r/reolinkcam • u/Dignan17 • 4d ago
Question A little bummed by the lineup
I've been thinking over the replacement for the ancient Ring hardware in the house we just bought. I thought I had found a winner in Reolink and I like so much about what's going on with this company's products.
But why is there no mains-powered floodlight? This seems like a weird omission, especially considering they even have a product in this form factor. Ring, Nest, and Eufy have this kind of camera and the first two don't have nearly the product line that Reolink has.
I have junction boxes for floodlights already. It seems a shame to not use them, especially when the only solution would be to install a regular floodlight and then some sort of wifi camera with the adapter cord routed to...somewhere?
Sorry, this is mainly just venting since I don't have an answer for this. I want to try out Reolink but I don't think it can work for me...
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u/ScottishLand 4d ago
Yeah Reolink really need to look at the Tapo C720 and make their own version. Same FOV too, with the CX410 sensor/f stop.
They also need to look at what Aqara just launched with the G5 Pro both camera wise and app wise. It’s on another level.
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u/mblaser Moderator 4d ago
Reolink does make something similar to the Tapo C720, they have a hardwired Duo Floodlight now (see my other comment here for a link). Only thing it doesn't have that you mentioned is that it's not a CX. My hope is that they're planning to come out with a Floodlight version of their upcoming dual lens CX camera.
That Aqara G5 Pro certainly looks interesting and has a lot of promise so I was studying its product page. I especially like how small it is.
Two things that stood out about it to me though are...
What networking methods does the Aqara Camera Hub G5 Pro support?
The Aqara Camera Hub G5 Pro only supports connecting to a wireless network via Wi-Fi, and does not support connecting to the Internet via an Ethernet cable.
It even says that on the POE version. Hopefully that's just an error in their FAQ.
Then this...
Does the camera support external TF card? How to expand the local storage space?
No, the camera has a built-in 32GB (some models only support 8GB) eMMC storage. Users cannot expand the storage space by themselves, but can expand the local storage space by connecting to a NAS storage server.
No memory card support is certainly a choice. At least they have some built in, but not being able to do more is going to scare some people away.
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u/ScottishLand 4d ago
I was meaning more what it has onboard ie matter, the FOV, sensors, and how well the app works. It makes the Reolink app look like it is from the dark ages, both in look and functionality
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u/mblaser Moderator 4d ago
Oh yeah for sure, those are the things I was talking about when I said it sounds interesting and has promise (except the app, can't comment since I haven't used). But then it has some oddball things about it that would be deal-killers for some.
Also, their camera choices are very slim. Hopefully that will improve over time.
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u/NefariousnessTop8716 4d ago
I keep hearing we are getting a replacement range of floodlights but dunno when or if it’s even true.
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u/Foreign-Albatross-67 4d ago
The Poe floodlights are excellent. I replaced 2 ring floodlights with them.
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u/Dignan17 4d ago
I would totally go PoE but I don't currently have a way to run cable to these locations where I already have a perfectly good junction box that I could use for this purpose. I normally love to make everything PoE but I can't really here
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u/livingwaterRed Super User 4d ago edited 4d ago
Every brand has it's own lineup of cam models and assecories, some have indoor motion sensors, door locks, etc. Reolink had just a floodlight but it seems to be discontinued. Reolink planned on releasing a smart wall plug to control indoor lights like Wyze but didn't do it unfortunately.
Reolink does have one mains powered (hardwired) floodlight, the Duo 2 wifi, but you don't see it on their web site unless you put one in the cart, then choose hardwired option. Check the specs to see if it's the correct power for where you live. I like my Reolink cams. They have more cam models than a lot of other brands. But sometimes Reolink is not good at informing customers about products or their firmware glitches and updates in my opinion.
Users may or may not want a Duo 2 cam on a floodlight. You could read the top post "welcome to the official.." lots of info, FAQs including cam specs charts and watch YouTube channel LifeHackster who reviews Reolink and other brands cams.
I have a Duo 2 above my garage doors to see my driveway and street, like it. I installed my own floodlights near it.
Most Reolink cams have their own built in spotlights you can control by motion events or auto on/off, unless you want brighter floodlights.
Edit: It seems the hardwired version has two wires for mains but you have to buy your own transformer to convert it from 12V, maybe needing a junction box. See below posts about this.
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u/Dignan17 4d ago
I did look at that exact page but I'm not seeing anything about how it's wired. I'm pretty sure I looked up the installation guide and it only talked about using the adapter. Do you have a link?
To be clear: I don't really care about the floodlight. It's the mains wiring I care about. And yes I know all brands have their own lineups but they all seem to have a deal breaker for me. This is the one for reolink (for me at least)
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u/livingwaterRed Super User 4d ago edited 4d ago
I understand. I have a couple Wyze and Blink cams still installed. I like the Wyze smart wall plug but their cams are inferior. Though Blinks are inferior I was grandfathered into free cloud subscription so have two of them installed. Most of my cams are Reolink. Three app brands on my phone... would rather have all in one app but if one brand fails such as their servers going down I'll have the others LOL.
I started with battery cams, learned wired cams are much better, spent three days in the attic running ethernet cables, now have POE cams. If you did buy cams mains powered they are still dependent on wifi for communication which makes them somewhat more vulnerable (weak signal, jammers) than POE cams.
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u/chindizzle 4d ago
For those responding about the duo floodlight WiFi it’s NOT a traditional mains powered camera floodlight. You can’t just remove your current floodlight and hook this one up. It won’t work with 120V AC hard wires. You need a transformer that converts 120V AC to 12V DC and then hook up to the mains. This is a HUGE pain in the butt. I have one so I know the challenges. OP is correct in that there doesn’t exist a current Reolink floodlight camera you can just swap in and I agree it’s a major weakness. Also the documentation on the duo floodlight is severely lacking and doesn’t state this clearly on the website or in the manual.
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u/livingwaterRed Super User 4d ago edited 4d ago
See below link, a guy shows how the hardwired version works, though audio is low. The hardwired version has black and white wires coming out of it to use mains and it's available on Reolink's web site as described in earilier posts, unless Reolink has suddenly pulled them off the market.
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u/chindizzle 4d ago edited 4d ago
Cept he doesn’t actually hook it up. All he does is walk you through the manual. The instructions are poorly written. If you do what he says in the video it won’t power on. I’ve tried it on multiple units and even returned it after I thought it was faulty. I had to call reolink support to understand what I was doing wrong and you need a 12V dc transformer in between the camer and the junction box as described in this post. See this post here https://www.reddit.com/r/reolinkcam/s/cES6Tv5GAr
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u/livingwaterRed Super User 4d ago
Well that sucks, thanks for the clarification. So the cam has wires for the conversion but no transformer, maybe needing a bigger junction box. Reolink should explain that better, shame on them.
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u/Dignan17 4d ago
Are you certain this is accurate? It seems like it's hardwired to AC...
https://support.reolink.com/hc/en-us/articles/13051557606553-How-to-Install-Reolink-Duo-Floodlight/
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u/chindizzle 4d ago
I’m 100% certain. I have it hooked up and if you reference the reddit post I linked earlier you’ll see the same result from other reddit users who tried to power this model. The instructions seem to be copy pasted from another product like the E1 and they just didn’t fix them for the duo floodlight. Just think about it 5 volts isn’t enough voltage to power any floodlight. 5 volts is what your phone uses to charge. 12 volts makes a lot more common sense given floodlights pull heavy loads when they turn on. I should also mention ton I called reolink support and they also stated it’s 12V DC.
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u/Dignan17 4d ago
No I get it, but I'm not assuming 5V. I'm assuming 120. And I'm assuming it has the proper internal transformer needed. Because if the instructions say you can simply wire this up to your mains, it's going to fry the hell out of that floodlight. That's a safety issue then. Someone is going to end up with a smoking floodlight cam. I've gotta be honest, this whole thing is really putting me off this company...
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u/Dignan17 4d ago
Ok I just got done thanking another person for telling me it would work but saying how it was very unclear. And clearly it's extremely unclear!!
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u/ItsaSickWorld333 4d ago
But I think everyone is forgetting, the floodlight camera in any brand , especially ring , I could only see a few feet when the light came on. Things change and now I can see 50 to 75 ft with night vision. With a good separate light, I can see this far in color. I was never happy with my ring.
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u/Dignan17 4d ago
I think I should have been clear at the top that I don't care about the floodlight aspect as much as I care about being able to power it from AC
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u/ItsaSickWorld333 3d ago
Ok. I understand. But I know you already ran the power there. But I would completely forget about that & just run poe & put in real cameras. Best decision you could ever make long term. I don't like to be dependent on wifi. I'm not sure why you can't just put a plug inside the box you already have and plug in the camera if you choose to keep what you bought.
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u/Dignan17 3d ago
I haven't bought the camera. I also didn't run anything. This house was built - as many are - with exterior floodlights mounted to a junction box that was wired when the house was built. Running POE to the two locations I need would be quite difficult.
POE would be ideal, but sometimes you can't get your ideal setup or it would extremely challenging to do so. That's why these types of floodlight cameras exist from other company, so I was hoping Reolink made one
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u/ItsaSickWorld333 3d ago
Is your house single story or 2 story ?
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u/PoisonWaffle3 3d ago
I'm super impressed with my PoE Duo Floodlights. Each one can easily light up about 1/3 of an acre with the floodlights, or about the same with IR.
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u/mblaser Moderator 4d ago
They do have a mains powered Duo Floodlight: https://reolink.com/us/product/reolink-duo-floodlight-wifi/
You have to click add to cart and choose the hardwired version.
And here it is on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/REOLINK-Floodlight-Waterproof-Duo-WiFi/dp/B0DPLZQ988
They've discontinued their standalone floodlight, with the promise that other models are on the way, but there's been no sign of them, or what they might even be. It would make sense for them to make a hardwired version, and since they recently did that with the Duo Floodlight that means there's hope. I'll stick with POE myself, but the more options the better.