'ZDNET Recommends': What exactly does it mean?
ZDNET's recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing.
When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or service, we may earn affiliate commissions. This helps support our work, but does not affect what we cover or how, and it does not affect the price you pay. Neither ZDNET nor the author are compensated for these independent reviews. Indeed, we follow strict guidelines that ensure our editorial content is never influenced by advertisers.
ZDNET's editorial team writes on behalf of you, our reader. Our goal is to deliver the most accurate information and the most knowledgeable advice possible in order to help you make smarter buying decisions on tech gear and a wide array of products and services. Our editors thoroughly review and fact-check every article to ensure that our content meets the highest standards. If we have made an error or published misleading information, we will correct or clarify the article. If you see inaccuracies in our content, please report the mistake via this form.
This adorable motion-tracking camera is my go-to indoor security and pet camera
ZDNET's key takeaways
- The Eufy Security Indoor Cam S350 is available for purchase at $130.
- With a dual-camera head, the S350 indoor camera has a telephoto and wide-angle camera, plus motion tracking abilities, with a 360-degree motion rate. It comes with the option for local storage, so you don't have to pay monthly fees.
- The only drawback I've found is that I wish the camera had a button to engage privacy mode manually, but you can schedule it as needed on the app.
It's safe to say the Eufy Security Indoor Cam S350 has become indispensable in my home. What truly makes this indoor security device stand out is the fact that it houses two cameras in one body; one with a wide-angle lens and the other with a telephoto lens. The wide-angle lens camera has a 130-degree field of view when static and records in 4K.
Also: Getting a puppy? 4 tech gadgets you absolutely need
The telephoto lens camera records in 2K, features 3x optical zoom, so you can zoom in on people or objects without sacrificing image quality, and an 8x digital zoom. Both cameras have a low aperture, at f/1.6, to better capture lighting and record in low-light conditions.
View at AmazonAnd then the device can pan, tilt, and swivel in any direction smoothly, giving you a full view of its surroundings. The Eufy Cam S350 smoothly tracks people in motion, keeping the target in view with no staggering, and the Local AI in the HomeBase 3 can distinguish humans and pets.
Also: Eufy's new Floodlight Cam E340 is the hardest working security camera I've tested
We paired this camera with our HomeBase 3, which we had at home and use for the rest of our Eufy security system. The HomeBase 3 retails for $150; it's a hub for Eufy security devices that supports local storage for its cameras, so we can enjoy the full benefit of a security camera without monthly fees. However, you don't need to buy a HomeBase 3 to use this camera.
The Indoor Cam S350 can store footage on the HomeBase 3, but also on an inserted microSD card, which is not included, of up to 128GB. This card would still give you the local storage you need to avoid paying monthly cloud fees and it would support the live notifications of detected motion.
Also: EufyCam 3 and HomeBase 3 review: Why I'm not getting rid of these cameras yet
These pan/tilt indoor cameras are commonly marketed as baby monitors or pet cams because of their ability to track motion in real time and to cover the lens when the privacy mode is turned on. While this is a perfect camera for any of these options, I use it as an indoor security camera in conjunction with our security system.
My home's Eufy security system includes some motion sensors that are spread around downstairs, several outdoor security cameras, a keypad, and the HomeBase 3, which sounds an alarm when the system is triggered.
I don't use indoor cameras in our living room, where I have a motion detector, because I don't like the idea of having a camera looking at my family's every move. If a sensor detects motion and the alarm goes off at three in the morning, I have no way to see what the motion is. So, I do have a smaller pan/tilt Ezviz camera that is always set to privacy mode, just so I can look at it whenever motion is detected. But this process takes time.
Also: These Alexa-enabled smart glasses are $40 off during Amazon's Big Spring Sale
The Eufy Indoor Cam S350 has become a better solution to this problem, as it works with my existing system and gives me a live view within the same app as the rest of my security devices.
ZDNET's buying advice
The Eufy Security Indoor Cam S350 works seamlessly each time motion is detected, it doesn't get distracted by false alerts often, notifications are fast to appear on my mobile device when triggered, and it can quickly hide its lenses when privacy mode is turned on.
I love to schedule when the camera goes to privacy mode; I set a schedule to have it automatically guard each night at bedtime and stop watching during the day. I only wish it had a button to manually engage privacy mode, so the camera can stop capturing motion when I press it.
These additions to the camera's privacy mode would only be a bonus, as the camera performs and records so well that I don't end up missing them, but they would be nice to have. As it is right now, I'd recommend the Indoor Cam S350 to anyone looking for an indoor security camera, pet cam, or baby monitor camera, as it's proven itself to be capable of performing these tasks with clear, high-resolution images.