what are people’s preferences in the UK, mains powered, solar powered or just pure battery powered cameras? just purchased the EufyCam S3 Pro and excited to try it!
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USA 
here. I have 14 different cameras only 3 are battery on solar panels. 9 of them are E330 pro plug in type never worry about taking them down to charge & they record 24/7 the last 2 are a garage door control camera and a inside pan and tilt also plug in. The 3 battery Cameras with external solar panel keep a good charge as long it’s not cloudy for days on end one that is under a tree looking at a bird feeder gets a lot of activity ( not just birds big game too) after leaves come in doesn’t stay maintained charge so i do have to plug in once a month but again a lot of activity day and night
Hia Matt I’m based in the UK in the East Midlands.
I started with 2 x EufyCam 2 1080p devices and a 2k doorbell with a Homebase 2, both running off Eufy Solar panels as they didn’t last 365 days due to the amount of passing video captures.
I wanted to add another single camera but instead of buying another EufyCam 2 or 2 Pro 2k. I opted to buy the EufyCam 3 4k 4 camera kit with built in solar panels (S330). They didn’t charge enough during the day, 2 were in sane positions and previous 2 and 2 were in similar positions with same sunlight levels. I tried to add Solar panels but was told by Eufy these weren’t supported.
The whole setup and the Homebase 3 went back to the supplier. I’m now running my original setup with additional 2 x EufyCan 2 Pro cameras all running off Solar panels. I wanted to upgrade but didn’t find the S330 Cameras charged enough with the built in Solar Panels. I loved the features on the Homebase 3 too including the AI.
I hope you have more joy with the S3. I would be interested on how you get on.
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I definitely recommend the E330 pro if you can find a place to plug into. the wire can go through the back of the bracket and into the house to hide the wire there are all sorts of options to make the inside terminations look finished. Just make sure you seal the outside from weather around the hole but not in the hole so you can pull the camera and wire back out if you need I’m a electrician but it isn’t that difficult if you minimum hands on abilities
I’m UK and I’ve got 5 of the E330 pro wired cameras, had them a month or so now. Replaced some old Samsung wired cameras so the power was already in place pretty much using existing cables.
Happy so far, personally would rather have a constant powered, constant recorded system but obviously using existing wiring makes this simpler. Was also pleased that the mounting had identical screw holes so no extra drilling 
Quality is excellent. Sensitivity a bit too good as triggers alerts every time the wind blows bushes in the garden. One minor problem with a camera continually disconnecting after a day or so, but waiting on a warranty replacement
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Definitely depends on the traffic you expect the camera to get
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I had disconnection issues at first very frustrating it ended up being by cable provider modem and they upgraded it for free. haven’t had any issues since to speak of. I also added a WiFi extender and made sure i set up cameras to the bridge settings that will either use your WiFi or home base. As far as sensitivity make sure you don’t have all motion checked off I’m sure you know that. I do get detections when it snows big flakes though lol. I have 9 E 330 pro and several other types. Have you ever tried the water leak/ freeze sensors? I have them near hot water tank and fish tanks
UK here, based in South West London. I have 10 cameras. 7 outside, 3 inside. The inside ones are all wired as that’s practical. Of the outside ones, 5 are battery powered and seem to last around 6 months on a single charge as they don’t get many events, mostly cats and foxes in the garden. 1 is a battery doorbell which lasts about 3 months but is easy to swap in the spare battery. The final outside one is a solar powered battery, S340 which doesn’t ever need charging but I do have to drop the sensitivity settings and make it single lens during the winter months (around half the year).
In general, if I could use power I would, then solar, then just battery. It depends a lot on the location and effort to run wires.
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My wife’s a sparky…
But you never get work done at home with any trades people 
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Yeah that’s true. If it’s anything like here in the states we are all crazy busy. 
I mainly use the battery power, convenient if you don’t have a pre existing doorbell connection.
Yeah I have it just set to people but today with it being pretty warm windy, it seems to think everything moving is a person
Disconnection wise, camera I had a problem with had two others further away from Homebase and router, even moved the Homebase so it was just the other side of the wall from the problem camera, less than 2m, and it still dropped after 48 hours. Got a battery cam at the bottom of the garden about 20m away which works no issue. Eufy are replacing it, just need to post back tomorrow.
Not tried the water sensor, I have an existing Sonoff / Ewelink ZigBee one behind my washing machine which I think I paid £3 for from China and so far, has worked the one time it had to. May replace it if I see a decent deal as never totally convinced the cheap one is working unless I pull out the machine and check it Also got a Sonoff sensor to trigger an outdoor floodlight which I got at the same time, if that fails I’d probably go down the Eufy route for that too.
Eufy stuff just works which is great, even to be as a techy bloke who likes dabbling.
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Thanks all for your comments I will let you know how I get on with the S3 pro. Waiting for the homebase 3 to arrive so I can get it mounted and start testing. I did originally buy a E330 Pro but unfortunately the cable run I planned was impossible when it came to it 
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this was a good read on your suggestions and detailed info provided.
You forum members are top notch!
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I can’t agree more, our users are always excellent.
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The battery solar panels i don’t mind of it works as claimed.
1st place wired powered
2nd place battery operated I don’t mind taking it down, charging and putting it back in place
3rd place solar powered just bc I don’t like these fancy smart devices get direct sunlight (I’m being super conservative)