Anker Eufy or Unifi Protect

hey MPU,

Another buying decision tree. My goal for the remainder of 2020 and 2021 is to remove all the Echo Dots in my house and (hopefully) all Ring devices. I know I may lose out on some function or other, I get it. I am usually not a privacy person, I know that when I signed up an e-mail address decades ago, that would be the beginning of selling one’s digital soul so to speak (along with newsletters, social media, etc) However, I was disturbed more than usual on Amazon releasing Echo Sidewalk (granted the feature can be turned off, but it is still creepy.

Looking around Best Buy yesterday, I noticed that Anker Eufy has almost all similar devices as Ring does and HomeKit compatible, Homekit Video Secure. The other option that I thought about was Unifi. I have Unifi Ubiquiti AP’s throughout my home, I thought about adding their cameras and their new doorbell.

Any thoughts, comments, suggestions?
Am I entering the ridiculous category?

IIRC Dan Moren had the Eufy stuff and returned it all because it was terrible.

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I use Abode for my home security and it works great. They just released an outdoor camera that doubles as a door bell with “HomeKit support coming” coughsimplysafecough but bought it anyway to try out. I’ve liked it so far and you can have 24/7 monitoring if you want.

On the flip side @MacSparky seems to really like the Eufy cameras.

I’ve had two since March with no issues except shorter than expected battery life - if you forget to turn them off and have kids playing on the front porch you’ll get like 90 recordings & use 5-10% of battery in an hour. I’ve created a “Cameras back on” shortcut to set a reminder to turn them back on when I disable them.

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I have two of the Eufy 2 Pro outdoor cams, the wired doorbell cam, and the indoor 2K cam. I’ve been very pleased with them. The only bummer is that the wired doorbell cam does not have Homekit support, while the others do. I think the wireless doorbell cam either has Homekit support, or it is on the way
(Eufy has a good track record with the other cameras of following through on promises to add Homekit support), but the wired version does not.

I’ve had nothing but bad experiences with security cams until getting the Eufy cams. The battery life isn’t as good as promised, but WAY better than what I got with the Canary battery cameras. I like the ecosystem. I wish their doorbell camera would get on HomeKit (though I keep hearing rumors that is coming.) The price/feature mix works for me.

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Just installed a Eufy solar panel on a cam at 9% battery. Hoping it will get back to full & end the battery shuffle…

eufy Security Certified eufyCam Solar Panel, Compatible with eufyCam, Continuous Power Supply, 2.6W Solar Panel, IP65 Weatherproof https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08L3NN3W2/

18% after 22 h - sweet!
29% after 24h!!!

Update: it got back to 100% on solar and is at 99% today after a full day of rain and clouds. Highly recommended.

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I didn’t want to start a new thread over this. But I remembered another Camera option to throw into the mix.

Does anyone have experience with Synology Surveillance? I am trying to compare them with Unifi Protect and Anker Eufy as well.