EZVIZ CP4 Review: A Video Doorbell That Fits Your Existing Peephole
The CP4 is a peephole doorbell: the camera slots into the hole your old door viewer used, the 4.3-inch touchscreen mounts on the inside, and nothing gets drilled or wired. That single idea is why owners across Italy, Spain, Germany and the UK rate it so highly, and several say they bought more for family after fitting the first one. In use it behaves like a video doorbell with a screen: someone presses the button and the alert arrives on the phone like an incoming call, the 1080p image is sharp on both screens, and infrared night vision covers the landing. PIR plus human shape detection keeps most false alarms away, and recording goes to a microSD card so no subscription is needed. The catch is the battery. EZVIZ quotes 90 days of standby, and owners of flats opening onto a quiet landing get something close to that; owners whose door faces a street or a busy corridor report a week or less, because sensitivity only has three levels and cannot be limited to a zone. Ideal for an apartment door, much less so for a front door onto the pavement.
- Apartment doors with an existing peephole
- Renters who cannot drill or wire a doorbell
- Subscription-free recording to microSD
- Households that want a screen indoors, not just a phone
Pros
- Fits an existing peephole with no drilling and no wiring, in minutes
- 4.3-inch indoor touchscreen anyone can use, and it can wake on motion
- Sharp 1080p with a wide 166-degree view and infrared night vision
- Records to microSD (up to 512 GB), so no subscription is required
- PIR plus human shape detection, with the alert arriving like a phone call
- Voice changer for answering strangers, and a solid zinc alloy body
Cons
- Battery life collapses on a busy doorway: months on a quiet landing, about a week on a street door
- PIR sensitivity has only three levels and cannot be masked to a zone
- Neither the screen nor the outdoor unit is waterproof
- Notifications sometimes arrive late, and cloud storage is felt to be pricey
- No Apple Home support, and no colour night vision
- Narrower view than the newer 176-degree EZVIZ peepholes
Who is the CP4 for?
This is a battery peephole doorbell for a door that already has a viewer hole, between 14 and 50 mm, on a leaf 35 to 105 mm thick. The zinc alloy camera unit replaces the viewer outside and carries the bell button; the 4.3-inch colour touchscreen sits inside and doubles as the chime, with up to five ringtones and adjustable volume. It shoots 1080p through a 166-degree lens, sees about 5 metres on infrared at night, and holds clips on a microSD card of up to 512 GB or in EZVIZ CloudPlay. Alerts come from a PIR sensor with a 110-degree, 6-metre reach, filtered by human shape detection. It runs on a 4600 mAh rechargeable battery, so nothing has to be wired.
What buyers love
Installation is the headline in review after review: it drops into the existing peephole, needs no holes in the wall and no cabling, and most people are finished in well under half an hour, app setup included. The indoor screen is the second favourite: owners point out that anyone can use it, including elderly parents and children, without leaning into a tiny glass viewer, and it can wake by itself when someone approaches. Picture quality on both the screen and the phone gets consistent praise, day and night. Buyers also value that a memory card removes any subscription, that the notification arrives like a phone call you can answer or decline, and the voice changer for answering the door anonymously. Build quality reads as solid and the design as discreet next to bulky doorbell cameras.
What to know before you buy
Battery life depends entirely on traffic past your door. In an apartment opening onto a quiet landing, owners report months between charges; where the door faces a street or a busy corridor, the same device is reported lasting about a week, and one Spanish owner in that situation measured well under a day at the highest performance setting. The reason is the detection controls: PIR sensitivity has three steps, high, medium and low, with no way to mask out a walkway, so anyone passing triggers it. Human shape detection helps but is not perfect. Cloud storage is felt to be expensive, notifications can lag, and one owner found the option to quieten motion detection was tied to a mode that dims the screen. Neither unit is waterproof, so the camera wants a sheltered door, and at 166 degrees the view is narrower than the 176-degree lens on newer EZVIZ peepholes. Apple Home is not supported.
Is the CP4 worth it?
For a flat, it is one of the neatest upgrades available: no drilling, no wiring, a proper screen indoors and no subscription. Buy it if your door already has a viewer and the doorway is not a thoroughfare. If your front door opens onto a public pavement, either plan on charging it often or fit a mains-powered doorbell instead, and if you want a wider lens or a sharper sensor, look at the newer 2K and 4K peepholes in the same EZVIZ family.
Frequently asked questions
Will it fit my door?
It replaces a standard peephole. EZVIZ supports viewer holes of 14 to 50 mm on the USB-C version (16.5 to 50 mm on the Micro USB one) and door thicknesses from 35 to 105 mm. Owners consistently describe the fit as straightforward, with the mounting base and screws in the box and no need to drill the door or the wall.
How long does the battery really last?
EZVIZ quotes up to 90 days of standby with power saving on, and owners of apartment doors on a quiet landing do report months. It is very different on a busy doorway: British and Spanish owners whose doors face a walkway or the street describe a week or less, because every passer-by wakes the PIR sensor and there is no way to exclude an area from detection.
Do I need a subscription?
No. Fit a microSD card, up to 512 GB on current firmware, and events are recorded locally with playback in the app or on the indoor screen. EZVIZ CloudPlay is optional, and several owners specifically chose this doorbell to avoid a monthly fee. Note that without a card and without the cloud plan it will not store anything.
Does it work with Alexa and Google Home?
Yes, and with IFTTT. To stream to an Echo Show or a Google display you first have to turn off image encryption in the EZVIZ app, because the assistant cannot read an encrypted stream. Apple Home is not supported.
Is it weatherproof?
No. EZVIZ states that neither the screen nor the doorbell unit is waterproof, so it belongs on a sheltered door, which in practice means an apartment door or a porch rather than a door fully exposed to the rain.
