Eufy Video Doorbell Dual review: Double the fun?

There’s been something of an arms race going on in the world of video doorbells of late, with companies vying to add all manner of weird and wonderful features in a bid to outdo the competition. The Eufy Video Doorbell Dual, however, marks the first time I’ve seen the company do something genuinely different – and useful – by adding an extra downward-facing camera.

The idea is that, as well as being able to monitor, record and talk to whoever is calling from the screen of your smartphone, you’ll also be able to see any packages that may have been left on the doorstep. The Eufy Video Doorbell Dual takes this a step further, too, and can even alert you automatically when a package has been left behind and when it’s not there any more.

Eufy Video Doorbell Dual review: What do you get for the money?

If that sounds like something you’ve been waiting for, be aware that you will be paying for the privilege. At £229, it’s £50 more than the standard Eufy Video Doorbell (battery-powered) (£179). It’s pricier than most other rivals, too, so it’s worth thinking about whether you actually need that extra camera before splashing out. Even the Nest Doorbell (battery) is cheaper at £180.

Just like its rivals, the Doorbell Dual is supplied with all the accessories you need to install it yourself. In the box is the doorbell – a fairly chunky 53 x 28 x 165mm (WDH) unit – plus a mounting bracket and a wedge for directing the camera inwards if you’re corner-mounting it. You also get screws and wall plugs, a pair of wires with spade connectors for extending any existing doorbell wiring and a tool for releasing the doorbell from its mounting plate when you need to recharge it.

Also in the box is a Eufy HomeBase 2, which acts as the chime for the doorbell and local storage for video clips. Just like the standard Eufy Video Doorbell, you don’t have to pay for a monthly subscription if you don’t want to, and none of the camera’s features are restricted if you choose to do so.

As it’s a battery-powered doorbell, setup is straightforward. Once the Doorbell Dual has been charged, you simply attach the bracket to your door frame using the supplied screws – and the wedge if required – download the Eufy Security app, set up the HomeBase 2 and doorbell then clip it to the bracket.

Eufy says the battery will last between three and six months, depending on how often video recording is triggered, which isn’t too bad considering it’s recording from two cameras every time a motion or doorbell press event is triggered. The main camera records at 2K resolution (1,920 x 2,560) with a 160-degree field of view; the downward-facing package camera captures at 1,600 x 1,200 and has a 97-degree field of view.

Of course, the best way to connect any video doorbell is via the mains, and the Eufy Video Doorbell Dual does support this. If you set it up this way, you’ll never be without a doorbell while you wait for it to charge and you’ll be able to hook it up to a traditional mechanical chime, too, for that classic “ding dong” doorbell ring. If you don’t already have the wiring to do this, however, you’ll need to pay an electrician to put it in for you, which will increase the cost considerably.

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Eufy Video Doorbell Dual review: What does it do well?

Undoubtedly, the star feature here is the secondary “package” camera. This is angled downwards towards the floor and captures video at the same time as the main camera, so you can see if a courier has left a package on your doorstep – or if someone has stolen one left there previously. Most regular video doorbells don’t have a wide enough view to see right down to the foot of the door, so this is extremely useful if you have couriers calling frequently and need evidence of what they’ve been up to.

When you call up the video feed, the view from this camera is tacked on below the view from the front camera so you can see both at once, and any packages left by the door are highlighted with a blue icon.

This is not the Eufy’s only useful feature, however – there’s a host of other handy features you can enable. The first is loitering detection, which will alert you if someone is hanging around outside your house for a set period of time. You can even have the doorbell play a custom or recorded message to would-be intruders, although this doesn’t always work as expected (see below).

There’s facial recognition for familiar faces and also human detection, which helps minimise false positives by only recording when people are detected. You can set motion zones so the doorbell ignores motion in certain areas in the frame – handy if you live in a terrace where you don’t want your neighbour’s visitors triggering recordings. There’s an “Advanced Detection Mode”, too, which lets you set sensitivity in any particular direction by using a radar-based motion sensor.

Overall responsiveness is good, with doorbell rings coming through only a second or so after being pressed, and there isn’t too much delay on audio streaming, either. There’s decent clarity on the doorbell speaker and microphone, so you can have a conversation with visitors remotely without too much frustration.

Add the ability to set the doorbell to announce and chime via your Alexa-compatible smart speaker and you have a very impressive all-round security camera.

Eufy Video Doorbell Dual review: What could be improved?

Alas, despite bursting at the seams with features, there are a few that could do with some work, and it starts with the night vision recording quality. The series of infrared LEDs strung across the centre don’t seem to have particularly good range, illuminating only the area two to three metres away from your front door. It’s good enough to be able to identify callers who are right at the door, but anyone who might be hanging around at a distance a little further away is a bit of a blur.

In addition, while the camera supports Alexa speakers, it doesn’t work with the Apple HomeKit or Google Home.

A more serious issue is how poorly some of the more advanced features actually work in reality. The package detection, in particular, needs some serious improvement. I tested it with a number of different package types and the only ones that reliably triggered package alerts were those in brown boxes and the cardboard envelopes favoured by Amazon. White and coloured boxes were simply ignored, and that’s far from ideal.

The way loitering detection works is obtuse as well. The app only allows you to set periods of up to 60 seconds of loitering before it sends an alert; that’s not long enough. And it activates regardless of whether your “visitor” has pressed the doorbell or not, so you end up with double notifications.

I turned the feature off for a different reason, however. Despite the fact that the app gives you the option of disabling the audio warning and having only the notification sent to your phone, the doorbell insisted on issuing the audio warning regardless. In fact, this behaviour kept resurfacing, even after I had turned off the feature, to the extent that I had to completely reset the doorbell to stop it happening.

Finally, the facial recognition feature doesn’t appear to work at all; not once during testing did it recognise my face or those of my wife or kids, or prompt me to tag unfamiliar faces. It failed even when I’d primed it by snapping selfies of each family member through the mobile app. To be fair to Eufy, it does say the feature is currently in beta and “experimental” so perhaps don’t base your buying decision on this until it’s up and running properly.

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Eufy Video Doorbell Dual review: Verdict

The extra camera does add an extra dimension to this smart doorbell and it performs the core duties of announcing visitors and allowing you to communicate with them remotely very well. It won’t cost you any money to run, either, which is nice.

However, I experienced quite a few issues with this Eufy doorbell during testing so it’s not going to go away with an award and a hatful of stars. It’s expensive, too, and that extra camera doesn’t, in my view, justify the premium.

The good news is that, if you’re willing to forgo that package camera, the cheaper Eufy Video Doorbell is still available, does the job just as well and is likewise free to run. That’s the doorbell I’d advise you to buy instead.