The new Reolink AI is awesome and after playing with one cam for a month, I ordered another pair of them to swap out my driveway cams. If you were on the fence, it's time to jump in! Once you go AI, you will never go back!
Meet Reolink RLC-810A, a 4K 8MP AI-powered PoE IP camera with person/vehicle detection, smart motion alerts and more, offering you unrivaled home security.
reolink.com
The AI still isn't perfect but each firmware update further refines it. Long story short, the cam can differentiate between random motion events, vehicles and people so it's able to filter out the unwanted detections, (like insects, spiderwebs and car headlights across the lawn), and only email you the ones you want to see. I typically don't turn on email alerts for any of my cams due to the amount of false triggers and now have 3 cameras facing the road activated. This closes a big gap in our detection level as previously I would record 24/7 and only review footage if I was made aware of an event by my neighbors.
I plan to upgrade both my doorway cams as well once the dome versions are released. We are at the end of a long street and so I get a false trigger every single time a car comes down our street at night so I'm hoping this reduces those to a minimum. If it's like the other cams, the false alarms went from 90% down to less than 15% and they haven't missed a thing yet.
I reached out to my Reolink contact regarding the glitches in their first release of the AI firmware and managed to get myself back on their Beta testing program.
I am currently in the possession of, and testing, 2 new beta cams: The Argus 2E and the RLC-1220A, their new 12MP Dome camera.
So far the 12MP is not promising but with mine and other's feedbacks, they will adapt and refine it before it comes to market. I was not impressed with the optics or the narrow field of view for such a high resolution image so I gave it a fail. The 8MP cams have a FOV of 87deg and the 12MP is a dismal 67deg.
Meet RLC-1220A, smart PoE IP cam with 12MP Ultra HD visual experience, advanced person/vehicle detection, smart motion alerts, remote live view and other fantastic features.
reolink.com
There's no word on the release date for the 12MP bullet cam yet. I suspect they will need to source a new internal camera module with a wider FOV before either of these 12MP cams see production.
Meet RLC-1210A, smart PoE IP cam with 12MP Ultra HD visual experience, advanced person/vehicle detection, smart motion alerts, remote live view and other fantastic features.
reolink.com
The Argus 2E I'm testing is a wire free, rechargeable 1080P Wi-Fi cam with PIR, Time-Lapse, 2-way audio and even has an optional solar panel for continuous charging. I mounted mine on a stainless spike and have been moving it around my yard playing with the Time Lapse feature. I've captured quite a few sunsets, a full days horizon from sunrise to sunset, a few turtle feedings and tried to get a shot of our roses or Sago Palms blossoming but it's the wrong season for those events. I don't have much use for these cams since I have 19 fixed IP cams already but it's nice and portable so it can be tasked with random jobs around the house, like watching the other end of a conduit to see if my fish tape has emerged yet.
Meet Reolink Argus 2E, a 100% wire-free rechargeable battery & solar powered indoor/outdoor WiFi security camera featuring 3MP Super HD, stunning night vision, and more.
reolink.com
The next cam they will be testing is the 8MP Dome, (RLC-822A) with 3x optical zoom and then early next year the 8MP Outdoor PTZ, (RLC-823A). The 5MP cams with 3x zoom are impressive so I can't wait for the 8MP versions. I have 2 of the RLC-423 5MP PTZ's that will be getting upgraded as soon as the higher res versions are available.
It's looking like most, if not all IP camera platforms will be getting the new AI feature as well as a new built-in Time lapse feature. The TM feature is built in to the camera itself and won't work through the NVR but it's an easy work around by simply plugging the cam into your network instead of the NVR. I've been playing with the Argus 2E doing captures and while the resolution isn't as high as the IP cameras, the file size is much more manageable and the captures are just as impressive. If you have ever played around and set up an FTP server to use the previous time lapse capture, you will be amazed and appreciative at the simplicity of the new interface.
