[Review] Reolink Doorbell

[Philippe]

The Reolink doorbell is equipped with a 1080p HD camera, PoE connectivity, and advanced features such as motion detection and two-way intercom. The doorbell is easy to install and use thanks to its intuitive web and mobile application.
 
 
Appearance:








Two-Way Audio:

The doorbell is equipped with a speaker and microphone for clear two-way audio communication, allowing you to converse with the person at the door.
 
 
Infrared:

The doorbell is equipped with infrared lights for night vision up to +/- 10 meters.
 



Alert, FTP, Email:

You can configure the doorbell to send you a notification from the application when a person is detected or when someone presses the doorbell. You can also receive an email. You can also set up FTP to record videos on a remote server.
 
 
Detection:

The doorbell features human detection to detect suspicious movements and instantly alert you.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3rYod6IZMo


App:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTghOV3BXQo


Conclusion:

After several months of use, I find that the doorbell is an excellent solution. It offers good video quality, night vision, human detection, and easy installation thanks to PoE power supply. The two-way audio is also an important asset as it allows easy communication with visitors. Overall, if you are willing to invest in a quality doorbell for your home, Reolink's PoE doorbell is an excellent choice.

[dgordon42_415060065599711]

@philippe
I agree with the these positive points, except that it is not yet a great solution.

The big missing feature is the ability for a door bell press to ring a smart phone, like a normal phone call or or internet call app like WhatsApp/Signal and automatically open the Reolink client for the doorbell with video and audio presented.

The notification to the smart phone of too messy and cumbersome for interacting with a person at the door. The time it takes to act on a notification and all the manual process necessary, the person at the door would be gone.

I realise Reolink are working on implementing some smart home features like Google Home/Alexa support, which is all good, but the more basic features are needed first

I guess it can be implemented easily enough using SIP, so hopefully this can be rectified soon in updated firmware,

[joseph_1979]

@dgordon42_415060065599711 I did raise the SIP calling as an important feature together with the capability of using the existing chimes and being fully ONVIF Profile T compliant. Otherwise it is superb.

SIP calling entails a SIP stack to be installed on the camera and the camera has to register with a SIP server (provided by either Reolink or an ISP/Operator). When the button is pressed, the camera sends an INVITE (with SDP having AVP 0, 8,9,18----voice codecs) with the configured called number to the SIP server and the SIP server will acknowledge with 100 Trying. The server will send the INVITE to the smartphone (which has to register with the SIP server too) and the smartphone starts to ring....180 is sent back. Then we have the answer 200 OK with the SDP (from smartphone side -- initially voice codecs) and then the caller may opt to change to video in which case the smartphone sends a RE_INVITE with the SDP having the video codec (H.264, H.265,,)........... So to handle this for all the doorbells sold, Reolink would need quite a number of SIP servers and adding the VOIP feature on their client. Some competitors have already deployed this facility.....SIP is fun....esp troubleshooting.

And hopefully we will see more vivid colourful images with F1.0 advanced lenses. 

[Philippe]

@dgordon42_415060065599711

Hi,

Having the phone ring like during a phone call would indeed be welcome. However, so far, I have always had time to get in touch with the person who rang. But I know there is a big problem with Reolink application notifications on Android phones, which tend to put the application to sleep, even if it is protected against battery saving. It is really a big issue that should be improved so that phones do not put the application to sleep.

[zentao29_497016336400517]

@dgordon42_415060065599711 You are 100% correct. With an ever increasing 'smart doorbell' market it's confusing why Reolink would release a dumb doorbell. It's a camera with as doorbell tacked on and as you clearly pointed out, if you have to open the app every time or click on a notification then the whole process takes way too long.
I had no idea this was how it worked. They have a 30 day return policy and unless I can find some proof that it will be implemented in the future I'll be returning mine.

[Artech]

Good idea to add sip server to NVR