With so many options on the market, and many requiringcostly subscriptions to access features, choosing a baby monitor can feel like an overwhelming task.
That’s where we come in. We’ve reviewed numerous baby monitors, including the Hubble GoBaby Plus 5.0 and the Eufy E21, to help you decide which device is the best fit for your home.
Read on to see what’s the difference between the Hubble GoBaby Plus 5.0 and Eufy E21, and work out which one you should buy.
Preparing for a little one? Visit our Motorola Nursery PIP1710, SweetDreamers Luna Dream Machine and SweetDreamers Ewan Deluxe reviews.
Price and Availability
The Hubble GoBaby Plus 5.0 is the cheaper of the two, with an RRP of £149. However, it is possible to find the baby monitor with a discount – especially with Black Friday coming up.
With an RRP of £249, the Eufy E21 is slightly more expensive. Even so, the Eufy E21 doesn’t have any subscription fee tied to it, whereas the Hubble GoBaby Plus 5.0 does. Although it’s optional, the Hubble Premium plan unlocks AI-powered features including rollover alert, covered face detection, sleep insights and more for either £5.99 a month or £60 for the first year. The annual price will drop to £30 for the second year.
Design and Features
- Eufy E21 has a large shell that can be quite slippery in hand
- Hubble GoBaby Plus 5.0 doesn’t have pan or tilt built-in
- Both come with feature-rich parent units, but many of the GoBaby Plus’ tools are locked behind a paywall
The Hubble GoBaby Plus 5.0 and Eufy E21 have quite different designs. The GoBaby Plus 5.0 has a smaller design, with the camera module sat on a flexible coil while the Eufy E21 is larger.
Hubble GoBaby Plus 5.0Eufy E21
Even so, both come with all the equipment you need to mount the camera – and the Eufy E21 even lets you check the camera’s signal strength before committing to a position. As the GoBaby Plus 5.0 doesn’t offer this, we’d strongly recommend checking the signal and camera placement before committing – something you can do during setup.
Speaking of setup, both cameras have a fairly straightforward process, and requires you to plug the devices into the wall and turn on their accompanying parent unit. You’ll also need to download the companion app and create an account.
Though this process is easy enough with the Eufy E21, and takes no more than five minutes, we found creating a Hubble account and getting it paired with the device was slightly more complicated. Essentially, you’ll need to turn the parent unit off, then pair the camera by entering your Wi-Fi details and then scanning the QR code on the device. You’ll then be prompted to update the firmware, though fortunately the camera will still detect audio during this, which is a thoughtful feature if you’re ever caught out with an unexpected update.
While the Eufy E21 houses a 4K camera with a 330° pan, 60° tilt, up to 8x zoom and a 5000mAh battery, the GoBaby Plus 5.0 has no built-in pan or tilt. Instead, the camera offers either a bird-eye or close-up view, and can reach up to 6x zoom
Though the lack of pan or tilt may not appeal, it’s worth noting that this means the camera makes zero noise at night. If you have a light sleeper, that could be worth considering. Having said that, the Eufy E21 isn’t too loud when it’s moving.
Otherwise, the Eufy E21 can also be operated app has most features you need, including a zoom button, the ability to change general settings and go through your microSD storage, it does only sport a five-inch 720p display and lacks a volume indicator to tell you how loud a sound in the nursery is
Even so, we really appreciated how the parent unit’s speaker is located in the middle of the device, as this prevents any potential issues with hands blocking sound transmission when handling it. It’s another small but thoughtful feature that Eufy has thought of.
Both cameras have sounds built-in to help soothe a baby. The GoBaby is equipped with a total of ten, which includes everything from white noise, audiobooks and nursery rhymes, but the audio quality isn’t great and sounds quite tinny. In comparison, the E21 is fitted with quite a strange collection of sounds: forest, cricket, rain, streams and alpaca bells.
Finally, the E21 can detect motion, crying, temperature and sound, and will then send alerts to the parent unit and app accordingly. While the Hubble also has similar tools, most of which are powered by AI, these are locked behind the Hubble Premium subscription.
Video and Audio Quality
- Both parent units have five-inch, 720p displays
- Eufy E21 can run up to 4K video with minimal delay between transmission
- Though there can be up to a two-second delay with the GoBaby Plus 5.0, its 2K picture is brilliant
Although both parent units have a measly-sounding five-inch and 720p display, the accompanying apps offer much higher resolution. While the GoBaby Plus 5.0’s app runs in 2K UHD, the Eufy E21 can run up to 4K.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, we’ve concluded that the Eufy E21 offers some of the best video and audio capabilities within a baby monitor. Not only is the camera 4K, but it also offers an impressive field of view and is fitted with active noise cancellation too. This means the quality of the camera during the day is fantastic and, though it dips with infrared at night, you can still pick out key details in high definition.
That’s not to say the GoBaby Plus 5.0 isn’t a solid camera. In our experience, the quality and clarity of the video during the day is brilliant up to 2m, while the camera especially excels when the light levels drop.
We did notice, however, that there’s a noticeable delay between enabling the microphone on the GoBaby’s parent unit and transmission on the camera. In addition, we found there was around a 1.5-second delay between real-time movement and what displays on the parent app, which rises to two-seconds on the app. In comparison, we concluded the Eufy E21 saw less than a one-second delay on the parent unit and less than two-seconds in the app.
We also found that two-way-talk audio transmitted within less than half a second between the parent unit and camera. The Eufy app is a bit slower with this, but not by much.
App and Software
- We encountered Wi-Fi issues with the Hubble app
- Eufy Baby app is easy to use and doesn’t have any subscription
- Hubble Premium subscription was constantly being sold to us during the review period
We really struggled to get on board with the Hubble app, and concluded it to be probably the most disappointing of all the baby monitors we’ve tested. In a nutshell, we experienced plenty of technical issues and a constant pressure to subscribe to the premium subscription.
During our time testing the GoBaby Plus 5.0, the app insisted that we needed at least 70% Wi-Fi signal strength to install an update, despite our router being right next to the camera. We then found the parent unit’s camera feed kept disconnecting, even when Wi-Fi was working fine. Though this was usually solved with a restart, the app would still show the device as being offline – again, despite Wi-Fi being turned on. If you have a busy network, then we’d dissuade you from choosing the GoBaby Plus 5.0.
We were also constantly being upsold the Premium membership, and even received several notifications throughout our test period. You can’t even turn off the notifications, as then you’ll miss out on potentially important alerts from the camera.
In comparison, the Eufy Baby app was a breath of fresh air. Not only is the app easy to use, with minimal but still important notifications, but there’s no subscription here at all. All the app’s features, including the ability to record live and send videos to your phone, are free to access. That’s a rarity.
Range and Connectivity
- We found both the GoBaby Plus 5.0 and Eufy E21’s range to be generous
- GoBaby Plus 5.0’s Wi-Fi wasn’t always reliable
Although we were impressed with the GoBaby Plus 5.0’s range, and found that we had clear audio and video when walking even 100m away from the house, its overall reliability let us down. As mentioned earlier, the camera dropped off the Wi-Fi continuously throughout our test period, and the app was sensitive to interference too.
In comparison, we never reported any server latency issues with the Eufy E21 and even found the unit was still connected when we were 200m away from the house.
Security and Privacy
- You need to scan the QR code on the GoBaby Plus 5.0’s camera to sync it to the app, for extra security
- GoBaby Plus 5.0’s parent unit can turn off Wi-Fi
- Eufy E21 lets you add more users for no extra cost
Although it can feel like a pain during set-up, we appreciate the fact you need to scan the GoBaby Plus 5.0’s camera to sync it to the app. It adds a layer of security and extra peace of mind.
You’ll also need to purchase a subscription to add a second user and, doing so, will knock the primary owner off to ensure that only one smartphone can be connected at once. That’s great from a security perspective, but does mean two parents are forced to purchase a subscription.
We also like the fact you can turn the Wi-Fi offs. Instead, you can only turn the Wi-Fi off on the camera itself
Though there are plenty of privacy features within the Eufy E21, including the fact the camera comes with a microSD slot which means you don’t even need to use the app if you don’t want to, and there’s a Privacy Shutter for privacy, we did experience a few difficulties with the parent unit. While Anker Support helped us, and assured us that it was an anomaly, it’s something that put us off.
Otherwise, you can also add more users to your family sharing account with no extra cost. The process is tight, as each new user will need their own Eufy Baby account and can be removed at any point from the app’s settings.
Winner: Hubble GoBaby Plus 5.0
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Battery Life
- Hubble includes a portable battery for eight hours of extra charge, independent from the mains
- Eufy E21 also has a backup 5000mAh battery
- GoBaby Plus 5.0’s parent unit lasts for around 18 hours compared to the Eufy E21’s 12
Hubble thoughtfully includes a portable battery in the box, which lasts eight hours before needing a recharge. When it does conk out, charging takes about an hour. In comparison, the Eufy E21 has a 5000mAh battery which can last over ten hours during the day and just short of five at night.
However, remember both cameras are mains-powered, so these additional features are just for peace of mind if the power goes down or for travelling.
Otherwise, the Hubble’s parent unit lasts about 18 hours while the Eufy’s lasts for around 12-hours.
Verdict
With no subscription fees, a 4K camera that offers excellent field-of-view, and an easy-to-use app, the Eufy E21 is easily our top choice for most parents. Although it does lack the ability to turn the Wi-Fi offternative and costs £100 more, it’s a worthwhile investment
In comparison, though we appreciate the Hubble GoBaby Plus 5.0’s value, its security measures and its brilliant 2K camera that excels with night vision, the clunky app and Wi-Fi issues means it’s a difficult option to recommend – especially when compared to the Eufy E21.
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