I moved from an apartment to a house recently, which means that smart doorbells are back on the menu. I’m hands-deep into house decorating which means that absolutely nothing is currently automated, and I’m likely to miss parcels too lost in the square meters of my new abode, drowned in the sounds of DIY tools. EZVIZ EP3x Pro (AmazonUK|EZVIZ Store) has been set to me just in time to address it, so I promptly added it to my front porch!
Knock knock? Who’s there?
EZVIZ EP3x Pro looks pretty impressive. It offers 2K resolution, 2.4GHz WiFi integration, built-in storage (32GB) and not one, but two cameras to give you an insight into your front door. The kit arrived in a neat box alongside the solar panel to keep the built-in battery charged up (it can be charged via USB-C too) and 2 brackets that allow for flat and 45° installation.
To enable two-way conversations, EZVIZ EP3x Pro is equipped with a microphone and speaker. There is a small LED light to illuminate faces in front of the camera and some sensors to detect loiterers and movement.
While the purpose of the primary camera is quite obvious, the secondary optics face down at 45° angle and look out for parcels and other things. When I say it “looks out” I mean this as the camera is equipped with AI to recognise people and parcels (currently in beta). The device is priced just over £100 on AmazonUK and considering what’s on offer, I don’t find the pricetag unreasonable. Will my opinion change by the time I finish this review?
Installation
If you have the tools, having EZVIZ EP3x Pro installed takes 2 holes in the wall (unless you use 3M tape fitting and 4 extra screws to mount the angled bracket in for better video coverage. Overall, it’s a 10-minute job at best.
The smart bell locks into the bracket and the tamper prevention sensor pings you if someone tries to mess with it. It’s best to pair EZVIZ EP3x Pro before you mount it, as the pairing button isn’t accessible once fitted.
My front door is on the north side, so I hesitated to use the solar add-on. The cable is relatively short and without some serious extensions, I won’t get the solar panel anywhere close to the direct sun. Surprisingly, it does generate some power despite being in the shade all the time. Alternatively, the doorbell can be hardwired to the existing 8-24VAC range.
Subscription – optional
I really appreciate EZVIZ not trying to push the storage subscriptions down my throat. The option is there should you want to store things in the cloud, but thanks to the included 32GB storage I’m perfectly fine using it as is. Remember that the footage won’t be accessible if someone decides to bolt with your smart doorbell. Should you need one, a 7-day retaining plan starts from £4.99.
Alexa, Google Home…
The EZWIZ app is well-made and comes with integrations for Alexa and Google Home. Since I have various Alexa devices, I quickly hooked it up. When called upon, speakers announce the person is at the doorbell, but you need to ask Alexa to enable video feed on compatible speakers like Alexa Show.
In use
Apart from my closest family, no one knows that I moved. I didn’t expect any traffic, which could be problematic from the review standpoint, but installing EZVIZ EP3x Pro made me realise how busy my front porch is. From deliveries, and endless leafleters to posties taking shortcuts, it all gets promptly recorded and pinged back to me.
Thanks to dual cameras, I get to see their faces in 2K resolution and try to determine what trash-worthy leaflets I’m getting in advance. I get to pass harsh judgments on their footwear since the parcel camera gives me a convenient perspective to watch out for parcels, shoes and whatever else happens to end up below the waistline.
I have to praise EZVIZ EP3x Pro for the response latency. Once the button is pressed, the doorbell rings my Alexa and my mobile phone instantly. I couldn’t believe that this is a battery-operated device, that usually stays in dormant mode.
Where the device lags a little bit is with AI human detection. I had to set the loitering option to 1sec to achieve the desired effects, as I felt the videos of people passing by, started a second or two too late. It’s greatly influenced by the angle of approach, so fit your doorbell sensibly.
I enabled the AI parcel detection which is currently in beta. The results were mixed when it comes to recognising what a parcel is (it tagged my shoes a couple of times as a parcel when standing too long in the view of the camera) leaving me to believe that EZVIZ EP3x Pro simply compares an empty frame with a new frame containing new elements captured by the bottom facing camera. The mode however was pretty good at detecting stuff being removed.
Talking to strangers
I didn’t have many interactions throughout testing, so I asked a friend to be my test subject. AI detection works decently in daylight, but even though the EZVIZ EP3x Pro (AmazonUK|EZVIZ Store) has a small LED light at the top of the device, this light isn’t enough to illuminate the subject properly. Without that in the colour mode, people may not be tagged in the footage. The doorbell will still record the motion-detected footage.
I would strongly advise you to use EZVIZ EP3x Pro where additional sources of lights are present as this will aid the AI accuracy at night.
With that said, I found both the audio and video quality in day and night conditions to be very good. The front-facing camera streams 2K images to your phone, while the parcel-detecting lens offers a 1080P feed. Even at night, the cameras offer a colour image enough enough details to make out what’s going on at the door. If the camera is facing a pitch-black emptiness, you can always switch over to the more common IR-based black-and-white vision which provides a better experience in extreme situations.
The built-in speaker is surprisingly loud! The audio was clear on both ends and the inclusion of the voice changer that masks the voice as “uncle” or “clown” could be useful for when kids are home alone, but the voice feels “changed” which could backfire revealing attempts at concealment.
EZVIZ EP3x Pro offers two modes of interaction – answering the “door knocks” and dropping into the feed at any given time. The video stream loads quickly and the camera can be used as part of the security setup by EZVIZ. This comes as no surprise, as the company offers a wide selection of CCTV and security equipment aside from smart doorbells.
The app
After installing the app on my Android phone, it took a moment to get familiar with the layout and all the settings. I went to the options to configure the device to my preferred sounds and detection sensitivity. I noticed advanced options like voice changer, privacy masking and even video encryption for enhanced security and privacy.
The AI features come with individual settings for detection area and notifications, so you can pick between being alarmed each time something happens in front of the doorbell, and blissfully (and silently) ignoring events while keeping a video record of what’s going on in front of your doorstep. The only option that I wish was available on EZVIZ EP3x Pro is face recognition.
As the files are stored on the built-in storage, the log cannot be removed from the device without access to the app. All events and recordings can be accessed via event log where recordings are grouped (my preferred option) and via calendar style interface. The app offers filters to narrow down your search further and from there, you can preview the video recording from each camera independently.
The app also offers smart integrations. You could link the motion events with lights, or use contact sensors for home automation, but I was unable to test as I have not received any additional hardware from this ecosystem
Final thoughts
I’m impressed as the EZVIZ EP3x Pro (AmazonUK|EZVIZ Store) is a very reliable smart doorbell. I’d love to see RTSP settings to integrate it with other DIY security systems. Integrations with Alexa and Google Home make the doorbell more connected with other services, and since I don’t really see any serious flaws with having EZVIZ EP3x Pro attached to the front of the house – the smart doorbell is here to stay. It’s listed for £109.99 on Amazon UK, and after testing it in my scenarios – you should definitely check it out. Let me know your thoughts in this Reddit thread.
🆓📈💵 – See the transparency note for details.
