an Exorcist-full-circumference job. You must stop going after you reach the farthest point. The Eufy app’s tilt and pan controls are very intuitive and responsive. Unfortunately, the Eufy app has a limited vertical range of 96 degrees. This means that you won’t be able to see the entire floor if your camera is above the coffee table.