Affordable, easy to install, and versatile, the RLK8-820D4-A features HDMI output, a great smartphone app, and professional desktop software.
Affordable, easy to install, and versatile. The four included cameras are great quality even if they have a somewhat basic feature set, but the cameras can be replaced or added to, up to eight recording channels total. Most of the Reolink range is compatible should you need features like talkback, full-color night vision, pan/tilt controls, or zoom lenses; and you're not limited to PoE cameras. Unlike other systems, you'll find professional desktop software included, and a well-developed smartphone app, to view feeds and events from anywhere in the world—all without ongoing subscription costs.
https://youtu.be/UxThml05YNYIf you’ve been looking for an all-in-one DIY security camera system you’ll know that the marketplace is fraught with poor quality cameras, appallingly bad mobile apps, and antiquated analog cabling. But home security really isn't something you can afford to get wrong.The RLK8-820D4-A is an 8-channel digital Network Video Recorder with four 4K cameras included, a 2TB hard drive, and runs fully on Power over Ethernet to simplify installation. With a great smartphone and desktop app, reliable notifications, and fantastic image quality, we think it's a great solution at an affordable price—with no ongoing subscription costs. Read on to find out more.
The set that we got really is everything you need to get started, containing:
Installation is easy, and the cameras are fully weatherproof, so they can be installed inside or out. On the base of the cameras is a large metal disc: this is what attaches to your wall or ceiling. Screw that in place, using wall plugs if necessary (supplied), then lock the camera onto the fixing plate and adjust the angle as needed.
The only thing you need to ensure is that for external use, you use the waterproof cable covers—a helpful installation guide is included for those, as they can be a bit fiddly. Without this, rainwater will get into the RJ45 Ethernet connector and corrode the copper pins. While the cabling is inexpensive to replace, the connector on the cameras isn't.
The four included cameras are functionally quite basic, but produce excellent quality video. The field of view is reasonably wide with little distortion, at 87-degree horizontal, and 44-degree vertical; however the position is fixed during installation, so you can't pan/tilt them remotely if you want to scan over a larger area, nor are they equipped with an optical zoom lens.
Although they do record clear audio, they don't feature a speaker for talkback capabilities. Night vision is good, but uses infra-red for a black and white image only. There is no built-in floodlight or alarm, either.
If you need some more advanced features, you'll find most other cameras in the Reolink range are compatible; I also tested with the Reolink Duo, C2-Pro, and RLC-511. There are also variations in the product range: RLK8-810B4-A includes four bullet-style 4K cameras with optical zoom, for instance.
You have a number of options when it comes to actually using the Reolink NVR.
The first is to simply connect an HDMI monitor and the included mouse. You'll need to do this at least for the initial setup, but after that isn't necessary if you just want remote access. The interface should be immediately familiar if you've used any CCTV system before, but at the same, it's modern and responsive. As well as a single-camera view with auto-rotation, you can view all feeds in a tiled pattern. You can auto-switch to a channel when motion is detected, and enable a beep alert. For even less clutter, you can use the buttons on the front of the NVR for operation rather than a mouse, but it's obviously a little clunky.
Searching for events is easy, either via the playback tab or using the Backup button. Note that, unlike a dashcam, events can't be marked to protect them from automatic deletion. If you want to save a file permanently, you'll need to insert a USB storage drive to export them, otherwise, they'll be overwritten once the drive is full.
If you've connected the Reolink RLK8-820D4-A to your home network, you can also benefit from remote access, and use both the smartphone and desktop apps. Note that you don't have to choose one or the other: you can have both a local HDMI monitor connected, the desktop app open, and the smartphone app, all at the same time.
Unlike most manufacturers, which only provide a poorly developed smartphone app, Reolink has professional quality desktop software for Mac and Windows (as well as a decent smartphone app). It's not exactly the same as the interface on the NVR itself, but again, should feel familiar enough. The only feature currently missing is the ability to automatically rotate through camera feeds. Both the desktop and smartphone software can aggregate feeds from all your Reolink cameras, with the desktop client able to display up to 36 feeds on-screen at any time, so you're not limited to only viewing the eight channels on the NVR. The tiled view can be customized, with feeds added, removed, and the order swapped around. OnVIF support means you pipe the output into a third-party solution too, if you wish, though the official Reolink desktop app is so good that I've never felt the need. The other benefit top using the desktop software is that saving events is a lot easier, since you can download them directly to your computer, bypassing the need to physically insert a USB backup disk.
The Reolink smartphone app is also the most user-friendly I've ever used—and I've tried a lot of security cameras in my years.
Both the desktop and smartphone app are trivial to set up, as they should automatically discover your new NVR on the network. The only thing you need to do is type in your chosen admin password. From there, you'll be able to view your home security camera feeds from anywhere in the world, without subscription fees. It all just works. To be clear, this doesn't include cloud storage (though Reolink does offer that in some locations). When you can view feeds and events from your NVR anywhere in the world anyway, cloud storage isn't needed for convenience. If you want to backup all the footage automatically rather than saving specific events, you have the option of enabling FTP upload, such as to a Network Attached Storage system.
If you have an Apple Watch, you'll get notifications there too.
The "A" part of the RLK8-820D4-A refers to the onboard AI that can recognize people or vehicles, resulting in more reliable event notifications without needing expensive cloud services. It takes some time to tweak the sensitivity depending on where you've sited the cameras, but once dialed in, I found it to be quite accurate. Still too many notifications? You can enable scene mode in the app, which lets you disable all motion alerts while you're at home with one tap, for instance, then arm the system when you leave.
Before we talk about expanding the system, it's worth briefly understanding the underlying technology. PoE uses a single network cable to deliver both power and signal to a client device. It's commonly used for security cameras and Wi-Fi access points—things often placed on ceilings or roofs, where power sockets aren't available. It requires an upgrade to your network infrastructure though. You'll need a PoE-capable network switch port for every device you want to use. PoE-capable switches cost significantly more than non-PoE switches, so there's a cost factor, and it all gets a bit more complex.
Thankfully, the Reolink RLK8-820D4-A makes it all simple by including the required infrastructure in the NVR box itself—all you need to do is plug it into your existing router, then you can benefit from remote access, the smartphone or desktop app, and motion alerts. The RLK8-820D4-A features eight ports for PoE cameras (though Reolink also sells four and sixteen port models).
Power over Ethernet doesn't require special Ethernet cables, so when connecting your cameras to the NVR box you aren't limited to the included 60ft cabling. Anything Cat5e-rated or better will work fine, so you're free to crimp your own at a particular length, replace it with some armored cable suitable for burying outdoors, or use shorter lengths if you don't want to coil up the excess.
To be clear, the PoE side of the Reolink RLK8-820D4-A is isolated from your home network; the NVR box acts as a router for the cameras, giving out unique IP addresses. With the Reolink NVR plugged into your network, you gain access to the camera feeds, but the network isolation ensures your home LAN isn't clogged up with constant video streaming. It's really the best of both worlds.
As mentioned, this Reolink NVR comes with four cameras, but has the potential to connect eight, through PoE or otherwise. It can also bring in Reolink camera feeds from elsewhere on your home network. So if you have a powered Reolink Wi-Fi camera already, it will happily record from that too. If you want to mix and match camera models, that's also fine. The included 4K cameras don't have pan/tilt capabilities, but if you add a Reolink model that does, the NVR recognizes that it has that particular feature and enables it across your client apps. It's about as adaptable as you can get.
To really max out the capabilities of the RLK8-820D4-A, I connected three of the four include 4K dome cameras, as well as four different Reolink models I previously reviewed, consisting of:
This filled up the remaining five channels, mostly with PoE, but one being pulled from Wi-Fi. As you can see, the system is compatible with a wide range of camera types and highly adaptable to any needs.
As well as more cameras, you can also upgrade the internal storage from 2TB to up to 6TB; and you can add a further 6TB using the eSATA port, giving a total of 12TB for some serious long term event storage, or about a month of 24/7 recording. The RLK8-820D4 records using h.265 for optimal use of drive space, but I found that recording 24/7 filled that up in less than a week.
Almost. If there's one thing I'd like to have seen, it would be a preview of the event included in the notification, so I could tap on my Apple Watch, and see at a glance what's been seen. I also couldn't get integration with Google Home to work, though that's not a huge loss given it's never more convenient to watch a camera feed via a smart assistant rather than just your smartphone (or desktop).
Still, that's a minor complaint in an otherwise stunning package. It's affordable, easy to install, and versatile. The four included cameras are great quality even if they have a somewhat basic feature set, but the cameras can be replaced or added to, up to eight recording channels total. Most of the Reolink range is compatible should you need features like talkback, full-color night vision, pan/tilt controls, or zoom lenses; and you're not limited to PoE cameras. Unlike other systems, you'll find professional desktop software included, and a well-developed smartphone app, to view feeds and events from anywhere in the world—all without ongoing subscription costs.
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James has a BSc in Artificial Intelligence and is CompTIA A+ and Network+ certified. When he's not busy as Hardware Reviews Editor, he enjoys LEGO, VR, and board games. Before joining MakeUseOf, he was a lighting technician, English teacher, and data center engineer.
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