- Anker claims its new Eufy S4 video doorbell is the first with VR viewing
- The device has a 180-degree field of view, and uses AI tracking to follow subjects and frame them
- It's set to ship at the end of October, for $299 (about £230 / AU$430)
Anker has unveiled its Edge 5.0 lineup of smart home devices, but the new Eufy Video Doorbell S4 that apparently comes with VR viewing of who's at your door is the latest inductee to the weird tech hall of fame.
The device, which also comes with the Chime 2, is available to pre-order now and is expected to ship at the end of October, but it’s quite a costly addition to your smart home setup priced at $299.99. Still, despite its price and arguably unnecessary headline feature, its expansive roster of features could putit among the best video doorbells.
Aside from being subscription-free with 4GB of built-in memory — which you’d hope for given its asking price — the device’s VR viewing sets the S4 apart from rivals such as the Philips 7000 Series, our overall best pick. According to Anker, the S4 is the world’s first video doorbell with such viewing capabilities, and it sounds pretty insane, but very much impressive.
When the doorbell detects someone at your door, you’ll get a videocall-like notification from the Anker Eufy app which will open a video 180-degree field of view (horizontally and vertically). This gives you an ultra-wide view of the front of your home at all times, removing the need for additional security cameras.
Once you’ve launched the live view in the Anker Eufy app, you can move your smartphone — or VR headset, naturally — to look in different directions and see things from different angles. Clever, right? But that’s not the only smart feature.
As far as camera tracking goes, the S4 records 3K video in 3072 x 3072 keeping a subject’s entire body visible, while Eufy’s AI-powered OmniTrack technology locks onto the person in the frame, following them as they move around. The doorbell then uses Auto-Framing to crop the panoramic view, keeping them in the center at all times.
Detection accuracy, smart hub compatibility, and more
With the new Eufy video doorbell, Anker has put a huge amount of effort into ensuring the device is capable and sensitive enough to monitor your home’s entrance.
A common mishap with video doorbells is false alerts, sending a wave of worry through you when there was nothing to really worry about. To reduce these false alarms, the S4 uses a combination of radar for longer-range detection, while sporting dual PIR sensors to help differentiate human movement closer to your front door.
When it comes to smart home compatibility, Anker’s new video doorbell can be integrated into your existing ecosystem whether you’re running on Alexa, Google Home, or Apple HomeKit, though there are a few things to keep in mind.
For those of you using Apple HomeKit, you’ll need to have the Eufy HomeBaseS380 hub to get set up. Additionally, VR viewing and OmniTrack is only available through the Anker Eufy app, so third-party platforms will only show a fixed live view.
from Latest from TechRadar US in Computing News https://ift.tt/t2IHUJy
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