Reolink Altas PT Ultra review

Reolink Altas PT Extremely: Introduction

• Sort: Out of doors, pan & tilt
• Connectivity: 2.4 and 5GHz Wi-Fi (with Wi-Fi 6)
• Ecosystems: Amazon Alexa, Google Dwelling

We’ve been reviewing Reolink’s ever increasing vary of good safety cameras for a couple of years now on The Ambient, courting again to the unique Argus Professional, method again in 2019.

We’ve at all times been impressed by the innovation Reolink provides to its cameras and that’s why the Chinese language model is quick changing into one of many names to maintain tabs on within the good safety digicam area.

On check for this evaluation is the most recent flagship, the Reolink Altas PT Extremely, which was introduced in September at IFA 2024.

Boasting an enormous 20,000mAh battery – that’s round 4x the dimensions discovered on the likes of the Reolink Argus Monitor and the Reolink Argus Professional – Reolink is eager to shout a few week’s price of steady recording from a full cost; a fairly distinctive providing within the battery safety digicam world.

With 4K recording additionally on provide, in addition to ColorX Evening Imaginative and prescient – which inspired us on the Argus 4 Professional – plus intelligent monitoring smarts, the Altas PT Extremely is the brand new prime canine of the Reolink steady.

However, does it reside as much as its lofty billing? In any case, it’s fairly a premium providing for a model that’s identified for providing loads of bang for its buck.

Learn our complete Reolink Altas PT Extremely evaluation to search out out.

Design and set up

• Dome fashion pan & tilt digicam
• Base homes battery and extra

Reolink tends to make good safety cameras that appear to be cute little robots however the Altas PT is something however cute or little.

It’s an absolute beast of a dome fashion PT digicam, with the digicam ingredient mounted under an base that homes an antenna, that huge battery and a speaker, which can be utilized for two-way speaking or as a siren.

Measuring in at 178 x 151 x 102mm and weighing practically 1kg, it’s positively on the larger finish of the good safety digicam spectrum.

Under the lens is a PIR sensor and above are 6 LED lights, which can be utilized when movement is triggered at night time time, or simply as a flashlight that’s began via the app.

As is at all times the case with Reolink safety cams, mounting is simple and also you’ll get a template within the field which makes it a cinch to get it mounted to both a wall or a ceiling with only a few screws want drilling in to the bracket.

One you’ve determined the place you need the Altas PT Extremely, then it’s then time to get it synced up with the Reolink app.

The Safety acutely aware amongst you may be happy to know that you simply don’t even have to enroll in an Reolink account or quit any particulars, though you have to to take action if you wish to make use of sure cloud options, or sync your Reolink up with Amazon Alexa or Google Dwelling.

If you first energy up the Altas PT Extremely you’ll hear a voice say “Welcome to Reolink, please set up the Reolink app” in an array of languages.

As with all Reolink cameras, it only a case of scanning the QR code on the digicam out of your cellphone within the app, after which utilizing the Reolink’s lens to scan a QR code in your cellphone. It’s a quite simple course of that solely takes a couple of minutes.

A giant plus level for the Reolink Altas PT Extremely, widespread throughout most of the model’s cameras, is that it boasts twin band 2.4 and 5GHz Wi-Fi so you’ll be able to faucet into that sooner 5GHz band, ought to you could have an entry level close to sufficient to achieve it. It’s additionally bought Wi-Fi 6 tech on board as effectively.

Reolink is widespread amongst its customers for onboard microSD storage choices and also you’ll discover a little bit waterproof flap below the lens that home the cardboard slot, with one other separate flap protecting the USB-C energy enter port on the bottom.

Not like the Argus Monitor there’s no safety screw defending the microSD from being stolen although, which looks as if an oversight.

Options

• Steady recording
• Movement triggered occasion recording

One you could have the Altas PT Extremely synced up throughout the Reolink app, you’ll be capable of configure to your coronary heart’s content material.

As I state in all my Reolink opinions although, be warned that the extent of customization and the wealth of choices on provide contained in the app is very large.

With Reolink, you get a stage of management that’s just about unrivalled throughout different safety digicam manufacturers however that additionally means you’re going to need to get your head round an absolute plethora of choices to get the digicam arrange precisely the way you need it.

With the Altas PT Extremely, the principle settings to familiarize yourself with is how frequent you need the recording set.

Clearly a key promoting level of the brand new flagship is that steady recording choice however that has a big impact on battery life.

In the event you’ve bought the Altas wired as much as a photo voltaic panel (offered individually or as a bundle package deal) you may get away with having it constantly set to file 24/7. However when you’re working solely off of battery energy – even with that massive 20,000mAh energy pack on board – steady recording goes to empty the juice fairly rapidly.

That “week’s price of battery life” really equates to having a schedule set for 12 hours of steady recording set… the precise quoted time is 96 hours.

I attempted it out with it set at fixed steady recording and I bought about 85 hours earlier than it conked out.

After all, you don’t need to have steady recording set, and the claims of a 365 day battery life when you go for event-based recording as an alternative definitely rings true in my testing.

On that mode, you’ll be capable of make use of Reolink’s good detection auto monitoring characteristic, which might differentiate between folks, animals and autos.

You may set the vary of panning and create a monitor level that the digicam returns to, in addition to set factors to rapidly soar the digicam to a particular view, which is less complicated than utilizing the handbook management.

Plus, you’ll be able to add as much as 8 privateness sections, the place motion gained’t be captured; normally that is capped at 4 for Reolink cameras.

In the event you activate movement detection, the Reolink will begin sending you push notifications when it has noticed motion. These can get a little bit overwhelming, so you’ll be able to lower these down by utilizing the item detection characteristic, with animal, individual and automobile monitoring on provide.

You may choose if you wish to be notified about your mixture of individuals, autos, animals or all movement, and you may schedule if you need to get every sort of alert.

So you may select to have folks and automobile notifications through the day, however solely folks notifications at night time.

Native storage

No matter recording mannequin you go for, in relation to trying again at your footage, the excellent news is that there aren’t any subscription charges, because of the microSD storage choice, in addition to the power to make use of FTP, NVR or Reolink’s new Dwelling Hub.

For steady recording, the Dwelling Hub or an NVR is clearly a smart choice however the Altas PT Extremely lets you pop in a 512GB microSD card, which can begin recording over itself day by day or so based mostly on 1 hour of 4K video footage at 30 fps, which is roughly 23GB to 30GB.

Information: Native storage on good safety cameras defined

Reolink additionally does provide a reasonably low-cost cloud choice too, do you have to need to go down that route.

In the event you do, within the US, there are cloud plans with 1GB of free storage (7-days of historical past), after which paid choices: $3.49, $6.99 or $10.49 month-to-month. It’s £3.49 or £6.49 a month within the UK.

That will get you 30 days of historical past (60 days for the highest tier), plus 10, 50 or 100GB of space for storing respectively for five to 10 cameras. It is a fraction of the price of the likes of Ring Defend or Nest Conscious.

However bear in mind, none of those further prices are required. All you might be paying for is storage, there aren’t any options lower when you don’t cough up not like different manufacturers (Arlo, I’m you) that make you pay for full use of their cameras.

Nonetheless, the standard caveat applies that if the digicam or card is stolen, you lose all the pieces, which makes that unprotected SD card slot much more puzzling.

Any clips recorded are proven on the app’s timeline view, with useful thumbnails to make discovering a clip simpler, marked with a pleasant little icon if an individual or pet has been noticed.

The app makes it simple to filter by occasion and movement sort, so it’s easy to search out the clip you might be after, and to reserve it to your cellphone completely.

Be sure you change the obtain high quality when you do need full decision clips although; by default it selects a ‘fluent’ clip that’s nowhere close to the 4K (‘clear’) that’s obtainable.

On the clips, you’ll be able to select the place to point out the digicam identify, date and time, or the Reolink emblem and you can too flip all of them off too.

From the reside view, you’ll be able to soar into the two-way discuss, which works effectively sufficient. It might be a helpful characteristic if you wish to scare off somebody that shouldn’t be in your backyard however the speaker on the bottom is a bit tinny.

There’s additionally a built-in siren so you’ll be able to, when you what, create a sound and light-weight alarm to scare off baddies too, if movement is detected at set occasions. You may even file your personal personalised warning too.

Reolink gives each Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa Expertise, which allow you to stream footage to a appropriate good show. 

Efficiency

A few months in the past Reolink unveiled the Argus 4 Professional, with claims that’s was the world’s first good safety digicam to supply full colour imaginative and prescient at night time… and that tech is current and proper on the Altas PT Extremely, as effectively.

There are, after all, loads of safety cameras obtainable that provide night time imaginative and prescient in technicolor already, such because the Eufy Floodlight Digicam E340 and the Arlo Professional 5, however, because of its ColorX know-how, the Altas boasts colour visuals at the hours of darkness even in low gentle circumstances, without having for infrared lights or spotlights.

On this video pattern under, you’ll see that the road exterior my entrance door is lots colourful, even at the hours of darkness.

Granted, there are road lights helping the method however I can guarantee you it’s nowhere close to as vivid or colourful because the footage is presenting.

A nifty characteristic, which Reolink has launched for battery cameras for the primary time with the Altas vary, is the Pre-Recording Mode, which grabs footage earlier than a movement set off kick begins one.

By default this mode is off, however when you flip it on then – when utilizing SD card recording, FTP or cloud storage – you’ll get a couple of seconds of low body charge video captured earlier than an precise movement occasion occurs.

It’s 5fps as normal, however you’ll be able to pop it as much as 10fps if you would like – though it will have an effect on battery life.

As you’ll be able to see within the clip under, my strolling is uneven at first however quickly goes easy; that’s the 5fps leaping as much as the traditional body charge.

As you can too see within the video, the standard of day time visuals is great. Captured at 3840 x 2160 15fps, the footage beautifully crisp and detailed.

The lens itself has a area of view of 110° diagonal, 90° horizontal and 50° vertical. Add to that the very fact it might probably pan 355° and tilt 90° and also you shouldn’t miss a factor.

Last ideas

Reolink continues to push boundaries with the Altas PT Extremely, showcasing why the model is quick changing into a significant participant within the good safety area. The mix of steady 4K recording, glorious night time imaginative and prescient, and superior monitoring options makes it a prime contender for many who want a flexible and dependable outside digicam.

The hefty battery, Wi-Fi 6, and native storage choices additionally make it a pretty, subscription-free choice.

That mentioned, the design and have set could really feel overkill for smaller areas or much less demanding customers.

However when you’re searching for a top-tier safety digicam with loads of customization, the Altas PT Extremely is a strong alternative.

How we check

After we publish our opinions, you’ll be able to relaxation assured that they’re the results of “dwelling with” long run checks.

Sensible safety cameras normally reside inside an ecosystem, or a variety of merchandise that – supposedly – all work in concord. Subsequently, it’s not possible to make use of a safety digicam for every week and ship a verdict.

As a result of we’re testing good house equipment all day, on a regular basis, we all know what issues and the way a specific digicam compares to alternate options that you may additionally be contemplating.

Our opinions are complete, goal and honest and, after all, we’re by no means paid on to evaluation a tool.

Learn our information on our evaluation course of for good safety cameras to study extra.

FAQs

Reolink Altas PT Extremely: Specs