Security. It’s something we’re all looking for in life. A means of safeguarding our valuables in straitened times would not go amiss either. Enter the Eufy Indoor Cam S350, which resembles the anthropomorphic animated character Wall-E thanks to its dual built-in cameras. Like surveillance cameras lower down the same brand’s lineup, it purports to deliver clear and detailed views of the interior of our home, or whatever we choose to use it to monitor – even if that’s just our pets.
Camera: 4K wide angle + 2K telephoto cameras
Lens: 8x zoom, f/1.6 aperture
Coverage: 360° pan and tilt
Range: Up to 32ft
Dimensions: 6.54x8.03x10.43cm
Weight: Approx. 610g
In fact, it’s suggested that thanks to its 360° pan and tilt capability, it can act as an effective dog or cat camera for when we’re out of the house. Or a baby or toddler monitor for when we’re at home but need to step into another room.
This S350 option also appears, on paper at least, to be a cut above the basic single camera unit, courtesy of its dual camera setup; providing both a wide-angle view with a 4K resolution, plus a zoomed-in telephoto view and a 2K resolution. So how does it pan out in practice?
Able to provide 360° in-the-round coverage, there is little that will escape this cunning device, that works in tandem with our smartphone’s handset and local Wi-Fi. The additional claim is that it can pick up faces up to 32ft away – which is a large room – and in lower light conditions to boot, where that onboard f/1.6 lens aperture and built-in infrared LEDs surely come in handy.
AI-powered tracking, courtesy of what’s claimed to be Eufy’s own algorithm, enables the device to keep up with moving subjects, automatically adjusting the field of view accordingly. The dual cameras work together to offer a 3x optical zoom, or up to 8x digital zoom.
Up to 120 hours of footage can be stored on a microSD card if desired. Alternatively, instead of recording everything in its vicinity, a privacy mode can be effected, whereby the camera will turn shyly to face a wall, turn off, and stop recording. Mostly we found it’s useful for providing a visual and audio live feed direct to our phone screen when we’re not at home, or at least not in the same room.
Eufy Indoor Cam S350: Design & Handling
Dual camera ‘eyes’ aside, the Eufy S350 is sleek and minimalistic in appearance, with no external physical buttons or controls visible. In fact, the contemporary design is such that gadget fans, never mind the security conscious, will love it.
The provided USB cable that delivers mains power to the unit threads through to a USB port at the base, while, like on the less expensive E220 alternative from Eufy, a slot for an optional microSD memory card is hidden just below the lens/es. On this higher-end model, the slot comes with its own hinged protective cover too.
We’ve covered the fairly straightforward setup of the device in our reviews of the C120 and E220 from the same manufacturer, which involves downloading the free Eufy Security app from the Apple or Google Stores, and, once that’s done, adding the relevant camera as a device, as well as logging on to your home Wi-Fi.
If you already have the app installed on your handset, adding this device or any subsequent ones – you can theoretically have different Eufy cameras dotted across several rooms and all controlled via the one app – takes just a matter of minutes. We set up three different cameras and luckily didn’t suffer operational or connecting glitches with any of them.
Eufy Indoor Cam S350: Performance
Once the unit’s up and working, the ‘eyes’ of the Eufy Indoor Cam S350 literally follow you around the room. Even if you deliberately dart about, it only takes a second or so for the camera to catch up.
Notifications to say it’s spotted something or someone are sent to our phone’s handset, which acts as a prompt if we haven’t actually got the app open at that particular time.
There’s a noticeable but not disappointing drop off in image quality if we tab between the higher resolution wide-angle camera and the zoomed-in lower resolution one, but on balance, we think this feature is worth having.
Whether it’s worth paying the sizeable extra over the E220 unit which has its own respectable 2K camera and can tilt and swivel, albeit not in quite as charming a manner as here, is a choice only you can make, however.
Eufy Indoor Cam S350: Final Verdict
The most comprehensively featured and fluid security camera we’ve tried from the three recent Eufy examples is also inevitably the highest-priced, although we feel what’s being asked is fair given the build quality, performance, and straightforward setup. If a clear, colorful wide-angle view of whatever you want to safeguard is enough, also take a look at the C120 and E220 models which are both something of a bargain in our eyes.
Alternatives
As mentioned in our reviews of the Eufy Indoor Cam C120 and Eufy Indoor Cam E220, there are many and varied examples of indoor and outdoor security cameras in its maker’s range, though those two and this one are a great place to start and all are beginner friendly. Having not only a wide-angle view of proceedings, as is provided by the 2K resolution C120 and E220 alternatives lower down the range, but also being able to cut to a closer view, via the S350, with a tap of a button on the downloadable Eufy Security app, provides an additional degree/level of surveillance that some may find useful. Particularly if wanting to monitor smaller items, or indeed smaller animals, remotely.
