I finally received my Reolink Argus 2. I ordered from their main website and if you order from the site… just a heads up that they ship from China or near HongKong…so there will be a wait as to shipping… In my case, from ordering to arriving in my doorstep took 17 days..so you need to take that into account when you order…Also, to Reolink..you all need to start restocking the Argus 2 at Amazon… I cannot imagine if you want to return the camera on the hassle of shipping it internationally.

Anyways, with that out of the way…let’s check out the features of the New argus 2. It is 100% wire free WiFi camera..it has a rechargeable battery and works off 2.4 Ghz wifi
It has a starlight night vision which offers clearer night vision up to 33 feet…

It uses PIR (Passive infrared) sensor for motion detection…which detects heat and you will have fewer false alarms because of it. I think all battery powered Wifi cameras uses this type of sensor.

It is a 1080P Full HD and has a FOV of 130 degrees.
It records to a micro SD card – so no cloud recording yet. I think this is a con for this camera if the SD card is the only option for recording. I know Reolink is planning to offer cloud recording and also a base station option in the future which I hope that the base station, we can have a backup recording option like the Arlo.

This camera is weatherproof so ideal for outdoor installations.
It has live view and push notifications…

Let’s open up the box.

We have the quick start guide..
We have some other Reolink products info.
Mounting templates…
Security sticker..
A rechargeable battery warning info..

And we have the camera itself or half of it…
There is the steel base and the camera has the magnet at the bottom.. you can easily adjust the position of the camera when using the magnetic base.

What else is inside the box?

We have another mounting option like for a wall or vertical mount
We have a lanyard..
We have a silicone skin for the camera..nice touch Reolink..a lot of accessories are included…take note Arlo…
We also have a strap if you want to install the camera into a tree limb or something that you don’t want to poke a screw hole into.

Then we have the mounting screws.

Then we have the battery which is the other half of the camera… 3.63 volts and 5200 milliamp hours. On the bottom are the contacts to the camera and at the back is a little rubber plug that exposes the micro USB port for charging and also where you are going to connect the solar panel if you bought one.

Lastly, we have the micro USB cable.

Then, we have the solar panel..please note and this applies to any camera that you connect to a solar panel. It will only charge and top off the battery and not power the camera directly. Reolink says that it is only for the Argus 2 and will not work with the first generation Argus.

Let’s open it up.
We have the quick start guide
What’s next info and cross marketing by reolink
and a template.
Plus another window sticker.

Then, we have the panel itself.. it is built pretty solid..and the specs are:
Max power of 2.8 watts
Max voltage of 6 volts DC
MAx current of 480 mA
It is a micro USB connection to the camera.
The cable here is around 13 feet.

We have the mounting bracket which is not plastic…it is metal probably aluminum…pretty solid.
Then lastly, the screws.
Charging the battery is pretty easy, just open up the rubber flap on the back and plug in the micro USB.

It is faint but you will see an orange light when it is charging and it will turn green when it is fully charged. So, you can charge the battery by itself…or when installing on the camera and also can be charged by the solar panel.

Time to set up the camera…
Plug it in, download or open the Reolink app. I also have my NVR cameras and the first generation Argus in here. To add the Argus 2, click the plus (+) sign on the upper right corner and scan the QR code from the camera located at the back

Click to connect to WiFi and type in your WiFi details, click next and and let the camera scan the generated QR code.

Try the camera out and see if it connects to live view.
So, on this screen we have the pause button. We can take a snap shot or we can record the current video feed directly to our phone.

We have the color, black and white or auto option… Black and white are mostly for night vision so I’ll keep mine in automatic. We have the video quality..fluent is 640 x 360 and “clear” as full 1080P..it defaults to fluent so don’t forget to change to clear. Then resize if you want it in landscape mode. If you go back to your camera list, you will see a toggle switch to turn on or off your PIR motion sensor. Clicking on the gear icon will get you to camera’s settings where you can sync your camera’s date and time to your phone, change the time and date format.

So, on the settings, you can change the device name, share your camera, set push notifications, update your WiFi settings, check network status.

Display where you can customize the information that will appear on the camera and on the recorded footage. You can also change the orientation of the camera…rotate and flip the image and also a mirroring option. Then change frequency to prevent flickering.

We have the quality which shows here the 2 options…clear and fluent which you can further customize the frame rate..max frame rate of this camera is 15 FPS in 1080P. You can also change the bit rate if you want.

Encode sound if you want to record sound from the camera.

Then storage…which I haven’t installed one yet.

Another toggle switch for the PIR sensor and when it is on..it will show the motion settings…but we will try it out..notification on this one is instantaneous and when you click..it will show the live view.
PIR settings… where there is the scheduling, sensitivity, camera siren..which is an automatic 3 seconds alert tone which I’ll demo later on.

Also, you can choose if you want to be emailed anytime there is an alert on top of the push notification and also click record when it senses motion.

We have the infrared LEDs and status light on or off…
Email settings – if you want to get notified via email aside from getting push notifications from your phone.

Upgrade options…
System info
Battery info..

Before I install the camera, I need to put in a micro SD card where all my recordings will be stored. On the side, there is a rubber flap that covers the micro SD slot and the reset button. So just push in your micro SD Card like so until it clicks…You might need something to push it in… and if you want to reset the camera, you can use the push tool that is included or a paper clip will also work. This tool can also help you put or push out the micro SD card.

Close the flap securely and it should be ready for install.

The easiest installation is to screw in the magnetic mount. You can also use the included screw-in mount for vertical or wall installs..
And another unique mount which Reolink includes is the strap mount. If you have a metal post, tree or this gutter pipe that you are not able to screw in the mount, you can use the included strap to mount the camera. Good job Reolink…plus they also included a silicone case for the camera…I hope Netgear will learn from you and not be stingy with their more expensive Arlo cameras and that you have to buy extra accessories just to have flexibility in mounting them.

Alright, time to show some sample footage…

Time to install the Solar Panel. Just screw in the included mount..connect the micro USB cable by flipping the rubber flap open and pushing in the micro USB. It also has a rubber boot that will help it in keeping the elements out.

Just keep the extra wiring looped and tied and just tuck it in so that it will be out of the way. Reolink states that it just needs a few hours of direct sunlight to sufficiently power your camera daily. In this location, it will barely get sunshine which will be mostly in the morning but I’ll give you all an update to see if it will keep my battery topped off. On the app, you will see a little sun icon behind the battery which means it is connected to the solar panel. You will also see the greyed sun and charging icon on the battery settings.

Lastly, I’ll show you how the camera siren works…if you turned it on from the app. It will automatically go off for about 2- 3 seconds when it senses motion.
It is more of a “Hey I’m recording you” type of a siren…so some might like it and some might not. I’ll keep mine turned off.

Overall, the Argus 2 which I bought with the solar panel as a package with a total price of $150 dollars is very competitively priced. By itself, the camera is $130 bucks but it comes with everything you need to install… and also comes with accessories.

It has instant push notification which is a good thing and video quality is clear and in 1080p setting…is pretty good. Audio is actually pretty good also and you can hear clearly sounds and conversations from the camera. The only con that I can think of is the micro SD card which is inside the camera… In the event when the camera is stolen or vandalized, you will have no footage. But I think Reolink will be addressing this in the future because they have plans of offering cloud storage and also a base station for the Argus which will be good if the SD card will be inside the house and out of the way. Aside from that, this is a good buy and a definite contender among other battery powered cameras like the Blink, Arlo and Ring..so stay tuned because I’ll be comparing the Argus 2 with these other brands.



Reolink Argus 2 – amzn.to/2Ixvgov shrsl.com/xtz8