eufy Video Doorbell Camera E340 Review: dual cameras and no subscription, but not flawless

I’ve been running the eufy Video Doorbell Camera E340 (battery version with the MiniBase chime) for a bit now, replacing an older Ring. I went for this one mainly because I was tired of subscriptions and wanted something that records locally without locking features behind a paywall. On paper, this E340 checks a lot of boxes: 2K video, dual cameras (one forward, one looking down at packages), color night vision, and it can be either wired or battery-powered. So it sounds like a pretty solid all‑rounder.

In daily use, it’s mostly that: pretty solid. It’s not perfect and there are a few things that annoyed me, but overall it does the job it’s supposed to do: show me who’s at my door, let me talk to them, and keep an eye on packages. Compared to my old Ring, the biggest differences I noticed were the better detail in the image, the lack of a monthly bill, and slightly more fiddly setup if you’re not used to smart home stuff.

Where it stands out is the dual camera setup and the built‑in lights. Those aren’t gimmicks; they’re actually useful. The bottom camera really does help you see packages and what’s happening right at your feet, and the little spotlights on the lower cam are bright enough that I don’t need to turn on the porch light every time. At night, the color view is decent as long as there’s at least a bit of light or the LEDs kick in.

But it’s not all positive. Battery life can take a hit, especially if you have a busy front door or don’t tweak the motion settings. Also, the whole HomeBase / MiniBase situation can be confusing: this isn’t just “connect directly to Wi‑Fi and done” for everyone. Overall, though, if you’re okay doing a bit of setup and maybe some occasional rebooting, it’s a pretty good alternative to Ring or Nest without getting locked into monthly fees.

In terms of value for money, the eufy E340 sits in a pretty sweet spot if you specifically want to avoid monthly fees. The hardware itself isn’t dirt cheap, but you’re paying once and then you’re done. No subscription to unlock basic features like recording or person detection. Compared to Ring or Nest, where the subscription basically feels mandatory, this is a big plus over time. After a year or two, the money you save on subscriptions can easily justify picking this over a slightly cheaper but subscription‑locked doorbell.

You’re getting quite a bit for the price: 2K resolution, dual cameras, local storage (with the right base), color night vision, built‑in lights, and integration with Alexa/Google. There are cheaper doorbells out there, but they often cut corners on video quality, night vision, or they push you into a cloud plan. Here, the tradeoff is more on the setup complexity and occasional software quirks rather than ongoing cost. If you’re okay dealing with a bit of tech setup, the overall package feels like good value.

On the downside, you might end up spending more if you want the "ideal" setup: maybe a second battery, maybe a HomeBase S380 if you want more advanced local storage and AI features, maybe a backing plate to hide old drill holes. So the initial price on Amazon is not always the final bill. Also, if you’re the type who gets frustrated by having to reset things every few months, you might value a slightly more polished but subscription‑based ecosystem instead.

Overall, I’d call the E340 good value for someone who prioritizes local storage, dual cameras, and avoiding subscriptions. It’s not the cheapest and not the most polished system on the market, but for what you pay and what you get, it’s a solid deal as long as you go in knowing there may be some tinkering and occasional resets involved.

Design‑wise, the E340 is not tiny. It’s a fairly tall, black unit (about 6 inches high) with a noticeable presence on the wall. If you’re coming from a basic old wired doorbell button, this will look big in comparison. That said, it feels solid and not cheap. The front camera sits at the top, the button in the middle, and the downward‑facing camera with its little spotlights at the bottom. It doesn’t scream “luxury gadget,” but it looks modern and practical enough.

The dual camera layout is actually the main thing that changes everyday use. The top camera focuses on faces and people approaching, while the bottom one shows the ground and packages. On the app you can see both at the same time in a split view. In practice, this means I don’t have to guess if a package is just out of frame; you actually see the doorstep clearly. Compared to a single‑camera Ring I used before, this is a noticeable improvement, especially for deliveries.

On the physical side, the button has a clear click and is easy to find, even in the dark thanks to the lighting below. The integrated spotlights around the lower camera are brighter than I expected and light up the whole porch area. For visitors, the doorbell looks obvious enough that nobody is confused about where to press. If your wall is messy from a previous doorbell, you might want a backing plate or trim (like one user did with a black plastic plate) to clean up the look.

Overall, I’d call the design practical, slightly bulky, but reassuringly solid. It’s not some fancy decor piece, but it feels like it can take daily use and some weather without falling apart. If you want something very discreet and tiny, this isn’t it. If you want something that clearly looks like a camera and a doorbell, this does the job well.

The battery story really depends on how busy your front door is and how you configure things. Out of the box, with fairly sensitive motion settings and both cameras running, the battery drains faster than a simple single‑camera doorbell. One user mentioned rotating two batteries every two weeks because the doorbell was constantly recording, and I can see how that happens if you live on a busy street and don’t tweak anything. Dual cameras, bright spotlights, and frequent recordings will eat through the battery. There’s no magic here.

In my case, with motion zones narrowed down and notifications limited mainly to people (not every car passing by), the battery life is more reasonable. You’re not getting several months of battery like some low‑power cameras claim, but you’re also not charging it every few days. Think more along the lines of a few weeks to maybe a couple of months, depending on activity and settings. If you hate charging things, you have two options: wire it into your existing doorbell wiring for trickle charging, or buy a second battery pack and swap them out as needed.

One annoyance mentioned by another user is that every 6 months or so they had to pull the battery and reset the doorbell because it got buggy. I haven’t hit that exact pattern yet, but I did have one instance where the doorbell got unresponsive and a reset fixed it. That’s not ideal, and it’s something you don’t really think about when you buy it. It’s not a deal‑breaker, but it’s something to keep in mind: this is still a small computer on your wall, and sometimes it needs a reboot like any gadget.

Overall, I’d say battery performance is decent but not exceptional. If you’re expecting a “set it and forget it for 6 months” experience on battery only with high activity and all features turned on, you’ll be disappointed. If you’re okay wiring it for trickle charge or swapping a battery every few weeks, it’s manageable. For a dual‑camera doorbell with lights and 2K video, the battery life is about what I’d realistically expect.

From a build quality standpoint, the E340 feels sturdy. It has a solid weight to it (around 0.85 kg / 1.87 lb total package) and doesn’t give off that cheap hollow plastic vibe. The front finish is clean, the button doesn’t wobble, and the camera lenses are properly aligned and protected. It’s meant for outdoor use, and in normal weather (rain, sun, some temperature changes) it’s handled things fine so far. It doesn’t feel like something that’s going to fall apart after one winter.

The mounting hardware is standard wall‑mount stuff. Once you screw the back plate in, the doorbell itself clips on securely. You’re not going to knock it off accidentally. If someone really wants to rip it off the wall, they probably can, but that’s true of most video doorbells. The quick‑release battery mechanism is practical: you can pop the battery out without removing the entire unit, which is nice when you’re standing on your doorstep in the cold trying not to drop it.

Where durability gets a bit mixed is software reliability over time. Several users, and my own experience, point to occasional issues that require a reset or a bit of troubleshooting. Stuff like: the doorbell not recording certain events, or needing a battery pull every few months to clear a bug. That’s annoying because the hardware itself seems well built, but the experience still depends heavily on the app and firmware updates. On the plus side, eufy’s customer support, from what I and others have seen, is actually responsive and patient, which helps when you hit a wall during setup or pairing.

So, in short: physical durability and build feel solid, and I don’t see any obvious weak points in the construction. Long‑term reliability on the software side is good most of the time but not flawless, and you should be prepared to occasionally reboot or re‑pair things. If you can live with that, the overall durability is pretty reassuring for the price range.

On the video side, the 2K resolution is genuinely useful. Faces are clearer than on the older 1080p doorbell I had before, and you can usually identify people without zooming in like crazy. During the day, the image is sharp, colors are fine, and the field of view covers both the person and the immediate area. The downward camera is lower resolution than the main one, but it’s still more than good enough to see packages, shoes, and anything on the ground. For everyday security and deliveries, it’s totally sufficient.

At night, the color night vision with the dual-light system actually helps. With the built‑in spotlights on, you don’t just get that grainy black‑and‑white mess; you can see some color and detail. It’s not like daylight, but it’s clear enough to recognize faces at typical porch distance. The claimed ~16 feet of clear night view seems realistic in my testing, at least in a normal front porch setup. If you turn the lights off and rely only on pure low‑light mode, it’s still okay, but the color and clarity drop as expected.

Motion detection is where things are mostly good but not perfect. When it’s dialed in, it’s very responsive. One user mentioned seeing the doorbell lights react from over 100 feet away when pulling into the driveway, and I’ve had a similar experience with it picking up cars and people early. The problem is, if you leave detection too sensitive, the battery drains faster and you get more notifications. If you reduce it, you risk missing some events. Another user noted that the doorbell sometimes didn’t record an event that another eufy camera did, and I’ve seen this once or twice as well: someone passes by at an angle and the other camera catches it, but the doorbell doesn’t log it.

Overall, I’d rate performance as strong but with occasional hiccups. Video quality is clearly better than basic 1080p doorbells, night vision is actually useful, and motion detection does its job most of the time. Just don’t expect 100% perfect detection or zero bugs. You may have to tweak zones and sensitivity, and you might hit the odd glitch where it needs a reboot after several months. For a mid‑range smart doorbell with no subscription, that’s acceptable, but not flawless.

The version I tried is the battery-powered E340 with the MiniBase chime. Out of the box you get the doorbell itself, the chime (which also acts kind of like a mini base station), mounting hardware, and the usual paperwork. No batteries included in the sense of AA/AAA, because the doorbell uses its own rechargeable battery pack. If you want a second battery to swap, that’s an extra purchase. The product listing saying "battery powered" can be a bit misleading if you expect a spare pack in the box.

In terms of how it fits into a home setup, it connects over 2.4 GHz Wi‑Fi but not always directly to your router. The E340 is meant to pair with a HomeBase S280/S380 or this MiniBase Chime (T8023). That means: you connect the base/chime to Wi‑Fi, then the doorbell links to that. The doorbell won’t show up in your router’s device list on its own; only the base does. If you’re used to Ring where the doorbell connects straight to Wi‑Fi, this extra hop might feel a bit weird at first.

Function‑wise, you get 2K video, dual cameras, local storage (depending on which base you have), and app notifications on your phone and even your watch. You can also link it to Alexa or Google Assistant, so doorbell presses can show up on Echo Shows, for example. The MiniBase chime is handy if your house is bigger or noisy; you can put it in a central room and actually hear the doorbell without relying only on your phone. One thing to note: it’s not compatible with some older eufy chimes (like T8020 or T8740/T8742), so if you already own older gear, you need to double‑check the model numbers.

Overall, in terms of what you get for the price, it’s pretty good value: no mandatory subscription, decent hardware, and enough features for most people. But if you expect a super plug‑and‑play experience with zero reading or trial and error, this is slightly more involved than some competitors. Not terrible, just not totally brainless either.