Reolink 4K PTZ Indoor Cam with 3X Optical Zoom, Dual-Band WiFi 6 Home Security Camera, Baby/Dog/Pet Camera, Human/Pet Auto Tracking, Crying Sound Detection, Privacy Mode, 8MP night vision, E1 Zoom

I've had several brands of IP cam in the past, each one with its own issues such as poor build quality, horrific setup and poor support. I've always managed to get them working but I pitied anyone going through the same experience if they didn't have a background in IT.Now the Reolink E1 Zoom. Must haves for me were good image quality, email and FTP support, and no sneaky tie-in to subscription services. Oh and easy remote access. It ticks all those boxes.I have had to contact support to discuss HTTPS browser niggles but they were responsive and I feel assured if anything more serious needs discussing they are there to help, which is more than can be said for some of the cams I've had in the past where support has been non-existent, even if you use the documented routes. For some reason 1 of my cams put up a small fight during initial setup, but that was sorted with a little perseverance.On top of the features I really needed, other details are handy and easy to configure. I've seen comments about poor picture quality but that's not what I have experienced. There are options to calibrate and focus, as well as image quality settings via browser or app (Windows or iOS) I've not even bothered with night mode and IR as I am getting decent colour images at night in daytime mode. Main use is via internal positioning to monitor car and driveway, and it's all good. I'm now making more use of tracking function and it seems pretty decent too.In terms of design it is a tidy unit, and doesn't even have an ugly Wi-Fi antenna as my previous cams have had, so it's a single cable install for power only. Only disappointment is that unlike other Reolink cams, there is no power extension cable available, and whilst the standard cable is decent length it would be good if they sorted that out.I've not made use of audio functions so can't comment on that, but all in all I am pleased, so much so, that I bought another.

Not bad for the price. Camera works well after an initial hardware problem where the camera resets every few minutes (and the PTZ recalibrated) on the latest firmware. Reolink support was excellent and quick, replacing the camera and solving the problem. I have this connected to Frigate Network Video Recorder and then into Home Assistant. Works well.

So I will cut to the chase on this one, would I recommend it or buy again, well no to both but I have kept it.This is an ok camera with good resolution for the price.I have found with every budget Pan & Tilt camera that the movement is very jumpy and you have no real control over the position, which is the main selling point, THE MOVEMENT! There is also a significant delay between telling it to move and it moving, again making positioning very difficult.But one really good feature is that you can save positions which you can return to with one button push. Very impressed with that, but the Guard point cannot be reset or removed.The resolution is good and it has a real zoom (not just a cropped image). The auto focus when zooming, does feel as though it is running on a celeron processor (very slow for those that don't remember).I have tried connecting this to Alexa. It can be seen in the app, but you cannot view the footage on an echo device which is a real shame. Perhaps this will come in the future?There is a PC program for monitoring your cameras which is great for live view but does not seem to work with recordings.So this is another camera that is a good effort but really lacking in delivery.

Needed a decent camera to use as our baby monitor which we were watching via our phones and iPad I have tried eight or nine different cameras all of them claiming to be 1080p but in reality nothing like that when you actually set them up. If ever you tried to zoom in instantly you would see the blockiness and couldn’t really see the picture properly.Finally found this one with three times optical zoom and boy does that make a difference the picture without the zoom is a markable improvement on the other cameras we have tried including the ring indoor camera which I expected to be very good but it really wasn’t. With this camera having the added three times optical zoom feature I was really hoping that the picture quality zoomed in would be just as good And it didn’t let me down at all even fully sending the picture is still an amazing 1080p full HD allowing you to even examine your screen digitally picture still looking amazing. The build quality of the camera and the app that you use are both excellent & simple to set up.Certainly won’t be returning this camera as there are no other cameras on the market that do an optical zoom For anything like this price. This really is one amazing bit of kit and at an in believable price