The Eufy Security Indoor 2K Camera covers the largest of rooms, boasts smart features, and is reasonably priced

• The Eufy Security Indoor 2K Pan and Tilt Camera offers high quality video at up to 2K resolution, with night vision and two-way audio.
• It has a 125-degree field of view, but can also pan to cover 360 degrees horizontally and tilt through 95 degrees vertically.
• Smart features include person and pet detection, automatic tracking of movement, and support for Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa.
• At $49.99, the Eufy Security Indoor 2K Pan and Tilt Camera has a lot to offer, and you can use a MicroSD card or network-attached storage (NAS) for local storage or subscribe for cloud storage.

An indoor security camera is a great way to keep tabs on your home when you're away. You can check up on your kids, your pets, or just have a little peace of mind that there are no unexpected visitors. Most indoor security cameras will offer motion alerts and allow you to have conversations with two-way audio, some are capable of a lot more than that.

The Eufy Security Indoor 2K Pan and Tilt Camera is $49.99, so it's not the cheapest option around, but it offers an impressive array of features that you would generally expect to pay a lot more for. There's video at up to 2K quality with all the basics, but this camera also offers person and pet detection, sound detection, automatic motion tracking, and pan and tilt controls that enable it to cover even the largest of rooms.

It can be mounted on a wall or ceiling, or placed on a table or shelf, provided you can reach a power outlet. The Eufy Security Indoor 2K Pan and Tilt Camera connects directly to your Wi-Fi router, and you can insert a MicroSD card to record video or use a NAS device. Eufy offers cloud storage, but it requires a subscription at $3 per month per camera or $30 for the year.

After testing the Eufy Security Indoor 2K Pan and Tilt Camera in my home, I'm convinced it's one of the best indoor security cameras currently available. I encountered a couple of minor issues, and there's still a little room for improvement, but this is an excellent security camera for the price.

Specifications

• 2K resolution
• 125-degree field of view
• Night vision with infrared
• Two-way audio
• MicroSD storage up to 128GB (not included)
• NAS support
• 30-day cloud storage $3 per month or $30 per year per camera
• Activity zones
• Automatic motion tracking
• Pan and zoom control
• Person and pet detection

Design

In the box you get the camera, mounting brackets and screws, a 2-meter (6.5-foot) power cable, and a power adapter.

With a flat base and a classic, rounded, matte white dome top containing a black sphere inside that houses the camera, the Eufy Security Indoor 2K Pan and Tilt Camera looks much like any traditional pan and tilt camera. A circular LED below the Eufy logo glows blue to show it's working and turns red when it's tracking or recording something.

The camera measures 2.95 by 2.95 by 4.25 inches and weighs 7.6 ounces. To insert a MicroSD card you must turn the camera off, which causes the lens to roll up and reveal a hidden slot. There are speaker grilles on either side of the base, and the power cable plugs into the Micro USB port on the back.

Fairly easy setup

Setup is a breeze. Install the Eufy Security app for Android or iOS, create an account, and scan the QR code on the bottom of the camera to link it. The Eufy Security Indoor 2K Pan and Tilt Camera connects directly to your Wi-Fi router, but it requires a 2.4GHz Wi-Fi network and doesn't work with 5GHz networks. Surprisingly, it can't currently connect to Eufy's HomeBase hubs.

I ran into a slight snag during setup because the camera required a software update. The update failed twice, but after I factory reset the camera and restarted the mobile app it was third-time lucky. It ended up taking me around half an hour in total, but it should be a five-minute task.

The mobile app

The Eufy Security app works well and opens to a view of all your cameras with a screenshot from the last recorded video. You can tap on the camera to jump into the live feed or choose to sleep for a set period, review recorded videos, or dig into the settings.

When you load up the live feed, you'll see the camera view with controls that allow you to pan around horizontally or tilt vertically. The horizontal pan has limits to its movement left and right, though it goes far enough to give you the full 360-degree view. The vertical tilt is more limited at 96 degrees, so placement is important. You'll either want to put the camera on a table or shelf that isn't too high up, or consider a ceiling mount and flip the view, which is an option in the app.

It's important to calibrate the camera when you first place it. I found the view was too high until I hit the calibration icon in the app. There are the usual options for recording video, taking screenshots, sound, and alarm. There's also a 360-degree look option, automatic night vision, tracking, and the option to hold the microphone icon to speak.

Digging into the settings, you'll find that the Eufy Security Indoor 2K Pan and Tilt Camera is very customizable. You can choose to turn the LED circle on the front off, you can set the pan and tilt speed, you can change the sensitivity of motion detection, and you can dictate activity zones. There's also a motion tracking feature, which enables the camera to pan and tilt automatically to track a subject.

Motion detection works well and can distinguish quite accurately between a person, pet, or general motion, which means you can have alerts triggered only by people if you prefer.

There's also a sound detection option with a sensitivity setting that can be triggered by any sound, or specifically by a crying baby, which is a handy option for new parents. There's even a pet command option that allows you to set an activity zone and then trigger an audio command, that you can record yourself, when they go into that zone. This might be handy for trying to keep the dog off the bed, for example.

Continuous recording is an option if you insert a MicroSD card or connect a Network Attached Storage (NAS) device and use Real Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP). You do need to provide your own storage. The Eufy Security Indoor 2K Pan and Tilt Camera accepts MicroSD card up to 128GB in size.

If you want to set up cloud storage, you can do it in the app, but you're looking at paying $2.99 per camera per month, or $29.99 for the year, which gets you 30 days of rolling video history. There's a Premier plan for up to 10 cameras at $9.99 per month or $99.99 for the year.

Performance

The Eufy Security Indoor 2K Pan and Tilt Camera records 2,304 x 1,296-pixel resolution video at 15 frames per second (fps) in full color. It also has 8x digital zoom and uses the motorized pan and tilt to track subjects.

I found the video quality to be sharp and detailed, though a higher frame rate would be appreciated. Sometimes when panning or tracking there's a bit of blur and pixelation, but the footage is crisp and clear when the camera is stationary. There's no HDR so bright areas can appear overexposed at times.

While the camera has a decent 125-degree field of view, the pan and tilt allow it to cover a much wider area and it should serve you well, even in a large room. The automatic tracking is effective at following movement, but you'll want to make sure to set a default view that covers doors or whatever areas you're keen to keep an eye on. The night vision works well and produces detailed black and white video.

The default sensitivity seems spot-on. I've been testing with only person detection turned on, which is how I imagine most people will want to use this camera, and despite having two cats in the house, I've yet to get a false positive.

I appreciate the fact that the camera records video for the entire time that it detects motion or sound. You also have the option to turn continuous recording on, but at 2K quality you'll want to make sure you have plenty of bandwidth or it will slow your network down. The alert notifications are helpful and come with a screenshot attached that generally picks out the subject of the video quite well.

Audio is clear through the mobile app, provided the person is quite close to the camera and facing it when they talk. I found it was worth cranking the speaker volume up from the default. There's a slight lag, but it's easy to have a two-way conversation. The alarm is loud enough to scare someone, but probably not loud enough that a neighbor would hear it.

Both Google Assistant and Amazon's Alexa work with the Eufy Security Indoor 2K Pan and Tilt Camera. I could view the live feed on an Echo Show with a simple voice command, and I was able to add the camera to Google Home. Eufy has promised Apple HomeKit support is coming within days at the time of writing.

Sadly, there isn't any If This Then That (IFTTT) support, and there are no plans to add it. Since there's no geotagging either, that means you can't have the camera switch on or off automatically based on whether you're at home, you must do it manually.

The Eufy Security Indoor 2K Pan and Tilt Camera had no problem reconnecting when I tested it by cutting power and Wi-Fi and then turning them on again.

Cons to consider

The relatively low frame rate and blurring on motion detracts from the overall quality of the video this camera captures. Interestingly, Eufy told me that HomeKit mode, when it's added, will support up to 24fps. It would also be nice if it had HDR to deal better with light coming through windows on sunny days.

It's a little weird that you can't connect to a Eufy HomeBase unit, which you'll likely want to do if you already have a Eufy camera system in your home. Eufy confirmed it will be adding HomeBase support in a future update, but does not have a specific timeline for that yet.

For now, Eufy only offers two-factor authentication (2FA) in Canada and Germany. That means anyone who has your email and password could potentially log into your camera. This is something Eufy is working on adding for the US, and it should be rolling out within the next two weeks, which is promising because this is a considerable security and privacy concern, particularly with an indoor camera.

The bottom line

The Eufy Security Indoor 2K Pan and Tilt Camera is an impressive device for $50. It boasts a solid design, sharp quality video, and automatic motion tracking. The ability to distinguish between people, pets, and other motion is useful, and there are some potentially handy extras.

With the option to insert a MicroSD card or stream to a NAS device, there's no need to pay for a subscription, though it's good that the option is there for those who want it.

Should you buy it?

Yes, the Eufy Security Indoor 2K Pan and Tilt Camera is a versatile device that works very well, and it offers a lot for the money.

Which model should you get?

The Eufy Security Indoor 2K Pan and Tilt Camera costs $49.99. If you're covering a smaller area and don't need the pan and tilt functionality, then you could save yourself $10 by opting for the Eufy Security Indoor 2K Camera at $39.99. It offers all the same features minus the pan and tilt.

What are your alternatives?

The budget Wyze Cam V2, at just $19.99, offers good quality 1080p video, and many of the same features and the rotating Wyze Cam Pan at $29.99, makes up for the relatively narrow 110-degree field of view with the ability to physically rotate.

The Amazon Blink Mini at $34.99 seems cheaper at first glance, but it also requires a Sync Module 2 at $34.99 for local storage, or you're looking at paying $3 per month or $30 per year for cloud storage.

If you want the smartest indoor security camera, and money is no object, then the Google Nest Cam IQ Indoor does all the basics well and offers facial recognition, but it costs $300 and you'll need a subscription on top of that price.

Pros: Pan and tilt, 2K video, two-way audio, automatic tracking, person and pet detection, sound detection, local storage

Cons: Cloud storage requires subscription