The EufyCam S3 Pro ups the color night-vision ante

Color night vision on a security camera sounds terrific on paper. In reality, you typically need a fair amount of ambient light to get decent color images–otherwise, the cam must fall back on infrared, yielding that familiar, ghostly black-and-white look. 

With its new EufyCam S3 Pro, Anker-owned Eufy says it’s solved the color night-vision conundrum, delivering (so we’re told) sharp color video even in near-total darkness. 

Eufy showed off the EufyCam S3 Pro at a Thursday night event in New York’s Greenwich Village, where it also touted the cam’s solar charging prowess, including the ability to power itself for a full day on just a single hour of sunlight. 

This news story is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best security cameras.

On sale now at Amazon for $549.99 in a kit that includes two cameras plus the HomeBase S380 base station (3- and 4-camera bundles are also available), the 4K-capable EufyCam S3 Pro comes equipped with a 1/1.8-inch stacked CMOS sensor, plus an F.10 lens with a 135-degree field of view. 

Using a combination of a starlight sensor and an AI-powered processing engine, the S3 Pro promises to tease out sharp, full-color images even with a bare minimum of ambient light. 

There’s also a motion-triggered “adaptive” spotlight mode that adjusts the lighting depending on the position of the subject, while IR night vision delivers traditional black-and-white footage in total darkness. 

We’re eager to test the S3 Pro’s color night vision for ourselves, so stay tuned for our full review.

Meanwhile, the EufyCam S3 Pro comes with an integrated solar panel that’s 50 percent larger than the panel on its predecessor, the EufyCam 3. 

Ben Patterson/Foundry

Eufy says the new panel can gather enough sunlight in an hour to power the S3 Pro for a full day, versus 2.5 to 3 hours for the EufyCam 3’s smaller panel.

The new camera also works with Eufy’s existing detachable solar panel, allowing you to install the S3 Pro under an eave or in another location that doesn’t get direct sunlight. 

The S3 Pro’s built-in 13,000mAh battery can store enough juice to power the cam for up to a year, even without a solar charge, Eufy said. 

Ben Patterson/Foundry

Next up, the S3 Pro uses both radar and passive infrared to detect motion, allowing the camera to detect people and vehicles while screening out swaying branches and other extraneous movement. The cam’s AI-powered recognition system can also spot pets as well as individual faces. 

Finally, the EufyCam S3 Pro will be the first Eufy cam in a couple of years to support Apple’s HomeKit platform, although video footage will be downgraded to 1080p resolution. A Eufy rep said HomeKit support for older Eufy cams may also be in the cards.  

Landing with an IP67 weatherization rating (meaning it’s dust-tight and resistant to being dunked in a meter of water for 30 minutes), the EufyCam S30 Pro also supports two-way talk, and Eufy’s “cross-camera tracking” feature, which automatically splices together footage from multiple cameras of a single motion event.

Another plus: 16GB of integrated EMMC storage, meaning you won’t need a paid subscription to store video events.