Reolink Argus Eco Security Camera Review

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Reolink has been hard at work designing and building new wire-free security solutions. Over the last few years, they have gone from a mostly wired/NVR based company to having a full complement of wire-free options.

The latest of these solutions comes just a month after we reviewed their Argus Pro. The Eco, being one of their latest, takes the wire-free form factor a new direction offering a "bullet" design with all the functionality of past units.

Speaking on this, the Eco offers wire-free operation with a built-in rechargeable battery and 2.4GHz Wi-Fi for increased range. IP65 certification warrant this device can withstand both dust and water while the 1080p image sensor offers clear streaming. 100-degree viewing angle, 33-foot night vision, and PIR motion sensing are attached features of the Argus Eco and add to the onboard recording and two-way audio capabilities.

MSRP of the Argus Eco Security Camera comes in at $79.99 with a two-year warranty

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The Argus Eco shares the black packaging design with the rest of the Argus lineup. We have a single image of the camera on the front and quick description below.

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Scope of delivery for this solution offers a mounting base with hardware, USB charge cable, and reading materials.

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Apart from being wire-free, the Eco shares much of its design with standard bullet cameras.

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The base of the camera houses the antenna connection and USB input for the cable or solar panel.

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The bottom of the enclosure hides away the microSD slot, power and reset buttons. The two-way speaker is included under this.

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The lens is surrounded by the motion sensor below and IR LEDs around.

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Setup for the Argus lineup hasn't changed with the Eco. Once you run through those first few steps you will land here with your cameras listed. You have the option to have the last one used to start streaming automatically with PIR and settings above each.

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Settings for the ECO are nearly identical to the Argus 2 and Pro. From this menu, you have a list of setting across the top and submenu for more moving down. At the top, you will see battery life followed by display and alarm settings.

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In display settings, you can rotate the camera, change the name date, and add a watermark if needed.

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As for image quality, I have both the Eco and Argus Pro setup next to each other with lenses perpendicular. The Pro seems to have a wider viewing angle reaching much further to the left. Clarity also seems a bit better on the Pro, but at the same time, the Eco isn't too bad either.

In a market that was more recently dominated by Arlo, Reolink is a true player that keeps producing solid wire-free options at a fraction of the cost. Over the past year, Reolink has come on strong with Argus 2, Pro and Eco with more in the line to come all of which take advantage of their solar panel and overall solid iOS and Android App.

Performance of the Eco wasn't quite as good as the Argus Pro but these images were taken on a mostly cloudy, rainy day. It would be interesting to see what they look like on the sunny side, but we don't have any of those in the forecast as of today. With that, I can say the Eco is a rather good solution with day to day use although in my current mounting location it has taken some time to dial in the PIR settings as the ECO is very sensitive to motion.

The one drawback I found with the Eco is with the battery situation. This unit appears to use some 18650/21650 cells that are not removable leaving users with a dead camera if the batteries ever decide to fail/puff etc. This is an interesting move from Reolink as all past solutions have taken advantage of the removable battery pack.

Tyler's Test System Specifications

• Motherboard: ASUS Prime Z370 (buy from Amazon)
• CPU: Intel Core i3 8350K (buy from Amazon)
• RAM: Corsair Vengeance 32GB 4x8GB DDR4 3200 (buy from Amazon)
• Cooler: Corsair Hydro H115i (buy from Amazon)
• Case: Corsair Air 540 (buy from Amazon)
• OS Storage: Samsung 960 EVO 250GB (buy from Amazon)
• Power Supply: Corsair RM850x (buy from Amazon)
• OS: Microsoft Windows 10 (buy from Amazon)
• Wi-Fi NIC: ASUS PCE-AC88 (buy from Amazon)
• 10Gbe NIC: ASUS XG-C100C (buy from Amazon)
• Thunderbolt 3: ASUS Thunderbolt EX3 (buy from Amazon)