Hi there. I've seen a lot of Reolink bashing on this site. It's justified. But, I thought I might add some detail for those wondering specifically what makes it horrible/junk/etc.
This is from the perspective of someone who was/is new to the CCTV world, who has played around with the Reolink 4MP bullet cam w/ built in mic ($55 on Amazon ATM), a couple other inexpensive cams, and a handful of better quality cams ($80-$150 Dahua cams).
Things that actually seemed OK (For a $55 cam):
- The full daylight picture is decent, for what you pay for.
- I didn't have any issues with the setup.
- While the build-in mic is not good, we're talking about a $55 cam, and it is OK/serviceable (unlike my Uniden U-Bell's mic).
Bad things:
- Low light picture sucks.
- I'm still playing with settings, but whatever I do this thing seems to be a fly/bug magnet -- bugs constantly flying around in front of it. (my other cam in similar locations do not do this)
- The physical hardware seems very flimsy. Even after tightening things up, it is all sort of squishy feeling. Screws screw in wonky and start to strip if I tighten any further. So, I have a security camera that is... fragile.
- I have this under a very large eve -- basically never gets rain or sun on it. And, based on the prior comment I made (flimsy components) and things I've read, it seems like it wouldn't last long if exposed to the elements.
- Also: Many users here do a lot of other neat things with IP cams that I'm probably not aware of, so there's probably other downsides, too.
While I do think it is fair to call it junky, especially in comparison to stuff that's not
that much pricier, I actually found a good use for it / would not quite call it 'unusable', for me. With that being said, in the big scheme of things of how much time/money it takes to prop up a decent CCTV setup, seems like spending a bit extra for a better cam is the way to go (hence my switching to buying better cams after the Reolink).