Review on 📷 REOLINK 5MP 8CH Home Security Camera System: Wired 5MP Outdoor PoE IP Cameras, 8CH NVR with 2TB HDD - 24-7 Recording, RLK8-520D4-5MP by Jason Lockwood

REVIEW UPDATED (03/09/19): After several emails to the company, Reolink has updated the firmware for the NVR and now only supports showing motion events on the timeline with a checkbox. This is EXACTLY what this app needs and makes it absolutely perfect. Now it's easy to find the exact section of the video where there was movement. They also added the ability to draw custom motion zones directly in the iPhone app. There's still no fast-forward option, but that doesn't detract from the app too much. I am more than satisfied with the company's customer service and support staff. All my emails were answered and were in line with the estimated update schedule. I recommend this system to everyone! ORIGINAL REVIEW: I purchased this Reolink system to replace the Ring Video Doorbell Pro and Ring Floodlight Cam I have installed at home. I wanted Reolink because unlike Ring and its Wi-Fi competitors, Reolink records 24/7 and offers a lot more flexibility and customization. Before I move on to the full review, I would like to say that I am very satisfied with this device. Unlike other browsers, my NVR is silent and makes no noise other than the sound of the hard drive recording its data. I haven't heard any fan noise yet. Planning: The hardest part of this system (or any wired home video system) is routing and installing the cables. I chose not to use the included ethernet cables, which are about 60 feet long each. I bought a Cat5E coil from my local hardware store for about $60.00 and it turned out to be more than I needed for my setup. Once my ethernet cables were in place, hooking up the cameras was pretty easy. Connect them, thread the wires and attach to the base. deal closed. Attitude. After running all of the ethernet cables to the areas where I wanted to install the cameras, I found everything was connected and working with no issues. As soon as a new camera is connected, the NVR will automatically find and add it. The only settings I had to make were custom motion zones and my alarm settings. This system is very easy to use. Because these cameras support POE (Power over Ethernet), no additional cables are required other than one Cat5 cable per camera. Camera quality: The cameras are robust and look well made. The video quality is crystal clear and much better than the Ring products I've replaced which were only 1080p and very dark in my opinion. The Reolink cameras have very good night vision and can illuminate almost my entire backyard (about 75 feet deep). If you have headlights or lights near your doors, Reolink cameras are so good at capturing the light that you can keep it in full color even at night. The included cameras all record sound (you can turn this off if you want) and the microphones are crisp and clear. They are quite sensitive and I could hear my neighbors voice from about 50 feet away. Motion Alerts: This is one of the most important features in the age of home video recording. When I'm recording a video, I want to be notified when someone is on my property or on my doorstep. Reolink handles this with ease. You can set your own motion zones for each individual camera. Once the zone is set, you can set the sensitivity and choose when and how you want to receive notifications (email, push notifications, NVR alerts). You can also set custom blocks of time where you may need more or less motion sensitivity. Notifications are sent instantly, and on iPhone, they arrive without delay every time. Remote View from Windows, Mac and iOS: Most people will use this system for real-time notifications on their phone or mobile device to know if there is any movement in their house. So far, this system has shone in this area. The client for Windows and Mac offers a full set of settings that allow you to customize every aspect of cameras and settings. The iOS app has many of the same features but lacks some features such as: B. drawing custom motion zones. The iOS app works great for viewing. When you open the app, you instantly get the live feed from your cameras, as well as the audio stream of any camera you select. Playback and Recording: It took a while to get used to. Coming from Ring, I'm used to having separate videos for each motion event or each time I press Live View. The downside of Ring was that the videos weren't readily available. They had to be recorded and then uploaded to the ring server before you could click and view them. Unlike Ring, Reolink's video is a continuous timeline broken into 1-hour segments. It's pretty easy to find the video you want to watch, but if you don't know the exact time you're looking for, you'll have to scroll until you find what you need (I'm told this is the case will be fixed in a future firmware). update to jump directly to the motion event in the timeline). On the dash cam itself, you can easily search for motion events and easily break them down for you. This is not the case on remote view clients (at least I haven't found this feature yet). There is no fast forward or rewind so be prepared to watch the video. Once you know when you want, saving the video is very easy. On iOS, it's saved straight to your camera roll and the video is crystal clear. During live view from any camera, you can also press the record button to record an instant video that will be saved to your camera roll after pressing the stop button. Overall, I like the ability to view and save videos remotely, but I think some additional features could be used to make it better. Conclusion: For the money, this system meets all my expectations and then some. While it's feature-packed, I really wish the company would offer the ability to fast forward and rewind when watching videos on ALL remote viewing platforms. The one feature that definitely needs to be added to the iOS, Mac and Windows clients is the ability to see all motion events in the playback timeline (again I've been told this will be developed in a firmware update that will be released soon). This allows the user to easily jump to the most important part of the video. All in all, I recommend this system to anyone who wants a good video surveillance system for their home.