Why I’d skip the all-in-one smart lock with camera and use two devices instead
I want a camera at the door without turning the entryway into a pile of separate gadgets. The Eufy FamiLock S3 Max, the loudest example of the breed, takes that route by putting the camera straight into the lock. It sounds convenient until you consider what you give up to fit everything into one unit.
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The other setup puts a Google Nest Doorbell (Wired, 3rd Gen) above a Schlage Arrive Smart Wi-Fi Deadbolt. The camera stays outside the lock, so replacing or troubleshooting either one doesn’t turn into a problem with the other. I also prefer having the doorbell where it can get a proper view of whoever is standing at the door, rather than squeezing a camera into the lock itself.
Quick verdict
My door already has chime wiring, so I’m looking at the Nest doorbell and Schlage lock. I like the idea of having the camera above the door instead of squeezing it into the lock.
I haven’t bought either setup yet. I’m still trying to work out where the Nest would sit and what it would see from my door. After that, I’ll check whether the Schlage fits and how much it would cost to replace either device down the line. The FamiLock is harder to justify for my door, but it makes more sense if there’s no wiring or peephole to start with.
Head-to-head breakdown
Battery load when one device does everything
The FamiLock S3 Max has more to keep powered than a normal smart lock. Its 4-inch screen shuts off after a few seconds, which helps keep the live view from chewing through the battery. Eufy also puts four AAA batteries inside as a backup for when the main pack runs out.
There’s a physical key in the box too. That matters because a dead battery at the front door is a much bigger problem than a dead camera feed. With a separate doorbell and lock, the camera can use its own power source without adding another screen and camera to the lock battery.
TP-Link says the Tapo D225 can run for up to eight months on a charge. A busy porch will cut into that figure, say when the camera keeps waking up for deliveries and visitors. Hardwiring the doorbell takes battery life out of the equation altogether. The camera can keep running from the chime transformer while the deadbolt uses its AA batteries for the motor.
Whether a visitor can find the doorbell
Eufy FamiLock S3 Max
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A courier scans the frame beside your door at chest height. Doorbells have lived there for a century. The FamiLock S3 Max puts its button on the lock body, beneath a keypad and a lens, down where a deadbolt goes, and guests miss it.
Eufy makes the same mistake worse on the S330 by tucking the keyhole in behind that button. So the one control a stranger might press is also the one your locksmith wants.
Findability goes to the doorbell on the frame. Unglamorous win. You notice it weekly.
Access to old clips once the subscription lapses
The FamiLock S3 Max gives you 8 GB of storage in the lock, so there’s no cloud bill just to keep recordings. Nest can cost more over five years once you add its subscription. Without one, you also get less access to older clips.
Google Home Premium adds longer video history and other camera features, but you have to keep the subscription active to use them. For someone who wants to look back at an event from several days ago, the difference matters more than the hardware itself.
Then I priced the cheap version of the split and the argument flipped. A Tapo D130 records 2K straight to a microSD card, no cloud fee attached.
Add an Eufy Smart Lock C34, Wi-Fi built in, no hub required. Eufy’s own flagship gets embarrassed by Eufy’s own budget deadbolt and a memory card.
What the deadbolt is rated to survive
A kick can do more damage to a door than a lockpick. The door frame matters just as much as the lock, which is why the Schlage Arrive’s hardware catches my attention. It carries an ANSI Grade 1 and BHMA AAA rating, comes with 3-inch screws, and includes a steel strike plate that lets the bolt reach into the framing instead of stopping at the door casing.
Schlage Arrive Smart Wi-Fi Deadbolt
Eufy’s C34 stops at BHMA Grade 3 and leaves out the long screws. A few dollars fixes that.
For the FamiLock S3 Max, Eufy publishes no grade whatsoever, and a body already carrying a 4-inch screen and a vein sensor has less room left over for steel. Grade 1 plus 3-inch screws decides the criterion. Only one contender brings both.
Getting in without a key or a phone
Forget your keys and phone at home? Just touch the top of the lock. The FamiLock S3 Max maps the vein network beneath your skin and unlocks in about a second—no cloud upload required, since your biometric profile stays local. Because even identical twins don’t share vein patterns, either hand works.
The keypad covers your back when someone is watching. Mash in extra random numbers before or after your actual PIN, and the door still unlocks, leaving a nosy neighbor with nothing useful to write down. It’s a smart inclusion compared to the fingerprint-only Schlage Arrive, or the Aqara U100, which forces six-digit minimum PINs and requires a separate hub just to manage guest access.
What gets recorded and for how long
Motion tracking is where the two doorbells start to differ. Nest’s third-generation wired model can distinguish between a person, a car, and a raccoon. You can also set up four activity zones, which helps cut down alerts from a neighbor’s garden. Each clip can run for up to five minutes before the camera records another one. Familiar-face alerts require a paid plan, and Illinois residents cannot use the feature because of the state’s biometric privacy law.
Against that, the FamiLock S3 Max shoots 2K across 180 degrees into its 8GB and covers the doorstep. Little past it. Recording intelligence belongs to Nest, though the throttling of notifications to one per 10 minutes is a fair irritation to weigh against Eufy’s blunter alerting.
Where the smart lock with camera wins
A house with old wiring can make a smart doorbell a pain. Maybe the old chime ran through a 1990s intercom, and the base station disappeared during a renovation. Adding new low-voltage wiring means calling a contractor and opening up part of the wall.
A battery-powered smart lock avoids that work because the camera sits in the lock. You get the camera without running another cable to the door.
Storage is another reason to consider it. FamiLock includes 8 GB of local storage, so you can save camera footage without relying on a cloud plan.
A peephole is easy to block without noticing. A fresh coat of paint can cover one, and a wreath can sit right in front of it. The inside display solves that problem. Its 4-inch screen shows who is at the door without making you reach for your phone.
A seven-year-old, too, can check the 4-inch screen from inside and see who’s at the door. There’s no need to reach for a phone or peer through the peephole.
Where the doorbell camera plus smart lock wins
Two doors are where the combined approach starts to make less sense. A side entrance and a garage door may need locks, but putting a camera on each one adds little.
A single doorbell camera at the front can cover the main entry. The other doors can use simpler deadbolts. You still get a camera where you need one without putting one on every lock.
Battery behavior is another reason to keep the lock and camera separate. If the camera dies, the keypad and lock can still work. A combined unit puts both functions on the same battery.
Freezing weather adds another problem. Lithium batteries lose capacity in the cold, so heavy camera use can leave less power for the lock motor.
Final verdict
Choosing a wired camera offloads the heavy lifting from your lock’s power supply. That leaves the Schlage Arrive free to do what it does best—secure the door with proper Grade 1 hardware and deep 3-inch frame screws. Better yet, a network hiccup or dead camera won’t compromise your physical entry.
Palm vein scanning is a neat feature, but I would still pick the separate setup for a typical front door.
Choose the FamiLock S3 Max when there’s no existing chime wiring or peephole and you only need to cover one door. Its 8 GB of local storage also lets you keep camera recordings on the lock instead of paying for cloud storage each month.
