Smart home company Eufy’s new wireless security camera, the EufyCam 3, bumps up the resolution to 4K and adds a built-in solar panel to extend the year-long battery life even further. But its best features come from the new HomeBase 3 hub the camera connects to wirelessly. This adds local processing of video to send you an alert when it spots a person, pet, or vehicle, plus facial recognition so it can tell you if it’s a stranger or a family member.

Another interesting feature is the option to upgrade the storage to as much as 16 TB of local storage with a hard drive slot. Eufy says this is enough for 60 years of motion-activated video footage, and it adds the capability to record continuous video — a first for the Eufy ecosystem.

The Edge Security System, which is the HomeBase 3 and two EufyCam 3s, costs $594.99. Additional EufyCam 3 cameras cost $219.99, and there are three and four camera kits. But the really good news is that almost all of Eufy’s existing smart cameras, video doorbells, and sensors will be compatible with the new HomeBase 3 (see sidebar).

This means if you bought a EufyCam 2, you could swap it over from a HomeBase 2 to a HomeBase 3, and your existing camera will gain the ability to recognize faces, spot your pets or an animal lurking outside, and distinguish between vehicles and other motion events.

The system works with the Eufy app, where you can view recorded and live footage. The new cameras have two-way audio, so you can talk to visitors or use the built-in siren to scare off intruders. It can integrate with Amazon Alexa and Google Home, but there’s no Apple Home compatibility at launch. (The Eufy HomeBase 2 and several of the EufyCam 2 line of cameras are Apple Home compatible).

The EufyCam 3 is Eufy’s first 4K resolution camera; it has a 1.4 F aperture lens, color night vision, and a built-in spotlight. The 13,400mAh battery should give up to a year of battery life, plus the integrated solar panel can keep it going longer with a couple of hours of sunlight a day. 

“Most current home security systems are digital video recorders triggered by motion, creating a constant stream of false alerts and massive amounts of wasted video data,” said Frank Zhu, Eufy security general manager. “Our new Edge Security System solves both issues while keeping our commitment to customer privacy and value intact. Our customers pay no subscription fees for storing or accessing their data.”

While Eufy offers a cloud video storage service, it’s not required to record or view footage. Instead, all video is stored locally on 16GB of built-in 256-bit encrypted local storage, which is expandable up to 16 TB. The HomeBase also does the video processing, keeping your footage local. It uses a self-learning AI Eufy calls BionicMind, which the company says will learn and improve over time.

The option to upgrade to as much as 16TB of storage with a hard drive slot, not have to rely on cloud storage, and get continuous video recording will be very attractive to a lot of people. There aren’t many options for an off-the-shelf smart home camera system with 24/7 continuous video recording, most use motion-triggered recording. Google Nest offers it on some of its cameras, and Google Nest also has facial recognition, as does Apple’s HomeKit Secure Video. But Eufy doesn’t charge any monthly subscription fees to view recorded footage — which Google Nest does, and with Apple’s HomeKit Secure Video, you need to pay for iCloud storage.

The Edge Security System is available today in the US at Amazon or Best Buy and is coming to the UK, Germany, and Australia on September 30th.