Three years running. EZVIZ secured its third consecutive Plus X Award on Tuesday, claiming the Design Innovator 2026 title in smart home technology with products that prioritise sleek housings over feature bloat.
The Hoofddorp-based firm took home two accolades this year.
Its flagship HP7 video doorphone and smart entry product family convinced the Plus X Award jury—a panel that evaluates innovation, design, and user experience across consumer technology. The hat-trick marks unusual consistency in a category where rivals typically rotate through winners annually.
What sets EZVIZ apart, according to chief product officer Grant Chen, is restraint. While competitors chase ever-longer specification sheets, his team strips away bulk.
“Innovation is ingrained in our DNA, giving us the power to push smart home beyond limits,” Chen explained. “Users are EZVIZ’s anchor, reminding us that technology ultimately is to serve people for a better life. That’s why we can consistently design products with human care that are loved and trusted by families.”
That philosophy shows in the HP7’s outdoor panel—slim enough to mount flush against doorframes, yet packed with palm vein recognition and facial unlocking. The indoor screen doubles as a central hub for managing connected devices across the home. By contrast, established players like Ring and Nest have expanded their doorbell dimensions with each generation, adding batteries and sensors that demand chunkier enclosures.
EVZIZ applied the same minimal approach to its multi-lens camera series. The units integrate pan-tilt mechanisms with AI-powered detection inside compact housings designed to disappear against walls and ceilings. Traditional home security cameras—think dome units from Arlo or Hikvision—sacrifice aesthetics for sensor arrays and motorised gimbals that protrude noticeably.
The firm recently pushed into 4G-WiFi switching cameras, targeting users who monitor remote properties or outdoor locations beyond reliable broadband reach. These units toggle between cellular and WiFi networks automatically, maintaining connectivity where fixed-line cameras fail.
Smart locks represent EZVIZ’s most aggressive design gamble. The DL50FVS flagship embeds an interactive video screen directly into the lock mechanism—a feature the company claims marks an industry first. Facial recognition grants access without keys or codes. Remote management lets homeowners unlock doors from anywhere. Two-way audio allows conversations with visitors before granting entry.
Even the handle reflects obsessive detail work. Users can tilt it from either side without finger-pinch risks, a seemingly minor refinement that required rethinking the internal lever mechanism entirely.
That attention to physical ergonomics stands out in a market increasingly focused on app interfaces and cloud features. While smart home platforms from Google, Amazon, and Apple compete on voice assistant integration and cross-device ecosystems, EZVIZ invests in the tactile experience—the grab of a handle, the profile of a camera, the flush mount of a doorbell panel.
The Plus X Award, established in Germany, evaluates products across eight criteria including innovation, high quality, design, ease of use, functionality, ecology, and ergonomics. Winning once signals achievement. Three consecutive years suggests systematic advantage.
For EZVIZ, that advantage appears rooted in saying no. No to bulkier housings that accommodate marginal sensor upgrades. No to feature sets that complicate setup. No to industrial aesthetics that clash with modern interiors.
The video doorphone category illustrates the divide. EZVIZ’s HP7 measures slim enough for minimal visual intrusion, yet packs local AI processing that eliminates cloud dependency for basic functions. Competitors typically route all video and detection tasks through remote servers, requiring subscriptions and creating privacy concerns that European buyers increasingly reject.
Palm vein recognition, embedded in several EZVIZ entry products, offers higher security than fingerprint scanning—veins sit beneath skin, making them nearly impossible to replicate. The technology remains rare in consumer devices, though banking and healthcare sectors have deployed it for years. By integrating it into doorbells and locks priced for residential buyers, EZVIZ brings commercial-grade biometrics to a mass market.
Whether that approach scales remains uncertain. Minimal design demands premium materials and precise manufacturing tolerances. Competitors can undercut on price by accepting bulkier, less refined enclosures. Yet three consecutive Plus X Awards suggest European buyers—particularly in design-conscious markets like the Netherlands, Germany, and Scandinavia—will pay for restraint.
The 4G camera launch also signals geographic ambition. These units serve users beyond urban centres where fibre broadband reaches every home. Rural properties, construction sites, recreational cabins, and allotments need surveillance but lack fixed internet. By building cellular connectivity directly into camera hardware, EZVIZ targets markets that Ring and Nest largely ignore.
Chen’s team now faces the challenge every three-time winner confronts: what comes next? Maintaining design discipline while expanding product categories requires saying no to internal teams pitching features, to retailers demanding differentiation, to engineers proud of technical capabilities that don’t serve user needs.
The smart home market will reveal soon enough whether EZVIZ’s minimalist philosophy can sustain a fourth consecutive Plus X Award—or whether the jury and buyers will eventually demand the feature sprawl that dominates the category.
