Reolink RLC-811A

[testman78]

Introduction

A good way to protect your home is to install a security camera or a few around the exterior. Not only do they help discourage potential intruders from breaking an entry, but they can also record all the action for prosecution. Reolink is a security company that launched in 2009, and is focused on delivering high-quality cameras at a low price point. Reolink sent us it's new best thing to test: its RLC-811A Outdoor Security Camera. The biggest draw of the Reolink RLC-811A is its video quality. Shooting in 4K, our footage was twice as clear as 1080p HD, the industry's current average. This camera does support PoE, making it possible to power it using a single RJ45 cable. That extra A at the end of the name means that the camera supports the new smart motion detection technology.



Specifications:




Packaging & Contents

The packing box is made of a cardboard box and it comes in a blue/white design. The front side of the box has Reolink's logo printed on the top left side with RLC-811A name on the right. There is a picture of the cam on the main section.



The back side of the box has the specifications.



Key features of the cam is printed on the right side. Features are highlighted pictorially as well.



The left side of the box has the product's brief. It is printed in 5 different languages.



A message from Reolink will greet you once you open the top flap of the box.



Inside, the appliance itself is protected by huge foam spacers, and is also wrapped in a thick plastic bag.



Inside the box, you'll find the Reolink RLC-811A camera, as well as a waterproof lid for the connection, RJ45 cable, manual, and all the mounting hardware (screws and plugs) you'll need.







Like other security-focused products, Reolink includes a surveillance sign sticker with the RLC-410 that lets you notify visitors your home is protected.



Reolink includes a small paper template that can be used as a guide to drill and install the wall plugs.




Performance

The design is a bullet-style, with the main unit up front attached to the mount on the rear. The Reolink RLC-811A security camera is a well-made, sturdy camera. The Reolink Reolink RLC-811A is a reasonably large outdoors-suitable digital camera and shortly gathering the eye of any passerby. And that's a great factor with regards to safety cameras since this fashion, the machine can act as a correct deterrent, actively discouraging potential trespassers. And it's additionally enforced by the underside positioned speaker which might be activated to scare off any intruder - it does a really loud sound. On the backside of the RLC-811A, apart from the pretty giant speaker, there's additionally a microphone, so it does assist a two-way dialog.




The Reolink RLC-811A proudly flaunts an oblong metallic physique that's coated by a white matte end RLC-811A and when it comes to measurement, the machine measures 76mm x 72mm x 138mm with out the stand (and 238mm with the stand). A blue-colored silicone band that divides the front and the rear parts of the case. The metallic enclosure is IP66-rated which signifies that the digital camera is protected in opposition to mud ingress and can survive highly effective jets of water. The sides are bare, aside from the subtle Reolink branding. Temperature-wise, the machine has been constructed to stay operational between 14 levels F and 131 levels F which makes it appropriate for areas the place the winter isn't that harsh.



The camera has a 3840 x 2160 (8.0 megapixels) resolution at 25fps. Its motorized lens provides a viewing angle of 31~105 degrees, and its 5X optical zoom will capture images across from the 1/2.8" CMOS sensor.



To make everything work in the dark is an array of IR LEDs with a single light sensor to determine when it's time to automatically switch between day and night modes. The IR LED pcs are there, as well as the brightness sensor and the five LEDs for the spotlight and to see objects in the dark up to 100 feet away from the camera. It is triggered by motion and will push alerts to your mobile device, or send an email.



In order to swivel and rotate the camera you must use the included Allen key, which is used for a single screw on the base. Once it's facing the right way, you can tighten that screw for the camera to be secured in place.




The rear houses a single cable and MicroSD slot. This MicroSD card slot is very useful if you don't plan on hooking up a NAS or NVR. The micro SD card is only for motion detection recording.



It supports up to 256GB micro SD card. It can record up to 97.1 hours (depend on settings).



This single cable splits into three parts - one for the reset button, another for the ethernet, and finally, AC power. This isn't required since the RLC-811A supports PoE, making this a great option if you already have a PoE switch available. The Reolink RLC-811A does not need the power to operate. It gets its power through its PoE (Power over Ethernet cable) and does not need to have a main electricity supply. Data and power are transmitted over the same cable, and, as it does not need electricity, it can be fitted by anyone. You do not need to find an electrician to install an electrical power supply for this model. Because there's no internal battery at all, should your home lose power, so too will your Reolink security camera. It would be good at the very least to have a small battery backup in case of power outages, even if it is to record but a few minutes of footage.



Inside the RLC-811A is where the magic happens. I needed to open up the case of the RLC-811A and see the interior {hardware}. The tear-down course of is simply and all I needed to do was to take away the 4 screws from the again of the machine and, after gently detaching the 2 elements, I may establish a Novatek NT98523MBG 2004-BB T8N60400 processor.



I may additionally see 128MB of flash reminiscence from GigaDevice (FP2024 5F1GQ4UBYIG), 256MB of RAM from SKHynix (H5TQ2G63GFR RDC 928V NWMN7918WH) and a Ruimeng MS41929 JCQA05 IC.




Performance

Once hooked up to your internet, the camera can be added quickly to the Reolink app. To set up the RLC-811A, all that's required is downloading the smartphone app on Android and iOS or the PC app for Windows. Using either is easy since you'll still require to have the camera connected via ethernet to the router or switch, so it's on the same network as your phone or PC.



The Reolink app is rather simple but gets the basics right. When you fire it up, you can see a thumbnail view of your camera that you can tap to view the live feed. You get the live feed in low resolution, but you can increase this to the camera's full resolution. You can then grab a screenshot or trigger a recording that is saved to your camera's photo gallery.




By analyzing person and vehicle shapes on board, RLC-811A can accurately detect humans and vehicles before sending real-time alerts. It greatly reduces the false alarms since less important objects are ignored. Once an intruder is detected, the camera's spotlights and siren will be triggered or manually activated to warn off the would-be criminal. When daylight is out, RLC-811A with built-in spotlights continues to record in full color. This will bring more visual details that help identify people and cars than black-and-white videos. Long-term events like sun rising and flower blooming is hard yet fun to observe. RLC-811A with time lapse makes it quicker and easier to capture the dynamic of such events, with stunning effect. PIR motion detection registers body heat, so it generally can't be fooled by a tree branch swaying in the wind or a passing car. It can, however, be triggered by animals, so depending on the critter population around your home, you might need to do some calibrating to ensure you're not alerted to every squirrel that races across your fence top.



You can also set a schedule for when detection is enabled and disabled, and Reolink allows you to customize it on an hourly basis. Finally, the app includes a toggle labeled simply "reduce false alerts" that you can turn on if you're getting too many of them. You can pair the camera with Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant to control it using voice commands and view its feed on a smart display. When my phone wasn't at hand, I could check in with my Echo Show simply by saying "Alexa', show 'Yard'. You can download video clips, although you need to switch the mode high-quality stream, using the small icon on the Clips screen, otherwise the camera uses the 'Fluent' video mode, which downscales video to 640 x 480, kind of bypassing the point of having a 4K camera.



After the camera has been successfully configured, it's time to install it in your desired location. This part is also fairly straightforward. Once that's out of the way, all that's left is to screw the camera's rear to the wall. The main cable for the ethernet, reset switch, and AC should be hidden within a junction box or within the property to prevent someone from tampering with the camera. Video quality is where the Reolink RLC-811A really separates itself from other 2K and a lot 4K Security Cameras. It records in full 3840 x 2160-pixel 4K Ultra HD. This means you can see even the finest details. It also has a slightly wider viewing angle of 105 percent, so it can monitor a full corner. The camera delivers a very sharp image with accurate colors. It also has a slightly wider viewing angle of 105 percent, so it can monitor a full corner.




The night vision performance is the same, with a crisp, black and white image. Night vision can operate in color or black and white.



It have about 100-foot of range, which was plenty to light up my yard or driveway, but color is preferable as it provides more forensic details. I was surprised to find that the colors in night vision mode were about as vibrant as they were in daytime mode- typically, they're a bit duller.




Final Thoughts

So there you have it. The RLC-811A represents some of the best outdoor security video that you'll find. The combination of 4K, good night vision and control over motion detection and the notifications you can receive all goes some way to justifying the purchase of it. I love the 105 Degrees field of view and the colored night vision. As you guys saw in the photos, the colored night vision is really impressive and really stood out to me with this camera. While most cheap home security cameras are made of plastic, the Reolink RLC-811A has a metal housing that gives it a reassuring heft, making this model feel far more expensive than it is. It's a little boxy looking and certainly looks like a security camera, but it's far from ugly and at least will grab attention to put off would-be thieves. The Reolink RLC-811A camera had weatherproof features and an IP rating of 66, meaning it offered complete protection from entry of dust and highly effective water jets. For outdoor use, this was a great feature. The ReoLink app worked exceptionally well for us on both our iOS and Android devices. It was incredibly easy to navigate and customize notifications to precisely what we needed. SD card not included. There's no Wi-Fi on this model, so you need to run an Ethernet cable to the camera, using the waterproofing kit to make the connection safe. You then have two options for power. First, you can use Power over Ethernet (PoE), using either a PoE switch or injector, or you can use a traditional 12V power supply. Neither the power supply nor PoE injector is provided, so you'll need to buy one power option. I recommend using PoE, just because it reduces the number of cables that you have.



We've seen plenty of budget security cameras but the one thing that I wasn't expecting was a 4K camera that costs just 132.99 Euros. Yet, that's exactly what you get with the Reolink RLC-811A. Of course, you also need to spend around 10 Euros to 15 Euros to get a 12V power supply. And if you want to utilize the SD storage, you'll need to get a microSD as well. With microSD card storage avoiding the need for cloud storage, there are also no running costs with this model. The 4K Ultra HD camera quality and night vision were truly incredible. Our footage was clear and crisp each time we viewed our live feed.Overall, setting up the camera and getting everything working was a pretty simple process, which was surprising since we are not the most skilled engineers that exist. We could attribute our success almost entirely to ReoLink's handy website, which offered detailed tutorials, troubleshooting guides, and a lengthy list of frequently asked questions. Each time we needed assistance with one thing or another, these were the first places we visited.