eufy Security Video Doorbell Wireless C210

The eufy Video Doorbell C210 is the simplest of the three eufy doorbells we stock, and for a lot of houses it is the right one. A slim battery unit that goes on the door frame in a few minutes with no wiring at all, supplied with a small white chime that plugs in indoors.

• How the eufy Video Doorbell C210 and its chime work as a pair
• The chime holds the recordings, and the card is not in the box
• Battery life on a busy gate
• Picture shape, not just picture size
• Which of the three eufy doorbells suits your gate

Two things to know before you order, and both are covered in full below.

First, the microSD card is not in the box and you will want one from day one.

Second, this model is battery only and cannot be hardwired. For most houses here that is no loss, because most have no doorbell wiring to use anyway. If yours does, take the S220 instead.

How the eufy Video Doorbell C210 and its chime work as a pair

The eufy Video Doorbell C210 comes with a small white chime that plugs into a socket indoors. The two do not shout at each other over your Wi-Fi. They use their own low-power link, and that is what stretches the doorbell battery to around four months instead of a few weeks.

It also means the house hears the bell. A doorbell that only rings your phone is useless when the phone is charging in the bedroom, and that is the single most common complaint about cheaper units.

The chime holds the recordings, and the card is not in the box

Storage sits on the chime, not on the doorbell and not on somebody else's server. That is the good part: nothing leaves your house and there is no subscription of any kind, ever.

You do have to supply the microSD card. It takes up to 128GB and it is not included. Without one you still get live view and alerts, but nothing is saved, so add a card to the order and have it working from day one.

Battery life on a busy gate

eufy quote 120 days, measured at twenty events a day at fifteen seconds a recording. A quiet side door will beat that comfortably. A gate on a main road with people passing all day will not.

When it does run down, the doorbell comes off its bracket and charges by cable. There is no wiring option on this model at all, so plan on that trip up the ladder two or three times a year.

Picture shape, not just picture size

Video is 1080p in a 4:3 frame, and on a doorbell the shape matters more than the pixel count. A 4:3 picture is taller than the usual widescreen crop, so you see a caller head to toe and the parcel sitting at their feet, rather than a close-up of somebody's chest.

Two-way audio and on-device human detection are both built in, so the alert that reaches you is a person rather than a moth on the lens.

Which of the three eufy doorbells suits your gate

Take the C210 when the job is simple: no doorbell wiring in the house, nobody wants a monthly fee, and 1080p is enough to see who is at the door.

Step up to the S220 if you want a 2K picture or the option to hardwire it. Step up again to the S330 dual camera if deliveries get left on the ground and you want a second lens pointed at the step. eufy list the whole range on their doorbell page.