[REVIEW] DUO 2 PoE

[Jedi2020_32727772450952]

Hey everyone, here is my review for the DUO 2 PoE camera.

Installation:

The camera in the pictures is my old DUO 1 camera since I already mounted my DUO 2 camera. But both look the same physically and the mount hardware is identical as well.  Installing the camera is straight forward. Just attach the silver metal plate to the wall by screwing the two top holes of the metal plate. Then snap the camera mount arm to the plate and screw the bottom hole to secure the camera. The camera is attached to the mount arm via a ball joint. You can tighten the ball joint with the supplied allen wrench after adjusting the camera angle.  I assume many people here are Reolink users so I am not going to bother with the usual Reolink camera setup.






Camera appearance:

Appearance wise, it doesn’t look like a typical security camera - dome, turret, bullet, etc. It looks more like a small floodlight and perfect for people who care about aesthetic and stealth look.



Who should use this camera?

I use this camera for my front that requires a wide coverage that a single lens camera can’t accommodate. The camera provides a seamless stitched panoramic view with one video stream. I can literally see the entire block of my street with this camera.  


Highlighted features:

4K resolution
Seamless stitched 180 degree view
Smart AI detection (human, car, pet)
IR/Spotlights
Siren
2 way audio


4K 180° panoramic view

Reolink did a good job with stitching the two camera views into a one panoramic view. As you can see from the video, I can’t detect any seam from a jogger or fast moving car.  First generation DUO1 camera doesn’t stitch the two views so it is rather gimmick. DUO2 is not only wider than DUO1 (180° vs 150°), the vertical field is also taller (60° vs 44°) which is more important to me as I couldn’t see the front too far with DUO1 when pointing down to cover the area closer to the house including the side gate.  

DUO2 also provides much sharper image than DUO1 (4K vs 2K) and it makes a difference when performing digital zoom to see the far objects. Another notable feature is that DUO2 uses more advanced H265 codecs compared to DUO1 which uses H264. As a result, it cuts down the storage space despite storing 4K images.


Seamless video

Morning image


Early evening image


Early evening digital zoom image


Smart AI detection

The camera detects human, car and pet reliably. I have yet to experience any false alert.  Pet detection is new and isn’t available with DUO1. With pet detection, I can easily track the dogs that are making mass on my lawn by simply setting the push notification for pet.

Human detection
IR/Spotlights

Like DUO1, DUO2 provides both IR and Spotlights to operate at night. One notable feature for DUO2 is that the Spotlights can be triggered based on alarm events (human, car, pet). This feature isn’t available on DUO1. I am providing pictures for IR and Spotlights for reference. Personally, I don’t use either at night. My street light alone is sufficient for the camera to get the color image at night.


The image below is in color auto mode with street light. No IR, no Spotlights. The street light in real environment isn’t as bright as it appears in this picture. DUO2 is noticeably sharper than DUO1 even at night.


In color manual mode with street light. It brightens the tree shadow area a bit. I can literally see the entire block of my street in color at night.


IR light on


Spotlights on



Siren

DUO2 siren is probably the same as DUO1 because it sounds the same to me. Siren is ok. Not too loud to annoy my neighbors but does the job for warning the dog owners that making mass on my lawn.


2 way audio

Like DUO1, DUO2 microphone is very sensitive and clear.  As you can see from my video, it can easily pick up voices from the playground which is 90 yards away from the camera. The speaker is okay but can be improved. It could work to communicate with people that are nearby.


Conclusion

DUO2 is vastly improved compared to DUO1. Perhaps, DUO1 was a good experiment and DUO2 is a complete product.  For people on the fence, DUO2 is the camera to get even though it costs slightly more than DUO1. I believe you will be much happier with DUO2.

[Mahdal_188022650912897]

Hi, great article - thanks.
Please what Reolink NVR are you using for DUO2 Poe cameras.
Thank you very much for your reply
Lubos

[Jedi2020_32727772450952]

@mahdal_188022650912897

I don't use NVR. I use 256GB Samsung Pro Endurance micro sd card for recording. AI detection works reliably and I don't feel the need for using NVR. I get 7-8 weeks worth of recording before the camera overwrites the oldest video. I use Mac Client primary for viewing live and recorded video footages from home. Use iOS app when I am on the road. Reolink's software is one of the big reasons I chose Reolink cameras over other brands.

[md]

@jedi2020_32727772450952 Thanks for the review and pics. I've had my DUO 2 for about two weeks, installed above my garage facing the street. I'm very happy with it. It detects cars from like a block away, amazing. I also just use SD cards currently.

[user_650003536416811_650003536416811]

Hi, great article - thanks.
Please what Reolink NVR are you using for DUO2 Poe cameras.
Thank you very much for your reply
Lubos
You can play uno online anytime, anywhere with family and friends.

I tried the POE version of this camera and was impressed by the idea of 180-degree coverage on a stationary camera. The first thing I noticed was that the image was not very clear, and the brightness of the left camera did not match that of the right camera. I checked the firmware on the RLN36 and it was up to date. The sharpness issue was resolved after I updated the firmware on the Duo 2 POE. Even after adjusting the camera settings, I couldn't get the cameras to match in brightness. I tried different mounting locations with the same results. According to the Reolink website, the cameras not matching is normal. It didn't matter if it was day or night; the difference in brightness bothered me, so I returned it. The stitching of the two cameras in the center was flawless, requiring no adjustments from the factory settings. If I were Reolink, I would make the brightness of each camera adjustable so that you could match the brightness of each camera. If they did this, I believe they would avoid a large number of returns. I eventually put my D800 back up.

[Reolink Fiona]

Hi，@user_650003536416811_650003536416811 Your request has been collected. Engineering will reviewing the feasibility of implementing this idea. Thank you sincerely for sharing your thoughts.

[user_637618372325376_637618372325376]

I'll be sure to keep an eye on this thread.