eufy E340 Video Doorbell review: dual cameras for a better view

The eufy E340 is making a serious bid for T3's best video doorbells list, in part by packing two separate cameras into one device – one to look for visitors and one aimed at a lower angle, to keep an eye on the doorstep and any packages that might be left there for you.

As ever with eufy kit, one of the big selling points is that you don't have to fork out for a monthly subscription. There's 8GB of storage built in, which means you can keep a sizeable archive of video backed up without having to send anything to the cloud.

Read on for my full review of the eufy E340 Video Doorbell, which should tell you whether or not it's the right pick for you. When you're done, we've got plenty more buying advice to give you – on everything from the best smart lights to the best smart speakers around.

eufy E340 Video Doorbell review: unboxing and setup

The eufy E340 Video Doorbell comes in a compact and carefully packed box, inside which is a mounting bracket set, screws, and wires for connecting to an existing wired doorbell setup, as well as the device itself. There's also a USB-A to USB-C cable for charging the battery, which pops out of the back of the video doorbell fairly easily.

Both wired and wireless installation are supported: I opted for the latter, as I didn't already have wiring in place. It's more convenient in terms of getting it fixed to your door, but it's less convenient in that the battery will need to be recharged every now and again – you might want to invest in a spare, though eufy says each charge will last 6 months.

Whether you go for the wired or wireless option, you don't need to be a DIY expert or have a whole afternoon free to get this fixed to the outside of your property. It just takes a few minutes to screw in the mount, and the video doorbell clips into it – eufy even provides a positioning card to help you get everything lined up.

After that, you need to get hold of the eufy Security app for Android or iOS, and that will take you through the rest of the setup process: it's all very simple and straightforward, and it shouldn't take you more than a few minutes. You're then ready to check the video feed whenever you like through your phone, as well as get alerts sent to the app.

eufy E340 Video Doorbell review: performance and features

The dual camera setup here lets you "see what matters, from door to floor" according to the box, which is exactly right: inside the app, the two camera views are split, so you can see both straight ahead and lower down. The doorbell being pressed activates an alert on your phone, and so does motion (you can set specific motion zones too, if needed).

From in the app, the 2K video quality is crisp and clear, and I found the night vision is more than good enough to see people in the darkness too – the built-in, motion sensitive lights help here too. The two-way audio is loud and well-defined too, better than you might expect from a competitively priced video doorbell.

In my testing, calls at the door quickly popped up in the app, as did the video feed. There's more of a delay when you're away from home, but that's to be expected. In general, it works very much as advertised, with no hiccups or stutters, and we're happy to recommend it if you're in the market for a video doorbell like this.

You can either have the doorbell operate independently and connect directly to your Wi-Fi, or hook it up to a eufy HomeBase for extra storage and connectivity to other Eufy kit (bundled deals including the HomeBase are also available). For most people though, I think the 8GB on-board storage will suffice.

eufy E340 Video Doorbell review: price and verdict

I found myself very impressed with what the eufy E340 Video Doorbell had to offer: it was easy to install, the video and audio quality is very good, the app is a breeze to use, it's reasonably priced and there are no monthly subscription fees to pay. There isn't much to put in the negatives column at all when it comes to this device.

Okay, getting the battery out is a bit awkward – you need the pin included in the pack – but then you wouldn't want an outdoor camera like this to be easy to steal. It's also fair to say kit from the likes of Amazon and Google is more broadly compatible with other devices and services, but that's hardly a deal breaker.

You've got neat features all the way through, like the warning you can sound if someone tries to nab a delivered package before you've got home, or the quick replies feature that means you can send a preset response with a tap, or the timestamps that are saved to let you know when a package arrives.

eufy has really thought about what people need from their video doorbells, and it shows. You can check the widgets embedded on this page for the latest pricing information on the Eufy E340 Video Doorbell, but at the time of writing I saw the device available at various online retailers for around £160 / $180.

eufy E340 Video Doorbell review: alternatives to consider

There's no shortage of great video doorbells to pick from these days. The Ring Video Doorbell gives you lots of features and high-quality video for not much money at all, and because it's from an Amazon brand, you know it's going to work well with everything in the Echo range and really anything with Alexa on board.

If you're already well invested in the Google Nest ecosystem, meanwhile, the Google Nest Doorbell is an obvious choice. It couldn't be any simpler to set up, the various on-board features work well, and it's about the same price as the Eufy E340 – though it's worth bearing in mind that you need a Nest subscription to make the most of it.