eufy Indoor Cam E220

The eufy Indoor Cam E220 is a mains-powered indoor camera that pans a full 360 degrees and tilts through 96 degrees. It records at 2K, which is a real step up from the 1080p that most indoor cameras still use, and it tracks a person automatically as they cross the room.

The part worth knowing is the storage model. The E220 records to a microSD card in the camera, and eufy charges no subscription for the basic functions. That is a different bargain from most rivals, where the camera is cheap and the monthly fee is where the money goes.

What HomeKit Secure Video gives you

Secure Video moves the clever part of the camera onto hardware you own. A HomePod or an Apple TV in the house analyses the footage, and the clips go to iCloud encrypted end to end, where they do not count against your storage allowance.

In return you get person, animal, vehicle and package detection, activity zones so the camera ignores a busy pavement, and face recognition drawn from the People album in your own Photos library.

You need an iCloud+ plan for it. The 50 GB tier covers one camera, 200 GB covers five, and 2 TB removes the limit.

Note that Apple Home shows the Secure Video stream at a lower resolution than the camera records locally. You get the sharper footage on the SD card and in the eufy app, and the Apple Home clips are the ones with the on-device analysis and the encrypted iCloud storage.

Before you buy

An SD card is not usually supplied. Budget for one, and for a card rated for continuous video writing rather than a cheap camera card.

If you want 4K and colour night vision, the eufy Indoor Cam E30 is the newer model in the same family.

Specifications