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EZVIZ EP4: one-minute assessment
Becoming a video doorbell or safety digicam is usually a non-starter if you happen to lease or stay in an condo the place drilling into the partitions isn’t allowed. That’s the place the EZVIZ EP4 Wire-Free Peephole Door Viewer is available in — by becoming by means of your entrance door’s current peephole, it brings nearly every thing you’d get from a full video doorbell, with none injury that might upset your landlord.
The bodily setup is extremely simple and took me simply 10 minutes to finish. After you’ve unscrewed the previous peephole, the EP4 securely clamps onto the door with no energy instrument in sight.
As soon as it’s operating, the footage captured could be very clear, supplying you with an in depth have a look at anybody exterior. The companion app is straightforward to make use of and intuitively designed, making it easy to test stay feeds, use the two-way discuss function, or modify safety settings.
On the subject of saving video footage, EZVIZ doesn’t lock you right into a subscription plan like some rivals. Whereas the corporate features a free trial of its cloud subscription service, you aren’t pressured to pay for it afterwards. If you wish to skip the recurring charges, you’ll be able to decide to put in a neighborhood microSD card (as much as 512GB) to retailer clips regionally.
Nevertheless, the EP4’s AI facial recognition has a notable quirk. Though it is good sufficient to establish who’s at your door, there’s at present no option to cease the app from sending you notifications when it spots somebody — together with you. As a result of you’ll be able to’t inform the digicam to disregard sure people, you’ll be alerted each time you stroll by means of your personal entrance door.
EZVIZ EP4: value and availability
- Checklist value £229.99 (about $300 / AU$440)
- Out there within the UK, however not the US or Australia
- No subscription mandatory if you happen to use a microSD card
The EZVIZ EP4 Wire-Free Peephole Door Viewer is offered within the UK for £229.99 (about $300 / AU$440), however I’ve seen it discounted to as little as £159.99 throughout gross sales occasions. It’s not but out there within the US and Australia on the time of writing, however older fashions are, so hopefully the EP4 will launch extra extensively quickly.
If you wish to retailer your movies at house subscription-free, you’ll additionally want a microSD card (as much as 512GB), so issue this into the fee. Should you’d want to retailer footage within the cloud, you’ll need an EZVIZ CloudPlay subscription. After a 30-day free trial, there are three plans to select from:
|
Plan Sort |
Cameras supported |
Limitless cloud storage |
7-day event-based video historical past |
30-day event-based video historical past |
|
Particular person plan |
1 |
Sure |
Month-to-month: $3.99 (about £3, AU$6) Yearly: $39.99 (about £30, AU$58) |
Month-to-month: $6.99 (about £5.30, AU$10) Yearly: $69.99 (about £53, AU$100) |
|
House plan |
4 |
Sure |
Month-to-month: $5.99 (about £4.60, AU$8.70) Yearly: $59.99 (about £46, AU$87) |
Month-to-month: $10.99 (about £8.40, AU$16) Yearly: $109.99 (about £84, AU$160) |
|
Marketing strategy |
10 |
Sure |
Month-to-month: $12.99 (about £9.90, AU$19) Yearly: $129.99 (about £99, AU$190) |
Month-to-month: $27.99 (about £21, AU$41) Yearly: $279.99 (about £210, AU$410) |
EZVIZ EP4: design
- Discreet exterior digicam
- Quite simple to suit with out damaging door
- Inside display screen tasks an inch into the room
- Guests won’t spot the doorbell button
The EP4 has two essential elements: the digicam, which has a cable that threads by means of the peephole in your door, and a display screen that sits on the within. The digicam has a doorbell button under the lens (although guests won’t discover it as a result of it is at an uncommon stage), a movement sensor on the high, and a speaker and microphone on the facet.
It’s suitable with doorways between 1.4 x 4.1 inches / 35 x 105mm thick, with a peephole diameter between 0.6 inches and a pair of inches / 14mm and 50mm. That’s a variety, and ought to be nice for the overwhelming majority of inner and exterior doorways, but it surely’s price measuring yours first simply to make certain. You possibly can take away the peephole out of your door by merely unscrewing it, although if it’s notably tight, you may want to make use of a pair of pliers to get it began.
Picture 1 of 3
To suit the EP4, begin by measuring the thickness of your door utilizing the cardboard template supplied, and select the suitable pair of screws, indicated by the instruction handbook. These will likely be used to clamp the EP4 onto your door. Peel the paper off the 3M tape on the again of the digicam unit, place it on the surface of your door (I like to recommend utilizing a spirit stage to get it straight), thread the screws and knowledge cable by means of the peephole (you’ll be able to roll a bit of paper round them to keep away from snagging), and press right down to safe it.
Then tighten the screws a bit of, slide the mounting plate for the display screen into place, tighten the screws the remainder of the way in which, plug within the knowledge cable, and slide the display screen into place. The entire course of takes now not than 10 minutes, and once you wish to take away it, there’ll be no injury to your door.
Picture 1 of 4
It’s a intelligent design, and the outside digicam is discreet (it comes with stickers to place in your door if you wish to warn guests they’re being recorded), but it surely’s price being conscious that the inside display screen stands about an inch pleased with the door, so that you’ll should be very cautious if it opens reverse a wall.
You possibly can detach the display screen unit to cost it by way of a microUSB cable (equipped with the EP4) and insert a reminiscence card. It’s a disgrace there’s no hot-swappable battery — you’ll be able to’t use the digicam and doorbell whereas the unit is charging — however battery life is sort of respectable. EZVIZ suggests as much as 120 days, although this can rely upon what number of instances the digicam is triggered and the way usually you utilize the interior display screen to see what’s taking place exterior.
EZVIZ EP4: efficiency
The EP4 is an ingenious house safety system that gives a lot of the benefits of a video doorbell or house safety digicam without having to make everlasting modifications to your property. It’s an incredible choose for an condo, with glorious image high quality and good notifications, although it’s price being conscious of some drawbacks — notably on the subject of individual recognition.
The decision of the interior display screen is ok, and also you’ll instantly profit from a area of view that’s a lot wider than your authentic peephole, but it surely doesn’t do justice to the EP4’s 4K digicam. To see footage in its full 4K glory, you’ll want to make use of the Ezvizlife app, which additionally provides you entry to all of the EP4’s settings, in addition to occasion historical past, saved recordings, name logs, two-way discuss, and static images.
Picture 1 of 3
Footage within the Ezvizlife app is extremely sharp, and there’s little or no lag between occasions taking place exterior and the digicam beginning to document. You’ll discover a delay when utilizing two-way discuss, but it surely’s solely a few seconds, and no worse than some a lot higher-end video doorbells we’ve examined right here at TechRadar.
When a customer makes use of the doorbell, you will obtain an incoming-call-style notification that you could select to reject or reply to begin two-way discuss. It is also doable to begin two-way discuss at any time by means of the app if you happen to can see somebody on the door.
Need to preserve your identification non-public? The app provides you two choices: ‘Uncle Tone’, which deepens your voice, and ‘Clown Tone’, which makes it excessive and squeaky, each of which work effectively and can successfully disguise your voice if you happen to don’t wish to be acknowledged. Personally, I would favor an choice that doesn’t sound fairly so cartoonish, however they’re a welcome function nonetheless.
I discovered the fisheye-correction choice notably helpful throughout my testing, together with the AI person-shape recognition, which accurately identifies topics even after they’re wheeling a motorbike or carrying a big object that may obscure their physique form.
When an individual is detected, the digicam will ship a notification to the EZVIZ app, and begin recording a 10-second video clip, which will likely be saved on an SD card or within the cloud, relying on which storage choice you’ve chosen. You can too select to observe by means of the digicam stay at any time, set off a recording, or seize a nonetheless picture.
Picture 1 of 3
You can too export movies out of your logs at any time, which could be very helpful if you happen to’re unlucky sufficient to want them as proof for the police.
EZVIZ is a Chinese language firm, and though the app has been localized fairly effectively, some elements are nonetheless complicated. For instance, if you happen to try to toggle a function that’s nonetheless in beta, you will note a notification studying: “The present standing of this detection is closed. Please allow the corresponding algorithm within the clever detection earlier than enabling this operate”.
For me, the largest disadvantage — and the one which holds the EP4 again from a greater rating — is the implementation of facial recognition. In an excellent world, you wouldn’t obtain a notification when your personal face is detected, and you would disable alerts for different members of your family as effectively, so that you’re solely alerted when a stranger arrives. Sadly, that’s not an choice with the EP4, which notified me that “Cat appeared” every time I arrived house from work.
Picture 1 of 3
Facial recognition works very effectively, and even identifies an individual carrying a cycle helmet and sun shades, however in the mean time, the implementation appears back-to-front. In equity, although, the function continues to be in beta, so maybe the builders at EZVIZ will make that change earlier than its full launch. For now, it is an actual drawback.
Do you have to purchase the EZVIZ EP4?
|
Attribute |
Notes |
Rating |
|---|---|---|
|
Worth |
Very fairly priced, notably throughout gross sales, although you will want an SD card too. |
4.5/5 |
|
Design |
Ingenious design that is nice for renters, although display screen tasks fairly far into the room and is not very high-res. |
4/5 |
|
Efficiency |
Key features are nice, however you will obtain notifications at any time when it detects your personal face. |
3.5/5 |
Purchase it if
Do not buy it if
EZVIZ EP4: additionally contemplate
Should you’re undecided whether or not the EZVIZ EP4 is the best safety digicam/doorbell in your house, listed here are two different wi-fi alternate options to contemplate.
How I examined the EZVIZ EP4
I put in the EZVIZ EP4 on the door to my condo, having first unscrewed the unique peephole. I used it for 2 weeks, including myself and my husband as ‘acquainted faces’ midway by means of. I used the two-way discuss operate to talk to him once I acquired a notification that he had arrived, and we used the doorbell operate to talk to 1 one other. I stored recordings on a microSD card as soon as the seven-day cloud storage trial expired, and used the app to assessment recordings, export movies, and seize nonetheless photographs.
On the finish of the check interval, I eliminated the EP4 and changed my door’s authentic peephole. For extra particulars, see how we test, review, and rate products at TechRadar.
First reviewed July 2026.
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