Eufy’s new Floodlight Cam E340 is the hardest working security camera I’ve tested

“Is this a person?” No, Eufy, that lawn chair on the deck is not a person, as I’ve told you ten times already today. It’s okay; we both know you’ll ask again in two minutes. 

Also: I tested the Amazon Echo Show 8 for a week. These are its best features (and misses)

The Floodlight Cam E340 from Eufy Security, which I’ve been testing over the past week, is one of four new security cameras that the company recently launched. It’s equipped with an ultrawide and telephoto lens for capturing more distant subjects, and the camera works really hard. At times, too hard. Let me explain.

ZDNET RECOMMENDS

Eufy Security Floodlight Cam E340

The Eufy Security Floodlight Cam E340 is from the latest line of Eufy’s dual cameras. It has two floodlights for a total brightness of 2000 lumens, tracks movement, and records in 3K resolution, all with no monthly fees.

First, some housekeeping: The Eufy Security Floodlight Cam E340’s wide-angle camera captures 3K-resolution video, while the telephoto camera records up to 2K resolution and can capture details up to 50 feet away. 

To test the Eufy Floodlight Camera E340, I replaced one of my backyard floodlights, which was already in the ideal position for surveillance. My husband and I turn on these lights each time we take the dog out at night or whenever we’re hanging out on that side of the yard, which is where the grill is. The lights got a lot of use, and replacing them with a floodlight camera was a no-brainer.

Also: This pet robot lets you watch, play with, and treat your dog or cat from anywhere

We had previously set up a Wyze Cam and then the Arlo Pro 5S on the larger side of yard, but, until the Eufy Floodlight E340 came in, we hadn’t found a solution that covered the whole space.

Setting up the Floodlight Camera E340 was as easy as replacing an outdoor lighting fixture, especially since we were installing it with existing wiring. This camera requires a wired installation to work, so if you don’t have existing wiring where you want to put the floodlight, you’d need to run electrical wires to that spot. 

Once the camera was installed, the rest of the installation process ran through the Eufy Security app. We already have a Eufy HomeBase 3 at home, which is a local storage and hub for this camera, but if this is your first Eufy camera, you’ll need to buy one to work with the floodlight. 

Review: EufyCam 3 and HomeBase 3: Why I’m not getting rid of these cameras yet

Because it’s connected to power and can be set up with expandable storage, it’s possible for this floodlight camera to record 24/7, though you can also choose to record events only. Recordings can be stored on the HomeBase S380 or a microSD card of up to 128GB. With the HomeBase, you can expand the SSD support up to 16TB, which makes a big difference.

By far, the most impressive feature of this camera is the level of coverage and image quality. Our yard extends all the way into the woods, which can be pitch black at night. But even with the camera rigged up on my second floor and over 30 feet away from the fence, you can still clearly see details in the wooded areas, no matter the time of day. 

Also: Best Halloween projectors to scare your neighbors this fall

Day or night, I can see if a squirrel is bopping along the fence or a deer is strolling in the woods, and I expect a similar level of detail if there’s ever an intruder in the distance. The camera tracks movement very well, keeping subjects in the frame as they move around different areas, which is essential for a large yard. 

The one downside to the Floodlight Cam E340, which I alluded to before, gets a lot of false alerts for human detection. The HomeBase 3 uses AI to not only detect humans but also learn to recognize individuals and detect vehicles, pets, and any other moving objects.

The Floodlight Cam E340 unit I tested erroneously detects a human on our deck and a mulch path as often as every two minutes when no one is there; it’s amazing if you believe in ghosts! The excessive amount of alerts has been enough for me to see a noticeable dip in battery life on both my iPhone and Apple Watch. And I’m sure my elderly neighbors don’t appreciate the human detection alarm going off at 7:15 a.m. on a Saturday morning.

Also: Eufy’s new dual-lens security cameras can use AI to stitch together video recordings

My husband, ever the optimist, believes this isn’t a problem; you just have to train the system to recognize what a “person” is. I believe there should be a better solution than waiting for the camera to fix itself.

How I’ve been tackling the issue is by reporting the erroneous detections via the Eufy Security app, which we’ve occasionally done to discourage the camera from misunderstanding what’s human. More effectively, I’ve since reduced the sensitivity of the motion detection feature, which now yields roughly one false alert every hour versus every two minutes. It’s made a big difference.

There’s also an option to silence the notifications temporarily while still recording events, but this detracts from the purpose of a surveillance camera.

Also: This new camera has Content Credentials built-in as a response to AI-generated images

It doesn’t appear to be an issue with the HomeBase because this is the only camera of all our Eufy products at home that does this. The good thing is that this can be fixed with an over-the-air firmware update, and it’s not a dealbreaker for me. It isn’t very pleasant, but it’s nothing some adjustments can’t fix.

ZDNET’s buying advice

My experience with the Eufy Security Floodlight Cam E340 has overall been positive. I love seeing my yard in 3K resolution and getting an awe-inspiring level of detail from so far away. The 2,000lm brightness alone competes with some best-selling PAR38 bulbs, and it can be set to ambient lighting on a schedule or automatically from dusk to dawn.

At $220, you get a lot of bang for your buck with a system you never have to pay monthly fees on, charge, or replace batteries. And it includes a motion-tracking duo of high-resolution cameras. If you don’t want to spend extra on the HomeBase S380, you can add up to 128GB of storage to the camera on a microSD card. 

If Eufy Security can fix my one issue with the human detection alerts, the Floodlight Cam E340 would be the best outdoor security camera I’ve ever tested, bar none.