At a glanceExpert's Rating
Pros
- Dual lenses deliver excellent image quality
- Subscription service is truly optional
- Included solar panel means its onboard battery should never need manual charging
Cons
- Eufy’s app can’t flip the camera’s feed, so it can’t be used on a table or countertop
- Battery must be charged inside the camera
- Provided USB-C charging cable is only 10 feet long
Our Verdict
If you’re looking for an outdoor surveillance camera that can operate without AC power, the high-grade pan/tilt Eufy SoloCam S340 sports both high-resolution telephoto and wide-angle lenses, and it comes with a solar panel.
Best Prices Today: Eufy Security SoloCam S340
The Eufy SoloCam S340 eliminates two problems common to outdoor security panels: Blind spots and power requirements. On the first point, this camera not only pans 360 degrees and tilts over a 70-degree arc, but it also has dual high-resolution lenses to provide wide-angle and telephoto views simultaneously. On the second point, it’s bundled with a 5-inch-square, 2.2-watt solar panel that can keep its onboard battery perpetually topped off.
Camera features
The camera can pan 360 degrees and tilt 70 degrees, with its vertical range enhanced by the presence of two separate camera lenses: a wide-angle lens with a maximum resolution of 2880 x 1620 pixels, and a telephoto lens with 2304 x 1296 resolution. The telephoto lens has what Eufy calls 8x “hybrid” zoom, meaning it’s a combination of optical and digital zoom.
It’s refreshing to see a security camera builder offer a truly no-cost alternative to a subscription.
The dual lenses are controlled together during the pan and tilt processes, but only the wide-angle view appears on some screens in the mobile app. Total viewing angle is 135 degrees, which provides a moderately wide and undistorted view. The camera features standard infrared night vision, a low-power spotlight that enables color night vision, a mic and speaker for two-way audio, and a siren.
The Eufy SoloCam S340 features both a telephoto and a wide-angle lens, and it can capture two views simultaneously. An onboard spotlight enables color night vision.
The Eufy SoloCam S340 features both a telephoto and a wide-angle lens, and it can capture two views simultaneously. An onboard spotlight enables color night vision.
Christopher Null/Foundry
The Eufy SoloCam S340 features both a telephoto and a wide-angle lens, and it can capture two views simultaneously. An onboard spotlight enables color night vision.
Christopher Null/Foundry
Christopher Null/Foundry
As with many Eufy cameras, the device has 8GB of internal memory, and video clips are stored there by default–no subscription required–overwriting the oldest images as the storage capacity fills up. The camera is also compatible with Eufy’s HomeBase 3 ($150), a NAS-like storage device that can host up to 16TB of encrypted storage on your network (via either a user-provided hard disk or solid-state drive).
This review is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best home security cameras.
It’s refreshing to see a security camera builder offer a truly no-cost alternative to a subscription, even if it’s only 8GB of local storage. If you need more, but don’t want to buy a HomeBase 3, your third storage option is to sign up for one of Eufy’s cloud-based subscriptions. A Eufy Basic plan provides enough cloud storage for 30 days of recordings and costs $3/month or $30/year for each Eufy camera you own. The company’s Premier plan costs $10/month or $100/year and covers up to 10 Eufy cameras; you get 30 days of recordings for each camera.
Solar features
The Eufy SoloCam S340 comes bundled with a solar panel to keep its battery topped off. It can be attached to the camera or up to 10 feet away connected by a USB-C cable.
The Eufy SoloCam S340 comes bundled with a solar panel to keep its battery topped off. It can be attached to the camera or up to 10 feet away connected by a USB-C cable.
Eufy Security
The Eufy SoloCam S340 comes bundled with a solar panel to keep its battery topped off. It can be attached to the camera or up to 10 feet away connected by a USB-C cable.
Eufy Security
Eufy Security
You can either put the solar panel on top of the Eufy SoloCam S340, or—if you’re mounting the camera under your roof’s eaves, for instance—you can put it in a location that’s more exposed to sunlight; ideally a spot with a southern exposure (if you’re in North America) and where trees or other things won’t cast a shadow on it.
The kit comes with a 10-foot USB-C cable to connect the panel to the camera. Eufy says two hours of exposure to the sun should provide “all-day power” to the camera. If you can’t find a good spot for the solar panel, you can periodically plug the cable into a power adapter to top off its battery. Be aware, however, that the camera only wakes up and streams/records when it detects motion or when you manually activate it in the app. There is no option for 24/7 recording.
I used the camera in a mix of clouds and direct sunlight for more than two weeks and it was still reporting the battery to be at 99 percent of its capacity. A modest amount of sunshine should allow the camera to run on battery power indefinitely. If running on battery power alone, without the solar panel, Eufy says you can expect about 3 months of running time.
Installation and setup
Hardware setup involves mounting the Eufy SoloCam S340 to a wall or ceiling using the included bracket. It’s critical to note that the camera must be mounted in this fashion and can’t be used upside down as a tabletop camera because the app doesn’t provide any means to invert the video stream.
Eufy’s app offers a boatload of customizations you can apply to the camera, including options for image quality and battery management.
Eufy’s app offers a boatload of customizations you can apply to the camera, including options for image quality and battery management.
Christopher Null/Foundry
Eufy’s app offers a boatload of customizations you can apply to the camera, including options for image quality and battery management.
Christopher Null/Foundry
Christopher Null/Foundry
Mounting isn’t difficult, but the heads of the included screws stripped during my installation process, which is always a frustrating problem. For what it’s worth, Eufy doesn’t state an IP code for protection from the elements, saying only that the camera has “weather protection.” We’ll tell you everything you need to know about IP codes at the preceding link.
In daily use, I found the Eufy SoloCam S340 to be of excellent quality, much in line with Eufy’s other cameras. Setup is quick, as you enter your Wi-Fi credentials into the app, scan a QR code that’s displayed on your phone with Eufy’s camera, and let the app do the rest of the work to join your 2.4GHz network (the camera doesn’t support 5GHz Wi-Fi).
Image quality is impressive, particularly at its highest resolution, and on-device motion and person detection worked well. (I didn’t test the vehicle detection feature.) I found the camera’s motion sensor to be exceptionally trigger-happy, however, causing it to record numerous scenes where nothing was really happening. Fortunately, I was eventually able to dial down the sensitivity to a sweet spot that made this less of a problem.
The camera’s wide-angle lens shows you the entire scene in front of it, while its telephoto lens delivers a close-up. You’ll use the app’s nscreen controls to pan and tilt the camera.
The camera’s wide-angle lens shows you the entire scene in front of it, while its telephoto lens delivers a close-up. You’ll use the app’s nscreen controls to pan and tilt the camera.
Christopher Null/Foundry
The camera’s wide-angle lens shows you the entire scene in front of it, while its telephoto lens delivers a close-up. You’ll use the app’s nscreen controls to pan and tilt the camera.
Christopher Null/Foundry
Christopher Null/Foundry
Having two lenses is something of a game-changer, as I’ve often found wide-angle camera views make it impossible to discern tiny details when you need to. The Eufy experience gives you the best of both worlds: The big picture and the fine print, side by side. Pan and tilt performance isn’t the most responsive, so use a delicate hand while using the app to move the camera’s view around. I found recorded clips very quick to load and play back, with helpful thumbnails guiding the way. Note that support for Alexa and Google Assistant smart displays is also included.
The SoloCam E340 has a tracking feature that allows it to follow anything as it moves around the environment. Provided the subject doesn’t move too fast (or move entirely out of the camera’s field of view), I found the camera to be effective at keeping tabs on things. When finished recording, it can be configured to move back to its home position or cycle through up to four different preset positions.
Should you buy the Eufy SoloCam S340?
Eufy’s offering is much less expensive than the professional-grade alternatives that must be hardwired to a power source. It’s a very good option for anyone who needs 360 degrees of surveillance in an outdoor location with plenty of sunshine.
Best Prices Today: Eufy Security SoloCam S340
Author: Christopher Null, Freelance Contributor
Christopher Null is a veteran technology and business journalist. He contributes regularly to TechHive, PCWorld, and Wired, and operates the websites Drinkhacker and Film Racket.