Reolink Argus, Argus 2 and ReoLink Go

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. If that’s true, Arlo should feel most flattered. After launching an Arlo-like security camera, Reolink has continued to stay right on their heels, releasing new indoor/outdoor, battery-powered cameras and new functionalities. At CES 2018, we were able to visit with Reolink to get a closer look at their newest cameras including Reolink Argus 2 and Reolink Go. Thanks to Reolink’s generosity, we also tested Reolink Argus and Argus 2.

What is Reolink Argus

Like Arlo Pro, Reolink Argus offers two-way audio and a 130° field of view. Like Canary Flex, it works alone and doesn’t rely on a base station. What makes it different from other battery-powered cameras is the price. While it doesn’t offer anything new, it does offer most of the premium features found in other cameras, but for less money.

Reolink Argus for Home Security

So let’s get to the important stuff. How does Reolink Argus protect your home?

Video Day and Night

Argus has a FHD camera; however, if you find that running the camera to its fullest causes a lag, you can adjust the camera’s settings. Argus offers two modes: clear and fluent. You can quickly swap between these two settings which you can also customize. Clear’s resolution can be set at 1080p or 720p, the frame rate can be 15, 10, 5, or 2fps, and finally, the bitrate is also customizable (256, 512, 768, 1024, 1536, 2048). Fluent is set at Q720p (320 x 180) with the same frame rate options and a choice of bitrate (64, 128, 160, 192, 256, 384, 512).

Performance wise, the camera quality isn’t as strong as other FHD cameras, but is on-par with others.

The biggest downside about Reolink’s video quality is that it occasionally turns green. This wasn’t evident while live streaming or even viewing clips from the app, but a strange green tint was present when viewing clips from a computer. You can see the green tint in action at minute 1:31 in the video above as well as minute 1:38 and 1:49. From an audio perspective, there was also a strange tone on most clips. Another video quality complaint is that the max frame rate is low when compared to other cameras. Reolink’s max is 15fps where other cameras usually max out at 30fps.

That said, there is plenty of flexibility in setting up the camera. You can rotate the camera’s image or decide if you want the footage to show the date. You can even decide if you want the videos to include sound or not.

The level of customization offered is certainly cool, but one of Argus’ most impressive features is night vision. Reolink claims Argus can see up to 33 feet at night, and our tests prove it. At night the image is bright (compare the tree line), though not as crisp as other cameras (compare the shirt) like Canary Flex.

Motion Detection

Like most cameras, Argus uses motion detection to monitor for activity. Specifically, it uses a “smart PIR movement sensor.” Also, like most battery-powered cameras, it sits in standby mode until something happens. While a sleeping security camera isn’t ideal, it’s necessary to help the camera conserve battery. In testing other cameras, we've found that sleepiness can affect home security. Canary Flex, for example, is often slow to wake up, and Arlo Pro takes about 6 seconds to wake whenever you want to check out a live stream. Blink has a leg up here as it has a long battery life and it’s “always-on.” What about Reolink Argus?

Reolink Argus has one of the fastest wake times of any camera we’ve tested. While streaming from our network, it has an average wake time of four seconds. While streaming away from home, the average wake time was still an impressive 6 seconds. However, with a battery-powered camera, wake time means two things. The numbers above represent the time it takes to check out a live stream, but how quickly does the camera wake up to capture motion?

In the video above, we compared the time it takes Argus to wake up and capture motion to the time it takes for Arlo Pro, Blink XT, and Canary Flex to do the same. In this particular test, Arlo Pro was the fastest, closely followed by Canary Flex, Blink XT, and finally Argus. In regards to clip length, Argus also provides the shortest clip. Clips are recorded to the SD card which you can view from the app or from your computer. As you can see below, instead of recording one continuous clip, Reolink breaks videos into clips that are about 9 seconds in length. The shorter clips make finding video evidence more challenging.

Argus’ motion detection performance is disappointing. Typically, when we think of PIR sensors we think of a sensor that detects heat. Usually, this type of sensor will ignore inanimate objects while focusing on live objects such as humans or animals. This was not the case while testing Argus. Argus triggered for wind, sprinklers, and sometimes for no reason at all. Worse, the camera lacks the ability to control retrigger time which means that we often received multiple alerts within seconds.

Motion Customization

The good news is that you have some control over when motion alerts happen. From the app, you can simply turn the motion sensor off or you can leave it on and turn off alerts.

You can also adjust the motion sensor’s sensitivity level. You have three choices: low, medium, or high.

Finally, while the camera lacks geofencing, it does include the ability to create a schedule. Be forewarned: the schedule feature is a little odd, and to be honest, we're not 100% certain how it works. Your first option when creating a schedule is to select days of the week. That choice is fairly straightforward. The time choice, however, is what makes it odd. Each day of the week has four different time options: 0:00-05:59, 06:00-11:59, 12:00-17:59, and 18:00-23:59. Next to each time slot you will find six boxes. Each box corresponds to an hour. If you aren’t a 24-hour clock person, it’s time to brush up on the skill.

Notifications and Storage

Once an event is detected, Reolink Argus kicks into action. It can send a motion snapshot via email, sound a siren, send a push notification to your phone, and record a clip to the internal SD Card. How the camera behaves is completely up to you. You can have it do everything or a combination of things. For example, you might want a push notification and a recording but nothing more, and that’s certainly possible.

Regarding storage, the camera does not ship with an SD card but does support one. Without an SD card, you will get motion alerts but you won’t be able to view anything but live footage. Even with an SD card, Reolink makes it a challenge to see footage. To view recorded footage, you will need to navigate to the “Playback” section of the mobile app. There you will see a timeline. The blue marks on the timeline are related to recorded events. What makes this process difficult is that the line is hard to see and the time is off. In the screenshot above, you will see that the app gives you the option of syncing your phone’s time with the app. The time in the screenshot is 5:36 PM, but the 24-hour clock shows 16:36:27.

If you do find what the clip you're looking for, Reolink now supports downloading videos up to 30-seconds in length.

In general, there is both a pro and a con to using an SD card for storage. PRO: Privacy. You don’t need to worry about your family’s private moments being hijacked on their way to some random server. CON: From a home security perspective, a SD card isn’t sufficient. If someone sees your camera and decides to take it, you will have your email motion snapshot but you will lose all recorded footage.

Finally, you should know that in addition to recording based on event, you can also record events on demand.

Post writing this review, Reolink launched cloud service. The service is currently in beta. Also, at this time, cloud service is only available for Reolink Go, Argus 2, and Argus Pro but Reolink has plans to add other products soon.

Battery Life

Adjusting the camera’s settings is closely tied to its battery life. From the camera’s app, you can access a nifty battery section that will help you keep track of your usage. In theory, Reolink can stay powered for 180 days in standby mode or 840 minutes (half a day) at full capacity.

In addition to usage, a big part of the camera’s battery life will be affected by your battery choice. Reolink Argus supports both CR123A non-rechargeable and rechargeable batteries.

They estimate that the GP batteries they provide will run for 840 minutes during the day, 420 at night while using something like Eastachine’s RCR123A rechargeable battery will reduce the battery life to 540 minutes during the day and 270 at night.

The camera died after 2 months and 8 days of use.

Device Security

Finally, let’s talk security. Initially, security was a concern as Reolink seemed rather tight-lipped on the issue. That said, Reolink doesn’t force cloud storage, and placing the camera outdoors seems like a safe bet for those concerned about privacy. According to our contact,

We are using P2P technology and our server is hosted on Amazon safely. The stream is encrypted by our private protocols (which we are not allowed to share due to security concerns, the security of our IP security cameras and systems are extremely important to us and we have a team of experts working on protecting and securing the stream) as well as SSL encryption, WPA2-AES encryption, and SSL-TLS enabled.

Reolink Argus 2 vs. Reolink Argus

There isn’t much that differentiates Argus 2 from Argus. They are both battery-powered indoor/outdoor cameras. They are both 100% wire-free (hubless, though Reolink’s launching an optional hub). They both offer two-way audio, live streaming, and motion detection. The difference between the two lies in the way they are powered and the sensors used.

Perhaps the most significant differentiator between the two cameras is how they are powered.

Reolink Argus ships with a CR123A non-rechargeable battery. Though it supports both rechargeable and non-rechargeable batteries, using a rechargeable battery will reduce the camera’s battery life. Argus 2, on the other hand, ships with a rechargeable battery and also offers two other charging options: USB charging and solar charging. Other than that, the only difference between the two cameras is how they approach night vision.

Argus uses traditional IR LEDs to deliver night vision. So does Argus 2. But Argus 2 also offers “Starlight Night Vision.” The difference is that IR LEDs deliver a traditional black and white night vision experience. Starlight Night Vision is in color, making it easier to identify people and things. Starlight colored night vision is made possible thanks to a new image sensor that Reolink promises will improve video quality at night and during the day.

Reolink Argus 2 Video Performance

In theory, Starlight Night Vision (thanks to the improved CMOS sensor) should make Reolink Argus 2’s video performance better than the original Argus at night, but also during the day. At night, when using IR LEDs, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference at all. However, swapping Argus 2 to colored night vision made a huge difference.

Recently, we had a viewer ask why Argus offers both Starlight and IR LED night vision. We reached out to Reolink to ask why. According to them, “We are using (the) Starlight image sensor to create better videos and images. When the camera is in complete darkness, it still requires the IR LED to help provide additional illumination.” However, the video samples we took were in complete darkness. And trust us when we say, it’s very dark and rural with acres of woods behind us. It’s the type of place where you can still see the stars at night. We also turned off all of lights before testing. In fact, not too long after we filmed, the camera caught a deer at the tree line, which is farther back than we stood to take the sample video. All that said, it’s nice to have both. If you prefer the way the black and white night vision looks, simply swap back. You can even swap while live streaming and recording.

During the day, there was a slight difference between Argus and Argus 2, but not much. The colors were a little crisper, but we wouldn’t say the overall image was crisper.

In testing Argus 2, we tested it against the original Argus, but also Arlo Pro and Pro 2. We tested the cameras in both a backyard setting and front yard setting. In the backyard, Argus 2 did okay. In fact, there were moments where it outperformed Arlo.

In the front yard, however, it struggled. We placed Argus, Argus 2, Arlo Pro, and Arlo Pro 2 on a covered porch. While sitting in the shade and facing the sun, Reolink struggled to adjust to the light contrast. The image was extremely low quality and yellow. Where the bushes closest to the camera were clear, the house across the street was almost unrecognizable. By contrast, Arlo darkened the bushes, but images further away, like the house across the street, were crystal clear.

The other major difference when comparing video quality is frame rate. Reolink’s max frame rate is 15 frames per seconds (fps). When you slow the video down, you can see just how jerky this is when compared to Arlo, which records at 30 fps.

Finally, lag time. Reolink Argus 2 is fast to live stream. On average, we were able to initiate a stream within 2 seconds where it takes Arlo Pro 2 about 4-9 seconds.

Video Quality Customization

From the app, you can control certain video-quality-related features. First, you can rotate or mirror the image.

Second, you can adjust the anti-flicker settings in case the camera’s image starts to flicker, something we experienced recently with another camera. You can choose from Off, 50HZ, 60HZ, or outdoor. We used the outdoor setting and didn’t have any problems with flickering.

Third, you can adjust the camera’s resolution. Reolink Argus 2, like Argus, has two settings: Clear and Fluent.

In addition to the two resolution settings you can choose from, Argus might adjust on its own (to 640×320 at 5fps) if your network connection isn’t strong enough.

Finally, you can adjust Bitrate and Frame Rate. Both Fluent and Clear offer the same options. You can reduce the frame rate per second (fps) from 15 down to 10, 5, or even 2. Third, you can adjust the max bitrate. According to Reolink¹, bitrate is “the actual amount of data that the camera will use to record video. The higher the bitrate, the more space each recording will take up on the hard disk.” This setting will also affect your image quality. A higher bitrate will produce a higher quality image. The default bitrate is 2048 kbps, but you can reduce it all the way down to 256 if you want.

Video Quality Pro: Colored Night Vision

Video Quality Con: Max Frame Rate is 15fps

Using Reolink Argus 2 for Motion Monitoring

Anyone who’s ever used a security camera to monitor outdoors knows that false alarms are common. Argus’ PIR motion sensor will help cut down on some false alarms. PIR sensors monitor for heat signatures. In theory, this means it will only trigger if it detects things that give off heat, like humans. However, a PIR motion sensor is not going to cut down on all false alarms. In testing motion events, Reolink was quick to send an alert. In all tests, Reolink sent an alert just before Arlo Pro and Arlo Pro 2. In addition to sending a push notification, you can set it to send an email and trigger its siren.

Motion Testing and Sensitivity Settings

To further reduce false alarms, Argus 2 allows you to adjust motion sensitivity. You can choose between low, medium, and high. Low’s detecting distance is 13 feet. Mid is 20 feet. High is 30 feet.

First, we tested the camera in a backyard setting.  We set Argus 2 to high and set the Arlo cameras to 80%. In running them side-by-side, we received very few false alarms on most days. However, windy days were a different story. Reolink sent a flurry of alerts, while Arlo didn’t send any. Reolink also had a few false triggers for things like bunnies and small dogs.

Second, we tested the cameras in a front yard setting where there’s more motion and activity. Here, we reduced Arlo’s sensitivity to 50%, to match Reolink’s medium setting. At this level, Arlo continued to alert for cars passing by, Reolink did not. Reolink, however, continued to send alerts for no reason at all. It wasn’t an overwhelming amount of alerts, but it wasn’t minor either.

On average, we received several per hour.

To help, we reduced Argus’ motion sensitivity level to low. This greatly reduced the number of false alarms to about one every two days, but the camera also missed a lot of events it should have caught. For example, we saw a boy running through the yard to pick up his baseball (five times). Reolink missed him every time. In testing slower motion, at a shorter range, Reolink was both accurate and speedy with alerts.

The moral of the story is that adjusting Reolink to work properly takes some trial and error.

Unfortunately, Argus 2 lacks smart motion features aimed at reducing false alarms like person detection and zones so adjusting sensitivity is your only option unless you manually turn the PIR sensor on and off when you don’t want alerts. Alternatively, you can create a schedule for the camera to follow.

Schedules

Argus’ schedule can be customized for each day of the week. For example, you might turn the camera off on Sundays, arm it between 10 and 2 on Mondays, and between 5 and 7 on Tuesdays. The ease of creating a schedule is something we complained about while testing the original Argus, and not much has changed. Creating a schedule, as we shared last time, is “a little odd.”

Motion Testing Pro: Quick Push Notifications

Motion Testing Con: Lots of False Alarms

Video Storage

Argus 2 does not ship with an SD card, but you can add one. Without a card, you can manually record video events. Those events will save to your phone’s gallery. That’s it. The camera will not record motion events without an SD card in place.

The camera supports microSD cards up to 64GB in size. With an SD card in place, Reolink supports a feature called Video Playback. This is a feature we didn't like while testing the original Reolink, and though it’s still not great, it had greatly improved.

Using the Timeline for Playback

Like before, clips are marked on a timeline using a tiny blue line. You can drag the timeline back and forth to find the event you want to view and then hit play. You can also use the calendar to choose different days.

Unlike before, there is a secondary timeline that gives a broader view of the day’s events. The larger timeline shows 24 hours broken down into hour-long segments. You can drag the larger timeline to a time period you want to check and then use the smaller timeline to narrow things down to the exact second you’re looking for.

Reolink has also added a cloud shaped button to the playback view. If you press this button, you’ll be able to create a clip for download using the larger timeline. Clips can be as short as 10 seconds or as long as 30 seconds.

Viewing clips from the app works great, but downloaded clips have a slight problem. The original Argus often has a green tint on downloaded footage. The new Argus does not share this problem, but downloaded videos do occasionally have a weird effect, displaying scrambled colors.

The good news about downloaded clips is that they include helpful information including the name of the camera that recorded the clip, the time, and the date.

Clips will stay on your microSD card until it’s full. You can check how much space your card has left from the settings menu of the Reolink mobile app. Alternatively, you can view event footage from your computer by removing the SD card from the camera and inserting it into your computer.

Reolink Base Station and Cloud Storage

It’s important to note that though you can view footage from the app, that doesn’t mean footage is stored in the cloud. If someone steals your camera or the SD card, the footage will no longer be accessible. There are two solutions to this including the new cloud storage options (discussed below) and the coming soon Reolink Base Station.

Though Reolink Argus works without a base station, and will continue to do so, Reolink plans to add an optional base station for those who want one. The base station also supports an SD card. Instead of inserting the card into your camera, you will insert it into the base station. All motion triggered events will be stored to the card within your base station which means that footage is stored safely indoors and separate from your camera.

The second benefit of the Reolink Base is that it improves connectivity. The Base connects Reolink battery cameras wirelessly for video storage and backup, even if your internet goes down.

Once launched, the Base will work with Reolink Argus 2, Reolink Argus, and Reolink Keen and will support up to four cameras.

Post writing this review, Reolink launched cloud service. The service is currently in beta, but we’ve been testing one of the free options. For free, users can access a 7-day cloud video history. This plan is limited to one camera and 1GB of storage space. If you want more, you can pay for more as outlined in the chart below. Keep in mind, that at launch, cloud service is only available for Reolink Go, Argus 2, and Argus Pro but Reolink has plans to add other products soon.

In testing cloud storage, we found that all clips were 8-seconds in length, but that the camera would record consecutive videos if motion continued for longer than 8-seconds. From the cloud menu, you can also download videos to your phone but you cannot delete them.

Video Storage Pro: There is no time limit on storage. Clips will stay until your storage device is full.

Video Storage Con: Cloud storage is still in beta.

Powering the Camera: Battery and Solar

The fact that the camera runs on battery is definitely what makes it intriguing. Though Argus 2 uses a different type of battery than the original Argus, Reolink still promises the same 4-6 month battery life. In testing the original Argus, we found that the battery life was closer to 2 months. Argus 2 lasted about 1.5 months. Of course, battery life will vary depending on usage. Reolink Argus 2’s battery can sustain up to 180 days in standby mode or up to 960 minutes of motion recording or live viewing.

The biggest advantage of Argus 2’s battery over the original Argus’ battery is that it’s rechargeable which makes a huge difference when comparing long-term cost of ownership. Right now, my battery cost to keep the original Argus running is about $3 per month or an extra $36 per year.

This time around, we focused our testing on Reolink’s solar panel more than its battery. The weatherproof solar panel only works with Reolink Argus 2, and it sells for $29.99. The solar panel connects to Argus 2 via a micro USB cable, which makes setup breezy, and can also be used to keep your battery charged. The solar panel ships with a bracket and screws while the camera ships with a rechargeable battery, an outdoor security mount with a hook and loop strap, a skin, mounting hole templates, a micro USB cable, and some boring stuff like a sign, screws, and instructions.

When we first started testing Argus 2, its battery level was at 39%, and it was a cloudy day. Day 2 was sunny, and the battery level climbed to 49%. We rechecked progress on day 4. The battery level was at 88%. Day 4 is also the day we moved Reolink from my backyard to my front yard. It was a very sunny, beautiful day, and yet the battery lost some of its charge due to the increase in alerts and, I’m assuming, also due to placement. Though the cameras were on the porch, we had the solar panel in a flower bed which is sunnier than the porch, but still somewhat shady. Unfortunately, it didn’t provide enough sun to power Argus 2. Over time, the battery level continued to decline. Fortunately, the cable that connects the camera to the solar panel is about 13-feet long making proper placement less of a challenge.

Final Thoughts and What’s Missing

After testing Argus and Argus 2, we recommend Argus 2 over Argus. The daytime video quality isn’t noticeable, but features like solar charging, Starlight Night Vision, and the rechargeable battery make it worth the extra cost.

Reolink Argus™ 2 is now selling for $99.89 globally. The solar panel sells for $29.99. This is inexpensive when compared to other battery-powered cameras like Canary Flex ($199.00), Ring Spotlight Cam Solar ($229.00 for a camera and a solar panel), and Arlo Pro ($230.00 for one camera and one base station). However, you do give up a few features to save a few dollars. The camera lacks geofencing, zones, person detection, third-party integrations, and sound detection. But, if you want an inexpensive battery-powered camera that uses local storage, Argus 2 is the camera for you.

Reolink Go

Though we tested Reolink Argus 2, we have not tested Arlo Go, but we did get to see it at CES. If you’ve heard of Arlo Go, Arlo’s indoor/outdoor, battery-powered camera that supports 2G, 3G, and 4G-LTE, you can probably guess how Reolink Go works.

Go was created to work in places where Wi-Fi and power are inaccessible. Reolink even plans to sell a camouflage skin for those deep woods stakeouts. Obviously, running into the woods to check the camera’s battery is not ideal, so they also plan to launch a solar panel that is compatible with Reolink Go.

Cellular Communication

Reolink Go does not ship with a SIM card. Instead, you will buy and add your own SIM card depending on the carrier you use. Reolink Go will work with multiple carriers including, but not limited to, AT&T (U.S.) and Telstra (Australia). Reolink plans to ship to customers in the U.S., the U.K., Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Canada, and Australia.

The monthly cost of data is to-be-determined but the camera will use data while live streaming and also while viewing videos from the SD card.

Camera Specs

Reolink Go supports 3G/4G, offers a 1080p FHD resolution, and is weatherproof. It shares many of the same features as Argus 2 including Starlight Night Vision, a rechargeable battery, built-in motion detection, phone and email alerts, SD card storage, and two-way audio. Reolink also has a feature that allows you to use a pre-recorded voice message that plays when motion is detected.

Final Thoughts

Our only concern is the number of false alarms. After testing Argus 2, we know it’s triggered by things like wind, trees, bushes, bunnies, and small dogs. If you plan to place the camera in the woods, for example, these are all fairly common things that your camera might encounter. Also, after testing the solar panel, we know how important proper placement is. When placed in a flower bed, there just wasn’t enough light to keep pace with the alerts triggered. We don’t know about the woods where you live, but here, they aren’t very sunny.

Go is now available starting at $249.99. The cost can skyrocket to almost $500 if you add accessories like a solar panel and pre-activated SIM card.