Hi, and welcome back. Today, I’m taking a look at the Reolink Battery Video Doorbell, a smart home device that’s been gaining attention lately. I’ve been testing it for a few days, and in this video, I’ll walk you through how it performs, what’s good about it, what’s not so good, and whether it’s worth your money.
Let’s dive in.
⭐ Buy the Reolink battery Video Doorbell at: ⭐
– Reolink Official store: https://reolink.com/us/product/reolink-doorbell-battery/?aff=57
– Amazon US: https://amzn.to/43dxods
– Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/42KC22A
– Amazon DE: https://amzn.to/3EBOJU9
– Amazon NL: https://amzn.to/3RJugQ7
⭐⭐⭐ NOTE: ⭐⭐⭐
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Ed
I’ve been using the older model of the Reolink Video Doorbell for a couple of years now, and I’m still very satisfied with it because it’s local and works perfectly with other systems, like Home Assistant. In my opinion, this is the best video doorbell that you could buy. Next to the Reolink Video Doorbell, I used a Ring Pro Video Doorbell at my office door. That video doorbell works excellently, but it has some disadvantages, like requiring cloud storage and a monthly fee. I always wanted to replace it, and now I’ve found the (almost) perfect candidate: the Reolink Battery Video Doorbell that Reolink sent me to review!
Design and Build Quality
Reolink products always have a very well-finished look, and the same goes for the box of the Battery Video Doorbell. Inside the box, you’ll first find the manual and a template to help position the screws correctly. Naturally, the video doorbell itself is also included. The Reolink Battery Video Doorbell feels solid. It has a clean, modern design, with a glossy button surrounded by an LED ring. It’s compact and not bulky. I have the white version, but a black version is also available. The box also contains mounting materials and an angled wedge, allowing you to install the video doorbell at an angle.
You can also get a chime, which is not included in the box, but there are bundle deals that offer both the video doorbell plus the chime.
Installation
Installation is simple. It’s a 100% wire-free device, so you don’t need to run any cables or worry about your existing doorbell wiring. Just mount the bracket, attach the doorbell, and you’re good to go. However, the doorbell has an option to connect it to your existing doorbell transformer, too, as long as that transformer delivers between 8 and 24 Volts.
Setup with the Reolink app is straightforward and works just like all Reolink cameras. Just scan a QR code, connect your Wi-Fi, and you’re online. This camera does not have a Power over Ethernet or UTP cable connection. It’s WiFi only.
Power and Battery Life
As the name suggests, this is a battery-powered doorbell. Reolink claims up to 3 months of battery life on a full charge, depending on usage. Of course, when you watch a lot of live streams on this camera, you will have to recharge the battery sooner.
You can charge the video doorbell via USB-C, and the battery is non-removable, so you’ll have to dismount the doorbell to charge it. Not ideal, but manageable if you’re not getting constant motion events. But you can also connect the video doorbell to your existing doorbell transformer or to a power adapter that supplies between 8 and 24 volts, so you don’t have to worry about the battery anymore. I connected it to my existing wiring, and the battery stayed at 100% that way.
Video Quality
Let’s talk video. The Reolink Battery Doorbell has a 2K resolution—that’s 2048 x 2048 pixels, and a 150-degree field of view. The video is crisp, colors are natural, and you can clearly see faces, packages, and license plates during the day.
At night, you’ve got an infrared option. The infrared mode gives good detail without blowing out highlights as long as the camera has a clear view path.
The camera also has HDR, which helps manage challenging lighting situations, especially if your doorway gets a lot of backlight during the day. It balances exposure well, so faces aren’t too dark or washed out.
What I noticed is that the camera has a circular mask, which means the image isn’t displayed as a square. I wonder what the reason for this is, since other Reolink cameras I own don’t have this. It seems like some kind of gimmick to give the impression that you’re looking through a peephole in your door, but for me, that wasn’t really necessary.
Motion Detection and Smart Features
Motion detection is where things get interesting. Reolink gives you PIR motion detection with customizable zones. You can adjust the sensitivity, set specific zones to watch, and even schedule alerts for when you want them.
I extensively tested the motion detection. At first, it seemed like the video doorbell wasn’t responding very quickly, but after I adjusted the sensitivity a bit, it worked just fine! There’s a slight delay between the image in the app and the actual movement, but that’s not a big issue for me. One thing I noticed is that in some cases, movement is not detected at all. This happens sometimes when a person just briefly moves in front of the camera.
What I do miss, though, is that the camera doesn’t save footage from just before the motion is detected. That’s understandable since it’s a battery-powered camera, but I’d really like it if it would record pre-motion footage when the camera is connected to external power.
It supports Smart Detection, which allows it to differentiate between people, vehicles, and packages.
On the other hand, you don’t get facial recognition or advanced AI features. But considering the price point, that’s not unexpected.
Two-Way Audio
The audio quality is solid. There’s a little delay, but the speaker is loud enough, and the mic picks up voices clearly. It works fine for telling the delivery person to leave a package or greeting a guest. It’s not studio-quality, but for a doorbell, it’s more than enough. Next to that, you can trigger an alarm sound to scare away unwanted visitors.
Storage and Subscription
Reolink clearly understands that users prefer not to have to subscribe for data storage. You can store footage locally on your video doorbell using a microSD card (up to 256 GB). That means you’re not locked into monthly fees, and you don’t have to worry about your privacy either. Now this is where Reolink shines. In addition to storing footage on the video doorbell itself, you can optionally connect this camera to the Reolink Hub, allowing recordings from all your Reolink cameras to be stored centrally on the Hub. If you use the Hub, the battery life of the video doorbell is also longer because you watch recorded footage from the Hub and not from the camera. You can also save the footage to your own NAS using FTP.
If you really want cloud storage, Reolink offers Reolink Cloud, but it’s optional. Local storage works well and is easily accessible through the app.
This alone sets it apart from many competitors, especially those that require a paid plan to view recorded events. This is precisely why I replaced my Ring Video Doorbell with the Reolink Battery Video Doorbell.
Connectivity and Compatibility
The Reolink Video Doorbell works over both 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi.
It’s compatible with Google Assistant and the Alexa Echo Show to view the camera. And recently, Reolink has been officially certified for Home Assistant, so you can now set up and control this video doorbell directly from Home Assistant!
The Reolink App
The Reolink app is fast, clean, and relatively easy to use. You can view a live feed, playback recorded events, adjust motion settings, and set up alerts, all without much digging. It offers many options that are also available in other Reolink cameras.
Push notifications arrive quickly, and you can customize alert tones if needed. This comes in handy if you use multiple cameras.
Reliability
Over the testing period, the doorbell stayed connected and responded quickly most of the time, but sometimes missed events where someone was briefly visible. I got no random disconnects, no crashes, and no false alerts, but I do have a stable WiFi connection at home. I guess if your WiFi is not stable, this will have a bad influence on the reliability, but that is hardly Reolink’s fault.
Firmware updates are handled automatically through the app, and in my experience, Reolink has a decent track record of ongoing support.
Final Thoughts
So, should you buy the Reolink Battery Video Doorbell?
If you’re looking for a budget-friendly, no-subscription, easy-to-install smart doorbell with solid video quality and reliable motion alerts, this is a strong contender. It delivers where it matters, and skips a lot of the fluff that inflates prices on other models.
But if you want a video doorbell with AI support, pre-recording footage, and a UTP connection, you might want to consider another model. Luckily, there are also wired Reolink Video Doorbells that support WiFi or Power Over Ethernet. See the link in the video description for my review covering those models.
Pricing
At the time of this review, the Reolink Battery Video Doorbell is priced between €115 and €140, depending on possible sales offers. You can find links to where to purchase this video doorbell in the description of this video.
And now for the pros and cons.
Pros
The pros of this Reolink video doorbell are:
- The image quality is 2K video with HDR.
- The video doorbell does not require a mandatory subscription.
- Footage can be stored locally on a microSD card or your NAS via FTP.
- Installation is easy and wire-free if you only use the battery.
- It has accurate person and vehicle detection.
- The price is affordable.
Cons
And the cons that I could find are:
- The camera must be removed from the wall to charge if you do not use an external power source.
- It has no removable battery pack.
- In some cases, movement is not detected.
- It does not store pre-recorded images when motion is detected.
That’s it for today. If you found this review helpful, drop a like and consider subscribing for more no-nonsense smart home reviews and tutorials. I want to thank the people who support me monthly so that I can create these videos for you. If you’d like to help, check the links in the description for Patreon, Ko-Fi, or how to become a paid channel member.
Thanks for watching, and I’ll see you in the next one.
Bye Bye
⭐ Buy the Reolink battery Video Doorbell at: ⭐
– Reolink Official store: https://reolink.com/us/product/reolink-doorbell-battery/?aff=57
– Amazon US: https://amzn.to/43dxods
– Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/42KC22A
– Amazon DE: https://amzn.to/3EBOJU9
– Amazon NL: https://amzn.to/3RJugQ7
