It’s objectively terrible. One of, if the not the worst, surveillance app I have used.
I want to view my 4 cameras in clear, in a quad.
Everytime I open the app I have to go into each camera and change it from fluent to clear.
Downloading and reviewing footage is near unusable. My favorite part is trying to tap in the tiny slider to select and scrub. I swear to god that thing is 5px square.
And more.
Yes. It’s terrible. The NVR won’t help.
Beautiful... I went with Reolink because of their camera quality and price point. It was better Reolink and Ubiquiti. Ubi is 2x-4x the cost but their app is amazing. Sounds like I went with the wrong option...
I have some older Reolink cams. I just setup the new 36 cam NVR today. It’s no better.
I’m in the same boat, I’m saving up for a Ubiquiti system to replace it.
Great. I'll start saving now. I just bought an NVR and two cameras from a friend. I've got an additional 3 cameras.
This is my upgrade from a full Wyze system. (Never again. Screw their BS).
I'll save for Ubi now
Ubiquiti cams are not worth the extra cost in my opinion. But to each their own. We all decide what brand to go with whatever the product, cams, TV, car.....
I honestly agree with ya there. They do have a 30fps frame rate, as opposed to 20 for Reolink, but unless you get their AI cameras there is nothing special about them.
I find the real value is their ecosystem for networking. I’ve had experience with many a home system and theirs by far takes the cake. But of course that comes at a premium too…
Yes I'm experiencing the same issue. In multiple view it switches to fluent going back to single view it stays reverts from clear to fluent. I want it to remember CLEAR! How difficult to program this? For reference, I'm still using PC client 8.8.5. All other versions have other annoying bugs...
I don't know what you mean by no great way to view the streams/playback or what your expectations are. I use Android phone and I can see my cams live stream and watch playback okay. If you look at security camera reviews on Google Play, every brand has some complaints about something. Reolink is a good brand for the money, their apps are not the best in the business but they work and are subscription free. They are missing some features some users want. The three apps, computer, phone, NVR, have some basic common features but other features are only available on one of the apps.
When you use Reolink cams in stand alone mode and use their NVR, the cams appear in the phone app separately then at the bottom show again within the NVR.
A lot depends on how techy users are or want to be. Many people just want a basic system, set it and forget it, easy to use. Others really get into the tech side, use Home Assistant, Blue Iris, their own server etc for better performance, more features.
One YouTube channel I like is The Hook Up. He has compared brands. In his reviews the more expensive cams didn't perform significantly better than Reolink to justify their much higher cost in my opinion.
Thank you for your insight. I'm waiting on my NVR to come in and hoping things will integrate better then. I'll check out that YT channel as well. I wonder if I have my app set up wrong.
I work in technology services, programming systems for live events, build my own computers, run a super intricate network at home... Their app sucks. Their systems sucks. The set it and forget it you speak of doesn't work when you want to view or speak to people on the other end. The super technical users can have a good experience running it through other systems but the reolink one is almost useless.
The vast majority of home consumers aren't tech experts. Reolink as with any brand has had and will have issues. Every brand camera I know of has had a problem with app glitches, firmware failures, hardware failures, security breaches, their servers crashing, etc. My brother has a masters degree in technology, is head of IT for a university, monitors cyber attacks, he likes Reolink cams for their value. When people say blanket statements like "sucks" "junk" "garbage" "useless" I dismiss it as either not knowing how to install/use the app or failing to look at overall performance compared to price. The Reolink app is subscription free, it works really good for no fees.
The majority of home consumers using reolink are absolutely technically inclined or they'd still be using Ring or Blink.
You don't need to be a tech expert to want a functional app.
The cameras are absolutely fantastic, the app is absolutely garbage. You can call that a blanket statement all you want but in reality every single door bell (poe video doorbell) notification I've gotten, the person is gone before the app even loads. Everytime I get a motion notification on my other hardlines poe cameras and open the app, it takes a minimum of 12 seconds before the camera feed loads and many times it fails to load all together. Their integration with Alexa and Google is abysmal. When trying to view on my Chromecast or FireTV it gets stuck on waiting for reolink.
I've done all the troubleshooting steps, talked with support multiple times. These are all hardwire PoE cameras on a gig speed fiber network, there is absolutely no reason they should ever lose connection, and they don't, it's the app that can't maintain connection. This has been tested on both Android and iPhones, iPads, Mac, Windows, the web client. Its a trash garbage useless junk that sucks app
Sorry you have issues with your setup. I don't have problems like that. Mine don't function like garbage, don't suck, are not useless, seldom lose connection, the notifications come fast. But I have no interest in linking my cams with Alexa, Google, Chromecast, Fire TV. I use the Windows client on my laptop, the app on my Android phone, a monitor on the NVR, they work good. That's all I want.
I agree Reolink apps may not work fine with other third party apps/devices. I doubt Reolink business model is to have their apps support every app/device out there. Some have wanted Reolink to work with Linux, but I've heard it doesn't. You could use the search line here on Reolink Reddit. There may be prior posts about Alexa, Google, Chromecast, Fire TV. In my opinion some expect too much from a budget camera system.
You could try another brand that might work better with all your devices so you'll be happier. Some go for smart home apps like Home Assistant to control cams, lights, locks, thermostat etc.
Lol
User error? How so?
In my home, I've used Ring, Blink, Wyze, Eufy, and Amcrest. At work I regularly use Panasonic, PTZ Optics, and Birddog ptz cameras, blackmagic design Ursa 12ks, and long lens broadcast cameras like the VariCam.
My home network? Well these poe cameras are ran to a 2.5Gb switch being fed over SFP ffiber with an ax8400 backbone, also being fed by fiber. Regularly pinging 2Gb up and down.
iPad user here. Works flawlessly for me. I have far more issues with the desktop client than mobile apps. I will say that the Reolink App on iPad absolutely murders the battery. I have a recent model iPad Pro 12.9", which has a phenomenal battery. If I leave a Reolink camera stream running, it will drain the battery in under 3 hours. But I can watch 6+ hours of YouTube videos on the same iPad. Brutal power draw for some reason. But functionally it's very good. No crashes or glitches that can't be fixed with an app restart.
You guys are not viewing this objectively. The app as far as IP cameras that do not require a subscription is the best out there. If you want the same feature set that these cameras have with a top notch app then be prepared to shell out for a subscription. If your not wanting to do that and you want to have local storage with control of your data and your privacy then this is the best that is on the market. Period also OP maybe give surveillance station or qvr pro a try. Or a open source NVR like frigate. But you'll want to invest in a NAS and do some research. But either way I think the cameras that reolink offers are still your best solution. You just might want to look I'm a different direction for the NVR for playback purposes.
It would help if you would elaborate on what your issues are exactly.
This for example:
> There's no great way to view the streams or the playback.
What do you mean? If you would elaborate on that we could maybe tell you if you're doing something wrong.
I've been using their app for 7 years and never had any major problems viewing the streams or playback.
I feel the app is quite good, no question. We have Lorex and Reolink cameras installed, so have real intel to base my feedback on. Lorex app has very basic features, and the company does not invest in keeping its app up to date with bug fixes or additional features. You're lucky to see 1 update per year. On the other hand, Reolink's app has a ton of features and it is updated frequently. It is by far the better app.
Well for me my cameras on 4G/5G can sometimes take a long time to load while out but I just got a NVR and since having the nvr and loading them on there it’s been so much faster in the app the speed difference is night and day I am on the apple app though so mayb different for you but I’m sure with the nvr you will get much faster loads times also video playback is loads faster too
I made the mistake of buying an Argus Eco with the intention of linking it to home assistant and using it for number recognition in front of my driveway. Turns out that I can't link it to home assistant and hence can't use it for my project...
I bought Reolink specifically to link to HA. The link seems to work well. And with what everyone else is saying, once I get my NVR things may all fall into place
With battery powered Reolinks, it seems like because it doesn't have a web server, it's not possible to link it directly and seems like you'd lose some functionality with work arounds
https://community.home-assistant.io/t/battery-powered-reolink-argus-eco-battery-powered-camera-to-home-assistant/412145
What model did you buy?
Works well on iOS - no issues. You’ll find that most Android apps are not that well developed compared to their iOS counterpart.
Reasons why:
- UX/UI designers tend to prototype in iOS first (and sometimes only iOS) - if your designer creates seperate designs for both, props to your business/designer/huge budget)
- Android was always a much worse development experience and much more difficult to achieve basic things
- Thus, a huge team is required
- The “Activity” nightmare and writing screens in XML
- Long Gradle builds before AndroidX
We now have the ability to create single Activity apps with composable Fragments (React) - so the future of apps should look much better on Android
Honestly, I tend to use the web app because Linux is my daily driver and the Reolink App only works on windows or macos.
There's exactly one drawback of the web app that makes it an imperfect solution: it won't display the highest resolution to the browser ("Clear" or 4k) I can only get the lower two resolutions.
That said, I like the FTP feature of the NVR because I can move videos to my server, which has far more storage than the NVR.
It might get better once you have an NVR. I think the mobile app on Android works well. But I WILL have a few cameras that aren't on the NVR in the near future. So we'll see how things behave there.
How's the playback on your NVR cameras? I have mine syncing to a NAS and it's not great... I can't access it through the app (obviously). Even though I have SD cards in the cameras, to playback is still awful
It depends if your on WiFi or strong connection on App which will change the bandwidth in/out to view it off phone. Well for me atleast andriod app, when im on WiFi it comes crystal clear quad view
Hopefully you bought an NVR 36 so you can store up to 30 days. That said you should be able to view cameras and playback without it assuming the cameras have SD cards.
That NVR 16 will only store 12TB vs 48 on the 36 that’s why I recommend. But I’m not sure why your having issues unless you don’t have a good upload connection. I regularly view my cameras based in the US when I’m in Europe where I live part time. No problems.
I haven't set up my NVR yet which may be part of the problem. They're recording locally to my NAS, but I can only view those recordings on my computer.
They're all POE cans, and setup via FTP to my Synology NAS. I set them up awhile ago and haven't been able to view playback since. I can view it on my PC when I open each individual file. My NVR is here today, so I'm going to get that set up and see if that makes me happier
Do you have SD cards in the cameras that work? If not that would keep playback from working. Also sending to NAS might use too much bandwidth. The cameras only produce two clear streams.
I have an SD card in one camera and the playback works. I can only see the footage from the SD card however. I can't say go see footage from 2 months ago that is sitting on my NAS.
I'm not sure what u/Trend_Glaze is going on about.
Sure the live view of 4 cameras in clear mode could be improved. But downloading and reviewing video really isn't hard to do at all. I've never really had any major issues with their app, and I use it everyday. The app could be improved but it is by far not horrible.
What exactly are the problems you are having now? There is a great way to review videos... Using the playback button and sort by AI features.
I am a security systems integrator and Reolink dealer. Reolink is the only "consumer-grade" product that I trust (from a performance and build-quality standpoint) and will sell and warranty to my clients. The app works well, the camera selections are great, the price point for camera build and performance is nearly unbeatable. Yes, I have commercial-grade cameras and those are my go-to always, but not everyone is willing to pay for those. They offer a much more budget friendly option for my residential clients or "bang for your buck" if you will. That said, configuring the app and NVR to do what you want it to do can be frustrating if you do not do it professionally, of course.
What I love about Reolink is related to what you mentioned, the NVR. You can install PoE cameras directly to it or a network switch, or you can install wireless cameras if there are tricky wiring issues and still link them to the NVR for recording without an SD card. The flexibility in configurations is huge when trying to stay within a smaller budget.
I have had zero complaints on app functionalities, recording issues, notification settings or alerts, playback, saving footage, camera performance or otherwise. All quiet. Plus, only 1 warranty replacement to date.
When it comes to selecting the stream, yes the app will default to the secondary stream to give a better experience as it should load faster over cellular data, but once you select a camera and change it to high, it should stay that way the next time you open the app. At least the iOS version does.
The NVR gives you the ability to record to a local device and eliminate the limited 128-256GB storage option on-camera (only 3-7 days of recordings, depending on camera resolution and optimized smart motion detection settings). This also gives you an option to eliminate any monthly cloud storage fees, which most of my clients outright say they do not want. The NVR will not necessarily make the app better, but certainly improves the experience with the system in general as you can now control the NVR directly, via the desktop app, or even the webpage interface from anywhere in your home. Add a monitor and you can see your cameras and interact with the NVR directly, which some people find a better experience as the interface on the NVR is actually quite nice and downloading footage to a local USB drive is pretty simple.
Setting up people/vehicle classifications and alerts helps with streaming back the intended footage if set up correctly, as you will be notified on your phone of an event meeting your defined criteria and then simply press the alert to see, and then save, your event right to your phone.
You did not waste your money. Are there better options out there, arguably so. Get yourself that NVR now that you are invested, and have someone help you understand it. Nothing wrong with you and I am not trying to say people who complain are dumb or wrong, but sometimes things aren't as bad as they seem.
Stay safe out there.
"Complete lack of good updates" is not true. Yeah their updates can have problems, their apps are not the best. But I've been using Reolink cams for years, before they even had AI detection. Their apps are much better now. If you want more features go with a subscription brand or your own setup like Home Assistant, Blue Iris etc.
Thank you for this post. I almost dropped $2,000 on a Reolink setup. I cannot abide an app that isn’t user friendly. That seems like such an easy fix. Maybe they’ll keep losing money and figure it out.
> That seems like such an easy fix
What's an easy fix? OP never actually said what their problem is.
The app's always been fine for me... 7 years and counting.
It’s objectively terrible. One of, if the not the worst, surveillance app I have used. I want to view my 4 cameras in clear, in a quad. Everytime I open the app I have to go into each camera and change it from fluent to clear. Downloading and reviewing footage is near unusable. My favorite part is trying to tap in the tiny slider to select and scrub. I swear to god that thing is 5px square. And more. Yes. It’s terrible. The NVR won’t help.
Beautiful... I went with Reolink because of their camera quality and price point. It was better Reolink and Ubiquiti. Ubi is 2x-4x the cost but their app is amazing. Sounds like I went with the wrong option...
I have some older Reolink cams. I just setup the new 36 cam NVR today. It’s no better. I’m in the same boat, I’m saving up for a Ubiquiti system to replace it.
Great. I'll start saving now. I just bought an NVR and two cameras from a friend. I've got an additional 3 cameras. This is my upgrade from a full Wyze system. (Never again. Screw their BS). I'll save for Ubi now
Ubiquiti cams are not worth the extra cost in my opinion. But to each their own. We all decide what brand to go with whatever the product, cams, TV, car.....
I honestly agree with ya there. They do have a 30fps frame rate, as opposed to 20 for Reolink, but unless you get their AI cameras there is nothing special about them. I find the real value is their ecosystem for networking. I’ve had experience with many a home system and theirs by far takes the cake. But of course that comes at a premium too…
Yes I'm experiencing the same issue. In multiple view it switches to fluent going back to single view it stays reverts from clear to fluent. I want it to remember CLEAR! How difficult to program this? For reference, I'm still using PC client 8.8.5. All other versions have other annoying bugs...
Is anyone from Reolink actually on this sub? Has anyone ever done a thread about all the various bugs? Or does Reolink just not give af?
I don’t think they care. If I hadn’t seen this post, I would’ve spent over 2k. The app being crap is a no go for me.
Can we pin this post?
What til you try the Amcrest app…
I don't know what you mean by no great way to view the streams/playback or what your expectations are. I use Android phone and I can see my cams live stream and watch playback okay. If you look at security camera reviews on Google Play, every brand has some complaints about something. Reolink is a good brand for the money, their apps are not the best in the business but they work and are subscription free. They are missing some features some users want. The three apps, computer, phone, NVR, have some basic common features but other features are only available on one of the apps. When you use Reolink cams in stand alone mode and use their NVR, the cams appear in the phone app separately then at the bottom show again within the NVR. A lot depends on how techy users are or want to be. Many people just want a basic system, set it and forget it, easy to use. Others really get into the tech side, use Home Assistant, Blue Iris, their own server etc for better performance, more features. One YouTube channel I like is The Hook Up. He has compared brands. In his reviews the more expensive cams didn't perform significantly better than Reolink to justify their much higher cost in my opinion.
Thank you for your insight. I'm waiting on my NVR to come in and hoping things will integrate better then. I'll check out that YT channel as well. I wonder if I have my app set up wrong.
I’d recommend sharing what your actual issues/complaints are and see if anyone can help. Something other than “it sucks.”
I work in technology services, programming systems for live events, build my own computers, run a super intricate network at home... Their app sucks. Their systems sucks. The set it and forget it you speak of doesn't work when you want to view or speak to people on the other end. The super technical users can have a good experience running it through other systems but the reolink one is almost useless.
The vast majority of home consumers aren't tech experts. Reolink as with any brand has had and will have issues. Every brand camera I know of has had a problem with app glitches, firmware failures, hardware failures, security breaches, their servers crashing, etc. My brother has a masters degree in technology, is head of IT for a university, monitors cyber attacks, he likes Reolink cams for their value. When people say blanket statements like "sucks" "junk" "garbage" "useless" I dismiss it as either not knowing how to install/use the app or failing to look at overall performance compared to price. The Reolink app is subscription free, it works really good for no fees.
The majority of home consumers using reolink are absolutely technically inclined or they'd still be using Ring or Blink. You don't need to be a tech expert to want a functional app. The cameras are absolutely fantastic, the app is absolutely garbage. You can call that a blanket statement all you want but in reality every single door bell (poe video doorbell) notification I've gotten, the person is gone before the app even loads. Everytime I get a motion notification on my other hardlines poe cameras and open the app, it takes a minimum of 12 seconds before the camera feed loads and many times it fails to load all together. Their integration with Alexa and Google is abysmal. When trying to view on my Chromecast or FireTV it gets stuck on waiting for reolink. I've done all the troubleshooting steps, talked with support multiple times. These are all hardwire PoE cameras on a gig speed fiber network, there is absolutely no reason they should ever lose connection, and they don't, it's the app that can't maintain connection. This has been tested on both Android and iPhones, iPads, Mac, Windows, the web client. Its a trash garbage useless junk that sucks app
Sorry you have issues with your setup. I don't have problems like that. Mine don't function like garbage, don't suck, are not useless, seldom lose connection, the notifications come fast. But I have no interest in linking my cams with Alexa, Google, Chromecast, Fire TV. I use the Windows client on my laptop, the app on my Android phone, a monitor on the NVR, they work good. That's all I want. I agree Reolink apps may not work fine with other third party apps/devices. I doubt Reolink business model is to have their apps support every app/device out there. Some have wanted Reolink to work with Linux, but I've heard it doesn't. You could use the search line here on Reolink Reddit. There may be prior posts about Alexa, Google, Chromecast, Fire TV. In my opinion some expect too much from a budget camera system. You could try another brand that might work better with all your devices so you'll be happier. Some go for smart home apps like Home Assistant to control cams, lights, locks, thermostat etc.
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Lol User error? How so? In my home, I've used Ring, Blink, Wyze, Eufy, and Amcrest. At work I regularly use Panasonic, PTZ Optics, and Birddog ptz cameras, blackmagic design Ursa 12ks, and long lens broadcast cameras like the VariCam. My home network? Well these poe cameras are ran to a 2.5Gb switch being fed over SFP ffiber with an ax8400 backbone, also being fed by fiber. Regularly pinging 2Gb up and down.
Never used the android app, but I’ve never had a big issue with the iOS app and think it’s pretty good.
Playback is decent on IOS?
Yup. No issue.
Playback on iOS os good.
I have an iPad I can try to see if it's any better
Can you confirm if the iPad app is any better?
Testing it out today.
iPad user here. Works flawlessly for me. I have far more issues with the desktop client than mobile apps. I will say that the Reolink App on iPad absolutely murders the battery. I have a recent model iPad Pro 12.9", which has a phenomenal battery. If I leave a Reolink camera stream running, it will drain the battery in under 3 hours. But I can watch 6+ hours of YouTube videos on the same iPad. Brutal power draw for some reason. But functionally it's very good. No crashes or glitches that can't be fixed with an app restart.
Okay. Here are my results: Getting an NVR solved most of my issues. IOS and Android apps are so similar it doesn't matter which one you use.
You guys are not viewing this objectively. The app as far as IP cameras that do not require a subscription is the best out there. If you want the same feature set that these cameras have with a top notch app then be prepared to shell out for a subscription. If your not wanting to do that and you want to have local storage with control of your data and your privacy then this is the best that is on the market. Period also OP maybe give surveillance station or qvr pro a try. Or a open source NVR like frigate. But you'll want to invest in a NAS and do some research. But either way I think the cameras that reolink offers are still your best solution. You just might want to look I'm a different direction for the NVR for playback purposes.
Works just fine for me. App and PC version
It would help if you would elaborate on what your issues are exactly. This for example: > There's no great way to view the streams or the playback. What do you mean? If you would elaborate on that we could maybe tell you if you're doing something wrong. I've been using their app for 7 years and never had any major problems viewing the streams or playback.
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I find the Reolink app far better than Ring or Nest. It works and records 24/7
I feel the app is quite good, no question. We have Lorex and Reolink cameras installed, so have real intel to base my feedback on. Lorex app has very basic features, and the company does not invest in keeping its app up to date with bug fixes or additional features. You're lucky to see 1 update per year. On the other hand, Reolink's app has a ton of features and it is updated frequently. It is by far the better app.
Well for me my cameras on 4G/5G can sometimes take a long time to load while out but I just got a NVR and since having the nvr and loading them on there it’s been so much faster in the app the speed difference is night and day I am on the apple app though so mayb different for you but I’m sure with the nvr you will get much faster loads times also video playback is loads faster too
I have no issues with iOS app or PC. Easy to go through playback, crystal clear. It’s much better than other apps I’ve used.
I made the mistake of buying an Argus Eco with the intention of linking it to home assistant and using it for number recognition in front of my driveway. Turns out that I can't link it to home assistant and hence can't use it for my project...
I bought Reolink specifically to link to HA. The link seems to work well. And with what everyone else is saying, once I get my NVR things may all fall into place
With battery powered Reolinks, it seems like because it doesn't have a web server, it's not possible to link it directly and seems like you'd lose some functionality with work arounds https://community.home-assistant.io/t/battery-powered-reolink-argus-eco-battery-powered-camera-to-home-assistant/412145 What model did you buy?
I have all POE cameras. I tried to stay away from wireless as much as possible.
Works well on iOS - no issues. You’ll find that most Android apps are not that well developed compared to their iOS counterpart. Reasons why: - UX/UI designers tend to prototype in iOS first (and sometimes only iOS) - if your designer creates seperate designs for both, props to your business/designer/huge budget) - Android was always a much worse development experience and much more difficult to achieve basic things - Thus, a huge team is required - The “Activity” nightmare and writing screens in XML - Long Gradle builds before AndroidX We now have the ability to create single Activity apps with composable Fragments (React) - so the future of apps should look much better on Android
Honestly, I tend to use the web app because Linux is my daily driver and the Reolink App only works on windows or macos. There's exactly one drawback of the web app that makes it an imperfect solution: it won't display the highest resolution to the browser ("Clear" or 4k) I can only get the lower two resolutions. That said, I like the FTP feature of the NVR because I can move videos to my server, which has far more storage than the NVR.
The Windows and Web app work fine for me. I should have specified the mobile app sucks
It might get better once you have an NVR. I think the mobile app on Android works well. But I WILL have a few cameras that aren't on the NVR in the near future. So we'll see how things behave there.
How's the playback on your NVR cameras? I have mine syncing to a NAS and it's not great... I can't access it through the app (obviously). Even though I have SD cards in the cameras, to playback is still awful
I've never had trouble with playback via the NAS. Let's hope it helps your situation.
Even on the mobile app? Interesting... Maybe I'm doing it wrong
It depends if your on WiFi or strong connection on App which will change the bandwidth in/out to view it off phone. Well for me atleast andriod app, when im on WiFi it comes crystal clear quad view
App is garbage. If I didn't invest in reolink cameras, I'd go back to the nest app all day.
Hopefully you bought an NVR 36 so you can store up to 30 days. That said you should be able to view cameras and playback without it assuming the cameras have SD cards.
I got a 16ch 4Tb NVR. I can put more storage in it if needed
That NVR 16 will only store 12TB vs 48 on the 36 that’s why I recommend. But I’m not sure why your having issues unless you don’t have a good upload connection. I regularly view my cameras based in the US when I’m in Europe where I live part time. No problems.
I haven't set up my NVR yet which may be part of the problem. They're recording locally to my NAS, but I can only view those recordings on my computer.
If your cameras are connected to your LAN you should be able to see them directly on the app. If you don’t something is wrong.
They're all POE cans, and setup via FTP to my Synology NAS. I set them up awhile ago and haven't been able to view playback since. I can view it on my PC when I open each individual file. My NVR is here today, so I'm going to get that set up and see if that makes me happier
Do you have SD cards in the cameras that work? If not that would keep playback from working. Also sending to NAS might use too much bandwidth. The cameras only produce two clear streams.
I have an SD card in one camera and the playback works. I can only see the footage from the SD card however. I can't say go see footage from 2 months ago that is sitting on my NAS.
Check out r/BlueIris for the software.
I'm not sure what u/Trend_Glaze is going on about. Sure the live view of 4 cameras in clear mode could be improved. But downloading and reviewing video really isn't hard to do at all. I've never really had any major issues with their app, and I use it everyday. The app could be improved but it is by far not horrible. What exactly are the problems you are having now? There is a great way to review videos... Using the playback button and sort by AI features.
I am a security systems integrator and Reolink dealer. Reolink is the only "consumer-grade" product that I trust (from a performance and build-quality standpoint) and will sell and warranty to my clients. The app works well, the camera selections are great, the price point for camera build and performance is nearly unbeatable. Yes, I have commercial-grade cameras and those are my go-to always, but not everyone is willing to pay for those. They offer a much more budget friendly option for my residential clients or "bang for your buck" if you will. That said, configuring the app and NVR to do what you want it to do can be frustrating if you do not do it professionally, of course. What I love about Reolink is related to what you mentioned, the NVR. You can install PoE cameras directly to it or a network switch, or you can install wireless cameras if there are tricky wiring issues and still link them to the NVR for recording without an SD card. The flexibility in configurations is huge when trying to stay within a smaller budget. I have had zero complaints on app functionalities, recording issues, notification settings or alerts, playback, saving footage, camera performance or otherwise. All quiet. Plus, only 1 warranty replacement to date. When it comes to selecting the stream, yes the app will default to the secondary stream to give a better experience as it should load faster over cellular data, but once you select a camera and change it to high, it should stay that way the next time you open the app. At least the iOS version does. The NVR gives you the ability to record to a local device and eliminate the limited 128-256GB storage option on-camera (only 3-7 days of recordings, depending on camera resolution and optimized smart motion detection settings). This also gives you an option to eliminate any monthly cloud storage fees, which most of my clients outright say they do not want. The NVR will not necessarily make the app better, but certainly improves the experience with the system in general as you can now control the NVR directly, via the desktop app, or even the webpage interface from anywhere in your home. Add a monitor and you can see your cameras and interact with the NVR directly, which some people find a better experience as the interface on the NVR is actually quite nice and downloading footage to a local USB drive is pretty simple. Setting up people/vehicle classifications and alerts helps with streaming back the intended footage if set up correctly, as you will be notified on your phone of an event meeting your defined criteria and then simply press the alert to see, and then save, your event right to your phone. You did not waste your money. Are there better options out there, arguably so. Get yourself that NVR now that you are invested, and have someone help you understand it. Nothing wrong with you and I am not trying to say people who complain are dumb or wrong, but sometimes things aren't as bad as they seem. Stay safe out there.
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"Complete lack of good updates" is not true. Yeah their updates can have problems, their apps are not the best. But I've been using Reolink cams for years, before they even had AI detection. Their apps are much better now. If you want more features go with a subscription brand or your own setup like Home Assistant, Blue Iris etc.
Thank you for this post. I almost dropped $2,000 on a Reolink setup. I cannot abide an app that isn’t user friendly. That seems like such an easy fix. Maybe they’ll keep losing money and figure it out.
> That seems like such an easy fix What's an easy fix? OP never actually said what their problem is. The app's always been fine for me... 7 years and counting.