My Ring Alarm system turns five this year, and it has grown to roughly 50 sensors and cameras spread across the doors, windows, and corners of my house. It works, and I’ve written plenty about the upgrades that made my home’s security better than ever. Still, I’d wanted to give another system a fair shot for a while.
When Anker eufy sent me its Essential Alarm System to test, the timing couldn’t have been better. After two weeks, I’m not switching, and eufy’s hardware isn’t the reason. If I were setting up a house from scratch today, this is the system I’d buy first.
9/10
- What’s Included
-
1 keypad, 1 alarm base station, 1 motion sensor, 4 contact sensors
- Professional Monitoring?
-
Optional
- Compatibility
-
eufy ecosystem
- Brand
-
eufy
- No subscription required for app arming
- Five-year sensor battery life
- Local storage for eufy cameras
- Fast, intuitive app
- No battery or cellular backup
- Alarm doesn?t work with Alexa
- Ads in the app
- Keypad charges over micro-USB
This is the eufy Essential Alarm System
The Anker logo surprised me before I opened the box
The kit has seven pieces: a HomeBase Mini, a keypad, four entry sensors, and one motion sensor. It costs $400 on Amazon and on eufy’s site, with no required monthly fee.
I trusted eufy before the box arrived, since two eufy robot vacuum and mop combos already run on schedules in my house. What I didn’t know was that eufy is part of Anker. I spotted the “Anker Innovations” mark in the corner of the box, and it clicked. My desk and car are full of Anker gear: USB-C cables, charging bricks, a 3-in-1 stand for my iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods, and a few MagSafe battery packs. All of it has held up, so I expected good things. Still, I gave it a critical eye.
On paper, the hardware delivers. The HomeBase Mini supports up to 34 sensors and 10 cameras, connects over 2.4GHz Wi-Fi or Ethernet, and includes an 85dB siren. The entry and motion sensors run on CR123A batteries rated for up to five years, and eufy claims up to 656 feet of open-air range.
I put it where my family comes and goes
Ethernet in the basement, for now
The keypad went in our mudroom, since that’s how we enter the house most often. The motion sensor covers the garage, and it ignores pets up to 80 lb. Entry sensors went on the front door, the garage service door, the door to our three-season room, and one window.
Mounting everything took a few minutes and no tools. eufy includes both adhesive pads and screws for every sensor and the keypad. I used the adhesive throughout, and each piece went up with a peel and a press, just as easily as my Ring sensors. The entry sensors also detect from either side, so they fit whichever side of a door or window frame has room.
Each entry sensor has a bypass button, so you can open a single door while the system stays armed. I’d use that constantly on the garage service door, where I already rely on a contact sensor to catch my own mistakes.
I plugged the HomeBase Mini into Ethernet next to my router in the basement. I could still hear the siren upstairs, and the garage motion sensor didn’t throw a single false alarm in two weeks.
If this were my main system, I’d move the HomeBase to a central spot and run it over Wi-Fi. A siren in the middle of the house would scare off an intruder faster, and my family would hear it sooner from any room.
Where eufy beats Ring
The basics don’t come with a monthly bill
The biggest difference shows up on my credit card statement. Ring requires a Ring Home Standard or Premium plan to arm and disarm your alarm from the app, plus several other in-app features. I pay for Standard at $9.99 a month. eufy charges nothing for the same control. Its app and keypad switch between Away, Home, Custom, and Disarm modes without a subscription.
Battery life is the next gap. My Ring contact sensors use coin cells that last around three years. eufy rates its sensors for up to five years on a single CR123A, and with dozens of sensors in a house, that adds up to fewer ladder trips.
Storage is eufy’s other advantage. The HomeBase Mini has 64GB built in and takes a microSD card up to 1TB. The alarm sensors don’t record anything, but if you add eufy cameras or a video doorbell, their footage stays on the base instead of a paid cloud plan. Ring only saves camera recordings with a subscription.
The app also surprised me. It’s fast, and the menus made sense the first time I opened them.
Where Ring still wins
Backup power, a louder siren, and Alexa
My second-gen Ring Alarm Base Station has a backup battery rated for up to 24 hours, and my Standard plan adds cellular backup when the internet drops. eufy doesn’t list either for the HomeBase Mini. If the power or Wi-Fi goes out, the eufy system will likely go quiet until both come back.
Ring’s base station siren is also rated at 104dB, compared with 85dB on the HomeBase Mini. That gap is another reason I’d move eufy’s base out of the basement.
Alexa is the bigger issue for me. Much of my security setup runs on Alexa routines that protect my home, from lights that switch on in sequence to spoken alerts when a door opens. The eufy app says its Alexa support covers cameras, door locks, robot vacuums, and light strips. Alarm sensors aren’t on that list, so none of those routines would carry over.
A few rough edges
Ads and micro-USB don’t belong on a $400 system
The Anker eufy app shows ads, even if they’re for its own products. A $400 security system shouldn’t promote its products while I’m checking whether my doors are secure.
The keypad also charges over micro-USB, while the HomeBase Mini uses USB-C. One kit, two cable types. It’s 2026, and a single standard across the whole platform isn’t much to ask, even if the keypad only needs a charge about every six months.
Great system, wrong timing for my house
For now, I’m staying with Ring. With about 50 sensors already on my walls, replacing them wouldn’t make financial sense, and Ring connects to Alexa in ways eufy’s alarm can’t yet.
But if I were starting fresh? It’s a different story. The Anker eufy Essential Alarm System puts app control, five-year sensor batteries, and local video storage behind a one-time purchase, and its sensors gave me no trouble during testing. If you want professional monitoring, eufy offers a 24/7 plan as an optional add-on. For a new homeowner, or anyone tired of paying every month just to use their own alarm, this is the first system I’d recommend.
9/10
- What’s Included
-
1 keypad, 1 alarm base station, 1 motion sensor, 4 contact sensors
- Professional Monitoring?
-
Optional