Eufy SoloCam S340 Review: Sunset and Forget

The Eufy SoloCam S340 is one of those rare smart home products you don't need to think about. You set it up, and it gets out of the way.

The key pitch is the SoloCam S340 relies on solar power. There's a small solar panel at the top of the security camera, so you never need to recharge it. In my time with the SoloCam S340, the lowest I've seen the battery get is 91% after a few non-stop rainy days. There is a USB-C port if you need to charge it from a different source, and it's easy enough to take the SoloCam S340 out of its mount.

And while most popular smart home security cameras require some sort of monthly subscription for full functionality - Arlo, Google Nest, and Ring, for example - this isn't the case with SoloCam S340. Instead of saving footage in the cloud, there's 8GB of local storage on the device. If you exceed this, it will start recording over the oldest footage. For context, it took me over a month of recording in 3K to get to the point where the SoloCam S340 ran out of storage. You can also always download clips to your phone if there's anything in particular you want to save.

Of course, the fact the SoloCam S340 relies on onboard storage could potentially be an issue. There's always the chance that a criminal could try and steal or destroy the camera, which would prevent you from accessing the footage. You'd ideally want to mount the SoloCam S340 in a location where this would be rather challenging.

There are two other solutions to this. Eufy does offer a USD$2.99 per month per camera cloud storage subscription (roughly AUD$4.50 at current exchange rates). Alternatively, you can pair the SoloCam S340 with the Eufy Security HomeBase 3 - a device that’s effectively a giant hard drive for your Eufy cameras. It has 16GB of internal storage and can be expanded by sliding in a hard drive or SSD. It does cost $349.95, however. The HomeBase 3 also enables features like face detection.

When it comes to everything else, the SoloCam S340 is hard to fault. Setup was very easy. The camera mount only needs four screws, and the camera then clips on. While you can attach the solar panel directly to the top of the SoloCam S340 as I have, there's also a 4m USB-C extension cable. This allows you to place the solar panel away from the camera if you need to, giving you a bit of flexibility in terms of your install. The in-app setup process was just as painless.

The SoloCam S340 features two separate camera lenses: a wide-angle and a telephoto. While both are locked in the same direction, the combination gives you a heck of a lot of detail - both during the day and at night. There's also 360 degrees of horizontal pan, and 70 degrees of vertical tilt. You can turn on "AI tracking" to have the camera automatically follow a subject, as well as configure preset positions that the camera can jump to with the click of a virtual button.

There's a whole raft of other smart functionality. These include activity zones where only motion in certain areas triggers a notification, filtering detection types if you don't want cars or pets to trigger the camera, colour night vision where a light will automatically turn off if motion is detected at night, and privacy zones where motion specifically won't be recorded. It's a robust feature set.

One feature I'd love to see Eufy borrow from Ring is the ability to snooze notifications directly from the notification. When my partner is working on her garden or if I'm hanging up laundry, the SoloCam S340 lets off an endless stream of notifications. There's a snooze option in the app that lets you pause notifications for a bit (while still logging the event), but my doorbell gives me this option straight from the notification on my Apple Watch. It's not a big deal, but it is something that would solve my one major annoyance.

Eufy SoloCam S340 - Final Thoughts 

Eufy's approach to the SoloCam S340 is a nice counterpoint to the Ring doorbell I use. It needs a charge every month or two, and the charge takes around eight hours. That's eight hours when my doorbell isn't working. It’s also pretty useless if I stop paying for Ring Protect. Without Ring Protect, you can't save any footage. If you don't see something happening in the moment, It's gone.

It's a similar situation with Google's Nest range. Without a subscription to Nest Aware, you only get three hours of video history. That's not ideal if someone tries to break in overnight.

The SoloCam S340 addresses these issues with solar power and local storage. You don't need to charge it, and it doesn't cost extra for functionality as core to a security camera as saving footage. 

Of course, at $399, the SoloCam S340 is a bit more expensive than alternatives. Google's outdoor Nest Cam sells for $329, while Ring's Spotlight Cam Pro Solar retails for $359 (and is regularly discounted). The key difference is that Nest and Ring cameras genuinely need a subscription to get the most out of them. You're looking at $12 per month on Nest, and a minimum of $4.95 per month for Ring. Over the life of a product, that's going to add up.

For me, the SoloCam S340 does exactly what I need it to. It covers the key entry point to my property, as well as the front door. I'm not too concerned about the storage being on board. It's a simple one-off solution that I don't need to think about, and doesn't keep showing up on my credit card. As a standalone product, the SoloCam S340 is easy to recommend. I guess you could say it lives up to the name.

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