Digital Camera World Verdict
The Eufy Video Doorbell E340 with Chime is a neat package that provides a more traditional chime than just a buzz of your phone initiated by the app. The app itself is easy to use for set-up, viewing and adjusting settings, while the doorbell itself has two cameras for visitors and the doorstep, including parcel detection. Image quality is great, including a color night mode, and the doorbell can be battery-powered or hardwired. The chime, however, would not connect to WiFi, so it was effectively useless.
Pros
- +
Dual cameras
- +
No subscription required
- +
Onboard storage
Cons
- -
Chime would not connect
- -
The doorbell is chunky
- -
No Apple HomeKit support
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These days, video doorbells are the norm for many people, offering an enticing blend of convenience and security. There are many options available, with some requiring what can be expensive subscriptions to view the camera feed in the app; the Eufy Video Doorbell E340 with Chime does away with this, thanks to onboard storage and the ability to install a microSD card in the chime.
This is a unique video doorbell that features two cameras: one to capture visitors, as usual, and another facing down towards your doorstep. At a time when many of us have multiple packages delivered every week, this second camera is much more useful than it may sound and helps to make the Eufy E340 one of the best doorbell cameras.
The advantage of the two cameras is that together they provide an extremely wide field of view using less distorted lenses than fisheye lenses. Fisheye lenses are often used with video doorbells, although this still doesn’t extend to the doorstep. The Eufy doorbell not only features a second camera aimed down at your doorstep, but it also includes parcel detection, alerting you to parcels that have been delivered.
A feature of the doorbell that will appeal to many is that it doesn’t rely on a subscription to use the app to receive alerts, view the camera and talk to visitors. The doorbell has 8GB of onboard storage, while the MiniBase Chime can accommodate a microSD card for storage.
Specifications
Camera resolution: 2048x1536px (main) 1600x1200px (step)
Onboard storage: 8GB
Power: 6500mAh battery or wired
Night vision range: 16ft / 5m
Weather protection: IP65
Dimensions: 15x5.2x2.8cm
Weight: 236g
Price and availability
The Eufy Video Doorbell E340 with Chime comes with everything you need to attach the doorbell to the front of your house, including straight and angled mounting brackets, screws and wall plugs. If you can’t or don’t want to drill into a surface to attach the doorbell, you can purchase third-party double-sided adhesive door mounts specifically for this model.
This doorbell and chime kit costs $240 / £179, which is reasonable considering the features and the fact that the chime is included. The doorbell is compatible with Alexa and Hey Google, so if you have one of these devices, you can purchase just the Doorbell E340 with a battery for $200 / £159. The doorbell can also be hardwired for power.
Build and handling
The doorbell, like previous Eufy doorbells, is pretty hefty at 15x5.2x2.8cm / 5.91x2.05x1.10in, with a weight of 236g / 8.33oz. Of course, once installed, this is inconsequential, but it may be a dealbreaker for people who prefer more discreet video doorbells. However, the build quality is excellent, and the doorbell has IP65 weather resistance.
The front of the doorbell is a glossy plastic that’s a strong magnet for smears and fingerprints, but this doesn’t obviously doesn’t impact functionality. The overall design falls in line with what you’d expect of a video doorbell, so no surprises here. The main difference is the bottom-mounted, at a 45-degree angle, camera and lights for capturing the doorstep.
For illuminating callers at night, there are top and bottom lights for use when the camera is set to color night vision, with front-mounted infrared lights for when the black and white night mode is used. The doorbell button edge also illuminates when motion is detected, so if motion detection is switched on, visitors can easily see the doorbell button at night, which is a useful feature.
The MiniBase Chime is a similar size to USB chargers, but features a more upright design with a light and speaker on the front of the white plastic casing. On the top is a Sync button, while on one side is a Reset pin hole and on the other is a microSD card slot. This allows you to save video footage and screenshots within the Chime.
Performance
Setting up the doorbell is incredibly easy with the ‘eufy-original eufy Security’ app guiding you through the process. You just have to make sure that your WiFi router is set to 2.4GHz and not dual-band with 5GHz during the setup process. Installation is also simple enough, but it requires a couple of drill holes unless you buy a third-party double-sided adhesive mount. It’s a shame one of these isn’t included in the kit.
The MiniBase Chime, which comes included in the kit reviewed, should have been easy to connect to the system. Unfortunately, it would not connect and could not be tested. I contacted Eufy support and was given a long list of obvious suggestions that I’d already tried and some more laborious and tedious hoops to jump through to try to get the chime connected to WiFi. All failed, and trying to connect the chime wasted over four hours with no success.
This may be a one-off, but some reviews of the MiniBase Chime on the Eufy website suggest set-up is easy, while others say it was tricky. It appears there is an issue in the system that needs to be ironed out. What makes this all the more frustrating is that the doorbell connects with ease, so you’d expect the chime to do the same. Connecting the doorbell to an Alexa or Google device for chime functionality might be a better option.
If you can get the MiniBase Chime to work, it offers eight chimes that sound when the doorbell is rung and when motion is detected, if motion detection is switched on. Doorbell footage can also be stored on microSD cards up to 128GB, which is useful because it means footage remains available if the doorbell is damaged or stolen. Just having that extra level of storage is handy, and the chime makes the doorbell audible to everyone rather than just the person with the app on their phone.
Moving back to the Doorbell E340, image quality is impressive with little barrel distortion compared to some video doorbells. It’s still visible as a result of the wide field of view provided by both cameras. The main camera has a 2048x1536px resolution, while the step camera comes in at 1600x1200px.
In daylight, HDR can be used to balance out exposure, but when app screengrabs were taken during sunset, without HDR, the results were impressive. It’s not the greatest dynamic range you’ll ever see, but detail did remain in most of a sky that was significantly brighter than the ground. Image quality is best in daylight, while it naturally reduces at night. In low light, there is a smoothing of detail that looks like heavy JPEG processing. The image produced, however, is more than clear enough.
JW PLAYER
Color night vision, as the name suggests, produces a color image at night, and the dual doorbell lights illuminate visitors and help to improve image quality. There is also an ‘optimal’ black & white setting which produces better image quality at night, so you can opt for whichever you prefer. The night vision range is 5m / 16ft, but during testing, visibility was much greater than this, possibly due to street lighting.
Sound quality is nothing special, but it is adequate, and on par with other video doorbells. There is a delay when using intercom mode, like other video doorbells, which means short interactions with callers are possible when necessary.
The eufy Security app provides easy access to a ton of features including options for motion detection, power, auto responses, Delivery Guard and all of the general settings you’d expect. Delivery Guard takes advantage of the bottom camera that captures your doorstep, and this feature can identify boxes with options for ‘Package Guarding’ where you can set an automated response or warning if someone approaches your package.
This is a strange feature in some ways because the doorbell could end up barking warnings at innocent visitors, but it may be attractive to people who have been victims of porch pirates.
Verdict
The Eufy Video Doorbell E340 with Chime is a great kit that delivers the benefits of a WiFi-connected video doorbell with the convenience of a traditionally inspired chime, if you can get the chime to connect to your WiFi. The failure in this department was frustrating and disappointing in equal measure.
The doorbell itself offers a range of features and certainly beats my Blink doorbell in this department, although it is also larger and heavier. Having two cameras with one aiming down at your doorstep is a useful and unique feature. Coupled with the parcel detection feature, which can identify parcels on your doorstep, it’s undoubtedly useful. Image quality is also great from both cameras, with the main camera offering 2K capture and the step camera coming in at 1080p.
This is a system that doesn’t rely on a subscription, so all you need is the Eufy app, and away you go. There’s also 8GB of onboard storage to save videos and screenshots, while the Chime can accommodate a microSD card for storing captures.
Features | Dual cameras, color night capture and parcel detection are just a few of the many useful features. | ★★★★★ |
Design | The glossy black design looks great, but the doorbell is larger and heavier than the competition. | ★★★★☆ |
Performance | The doorbell itself is great, but the chime would not connect to WiFi so it was effectively rendered useless during testing. | ★★★☆☆ |
Value | Price-wise, it’s not the least expensive video doorbell, but with no subscription fees, the total cost of ownership is reduced over the long term. | ★★★★☆ |
✅ Buy it...
- If you'd like doorstep video capture.
- If you'd like a feature-packed video doorbell.
🚫 Don't buy it...
- If you'd prefer a more discreet video doorbell.
- If you're on a tight budget since there are cheaper options.
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