Reolink Duo 4G Review – Dual 4MP Cameras for 150° Surveillance Using Mobile Data

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I’ve reviewed the innovative and quirky POE powered before Reolink Duo. Recently, I reviewed Reolink Go Pluswhich is the 4G camera competing with the Arlo Go 2.

The Reolink Duo 4G is the darling of these cameras. It has great potential for remote monitoring as you can have a 150° angle with just one mobile SIM, giving you excellent monitoring.

Specification

• 150° horizontal viewing angle, 44° vertical
• Person/Vehicle Detection
• 2K 4MP Color Night Vision
  • 2560 x 1440 (4.0 megapixels), 15 frames per second
  • Spotlight: 8pcs/4.4W/6500K/440 lumens
• Solar or battery powered
• 10400mAh rechargeable battery (battery life varies with settings, usage and temperature
• Compatible with Reolink solar panels
• 32GB microSD storage included
• -10°C to 55°C (14°F to 131°F) operating temperature
• IP66 weather resistance
• 195 x 103 x 56 mm dimensions
• 740g weight

4G frequency bands and connection performance

European version:

• LTE FDD: B1/B3/B7/B8/B20/B28A;
• WCDMA: B1/B8

US version:

• LTE FDD: B2/B4/B12;
• WCDMA: B2/B4/B5

Australian version:

• LTE FDD: B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B28
• LTE TDD: B40
• WCDMA: B1/B2/B5/B8

transfer data

• LTE FDD: Max. 10Mbps (DL), max. 5Mbps (UL)
• LTE TDD: Max. 8.96Mbps (DL), max. 3.1Mbps (UL)
• HSPA+: Maximum. 42Mbps (DL), max. 5.76Mbps (UL)
• UMTS: Max. 384Kbps (DL), max. 384Kbps (UL)

As you can see from the statistics above, the built-in 4G modem is basic, with theoretical speeds up to 42Mbps on HSPA+.

I have used Smarty and Voxi SIM, using Three and Vodafone respectively. I also tried an EE data SIM.

With Smarty/Three SIM, performance can be slow. Connecting to low quality smooth streams sometimes has connection issues and always takes a few seconds.

Connecting to logged events seems to be much faster. But downloading events to my phone was frustrating to say the least.

Switching to EE didn’t improve much. Connecting to a live stream does seem to be much faster, and I can connect to a balanced stream with no problems. But downloading clips is still difficult.

Ideally, it would be nice to have WiFi on these cameras. You can use 4G as a backup, or you can connect the camera to WiFi when you want to pull clips from the camera.

The camera does have two screw-in SMA antennas, so you can get improved 4G performance by swapping out the antennas.

set up

Settings are similar to all other Reolink cameras. You just need to scan the QR code and set the administrator password.

The only thing to point out here is:

• The MicroSD and Sim slots are located in the dome section below the camera, which you can remove with the included screwdriver. Then these have a rubber cap for waterproofing.
• Mounts the same way as the Reolink Duo, but the stand feels sturdier
• there is one that contains
• The battery is not removable (I wasn’t there), so you can’t carry a charged spare with you

day show

Like other Duo cameras, it’s just a 4MP 1/3-inch CMOS sensor, while some wired cameras go as high as 8MP 1/2.49-inch. While it can’t compete with the best cameras Reolink has, daytime performance is good, like most cameras these days.

My camera is low so it still captures a good amount of detail on anyone entering my garden.

Just like other Duo cameras, this creates two separate image streams. It is an application that joins images together by placing them side by side in landscape orientation. The connections are not perfectly aligned, but I don’t think that’s a problem. You also have different brightness levels on each image. This is unavoidable since the cameras are facing in different directions.

night show

In my position, the weakness of using spotlights and IR LEDs for night vision is highlighted and difficult to fix due to the Duo lens.

I have a tree to the right of one shot and a shrub to the left of the other. This can cause problems with IR LEDs and spotlights. They light up close-up objects nicely, but my garden paths look dark.

This is an issue that affects all IR/spotlight cameras, except I usually mount the cameras on the side of my house with fewer obstructions.

Person/Vehicle Detection

Like all recent Reolink cameras, it has smart object detection and it works great.

You have area options for both cameras and can create a specific area for people, cars, and others. You can also adjust the sensitivity of people and car detection.

I purposely aimed the camera at the road so I didn’t have the car constantly triggering it and draining the battery. As far as I can tell, for human detection, it captures every single person walking in my path.

Battery

Battery life is an issue. You have two cameras and spotlight powered. Reolink has done its best to accommodate this by installing a large 10400mAh battery. This is 33% larger than the battery in the Reolink Go Plus.

Looking at my battery stats, the battery seems to be dropping about 7% per day, so I should be fine for a few weeks. I haven’t attached the solar panel to it yet because its location is a bit exposed to the public and some idiot will definitely try to steal it. I doubt this will have such a big impact in the north of England in mid-March.

But if I’m going to use it in a more remote location, I’ll definitely want to use a solar panel so I don’t have to come out and charge it every few weeks.

Price and Alternatives

Reolink Duo 4G can be used for £289.99 from Reolink. It’s one of the most expensive cameras they make, but 4G connectivity costs a lot, and it’s a fairly niche camera.

At around £270, the Reolink Go PT Plus is the most logical choice. It uses the same camera sensor as the Duo 4G, but only one of them. The single lens has a 95° field of view, but you can pan 355°. It doesn’t have a spotlight, so it won’t have the same color night vision as the Duo.

Or the Reolink Go Plus for around £190, which again uses a single 4MP sensor with a 115° viewing angle.

The new Arlo Go 2 hasn’t launched in the UK yet, but it’s priced at $250.The older Arlo Go is actually more expensive at £270

comprehensive

As always with Reolink, the Duo 4G is a great camera that expands its lineup to give you a solution for just about anything you need.

This feels more niche than some other cameras, but I can see the appeal of having a nearly 180° field of view when monitoring property in remote locations.

One problem is that if you place it in a remote location, it seems likely that the quality of the 4G signal won’t be as good. In my case, this sometimes made it difficult to download clips from the camera.

There aren’t many 4G cameras on the market. For brand name options, there are only Reolink and Arlo. Nothing can compete with the Reolink Duo 4G, and if its specific feature set appeals to you, it’s a great option.