Reolink 5 Megapixel IP PoE Security Camera Review - RLC-511 and RLC-522

[@brendarichardson7271]

*I like the pan and tilt feature. great **Newest.Technology** camera!*

[@EverythingSmartHome]

UPDATE: Reolink have since updated the firmware to remove flash, as well as add 24/7 recording capabilities which fixes almost all of my complaints in this video! Check out a new 4K version of this camera with AI detection here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nKnTqaisaqigmpI

[@Reigner1985]

So can you record 24/7 on sd card now? Can you live stream with an sd card? I want to be able to record at least motion to sd card, but is it possible to livestream and record straight to the cloud or server? I do not want a nvr. Thanks.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

You can now record 24/7 to SD card yes AFAIK. What do you mean by livestream sorry?

[@Reigner1985]

@@EverythingSmartHome can i watch for as long as i want or can i only watch once motion has been detected?

[@rmatthews9545]

Flash has been removed from both?

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Certainly has been I can confirm!

[@KevinFockaert]

It's crazy to see the Ubiquity camera is so much worse in video quality while price is significantly higher. Great review! Awesome that you point out details like exactly where you put the camera's for testing etc. Keep up the good job!

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Ah thank you buddy, that means a lot! Providing unbiased and objective reviews to help make buying decisions is the goal so glad you liked it!

[@ryanandrewbaker]

They updated the firmware for the flash issue and to record 24x7 to an SD card. Good to see they kept their promise and his the end of the year timeframe. Thanks for the review.

[@druid3274]

One of the best reviews I’ve seen. I’ve recently purchased a set of 5M cameras after declining and returning the 8M. Two things I found that dissatisfied me but you may have a resolution to. Firstly and most annoying is the facial wipeouts on night vision. I noticed you were able to deal with that so perhaps you’d like to do a video on how that’s achieved. No point in having a cctv recording if you can’t later identify the offender. Secondly I found the adjusting mechanism on the 511 jammed under the base plate once it had been secured. There isn’t enough clearance to release the adjuster making it difficult to position the camera. Finally I’d like to mention that customer support at Reolink is excellent in my opinion. Along with the product, customer support is paramount . Thank you for taking the time and effort.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Thanks for the support, appreciate it! The night vision is still an issue unfortunately, you can adjust this by going into the camera and setting the exposure level down which does help in the night, although be careful as this could cause daytime issues, that's why they really need to fix the auto exposure IMO. As for the mounting mechanism, I can't say how I would fix that as I never ran into any issues with it, I actually really liked the mounting mechanism! Having said that, stay tuned... 😅

[@andrewshields9238]

Thanks a lot for the breakdown here. I was looking at Swann NVR product and had largely discarded Reolink as an option, but they're back in contention now after your review.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Thank you Andrew, I'm glad you enjoyed the video! Out of interest, what made you discard them?

[@andrewshields9238]

@@EverythingSmartHome I had read several reviews (for older ReoLink products) saying the web and mobile UI was a mess. It seemed cleaner in presentation - which either means the reviews were overly harsh or they've made great strides in the interceding two years. Though the fact they haven't gotten away from flash still troubles me.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

That is definitely some good things to consider! I'm frustrated by the flash as you could probably tell in the video but I'm hoping that update is just days away!

[@TjBijlsma]

Just returned the Reolink Dome camera because of what I consider a physical design flaw. In my case it is the RLC-822a which has the same flaw as the tsted RLC-522 in this video. If you look at the 4:01 time mark in this video you will see the problem. The dome camera is NOT secured to your structure at all. The back plate is screwed to the structure and then the camera is twisted/rotated onto that plate. You can simply remove the camera by grabbing it with one hand and rotating it off the back plate - cut the wires and walk away with the camera. I have the bullet cameras from Reolink as well and those are screwed to the wall. I know if someone really wants to remove the camera they can, but it is signficantly more work to remove the camera. I am totally fine with how those bullet models are physically secured to the structure (wall/ceiling). In my case the camera is going to be installed in arms reach of a person and for that reason it is a major problem for me that the camera itself can't be secured to the building. Just be aware before you order. I've returned mine and I'm going for the RLC-842a which looks like it can be physically secured to the building. And I'm assuming the video quality of that RLC-842a will be as satisfying as the other Reolink cameras I have.

[@Perplexer1]

Great review overall but I was a bit confused not knowing which camera I was watching. Granted at 9:24 you do mention that you're using the Reolink bullet camera's footage for testing but you also introduce the Ubiquity G3. At 10:26 you hand gesture at both Reolink cameras being side-by-side in your test setup, however at 10:43 the setup actually consists of the Reolink and Ubiquity G3, which is what confused me. You did constantly mention both names so I kinda figured it out, but I got confused again at 14:07, not knowing what I was watching. It took me a few moments to realize the split screen actually showed ONE camera (Reolink bullet) but in two modes. You should have added an overlay stating the model names in these examples, or verbally specify which clip belongs to which camera. Also you probably should have mentioned that the dome camera wasn't PTZ. I thought it was and if Mike Bowen didn't ask his question in the comments, I would have bought it thinking it was PTZ. Whew! One very useful and important detail you mentioned was the inability to continuously record on the SD card. I did not know that and it was something I was counting on. Has this changed with a firmware update perhaps since october 2020? You mentioned other Reolink cameras do record continuously to SD cards. Is there a way to find that out from reading camera specs ? Although I kinda can't imagine a flash device being able to handle 24/7 recording. What about the Flash to HTML5 transition? Have then updated the firmwares yet, considering there' s only 2 weeks of time left at this point ? Also, I noticed the web browser says "Not recure" at 8:46. Does the camera's web interface not support https ?

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Hello, thanks for the feedback and sorry you were confused! Yes please see my pinned comment which states the SD card recording has changed and also HTML5 has been implemented. Hope that helps!

[@jaseastroboy9240]

The dome camera seems so simple to put on that I wonder what is to prevent an intruder simply giving it a slight twist and unplugging the cable? No more recording to your NVR and if you were recording to the inbuilt SD card then all of your recording is gone as well as your camera. It appears that it would take two seconds and no tools to totally defeat the dome camera. The bullet camera looks much more secure.

[@DavidM2002]

I have the 511 and the only issues that I have are that the pics in the manual look nothing like the firmware that they are describing. Also, the detection zone settings are really screwy and I still haven't got them to work reliably so I either get too many or to view video files.

[@LookatBowen]

Great Video - What is the PAN TILT like on the dome camera?

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Thanks! These aren't PTZ cameras so no moving them electronically but they can be position pretty much anyway you want so you shouldn't have any issues there

[@LookatBowen]

@@EverythingSmartHome Ah! I see. Thanks for the response. Why would one go for a dome camera vs bullet when the specs or features are exactly the same?

[@EverythingSmartHome]

I guess it depends on the look you want as well as where your going to be mounting it. Not all mounting positions will be suitable for the dome and not all will be suitable for the bullet. The dome does have ever so slightly wider field of view too but the bullet has more zoom capabilities.

[@druid3274]

I have the RLC-423 and I think it’s excellent video quality. The PTZ is extremely awkward to access, I’d like a quicker access for when it’s needed ( that’s the point of having it I presume). Again it’s clumsy with zoom and therefore focus. Just when you need it you’re waiting for what seems an eternity. However I do like the presets so best to configure key positions and use them for quick response. I would like to see the camera operate above the horizontal as there must be numerous locations looking uphill but it’s good enough to capture shooting stars.

[@sikpc]

Great review! Comprehensive with very practical demonstrations. I was going to opt for their 4K cameras but after seeing you review on how good their 5MP cameras are, I'm starting to think 4K is overkill for my humble home!! Also, the 4K ones don't support ONVIF it seems. Is ONVIF as software upgradeable element or is it a hardware thing?? Thanks again.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Hey Simon, tha is for the kind words and glad you enjoyed the review! Which models were you looking at? I'd be surprised if they didn't support ONVIF tbh, it might just not be listed in the specs for some reason.

[@sikpc]

@@EverythingSmartHome Ah! I have found this support.reolink.com/hc/en-us/articles/900000617826. Going by this, they have one that is ONVIF compatible; the RLC-810A.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Hey Simon, not sure if it's showing up differently on your side but for me the table shows pretty much all their cameras as ONVIF compatible

[@sikpc]

@@EverythingSmartHome There are quite a few which aren't listed such as the B/D800 so it's a matter of cross referencing the table with each camera in the store.

[@RNMSC]

I'm OK with dark mode until the devs think that's the only mode they should support. One of the problems I've run into with Dark Mode is standing outside in the snow trying to read instructions on how to upgrade a game cam. If you are more than 30 meters from some form of shelter, with a clear sky and the sun behind you, dark mode is abysmal at providing a readable screen. That problem resulted in me taking 2 250k drives in the middle of winter to address a firmware update that it turns out wouldn't have impacted me, as the firmware was an update for a Cellular carrier that my camera wasn't using, at least not locally. If a developer insists on the UI being in dark mode by preference, at the very least provide an easy to find (on the dark mode screen) toggle that allows the user to, at the very least temporarily, switch to light mode so that they can follow the instructions being provided in a situation where dark mode isn't helpful.

[@butidontlikehoney9326]

hit there, Did you use NVR to connect these two cameras? If not are there any advantages of using NVR compare to reolink custom component?

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Hello! I did not use an NVR at the time for this video no, I have since installed one however! What do you mean by custom component sorry?

[@butidontlikehoney9326]

@@EverythingSmartHome hi and thanks for replying! I wonder what are the benefits of having NVR over just poe hub/switch especially if only need to integrate to home assistant? I just bought 2 reolink cameras and NVR but im super new to cameras and HA integration of them.After some research im thinking of returning the NVR and replacing it with a normal PoE switch as im missing what value NVR brings. In re to custom component sorry i wasnt clear i meant this reolink custom component: github.com/fwestenberg/reolink Would really like to know if NVR+Onvif+HA is any better than reolik custom component + HA?

[@EverythingSmartHome]

No problem! I could be wrong because I don't use that custom component but the NVR gives you the ability to record straight to disk where you don't have that there. You could record to SD card but it's not the greatest idea to do that. You could also record straight to a NAS or other server and use your own software which is certainly a viable solution but you'll need some decent hardware to record to depending on how many cameras you have.

[@wevrwevRFve]

I grabbed a pair of the dome cameras last week! Not fitted then up yet

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Awesome, let me know how it goes!

[@druid3274]

I’ve returned all my 5M & 8M domes due to moisture ingress. The bullet cams don’t appear to suffer the same issue

[@joseo.cordero7286]

Will the bullet cameras rotate on the ball joint axle? Or only on the while part of the base? I mean if I mount the camera on a wall and point it to the left or right about about 45 degrees or more will the image be rotate because the ball joint will not allow the top side of the camera to be on top when at an angle? It is not clear how to mount on a wall if camera needs to be pointing to the left or right? Does this makes sense?

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Hi Jose, I'll admit I did struggle to follow along with what you meant but I think I get it, it rotates at the base and the ball joint so you shouldn't have any issues with the mounting. Hope that helps!

[@joseo.cordero7286]

@@EverythingSmartHome Sorry about that. Yes. Basically what I am trying to find out is if I mount the bullet camera in a wall and need to point it to the right will the top of the camera will still be pointing up or or will be at an angle and the view of hte recording will also be at an angle. I think this might be true for hte bullet type cameras.

[@Bulldog_DK]

i need info and test from yu guys who talks here about the reolink-products of when the start recording/pic in meters!! THAT WILL HELP to pic a right product otherwiese tnx for you time :D

[@EverythingSmartHome]

I'm not sure whst you mean sorry, my test was done in meters?

[@Bulldog_DK]

@@EverythingSmartHome i need to know when cam´s start to record ??? that you dont tell!???? so it will be easy´r to choose a cam for me :D

[@CreeBreej]

Your audio levels are up & down more than Katie Price's nickers! Hard to watch when your cant hear one second, then deafened the next.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

It's an early video, I'm new to this, give me a chance ☺️