A common problem is that Eufy’s video doorbell camera is: not detecting motion at all or is often too late.
As with all smart devices, things are being updated and improved with the newest firmware updates, but we have to admit, it’s still not 100% as smooth as, for example, compared with the Ring doorbells.
Yet, it’s nice to live in a subscription-free world!
Eufy, or rather Anker (the manufacturer), is making massive progress on their Artificial Intelligence but still could need some help sometimes.
Therefore, it might not be as much plug-and-play for some device owners, and it might take a bit of tweaking to get the settings right.
The nice thing is that this video doorbell has many more advanced features and settings to tweak with (compared to, for example, a Ring).
The downside is that these same features can be turned off accidentally or confusing.
Let’s get started, and I hope you’re up and running again in 5 minutes!
What is motion detection on your Eufy video doorbell?
Motion Detection technology can be used to monitor the situation outside your front door by detecting moving objects and pushing notifications to your phone.
You can change the frequencies in which you get alerts by setting up activity zones, and the sensitivity level can be set to “Human Only” or “All Motions.” Eufy had several problems in the past, but most of them got solved via the latest firmware updates.
Basic troubleshooting 101
We’ll cover a few essential basic steps to troubleshoot the problem of why your video doorbell is not detecting any motion or late.
With so many settings available in the Eufy app, some of them might be easily overlooked, and the problem might be easily solved. However, these are essentially the same steps as Eufy support will go over with you.
So let’s save you some time:
1. Make sure you have the latest firmware installed
So that’s step one: let’s be sure you have the latest firmware installed.
Go to the App, Choose the Device’s Settings (wheel arrow), scroll all the way to the bottom, and choose “About Device.”
Next, click “Check for firmware update.”
2. Make sure you have your camera on
Step two is to make sure you have the “Camera On” button enabled in your Eufy App’s settings on your phone. For this, go to the video camera’s settings wheel on the right top in the App.
3. Make sure you have your notifications set up correctly
Quite likely, this won’t be your problem, but we’re just making sure to exclude the obvious as I’ve been there myself!
So go to Settings, “Notification,” and see if everything is in order.
Note: if you’re not having the Chime working properly, you want to visit the “Indoor Chime” options to make sure you have your doorbell chime set up correctly.
If you are suffering from delayed motion detections, try the “Most Efficiency” option first.
As this will require the least of data to be transmitted and obstacles (walls, metal objects), it will be faster to pass by the data than when you choose “Include Thumbnail” or “Full Effect.” Of course, you can still reverse or try out those settings later once everything else is in order.
But for testing purposes, be sure to choose the “Most Efficiency” option.
4. Check the PowerManager settings
As you can see below, if you chose “Optimal Battery Life,” it says: Doorbell only, No Motion Detection.
So let’s make sure we aren’t usually the ones that handle that!
If all of this is fine and double-checked, we can move on to the most likely issue: your motion detection configuration.
Motion Detection configuration solutions
Now that we’ve cleared that and your Eufy camera is still not detecting motion, or its motion sensitivity is not optimal, it is likely due to your configuration of the many Motion Detection settings in your Eufy App itself.
As shown below, we have a few parameters here to toggle around with:
1. Detection Mode – enable and disable
2. Activity Zone – configurator
3. Detection Type – only human/all motions
4. Sensitivity – low to high
1. Detection Mode
Clearly, it starts with making sure you have the Detection Mode enabled.
2. Activity Zone
Next, you have the Activity Zone configurator. That currently supports a hexagon of 6 points for you to drag around with. It’ll take you a bit of fidgeting to get it right, and the interface might feel a bit clumsy too.
But it works.
If your Activity Zones are inefficiently set up, there might be your instant problem (and solution).
3. Detection Type
Detection Type: you have the choice between “Human Only” and “All Motions.” From my experience, if I choose “Human Only,” the detection is often quite late or doesn’t detect at all fast enough (like a delivery man quickly in a rush dropping off a package). Hence, I put it to “All Motions” in my case, and I didn’t get many false positives.
1. If you draw an activity zone, make sure it covers the entire range of interests.
2. your doorbell’s Sensitivity level may be set too low. The Sensitivity should be increased and trigger times adjusted accordingly.
3. you mustn’t set the Sensitivity level to “Human Only” when you’re facing problems. Setting the level to “All Motion” will make it easier to see events you want to see. And work your way backways.
4. Sensitivity
Lastly is there is Sensitivity, which is more dependent on your personal installation of your video doorbell: is there a lot of light? Humidity? How about wind? Permanent shadow? Sometimes shadow?
If you’re having problems with the default settings, here is where you’ll have to experiment to get it right to your desired effectiveness with a few days of experimentation.
If all else fails.. just contact Eufy.
The good news is, Eufy’s support is more responsive than you would expect from a big company, Anker Innovations Limited.
You can contact them straight from within the App -> Help -> Select your device from the overview and choose “Video Doorbell” -> You’ll see a few guides and at the bottom: LiveChat/Feedback/Call us.
Or you can contact them simply by sending an email to [email protected].
When you do, try to be as informative as possible with your initial email, including photos, proof of purchase, and a detailed description of what’s not working correctly. This will save you a lot of back-and-forth emails.
Many people report getting a free replacement unit from Eufy/Anker – without any hassle.
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