Eufy Security eufyCam C35 review: an affordable, feature-packed home security camera with no subscription needed

If you've decided it's time to invest in one of the best security cameras for your property, here we present for your consideration the EufyCam C35: an affordable, straightforward option that I've been busy testing out for several weeks now.

The EufyCam C35 is a battery powered security camera that can optionally work with one of the HomeBase units that Eufy also offers. With the hub you get easier setup for multiple cameras, some extra features, and some additional AI functionality – but it's not essential.

Various EufyCam C35 bundles are available online, but the one Eufy sent me included a hub. Read on to find out how I found the experience of using this camera – from the quality of the video feed to the features that are available for round-the-clock home monitoring.

EufyCam C35 review: price and availability

Here I'm reviewing the 2-pack version of the EufyCam C35 which comes with a HomeBase Mini hub, though you can also buy the cameras individually if you want.

The widgets on this page will guide you towards the cheapest deals on the web right now, but at the time of writing a 2-pack-with-hub is going to cost you around £170 in the UK and around $200 in the US. In the UK you can pick it up from retailers including Amazon, as well as from the official Eufy website.

EufyCam C35 review: design and setup

No one wants to spend an age setting up a smart home device, and thankfully there's not much to do when it comes to getting the EufyCam C35 up and running. It's the usual mix of installing apps, scanning QR codes, and waiting for firmware updates to download – I managed to get two cameras and a HomeBase Mini ready in about 20 minutes.

The HomeBase Mini does make connecting multiple cameras more straightforward (you don't have to enter your Wi-Fi password for each camera, for example), and also gives you 8GB of storage to play around with. The cameras and the HomeBase Mini also accept microSD cards too, so you can add plenty of local storage. Cloud storage for your videos is optionally available, from £3.99 / $3.99 per month per camera.

For my testing, I used the storage built into the HomeBase Mini, which is likely to be enough for most people. It's only if you're going away for a week and you have reams of video you want to look back on that you might need to invest in some microSD cards or a cloud storage subscription.

As far as the design goes, these are well-designed, well-built, solid cameras – they feel like high-quality pieces of kit. Even the details, like the rubber covers for the charging ports, are well done. In the box for this bundle you get magnetic mounts for the cameras (with mounting brackets and screws, if needed), plus a camera charging cable, and a power cable and Ethernet cable for the HomeBase Mini.

EufyCam C35 review: video and features

You get a very similar set of features with most home security cameras now, and the EufyCam C35 has them all too: there's motion detection, two-way audio, night vision (in colour), sound and light alerts to deter would-be intruders, IP67 weatherproofing if you want to use the cameras outside, and the option to set activity zones (so you only get alerts about motion in certain regions).

By and large, it all works flawlessly. The connection to a live feed can take a couple of seconds to come through, but it was only a couple of times during the course of several weeks that the connection dropped entirely (and that was probably more down to my Wi-Fi). The cameras use 2.4GHz connections, which aren't the fastest, but are long range: the cameras worked a couple of rooms and a floor away from my router and HomeBase Mini, with no issues.

The video feed was reliable and steady whenever I looked at it, and the quality is perfectly fine. The 1080p resolution here can be bested by many other security cameras on the market, but it doesn't bother me too much – it's more than enough to see what's happening in your garden or living room.

I was impressed by the colour night vision too, which doesn't need a spotlight or infrared light to work. It's more than capable of taking in a medium-sized back garden without any trouble, for instance: faces and objects get a little blurred and indistinct in this scenario, but you can at least tell if someone is lurking around your property or if the kids have left their bikes outdoors.

There are plenty of settings to play around with in the mobile app, which is nice and polished. You're able to adjust the motion sensitivity, for example, set up your activity zones, and optimise battery life – by putting limits on the length of video clips and switching off audio recordings when you don't need them.

You don't have to buy the EufyCam C35 with the HomeBase Mini, but I'd say it's worth it. You get AI-powered detection with the extra hub, which means your cameras can tell the difference between vehicles, pets, and people. If you don't want to be alerted by passing cars or overactive dogs, then it's really handy. The HomeBase Mini can even stitch clips from multiple cameras together, which is great.

The HomeBase Mini also means your cameras can tell the difference between familiar faces and strangers – again, helpful if you're trying to limit the number of unnecessary alerts you get from your cameras. I tested this with my own face and it seemed to work very much as advertised, though the camera does need to get a good look at your face.

Eufy says its cameras can last up to a year on a single charge, though of course it depends a lot on how much you're checking them, how many motion events are being recorded, and even how hot or cold the ambient temperature is. Considering my cameras lost just 5-6 percent of their charge over nearly three weeks (in high efficiency mode), I'd say you're going to be good for at least a few months between charges.

EufyCam C35 review: verdict

I really liked the EufyCam C35 bundle during my time with it. You want a home security camera to be easy to set up, straightforward to operate, and reliable in the alerts that it gives you – and it delivers on all those counts. The local storage option that means I don't need to sign up for yet another subscription is of course a welcome bonus.

There is some graininess in the photos and videos captured by the EufyCam C35: don't expect the quality to be as good as it is with the cameras on the latest flagship phones. It does the job for seeing what's happening, and the night vision is excellent, but if you want precise and clear details then you might want to consider going for a more expensive 4K camera model for your home security.

For most people, I think the 1080p resolution offered by the EufyCam C35 will be just fine, and I do like the versatility of this setup – the way you can mount the cameras to almost anything, or just place them flat on a surface, for example – and I think the HomeBase Mini brings enough to the table to make it worth the additional cost.

There are definitely cheaper home security cameras than the EufyCam C35, and more expensive ones, but the pricing here seems more than reasonable for what you get. It's not exactly at budget level, but it's definitely competitive considering you get just about every feature you could want from a device like this.

EufyCam C35 review: alternatives to consider

There are plenty of alternatives to the EufyCam C35 out there, several of which are also from Eufy. The EufyCam S4 is a more expensive and more capable option, which keeps the support for local storage, and adds 4K video recording, motorised panning and tilting, and a more powerful hub box (if needed). If you like the Eufy approach but want something more premium than the EufyCam C35, it's well worth a look.

On the other hand, if you want something simpler and cheaper, then check out the Blink Outdoor 4. It's a battery-powered camera that you can use just about anywhere, indoors or out, and while it lacks some of the functionality of the EufyCam C35 – there's no light, for example – it's incredibly simple to use and won't cost you much at all. You do, however, need to pay for a subscription to archive your video recordings in the cloud.