Anker's Eufy Brand Debuts Smart Lockbox With AI and Built-In Camera for Package Deliveries

[MacRumors]

Eufy, Anker's home security brand, today announced the Smart Drop, a new smart outdoor mailbox that's equipped with a built-in camera and advanced facial recognition capabilities to make package deliveries more secure.

Made from carbon steel, the Smart Drop is a package dropbox that sits outside the home and provides a secure location for delivery people to place packages so they won't be stolen from the doorstep.

There's an included 1080p camera with a 160 degree field of view that also has night vision for around the clock surveillance. Face and motion detection let you know when deliveries arrive, and there are multiple ways to open the dropbox, including a PIN and remote opening with the Eufy app.

The camera is weatherproof with an IP65 water and dust resistance rating, and there's an inner drainage system. Video footage can be stored locally or in the cloud, and the Smart Drop can be fixed to the floor or the wall.

Eufy has no plans to add HomeKit support to the first generation of the Smart Drop, unfortunately, but it does work with both Alexa and Google Assistant. A removable battery pack provides three months of battery life before needing to be recharged, and there's no need to plug in the Smart Drop.

To help delivery and mail couriers use the box, there are voice and light prompts along with an instruction sticker. The Smart Drop measures in at 25.6 inches high, 17.7 inches long, and 15 inches wide with a 68L total capacity.

Eufy is offering the Smart Drop on Kickstarter, with pricing starting at $149 for the basic SmartDrop and $199 for the SmartDrop Pro that includes a eufy Security HomeBase 2 for local storage, Alexa/Google Assistant support, and rich notifications. Eufy plans to begin delivering the Smart Drop next year, with shipments set to begin in June 2021.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with eufy on Kickstarter. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

Article Link: Anker's Eufy Brand Debuts Smart Lockbox With AI and Built-In Camera for Package Deliveries

 

[mazz0]

That was bad timing now half the population is at home all day!

 

[LeadingHeat]

I wonder why they have no plans to integrate it into HomeKit. Their indoor eufycam 2 is a great addition to our home! And for ~$35 it’s a steal to be used with HSV.

 

[Jon Rowlison]

In other news, California is now reporting a hot new target for home thefts... apparently there's now an expensive metal drop box that may or may not contain other goodies like a amazon packages... boxes have been disappearing from people's porches and resold online.

 

[mw360]

So... how heavy is it? Is it able to be bolted to the floor? What would stop someone from just grabbing this $200 box and smashing it open from a rooftop later on?

There's a whole article that comes with the picture.

 

[dwaltwhit]

I feel like the UPS person will leave my package on top of this

 

[sw1tcher]

Is it able to be bolted to the floor? What would stop someone from just grabbing this $200 box and smashing it open from a rooftop later on?

It's in the summary

The camera is weatherproof with an IP65 water and dust resistance rating, and there's an inner drainage system. Video footage can be stored locally or in the cloud, and the Smart Drop can be fixed to the floor or the wall.

 

[mazz0]

So... how heavy is it? Is it able to be bolted to the floor? What would stop someone from just grabbing this $200 box and smashing it open from a rooftop later on?

Or better yet (from their point of view) hacking it in the safety of their layer and then they've got whatever was inside it, plus an expensive box!

 

[rjw1678]

If it cannot fit a 30"x 16"x30" package then it is too small.

 

[benh911f]

You’re really relying on the delivery drivers to actually put in the effort to use this, which in my experience is very hit or miss.

 

[bryanios]

You’re really relying on the delivery drivers to actually put in the effort to use this, which in my experience is very hit or miss.

in big cities,similar concept box has been used at porch. but it isn’t electronic

 

[sw1tcher]

If it cannot fit a 30"x 16"x30" then it is too small.

Yeah, I was looking for the dimensions.

23.0" H x 14.4" L x 12.6" W is a bit on the smaller side for items I sometimes order as I try to place one big order vs a bunch of smaller orders to try to be more environmentally friendly (less boxes and packaging materials being used, less delivery trips being made = less fuel used, etc.)

 

[armandxp]

I'm in for one. I use their cameras and doorbell and love them.

 

[GadgetBen]

Love the idea but how realistic are these projects and typical timescales really?

I remember a cool project about a drone that would follow you around. This was a few years ago and still nothing.

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

I feel like people over estimate how much of a problem this is. I live downtown in a fairly bad city. I get several packages delivered per week. In six years of living here, nothing has ever been stolen from my porch.

The cars I keep in the driveway (not the Tesla - that gets kept in the garage) have been vandalized multiple times, and I installed motion sensing lights to discourage that (they're also generally just really neat to have for when you're working outside at dusk), but nobody has ever stolen a package off my porch.

 

[cmaier]

I feel like people over estimate how much of a problem this is. I live downtown in a fairly bad city. I get several packages delivered per week. In six years of living here, nothing has ever been stolen from my porch.

The cars I keep in the driveway (not the Tesla - that gets kept in the garage) have been vandalized multiple times, and I installed motion sensing lights to discourage that (they're also generally just really neat to have for when you're working outside at dusk), but nobody has ever stolen a package off my porch.

If you have a ring camera and use their “neighborhood” feature to see what people report, 90% of that is package-grabbing.

No idea how often it actually occurs, but it occurs.

 

[wilhoitm]

Somebody is going to steal that thing! I don't care if it is bolted down or not! All you need is a sledge hammer! 😟

 

[BenTrovato]

Somebody is going to steal that thing! I don't care if it is bolted down or not! All you need is a sledge hammer! 😟

It's 37lbs! Shouldn't be too hard

 

[Gasu E.]

Somebody is going to steal that thing! I don't care if it is bolted down or not! All you need is a sledge hammer! 😟

"I don't have to outrun the BEAR. I just have to outrun YOU". It's 37 lbs, and bulky; you can't tell if anything is inside, and it has a camera that will record the thief. Unless the thief thinks it's filled with gold, I think they will just go on to the next house.

 

[sw1tcher]

Somebody is going to steal that thing! I don't care if it is bolted down or not! All you need is a sledge hammer! 😟

I have never seen a porch pirate carry a sledge hammer around.

Plus, I'd imagine they'd want to target the easy victims... you know, a quick snatch and grab vs drawing unwanted attention to themselves by trying to smash loose a lock box.

 

[4jasontv]

You’re really relying on the delivery drivers to actually put in the effort to use this, which in my experience is very hit or miss.

I can't get DoorDash or GrubHub to ring my doorbell. The good drivers won't have time to do a Zoom call and the bad ones won't care.

Also, my drivers change daily. So who do I give the pin to?

 

[fathergll]

I feel like the UPS person will leave my package on top of this

True. You would need to put specific instructions on every delivery.

Side note once I noticed I had a couple deliveries placed on my steps 15-20ft away from my front porch. I posted this on one of the Reddit subforums for UPS/Fedex and holy moly I got downvoted like crazy basically stating I was spoiled thinking that all deliveries should be placed on the front porch. People who deliver for a living and frequent those boards are disgruntled as hell.

 

[subjonas]

“the Smart Drop can be fixed to the floor or the wall” ... with scotch tape.

 

[mattster16]

I feel like people over estimate how much of a problem this is. I live downtown in a fairly bad city. I get several packages delivered per week. In six years of living here, nothing has ever been stolen from my porch.

Package theft is a bigger problem in the suburbs than in more urban neighborhoods, based on my anecdotal experience and talking to people.

I see a lot of delivery drivers just not even bothering with this. They have a ton of packages to get delivered in a day and can't be wasting time with these devices. Hopefully it is super fast and easy for them.

 

[andiwm2003]

in my experience 99% of theft is from people randomly walking up to a parcel they can see from the sidewalk. if the parcel is inside any kind of enclosure or hallway or vestibule the chance of it getting stolen is really low. so i don't expect anyone to bother breaking this box open. thiefs are lazy. i bet that even a normal pastic box with an unsecured lid reduces theft a lot.

as others stated the main problem will be delivery guys not using it. especially when you have a multifamily with 6 apartments and 3 of them have a box sitting outside.