Eufy Wifi + Solar Camera S40

The solar camera S40 is the sensible pick in eufy's outdoor range: a bright spotlight, a big battery and a solar panel that keeps it fed. Around two hours of direct sun a day is enough to keep it charged indefinitely, and even with no sun the 13,400 mAh battery is rated at about four months.

• What a solar camera S40 puts in one housing
• Colour at night, not infrared grey
• Behind the light
• Storage
• S40 against the L40
• Which of the three solar models

The 600 lumen spotlight is adjustable in both brightness and colour, from a warm 4,000 K to a cold 6,000 K, and it is what gives you full colour footage at night instead of infrared grey. It works as a security light in its own right.

Behind it is a 2K camera with an f/1.6 lens and a 135° view, a PIR sensor that reacts to body heat, on-device AI that picks out people, two-way audio and a 90 dB siren. Up to two activity zones let you ignore the parts of the view you do not care about.

Footage lives on 8 GB inside the camera. No subscription, no base station, nothing else to buy.

Compared with the SoloCam L40: this is the same camera with a solar panel built in. The L40 has no panel and cannot take one, so unless you are mounting somewhere with no sun at all, this is the one that saves you the ladder.

What a solar camera S40 puts in one housing

The S40 is the middle of the outdoor range and the one most houses should look at first. A solar camera S40 carries a 1.2 W panel on top, and around two hours of direct sun a day keeps it charged indefinitely. Even with no sun the 13,400 mAh battery is rated at about four months.

Colour at night, not infrared grey

The 600 lumen spotlight is adjustable in brightness and in colour, from a warm 4,000 K to a cold 6,000 K, and it is what gives full colour footage after dark. It works as a security light in its own right, which is worth counting when you compare the price against a light plus a camera bought separately.

Behind the light

A 2K camera at 17 fps with an f/1.6 lens and a 135 degree view, 8x digital zoom, a PIR sensor that reacts to body heat, and on-device AI that picks out people. Two-way audio, a 90 dB siren, and up to two activity zones so you can ignore the parts of the view you do not care about.

Storage

8 GB inside the camera, encrypted. No subscription, no base station, nothing else to buy. There is no card slot, so it keeps the recent clips and overwrites the older ones.

S40 against the L40

They are the same camera. The L40 has no panel and cannot take one, so it needs recharging by cable about three times a year. Unless you are mounting somewhere with no sun at all, the solar camera S40 is the one that saves you the ladder.

That is the only difference worth arguing about between the two, and it is why we usually point people here.

Which of the three solar models

The S220 is cheaper and has no spotlight. The S340 moves and carries two lenses. This one sits between them and is the one we sell most of. eufy list this as the T8124 at eufy.com.