Anker Launching New HomeKit-Compatible Indoor Security Cameras Next Month

[CJ Dorschel]

A bit off topic but I'd love a front door camera that could work with existing wired doorbells. I hate the design of the doorbell video camera's especially as they're oddly placed (too low) and easy to steal. If I could mount a separate camera higher up that works with a doorbell (two separate devices that work together) that would be perfect. A wired or wireless doorbell could interface with the camera, activating it upon press.

I'm still waiting for the Netatmo video doorbell that was announced last January. That's the only one I'd consider.

Netatmo Smart Video Doorbell

 

[4jasontv]

Ikea’s hub is independent of internet. So are Phillips Hue unless you mean the ability to control them away from home?

That's my point. The ones with a hub don't always need internet but the ones without a hub do.
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A bit off topic but I'd love a front door camera that could work with existing wired doorbells. I hate the design of the doorbell video camera's especially as they're oddly placed (too low) and easy to steal. If I could mount a separate camera higher up that works with a doorbell (two separate devices that work together) that would be perfect. A wired or wireless doorbell could interface with the camera, activating it upon press.

I'm still waiting for the Netatmo video doorbell that was announced last January. That's the only one I'd consider.

Netatmo Smart Video Doorbell

This is important. Our HOA is really tight*. We can't make visible changes to our front door and external entryway. This means we have to use their doorbell and we can't have visible cameras. I'd like to see a peephole camera that can work with an existing doorbell and peephole.

*We got a fine for having the wrong shade of white curtains.

 

[DoctorTech]

That sounds pretty awesome.

If there is a way to record only when it senses motion, and only when users aren't home (multi-user geofencing), then I am sold on a few right away.

I am a HUGE fan of Eufy cameras. I have 2 of their 2C cameras along with a Eufy doorbell and Eufy floodlight cam over my deck. All of their other cameras have user definable activity zones and can be configured to record on motion so I would have to think the new ones will as well. I love the fact they have encrypted, local storage with no subscription fees.
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That’s The first contingency I consider when buying any electronic product, is in terms of quality build construction from the manufacturer, Anker always delivers on all their products. So moving forward, I think that would be something I wouldn’t be concerned with them, I just don’t like the fact that there are ‘subscription service fees’ with these types of products.

Eufy does not have subscription fees. I have 4 Eufy cameras (representing 3 different models) at my house and one of the biggest reasons I swapped out my Ring cameras for Eufy cameras was for better privacy (100% local storage) and the fact Eufy does not have subscription fees.

 

[subi257]

That's my point. The ones with a hub don't always need internet but the ones without a hub do.
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This is important. Our HOA is really tight*. We can't make visible changes to our front door and external entryway. This means we have to use their doorbell and we can't have visible cameras. I'd like to see a peephole camera that can work with an existing doorbell and peephole.

*We got a fine for having the wrong shade of white curtains.

A fine, wow, that's pretty harsh. Its hard with some of the HOAs, however I understand the need...to protect our property values. I have the same thing, I wanted to put a Nest cam or something like that outside the front door, but we are not allowed to mount anything like that. I got a Ring doorbell 2 as do a bunch of others and we have not been reprimanded yet. I am thinking of putting a drop cam in the window facing the front door.

 

[macguru212]

That sounds pretty awesome.

If there is a way to record only when it senses motion, and only when users aren't home (multi-user geofencing), then I am sold on a few right away.

There's a great DIY web security app called SecuritySpy

‎SecuritySpy

‎The official iPhone, iPad and Apple TV app for our macOS CCTV software SecuritySpy (securityspy.com). The essential component of a complete video surveillance system for your Mac, iPhone, iPad and Apple TV, this app allows you to easily monitor and control your camera system from wherever you are.…

apps.apple.com

YMMV but you can customize motion detection and a ton of features.

I've used this on and off for monitoring based on motion, works with nearly any camera you throw at it.
cheers.

 

[ikir]

Wow I will buy two at this price!

 

[YSR50]

I got tired of it too. I ended up getting Synology NAS and their surveillance software has been pretty nice.

Hopefully (doubtful) these will allow RTSP like the other recent eufycams

 

[imola.zhp]

I'm ready to ditch Ring and go Eufy as soon as all of the products I want from them go homekit secure video. I don't care for cameras in the house, but I might not mind one of these in the garage.

 

[827538]

Is these are PoE then they could be pretty great.
So long as they are 100% under Homekit with no reporting to Anker then I'd be pretty happy.
I've been looking at Ubiquti for a future system but with the cost savings these things could give me it might very well sway me to Anker.

 

[oneMadRssn]

I am a HUGE fan of Eufy cameras. I have 2 of their 2C cameras along with a Eufy doorbell and Eufy floodlight cam over my deck. All of their other cameras have user definable activity zones and can be configured to record on motion so I would have to think the new ones will as well. I love the fact they have encrypted, local storage with no subscription fees.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Eufy does not yet have geofencing built-in. I think others get around that by using ITTT for geofencing.

 

[Seoras]

... with up to 128GB of local storage, ....

That's huge amount of memory for a sub $50 product. I can't find any additional details anywhere on this?
I would read "local" as on the device or on a home hub device. Anyone know which it is?
Given the speed at which Zoom was outed for lack of security I'd think (hope) that a "Chinese" product like this would be outed for sending your live stream to Beijing.
If you have 128GB of "local" you'd expect to be able to configure it for local only without using their cloud service.

 

[qtrim]

I thought if a camera was "Home Kit" compatible it has to store it's video in iCloud to keep it secure. Am I missing something?

 

[[AUT] Thomas]

Finally a competitor to a Unifi Camera System for home use.
However, using a Synology Surveillance Station can also be quite cheap if you need a NAS anyway.

Personally I'll stick with Unifi for security reasons, their commitment to no-subscription-ever and the fact that wired cams can actually perform 24/7 (RTSP!) rather than event-based action only. (The 2 new cams can do the latter but are limited to indoor use.)

 

[4jasontv]

A fine, wow, that's pretty harsh. Its hard with some of the HOAs, however I understand the need...to protect our property values. I have the same thing, I wanted to put a Nest cam or something like that outside the front door, but we are not allowed to mount anything like that. I got a Ring doorbell 2 as do a bunch of others and we have not been reprimanded yet. I am thinking of putting a drop cam in the window facing the front door.
-

Yup. $50 with 12 days to replace or the fine would start accumulating per day. Apparently the one of the board members felt it had a green tint in direct sunlight. It doesn't matter that it's a western facing window that wasn't visible from the street because apparently it could be seen from a parking lot north of me.

I wanted a motion sensor camera because people here are afraid to ring the doorbell and I can't hear a knock. LOL, I actually caught someone leaving who didn't ring it and asked why they didn't do it. Their answer was they weren't sure what it would do. So, maybe there are places that have alternative functions for their doorbells?

 

[4jasontv]

I thought if a camera was "Home Kit" compatible it has to store it's video in iCloud to keep it secure. Am I missing something?

I don't know the answer, but my understanding was that Homekit support and HomeKit Secure Video are different services. Homekit support handles management of video data analysis and device control while HomeKit Secure Video handles device based encryption for icloud storage.

So, I think you can have local control configuration and notification without backing up to iCloud, but if you want access to recorded footage via homekit you would need to use iCloud. Else you could use a 3rd party solution supported by your camera.

I don't know if you need iCloud for access to live footage.

 

[sammich]

Someone forgot to type a '1' in front of both of those prices.

And no source. Can't find another site with this info (not like there's much info anyway).

 

[CarlJ]

I thought if a camera was "Home Kit" compatible it has to store it's video in iCloud to keep it secure. Am I missing something?

Yes. There are two levels of HomeKit compatibility. The first simply gives visibility into the camera from HomeKit - I have this with a EufyCam 2C: it displays in HomeKit, and I get HomeKit push notifications from it when someone is at the front door.

Quite a few cameras can do this. And it says nothing of the backing store for the camera (the EufyCam 2C stores videos on the associated hub and doesn't require a subscription; many other cameras do, indeed, use cloud-based - but not iCloud-based - solutions that require a subscription).

Then, above and beyond that, there's HomeKit Secure Video, where the recorded videos are stored in iCloud (and you're paying Apple for storage - at generally much better prices - rather than the manufacturer). Only a handful of cameras/manufacturers have implemented this, thus far. Anker has announced this for the EufyCam 2C, but it's still in beta, if I understand correctly. With other cameras, YMMV.

 

[FelixDerKater]

Good to see the market competition force down prices.

 

[green94]

I wouldn’t count on it. At the pricing given they’re either selling these at cost or losing money on the hardware alone. These will definitely have a subscription fee attached.

Funny when a $40 cam has a 2k camera and the Macbook line cant get above 720p.

None of their current camera offerings have subscription fees and based on how they tout that on their website I can’t see them changing course with these cameras.
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According to HomeKit Authority these will not require a hub.

eufy Indoor camera 2k to arrive in May with 2K capture - HomeKit Authority

eufy will release 2 new indoor cameras in may. The first being the eufy Indoor camera 2k pan and tilt and the 2nd the eufy indoor camera 2k

www.homekitauthority.com

 

[green94]

Someone forgot to type a '1' in front of both of those prices.

And no source. Can't find another site with this info (not like there's much info anyway).

Sounds like pricing was confirmed by a Eufy rep - check out the link above for more in depth specs.

 

[jun180]

That sounds pretty awesome.

If there is a way to record only when it senses motion, and only when users aren't home (multi-user geofencing), then I am sold on a few right away.

They have multi user geofencing as a beta in their app right now. It works ok, sometimes a bit buggy but it is a beta.

 

[Sunshoopa]

I've been using Anker products for years, I have never had a bad product or bad experience with them.

My first product from them was a battery pack I got last year for a trip which has been holding up really well, they have my respect for sure, almost all their stuff has good reviews too. Looked them up on Wikipedia just now, had no idea the company formed from a previous Google engineer.

 

[xdhd350]

What features work locally and do NOT require monthly/yearly subscriptions? Canary pulled features promised and offered when their devices were purchased, only to then require subscription payments to get those features back.

NO INTEREST IN SUBSCRIPTION MONEY GRABS!

Right there with you. I will NEVER give a single penny to Canary because they pulled that crap. I don’t mind if a company adds new functionality and charges a subscription fee, but to take existing features like 2 way audio and move them behind a pay wall is pure BS. Glad I am not the only one who feels this way about Canary.

 

[AtomicDusk]

Dang, that's a price that's just... really good! I'm really interested in this. sonofagun.

 

[spinedoc77]

Pricing is good. I'm still stuck with a bunch of Foscam cams which I hate because they don't use 2 factor authentication. Will definitely look into these when released. (assuming these use 2FA)