REOLINK First 4K Solar Security Cameras Wireless Outdoor, Argus PT Ultra+Solar Panel, 360° Pan Tilt Auto-Tracking, 8MP Color Night Vision, 2.4/5 GHz Wi-Fi 6, No Subscriptions, Home Hub Compatible

UPDATE: I had recently got a new router, a Netgear Nighthawk and was having a problem getting the Reolink cameras connected back again but after much research......SUCCESS! I found a solution that worked for me, hopefully this info might help others too. After researching even more online I found a suggestion to try creating a guest wifi network on your router. So I gave it a try and it WORKED to get my 3 Reolink Argus PT cameras connected to me new router. Now while I feel like it wasn't necessary in my case to give the guest wifi network a password without any special characters I did it anyhow and used just numbers and letters (the cameras had connected to my old router with a special character in that password) Another point to remember is I think you need to have your phone on the same network when adding the cameras. Just checked and it seems you need to make sure your phone is connected to the guest network when wanting to access the Reolink cameras you connected thru the guest network. (now I have other brand cameras that I connect to the main network that I can still access when on the guest network but an indoor Reolink camera I have E1 that I was able to connect to the main network I can't access thru the guest network like the other brands. Now I did try seeing if I could switch the cameras back to the main wifi but it didn't work and I have to remove and reinstall the camera I tried it on and add it again to the guest wifi network to access it again. Well, I guess having to switch networks when wanting to go from the outside Reolinks to the inside Reolink is better than buying a new router or new cameras and I am simply thankful I could get them to finally reconnect as I was beginning to think I'd have to replace them with other brands of cameras. Original review: This is Karen's husband writing this review as I am the "tech guy" in our home. I am VERY pleased with how the camera is performing so far, so the 4.2 out of 5 rating seems well deserved. I admit I had some reservations when I read some of the reviews that were negative, in my opinion some may have been because of an individually defective product and some may have been due to lack of detailed enough directions. When I was first trying to connect the camera to our WIFI it wouldn't connect, then I realized I forgot to type in our WIFI password, DUH ! After I added the password it connected immediately. The camera is roughly about 85 feet from our WIFI router and goes thru 2 walls and still has kept connected very well. Also, we have Amazon Alexa and at first could not get Alexa to recognize the camera, so I did an online search for help and found a page on the Reolink support site with the steps needed to connect to Alexa, after reading that page I saw there was a step I didn't know about, once I followed those steps Alexa connected very well ! We can view the live camera feed from our smartphone app, from our "Echo Shows" via voice command, and even on our tv screens with Amazon Firestick (we have other brands of security cameras we view thru the Firestick also) so I can use a voice command and see different cameras on the screens including the Reolink camera, and I did not have to download anything to the Firestick, simply enable Alexa according to the directions on the help page I mentioned. I already had security cameras looking from our home outward, I wanted a wireless solar PTZ camera I could mount away from the house that I could turn to look at the house as well as turn to view other areas of our property not covered by the cameras we already had. So I mounted the camera on a thick (schedule 40) PVC pipe and mounted the solar panel on the very top of the pole, I used 3 hose clamps to fasten the PVC pipe to a 4 foot metal fence post I hammered into the ground, so far it seems to working very well. I will upload a picture of it. I do a lot of research before buying tech stuff, and it would be difficult to find ANY product that is perfect or that you might wish had more or better features, but for the features you get with this camera (including solar powered, PTZ capability, Alexa connectivity) I really can't complain for the price paid. Note: Remember this is not a commercial grade professional system, but commercial grade features likely cost much higher commercial grade prices, so again, for the price paid I really can't complain, I feel this camera does really pretty good for it's price level !

Incredibly simple setup. Beautifully designed user interfaces for both Win 11 and Android. Couple that to well thought out accessories for mounting the camera and a really solid camera. The image quality is excellent. I have the camera about 30 ft from my WIFI access point and separated from it by two walls. There is sufficient signal that I am getting perfect functionality. The solar panel seems to be working, but only time will tell if there is enough sunlight during a New England Winter to keep the battery charged. This makes me want to replace my other cameras with Reolink. This camera is not natively compatible with Homeassistant. It can work with Homeassistant using the Reolink Home Hub and the Reolink, Homeassistant integration.

Works good once you configure correctly. Make the object minimum size very small. Set Smart detection to 100% for each type. Set PIR sensitivity to 90%. Select auto tracking for cars, people and animals. Mine doesn’t track the cars but usually tracks everything else. Make sure the solar panel faces south and get plenty of sunlight. Mine stays charged at 100%. Have redundancy with other cameras if possible since nothing is 100%.

Arrived as ordered. Just fiddling around in my office for a few minutes and managed to scan in the QR codes. Downloaded the app on iPad and iPhone without issue. Fired up the app, added the device, and it's working. Video and audio are good but there's no optical zoom (which shouldn't be a surprise at this price point). Don't have a thrombo if the image is upside down--read on. Best mounting is on a vertical surface. The camera's bottom it its top so it seems upsidey-downsidey until it's mounted with the camera on the bottom and then the aformentioned reverse image undergoes spontaneous remission. Installing: mount the solar panel. Take its power cable and run it through the camera bracket from the top down. There's a narrow channel for the cable in the part that screws into the wall. Screw the mounting bracket into the vertical surface. Install the Micro SD card if you have one. Plug the power cable ino the camera. Carefully screw the antenna into the little port--be careful! Mount the camera on the bracket and finger-tighten the mounting screw with the conveniently-supplied hex wrench; "Reolink" logo should face forward. Assuming you're on a ladder, DO NOT take a step backward to admire your handiwork. Vendor included templates for drilling pilot holes for the mounting brackets--nice touch. Pan-title-zoom icon is small and I can't make anything zoom digitally. Not sure about the solar panel's effectiveness because I have trees that partially block my western sun. A wall wart may be necessary in the winter; the sun goes away for six months near Seattle. The power port is behind the camera and you have to unscrew the mounting bolt to get access; not a deal-breaker. Overall: so far, so good. Update: battery drained due to inadequate sunlight, a result of shorter winter days in the Pacific Northwest. I was unable to charge the unit, went through the warranty return process, and then discovered most USB-C cables don't make a proper connection. The supplied cable works; half a dozen other cables from Apple and others did not. IMO this is a design/engineering/manufacturing issue; USB-C is a global standard and cables should be interchangeable. The other issue is the solar panel doesn't provide enough power to keep the system working during short and/or dark days.

Revised 06Sept2023 10:07am EST as I sent off SCREEN CAPTURE VIDEOS, PICS to Reolink "support" after many many many emails of non-support (and they comment I refuse to work with them :) - yeehaw), anyway...: -- I, at this point asked for a refund, however I was refused since cited the 2-year warranty that *I had to remind *them they had. Otherwise, I was told, it was the Amazon 30 days - not true. -- So, today I had it cited back to me in regards to then ding me for the cost of the return to California - which came with many warnings (in their process) to follow their RMA Labeling PRECISELY or would not be received, would be destroyed and I presume no refund of any kind. It does not sound like a sensible option. So, after that/this now - once again, contrarian engagement with what I see as "customer support" and not any kind of advanced "Support" team which, is a different person *each time and *obviously had not read the email thread which answers the questions, 1) what camera do you have? and 2) how many, and ... I'l add in as a new one -- 3) which I love is, "would you mind setting up a hotspot on your phone I can dial into with "Reolink 123456" as the password. Wow - that should simply "say it all". So, they likely do not have the Sandbox that this was developed in nor the original or any coders/developers it appears to me. [What do I know? ah... 30 year tech consulting for Bell-labs, AT&T, Verizon, Cingular Wireless/Mobitex (went back to AT&T Wireless) developers program, did the Y2K code renovation for Merrill Lynch back in 1998 ish etc. other - I feel qualified to have an informed opinion on this product deployment and how it's gone since March 2023 to date 06Sept2023.) So, just so, if you read this, understand my take on this to better help you in some small way - my intention here. Moving on: So, now after, I finally dug through the many menu interfaces, stopped climbing the Ladder (double hip replacement person here too!) and stopped listening to their "help" - not help - that even changes menus to legacy menus? - then disappears again!? (old stuff coming up for some unknown reason then changing back - maybe? they're in the camera anyway and have not TOLD ME SO since asked for the ID/QR code. It was confirmed from my initial support contact that "yes, the support team has seen and is close to a fix" (how?) - but nothing came of it. Again, today I was told, with all this here, my "special case they'd make an exception for (do me a favor?)" but I'd have to ** pay ** for the return and in a process that looks like it's made to be lost, the return package - as I see and read it. The special name to be sent to (I was warned better be correct) -- is 17 characters long - some hash code it appears as to me. They're in Pomona CA apparently. - They apologized at least one time for their English, reading and writing and looks very contrarian. I get it and understand ESL issues and was why I proceeded to engage, well, the one that finally seemed competent - now gone again - another person handed off too (wow, why?). So, again - I've had this since March 2023 and is now September. I wish I had heeded the advise of all the many one and two star reviews. So, as a "security system", like the other "dummy cameras" I put up as well, this may be a "visual deterent" however is not a 24x7 security system; if you can find and get into the "Advanced" tab and click "Reboot" which needs to be done every 4.5 hours or so it's and ad hoc check on an area in real time but not a "standing guard camera with alerts to then see" as ADVERTISED THAT IT IS supposed to be. WiFi is not a new technology. The platforms are all IEEE .org (our USA Standards, non-profit organization - I've engaged them many times over the years, even been there - attempted to recruit me). I have a "work horse" phone, that's been around for YEARS - and nothing special. As well, my major Carrier Fully Dedicated Internet Hub I purchased for "this" - nothing else is on it. I've proven to them and shown them that it is their hardware and software and nothing else to blame for any failures. I was even thanked and complimented by the Customer Service Rep prior to the one this morning for the in-depth and professional responses (surprised ? I guess). This one this morning accuses me of NOT WORKING WITH THEM :) lol!! and o m g!!) I'll conclude with that I spent about 30 minutes with our fine Amazon Customer Service that thoroughly went through all of this with me, and audited my actions at my request, and what they could do post 30 days. Nothing. Warranties are supported only by the selling company - of course :) - I informed Reolink as well whom don't seem to care. I don't think that a product supported in this manner is what Amazon Customers (me many decades old with > ~ 50K reviews) expects to fall prey too, unlike other platforms I no long shop at. I had hoped this update would be to boost this review with good news; but can't, or course per the above. I hope this, along with the other reviews of similar issues helps other and again wish I had believed them. That 2-years Warranty I guess fooled me and it being here on Amazon. - Best wishes to all! ----------------------------------- ----------------------------------- (Update above) Now we are at my initial attempting to hope to now have to degrade it to one-star but I am now: I've had this since March 2023 and is now August. My impression of it started okay, maybe 8/10 and now has degraded to 0/10. It would be to long to read - it worked reasonably well, and now, 4-5 months later it has gone from constant disconnecting, able to see the camera to not working at all. Looks like it all may coincide with software updates? Can't degrade to prior version either. Support is so far useless. They ask questions, you more than explain and then they ask again and again and again. Then ask stuff as busy work? I'm a Bell Labs engineer - the last thing I do is ask "support" for help and that is why. And so that is on going even now. I am hoping for a Amazon Warranty Refund or system that may work. The refund may be the wisest if they honor the warranty at all? I dunno. (Now i can't find the one year warranty from them I saw - well, we'll see.) I can't keep going up down up down the ladder - as a double hip replacement person it's especially frustrating and *unwise to boot. Anyway - my feeling is if simply rolled out simple manual entered configuration software and left it alone - they'd be far better off. All this QR code stuff is unnecessary. Bottom line is - all (ALL) is working but nothing sees each other - camera, wifi, cellular, all but simply does not connect. The system sees/knows all is there and working but won't connect - and it did until about two weeks ago - sw update?! I wonder is the Mobile Carrier changed their API? I can be two States away and used to be able to see the Camera, or from it, videos, etc. - so via wifi it spoke to my router and then via calculator to my phone (does no call and stream, it simply streams it like any app, eg whatsapp, facebook, et alia... from software phone to camera data live or recorded). Who knows - avoid this product or until they stop using customers to debug their "upgrades"? I see many great reviews - maybe they will be updated like mine? We'll see? I hope that helps someone. I hope I get a working system or my money back!

We've owned a few solar IP cameras but they have always been unreliable with terrible software. However, this one is quite reliable with very good software. Installation is simple and streamlined. The battery is built into the camera housing and not the solar panel as our previous cameras which is nice because you can essentially use it as a portable camera or you can simply plug it in via USB-C instead of using the solar panel. Not sure if the batteries are replaceable. If not, I would definitely take off a star. The motion detection works very well and is able to track people, car, and animals as they move and then it will return to it's initial position. It has the option to turn off LED's for more stealthy surveillance. The recordings can easily (and even automatically) be downloaded wirelessly from the camera's SD card to your computer so no need to pay extra for cloud services. There are many configuration options for scheduling recordings and can be configured to "sweep" the perimeter. You can exclude certain areas from motion detection and you can adjust the size threshold of the objects you want to trigger detection. This was on sale for $119.99 which is a very good value for what it's capable of.

Updated review: While basic camera review remains the same - wasn't performing up to my expectations, I will add that Reolink saw the negative review and contacted and has worked with me to replace the camera and get it working well enough. I did have to pay to return the RMA. Even with the new camera I still experience quite a bit of clipped events. For instance, a vehicle drives by, and the motion is detected but the recording only shows the last 6-7 seconds. Since the replacement camera supplied was an Atlas, I'm going to suggest that this problem might be more related to the NVR software than the cameras themselves - or there is a more general flaw. - The other point of the camera taking in water - I haven't seen that again. In general these cameras are high quality but there are some glitches. If the cameras just captured events from beginning to end, then they'd be 5 stars. Original review (2 stars): I have other Reolink cameras and NVR, so I have some comparisons. I added this to an existing POE system. Generally the features of this camera read well, but in practice it didn't work very well. 1 out of 10 motion detected were actually saved to the NVR, the majority it just recorded a black/no video for the length of the motion event. When it did record the quality is sub par compared to my 12MP cameras. I did not add an SD card (as the NVR should record the videos). However, not recording the motion events made it pretty useless, and then 90 days after install had a big rain - and so much for IP64 - it's now just a broken non functional waterlogged paperweight that looks like a camera.

Leaving five stars because most people only look at the great reviews...so here is a more rounded review that should give everyone pause before they buy. Let me start by saying that I love the cameras. Bought 4 here and 3 more directly from Reolink on their Ebay store. The cameras have great picture quality and if you follow the instructions for setup using the bar codes, it takes about 45 seconds to get them up and running. And I am returning all of them. Further, I would strongly encourage all prospective buyers to strongly consider looking elsewhere for their security camera needs. Reolink is simply INEPT when it comes to backing up their products. A couple of weeks ago I bought 4 of these cameras. At $150 a camera with the solar panel, they are not cheap. As instructed during the setup of one of them, I went to lift up the little 1/2 inch by 3/8 rubber flap that covers the on/off switch and secures it from rain. The flap is held to the camera with a paper clip thick protrusion that goes into the body of the camera. When I pulled at it, that extremely thin piece of rubber holding the flap to the camera, broke. I didn't pull it hard, and I do not have super human strength. It just sort of broke and although I can still place the flap into the camera, it needs to be repaired because if it ever falls off, the entire camera will be ruined. I didn't think this was a big deal. I was wrong. I wrote to the company and explained the situation. I explained that the cover tore and I wanted to know how I could get a replacement cover. I would be happy to cover the costs. No problem. And I made it clear that I only needed the little cover because the camera otherwise worked fine. I just need the cover! Their response was that they wanted me to send them a picture of the camera. Admittedly, I was irritated. So I wrote back that I was surprised that they wanted a picture of this because the camera worked....I just needed the small cover and that I could probably buy it on ebay for a few cents plus shipping. This thing seemed like a no-brainer to me. They wrote back and said...oh, now that we understand that the camera works they will refer it to their techs. Great. Next day (and keep in mind that their turnaround is always a day later) I get an email asking me to send them a copy of the invoice. No problem. I did that within a minute. Next day..we enter the Twilight Zone. Instead of simply writing back to me with something saying that they are shipping out the new cover, I get an email asking me to send them the link of the Ebay listing for the cover I found so that they can tell me if it will fit the camera. HUH? So they have gone from taking responsibility for making a cheaply connected cover to helping me ensure that a third party solution (that did not exist) would fit their camera? This was sort of nutso. I wrote back and said simply that I did not find a cover on ebay. This morning - another 24 hours later - comes the latest response...they want to give me a 5 dollar refund. Now you would expect that a company selling a 150 dollar camera with a rubber cover for the on/off switch would grasp that the cover that they designed for their own camera to protect the switch from rain/snow/etc had an actual purpose for existing...but these folks instead want to refund me five bucks to accomplish what exactly? Am I supposed to tape the five dollar bill over the switch to protect it? I just need a new tiny cover! So I am now a week into this silliness and I have had enough. These cameras are not cheap. So before you buy from these folks, think very seriously about the warranty and support that they give and ask yourself if you should be going for products made by Google or Netgear because there is no doubt that a similar situation with their products would have resulted in a replacement part coming in roughly 2 days. Reolink makes great cameras. But they simply have no ability to back up their products with support that should make people comfortable. I have lost confidence in this company. All of my cameras...a thousand dollars of cameras...are going back because they can't figure out how to send out a tiny rubber cover that cost them a few cents. Pathetic.