Ezviz EP3x Pro video doorbell review: Good value but seriously flawed

The Ezviz EP3x Pro is a video doorbell that’s packed with features and, importantly, doesn’t require a subscription to work, unlike so many of its major rivals from Ring, Arlo and Nest.

Not only does it come with two cameras – one pointing outwards to provide a view of your visitors and another pointing down for a view of parcels left on your doorstep – but there’s also a solar charging panel in the box, which trickle charges the battery whenever there’s enough sunlight.

Ezviz EP3x Pro video doorbell review: What do you get for the money?

For £130, the Ezviz looks pretty good value. It captures video at 2K resolution at 15fps from its main camera – with a 162-degree field of view – and 1080p video from its downward-facing lens with a 155-degree field of view.

It’s battery-powered, which makes installation pretty straightforward and comes with 32GB of internal storage so you can run it without a subscription. Cloud video clip storage is available from £5 per camera per month, but its human and package detection features work regardless of whether you opt for cloud storage or not.

It’s also weatherproof, rated at IP65, and there’s also an angled solar panel in the box, which connects to the doorbell via a couple of spade connectors at the rear.

The one big miss is that there’s no chime included in the box. You can add one (the Ezviz CH1) for an extra £35 (it also acts as a Wi-Fi repeater), but if not, you’ll have to rely on phone alerts or Google Home Assistant/Amazon Alexa smart speaker announcements. The doorbell can also be set up to ring a mechanical chime box, but as this is connected to the same spade connectors as the solar panel, you can’t have both connected simultaneously.

READ NEXT: Best home security camera

Ezvix EP3x Pro video doorbell review: How easy is it to install and set up?

As with most battery-powered video doorbell systems, the Ezviz EP3x Pro is a doddle to attach to your front door. You’ll require a screwdriver and may need a drill – but, otherwise, most installation hardware is provided in the box, including templates for each of the units, screws and wall plugs. I’d like to have seen adhesive pads for those with UPVC or metal door frames who don’t want to make unsightly holes in their door frame, though.

Mounting the solar panel adds a small amount of extra complexity – and the cable attaching it to the doorbell unit isn’t all that long at 35cm, so you have to be careful where you put it. Practically speaking, however, there’s nothing most DIYers can’t deal with and you should be able to get up and running in under half an hour.

The next step is setting up the doorbell in the associated app. This is initially easy enough but setting up the doorbell the way you want it can be more tricky. In particular, it’s hampered by a fussy UI and an English translation so poor that it’s often difficult to figure out what impact any individual setting is actually having.

You may want to set up motion detection zones and privacy zones at this point, too. The terrible design of the app gets in the way, however, with the relevant settings hidden in the “smart human” and “package detection” sub-menus (there are no general motion detection settings, oddly), within the “Intelligent detection” menu in the doorbell settings.

Ezvix EP3x Pro video doorbell review: What does it do well?

The EP3x Pro does a few things well. The dual cameras are a brilliant feature and show a clear view of both visitors and the whole of your front step. Anyone who has a lot of Amazon deliveries will appreciate being able to tell whenever a driver has simply dumped a parcel and run.

The solar charging works pretty well, too. I’ve had the doorbell installed for a couple of months now and it hasn’t needed to be recharged at any point. That may change once winter sets in and the days get shorter but, even then, I can’t see the doorbell needing to be recharged all that often. That’s just as well because you need to remove the doorbell from its mount to charge it, and unscrew the solar panel connectors.

Finally, the doorbell is reasonably responsive, providing an alert on your phone in around two seconds over both Wi-Fi and cellular connections after the button is pressed. That’s slower than our favourite, the TP-Link Tapo D230S1, but not by much. I also like that when the alert comes through to your phone, you answer it just as you would a phone or video call. It’s far harder to miss a doorbell ring as a result.

READ NEXT: Best home security systems

Ezviz EP3x Pro video doorbell review: What could it do better?

However, there are more negatives than positives with the Ezviz EP3x Pro and the main issues surround the inconsistency of its motion detection. I normally test motion detection by walking in front of the camera and timing how long the alert takes to come through on my phone. On the Ezvix EP3x Pro, successful detection happened so infrequently I wasn’t able to do this.

And despite the doorbell providing both human and parcel detection, I found that only the parcel detection worked reliably. My cat would often trigger the human detection algorithm – he may well have his very own personality but he doesn’t behave that much like a person. Dropping a box into the field of view of the downwards facing camera and removing it did reliably generate “package appearing” and “package disappearing” alerts, however.

Aside from this, I found the app’s user experience very poor. Ezviz really needs to do a better job of translating the various menu options – it’s tricky to work out what a lot of the settings do from reading them – and the UI needs to be far more clearly laid out and consistent.

I also didn’t like the fact that you have to unlock the app when you launch it for the first time. You can use your face or fingerprint to log in biometrically to speed up the process, but it still adds an unnecessary extra stage.

My last gripe surrounds the lack of chime in the box. To be fair to Ezviz, though, they aren’t the only video doorbell manufacturer doing this, and it’s easily enough remedied, either by adding an Ezviz CH1, using your smart speakers or wiring it up to a mechanical chime box.

Ezviz EP3x Pro video doorbell review: Should you buy it?

The Ezviz EP3x Pro is a real mixed bag. If you’re simply looking for a good-value dual-camera video doorbell, it represents decent value for money. Image quality is fine, as is audio quality, it’s responsive to doorbell presses and you don’t have to pay to record and store motion/doorbell-triggered video clips. You even get the bonus of solar charging, and it can be powered via mains cabling and trigger an external mechanical chime if you want.

The unreliability of motion and human detection, however, and the poor app experience, undermine the EP3x Pro’s core offering and mean this is a doorbell I cannot recommend. If you’re after a great value video doorbell, albeit one that doesn’t offer dual cameras, the TP-Link Tapo D230S1 remains my top choice. It’s responsive, reliable and easy to use, can be used without a subscription and comes with a chime in the box for less.