Video doorbells are a great way to know who is at your doorstep even when you are not at home. We have so far looked at a couple of smart doorbells and cameras with the goal of helping you optimize their performance but haven’t delved into singular things you could accomplish with the camera.
Parcel Theft Is Annoying, and Thieves Hate Cameras
With parcel theft on the rise, I thought of ways to capture faces or even scare potential pirates from whisking away my sweet merch from Amazon.
While a normal front-facing camera will see people approaching upright, someone can easily slip under and literally pull your packages from right under your eyes.
The Eufy Dual Doorbell seeks to solve the problem with two high-resolution cameras. One faces outwards while a second camera faces downwards to monitor the area around your porch and front door.
A Split Screen View Gives You the Perfect Line of Sight
By using two cameras, Eufy Dual beams a split-screen image to your smartphone app giving you a clear view of the delivery guy approaching and the parcel finally sitting pretty on your porch.
Additionally, it has inbuilt package detection AI that will notify you when it detects package delivery. The AI will also notify you when someone picks it up or remind you if you seem to ignore your package for too long.
The Delivery Guard Feature is Fun to Toy With
The inbuilt AI that monitors package delivery is a big selling point. However, do not be overly optimistic about it. Be ready for a couple of false alarms and misses.
You will find the ‘Package Delivered’ messages more accurate than the ‘Package Picked Up’ alters that either seems to be false or never come through at all.
A stray brick or cat will occasionally show up like a package and it will sometimes fail to detect small packages.
Be Warned, It is Huge
If you are looking for something small and sleek, look elsewhere. The Eufy Dual is big and imposing – it has to be to accommodate the two cameras.
In my opinion, the size makes it intimidating and hard to miss. Anyone thinking of pilfering your parcels will know they are being watched.
The extra space creates room for a beefier battery and Eufy says it will go up to six months on a single charge. I am yet to prove that. Remember battery life will vary depending on how busy your porch and front door is.
Bottom Line
The Eufy Dual isn’t your go-to doorbell camera if all you want is to monitor visitors. However, if you actively cringe at the idea of someone stealing your parcels or you’ve had a couple pilfered before, it could be a great way to get a shot and video of the perpetrator in action.