REOLINK Security Camera Outdoor System 4K, Surveillance IP PoE with Human/Vehicle/Pet Detection, 25FPS Daytime, 100F IR Night Vision, Up to 256GB microSD Card, RLC-810A, Audio and Motion Alert

I used this camera to replace an existing street facing 4MP Reolink Camera. Although I am happy with my 4MP system overall, I wanted something a little bit clearer for this location, particularly at night. The swap was very easy as both cameras have the same mounting plate (holes line up), the same wire connection and the NVR auto-detected the new camera immediately. The 4K camera did not disappoint – both the day and night quality are significantly better and you get a slightly larger field of view. I have attached night time captures from both cameras for comparison. For the reasonable price, I am considering upgrading a few more and re-purposing the the 4MP cams for less critical duties. I did consider the 5MP version, but for only $15 more (at the time I purchased) and no real need to integrate with 3rd party software (more on that below), I thought It was worth going all the way,

The motion detection appears similar to the 4MP versions, you have the same options to adjust the sensitivity and detection areas. Since this camera sees a lot of foot and vehicle traffic, I am not utilizing alerts, but the motion events are still helpful to narrow things down when playing back footage.

For the advanced users, although there does not appear to be a way to integrate this camera fully with 3rd party apps/software (I believe you can with the 4/5MP versions) – I was able to get the below snapshot URL to work (loads a still snapshot from the camera each time your reload the page). This same URL also works for my 4MP cameras.

http://<YOUR NVR’S LOCAL IP ADDRESS>/cgi-bin/api.cgi?cmd=Snap&channel=<CAMERA’S CHANNEL NUMBER ON NVR>&rs=fsj78fjkdf&user=<NVR USER NAME>&password=<NVR PASSWORD>

(Replace the <CAPITALIZED TEXT> with your systems info – channel number should start with 0)

This URL will only work in a web browser if you are connected to the same network as the the NVR. I am an avid DIYer but not a networking expert – im sure there is way to use port forwarding or some other method to accomplish this from outside your network, but that it outside my wheelhouse. With that said, I was able to add this camera to my Vera Edge home automation hub as a “Generic IP Camera using the above URL which does allow me to access the snapshots through the Vera interface and Imperihome locally or remotely. This also opens up the ability to add snapshots from the camera to notifications/scenes or have it auto-reload a new snapshot a set interval on a tablet based dashboard like Imperihome or SmartTiles. I did not test it on SmartThings or any other hub, but if it worked on Vera, I assume its possible on others as well. Long story short don’t dismiss it completely if you only need partial smart home integration – the snapshot functionality can be very useful for door bell/door lock notifications or other connected system triggers beyond the native Reolink motion based alerts.

I bought this 8 MP ( 4K) and also 5 MP camera. The resolution on this 4K is of course much clearer than th 5MP model ( which isn’t too bad either ) All the other features are the same for both models. The following is the review I wrote for the 5 MP and is the same comments.
The AI motion detection for vehicles works really well. I haven’t adjusted it for people yet . The time lapse feature did not work with the Android Reolink app. I contacted tech support and they were very responsive. They had me try some older versions of app and send in some crash reports from app so their software engineers could evaluate. Ultimately they admitted there is some bug in the app that they will hopefully solve in next version. They said with Iphone app the time lapse works. I found it refreshing that a company actually responds and follows up on something like this. Otherwise the android and windows apps work fine at live viewing, viewing playback from the SD card, changing settings, and doing firmware updates. If you have the Windows app running you can have it save longer motion clips directly to your computer hard drive, take photo snapshots, and live video .
I have two of the Reolink cameras and one of them I installed on a remote solar powered cart that views my garden. It is linked over a bridged router . I was surprised that the video quality and playback worked so well considering I used older routers. This remote system I powered with direct plugged in 12v. The other camera I am using POE on the internet cable. It is nice to have both options.
I usually leave the infared LEDs off , but when they are on they light up a large area .
Construction on this camera is solid and quality. This new version is super simple to set up the angle with just one tightening ring to tighten . But one of the rings on camera was so tight out of box I had to use a channel lock pliers to loosen it up. The other camera was able to be loosened by hand.
So all in all good product and excellent support from company.