Smart home company Eufy’s new wireless security camera, the EufyCam 3, boosts the resolution to 4K and adds a built-in solar panel to extend the battery life of a year even further. But the best features come from the new HomeBase 3 hub to which the camera connects wirelessly. This adds local video processing to send you an alert when it sees a person, pet or vehicle, plus facial recognition so it can tell you if it’s a stranger or a family member.

Another interesting feature is the ability to upgrade the storage to a whopping 16TB of local storage with a hard drive slot. Eufy says this is enough for 60 years of motion-activated video. The system is not capable of traditional continuous recording, but it is capable of recording up to 2 months of 120 second back-to-back clips at close intervals if you have a 4 TB external storage drive installed.

The Edge security system, the HomeBase 3 and two EufyCam 3s, costs $594.99. Additional EufyCam 3 cameras cost $219.99 and there are three and four camera kits. But the really good news is that almost all of Eufy’s existing smart cameras, video doorbells and sensors will be compatible with the new HomeBase 3 (see box).

This means that if you bought a EufyCam 2, you can swap it from a HomeBase 2 to a HomeBase 3, and your existing camera will be able to recognize faces, see your pets or an animal lurking, and distinguish between vehicles and other motion events.

The system works with the Eufy app, where you can view recorded and live images. The new cameras have two-way audio, so you can talk to visitors or use the built-in siren to deter intruders. It integrates with Amazon Alexa and Google Home, but there will be no Apple Home compatibility at launch. (The Eufy HomeBase 2 and some of the EufyCam 2-line cameras is compatible with Apple Home).

The EufyCam 3 is Eufy’s first camera with 4K resolution; it has a lens with a 1.4F aperture, color night vision, and a built-in floodlight. The 13,400 mAh battery should have a battery life of one year, plus the integrated solar panel can last longer with a few hours of sunlight a day.

“Most current home security systems are digital video recorders that are triggered by motion, creating a constant stream of false alerts and massive amounts of wasted video data,” said Frank Zhu, general manager of security for Eufy. “Our new Edge Security System solves both problems while keeping our commitment to the privacy and value of our customers intact. Our customers do not pay any subscription fees for storing or consulting their data.”

While Eufy offers a cloud video storage service, it is not required to record or view footage. Instead, all video is stored locally on 16 GB of built-in 256-bit encrypted local storage, which can be expanded up to 16 TB. The HomeBase also does the video processing, keeping your footage local. It uses a self-learning AI that Eufy calls BionicMind, which the company says will learn and improve over time.

The option to upgrade to a whopping 16TB of storage space with a hard drive slot, not relying on cloud storage and getting continuous video recording will be very appealing to many people. There are not many options for a ready-made smart home camera system with 24/7 continuous video recording, most of them use motion-activated recording. Google Nest offers it on some of its cameras, and Google Nest also has facial recognition, as does Apple’s HomeKit Secure Video. But Eufy doesn’t charge a monthly subscription fee to view recorded footage — which Google Nest does, and with Apple’s HomeKit Secure Video, you have to pay for iCloud storage.

The Edge Security System is available today in the US from Amazon or Best Buy and is coming to the UK, Germany, and Australia on September 30.

Correction, 12:30 p.m. ET, Sept. 30, 2022: An earlier version of this article stated that the Eufy system could record continuously – that’s not correct, it can record multiple 120 second clips in a row, but they have a short gap between each of them.