The Reolink Argus 4 Pro is not your average outdoor security camera. It stitches together two lenses for a 180-degree super-wide angle view, along with a security alarm and spotlights for better nighttime viewing. It runs on Wi-Fi 6, works with a smartphone and desktop app, and best of all: you don’t need a pricey cloud subscription plan to store your footage, as you can slot in a microSD card. It won’t suit every use case, but if you need a wide-angle Wi-Fi security camera that can run forever with an optional solar panel, the Argus 4 Pro is ideal.
Reolink Argus 4 Pro
Offering an incredible undistorted 180-degree wide-angle view by combining two lenses, the IP66-rated Reolink Argus 4 Pro is perfect for the outdoors and be kept running indefinitely using the optional solar panel. You’ll need to be within Wi-Fi range, but the Wi-Fi 6 connectivity ensures smooth streaming. Footage can be stored locally on an SD card or the optional Reolink Home Hub.
Price and Availability
Available on the Reolink official site and Amazon, the Argus 4 Pro solar kit retails at $200 / £220. It’s only available in white, and I’d highly recommend picking up a full kit with the solar panel, especially if you’re going to be using it in a high-traffic area. MakeUseOf readers can use the codereoargus5to get 10% off.
Specifications
At a Glance Features: Waterproof, Wi-Fi, and Wide-Angle
The Argus 4 Pro is designed for use anywhere and features IP66 weatherproof housing. But it’s still best to give it a little shelter, like under an awning.
This isn’t the first time Reolink has dabbled with dual lenses, but their initial efforts were hampered by the need to check two distinct video streams for the full view. The Argus 4 Pro combines the video streams from both lenses, with customizable stitching depending on the range you need. That means you get a single video stream showing the entire undistorted field of view; that’s 180-degrees horizontal and 50-degrees vertical.
The Argus 4 Pro is a wireless and battery-powered camera (5000mAh); there is no option to hardwire it with PoE. However, it uses the latest Wi-Fi 6 for fast connectivity with compatible routers, and an optional solar panel ensures it remains powered all year round.
To reduce false alarms, the Argus 4 Pro uses on-board AI to identify animals, people, and vehicles. Each can have the sensitivity customized, ignored completely, or filtered out, including when searching all the recordings. This is on top of the standard schedule for notifications and the ability to paint areas to ignore. You can even set the alerts as critical if you’d like to receive them when your phone is set to Do Not Disturb.
For use as an entry camera, it also includes a two-way audio system.
Setup and Installation: Effortless
In the main box, you’ll find the Argus 4 dual-lens camera, an adjustable mount, screws, and tree strap.
If you’ve opted for a solar panel to keep the battery topped up, you’ll also find a similar set of mounting points, strap, pivot mount, and, of course, the solar panel itself. This includes a fairly long cable to plug into the rear. You won’t need the small adaptor cable; this is to ensure it’s kept waterproof when used with other models.
Viewed from front-on, the Argus 4 Pro has an uncanny resemblance to a 1985 R.O.B.—the cute robot accessory for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It measures 128mm (5 inches) wide, 86mm (3.4 inches) tall, and 80mm (3.15 inches) deep; though on the pivot mount, it’ll protrude up to 148mm (5.8 inches) from the wall.
Before mounting the camera, you should add the Argus 4 Pro to the Reolink app and set up your Wi-Fi details. You’ll also want to add your own microSD card for storage, as one isn’t supplied; you find the port underneath the rubber bumper on the base.
After powering on from the small button hidden under the rubber cover, you’ll be greeted by voice instructions in every major European language instructing you to install the Reolink app. Setup is a simple case of scanning the QR code on the base of the camera, then adding your Wi-Fi details and creating an admin password. It really couldn’t be easier.
Mounting the Argus 4 Pro: Screw, or Strap
There are a few stages to installing the Argus 4 Pro, depending on what you’ll be attaching to.
The small metal rear bracket is only for use with the strap, if you’re attaching the camera to a pole or tree. Carefully lay the strap inside the indentation, then use some machine screws to attach the base of the camera mount, sandwiching the strap between the two.
Alternatively, screw the pivot mount directly to a wall or shed. I would suggest using some different screws than those provided, which are weak and easy to strip.
Finally, you can screw the pivot mount into the base of Argus 4 Pro, and adjust the angle as needed. Use the app for a live preview to help you.
Battery-Powered: Add a Solar Panel to Never Need to Charge
The Argus 4 Pro achieves exceptional battery life with one neat trick: the use of a PIR motion sensor to wake up. Rather than running the camera modules constantly, it’ll sleep in a low-power mode until motion is detected within the 10-meter range.
You can keep the Argus 4 Pro running indefinitely by attaching the optional 6W solar panel. Reolink claims that just 10 minutes of sun per day should be enough to keep it fully powered. After a month of testing, mine still hasn’t dropped below 90%.
Video Quality: Superb
The Argus 4 Pro doesn’t compromise on video quality just because it’s a battery-powered camera or has an ultra-wide field of view, offering an incredible 5120 pixels wide by 1440 pixels tall image—otherwise known as DQHD—at a 32:9 aspect ratio and 15 frames per second. A combination of a large f/1.0 lens, 1/1.8” image sensor, and all-around spotlights for nighttime use result in fantastic quality images night or day (Reolink has dubbed this “ColorX technology”).
While most security cameras would end up black and white, with grainy low resolution in low light, the Argus 4 Pro is determined to make the best of it. At 10:15 p.m., when it was almost pitch black, the Argus 4 Pro effortlessly made it look like daytime. In the example below, I’ve deliberately disabled the security lights to demonstrate—the only hint that it’s not a typical gloomy British daytime is the light from my phone’s screen reflecting on my face. The blue box highlights a detected object to easily survey the scene.
Turn the floodlights on, and the harsh lighting makes the fact it’s actually nighttime painfully obvious.
For ease of viewing, you don’t need to stream the full-resolution video; select “Fluent” video mode to quickly check, and swap over to “Clear” if you need to zoom in or get accurate details.
Storage: Optional Cloud, MicroSD, or NVR
One thing that really puts me off a security camera is when they have extremely limited functionality unless you pay for a cloud storage option. Some cameras are functionally useless without that “optional” subscription. Not so with the Reolink Argus 4 Pro—you’re able to either use the MicroSD local storage on the device itself, or purchase a separateReolink Home HubNVR for use with multiple cameras. The ability to get immediate access to high-quality recordings without paying for cloud storage plans is a killer feature.
Of course, the volume of clips and events you can store will depend on the size of the card you fit; each 30-second event is about 10MB, compressed with HEVC. Potentially, that’s years of footage.
Curiously, although Reolink offers a very competitively pricedoptional cloud storage plan, the Argus series cameras appear not to be supported in the USA. If you’re in the UK, you can use any of the Argus cameras with your cloud plan.
As with all the Reolink cameras, remote access is possible even without a cloud storage plan; it connects directly to your home network, and not via a cloud provider.
Software: Smartphone or Desktop App
Most consumer-level security cameras offer a barely functional smartphone app and perhaps a stream URL to use the camera in third-party software—if you’re lucky. Reolink offers a comprehensive smartphone app, and desktop software for Mac and Windows. You should use the smartphone app for initial setup and configuration.
Motion alerts are highly customizable to ensure detection accuracy, and can even be set with “critical” status to bypass your Do Not Disturb phone setting.
Although possible in both the desktop and smartphone app, you should be wary of watching the live stream for too long: as a battery-powered camera, you’ll drain the power quickly. It’s not designed to be watched 24/7; it wakes up to send notifications or play an alarm only when it detects activity.
One slightly annoying aspect of the automatic stitching is that when using multi-view on the desktop software, the Argus 4 Pro cannot be stretched across two windows. On the older Duo series cameras (the bottom two in the example above), the two separate streams take up one window each, maximizing the view.
In single-camera view mode, this isn’t a problem since you may resize the whole window, but it’s clear the stitching is more beneficial to smartphone app users who want to view in full-screen landscape mode, than to desktop app users.
Should You Buy the Reolink Argus 4 Pro?
While most of my home is wired with Ethernet for CCTV coverage, sometimes you either can’t install wires or you need coverage somewhere a little more remote. In my case, that’s a cabin in the garden where various critters insist on eating any network cables I run. At about 20 meters from the house, the cabin is on the edge of Wi-Fi reception, but still maintains a solid connection, with reliable alerts and live viewing possible with little latency. The Argus 4 Pro is ideal for this, and since it’s in a sunny spot, the solar panel ensures it never needs charging. The apps are reliable, and the smart detection means I only get the alerts I want, not when a fly passes or the wind rustles the bushes.
But do consider your requirements carefully, because Reolink has an extensive range of cameras, with something to suit every use case. If you may’t get any Wi-Fi coverage for a more remote location, I recommend a Reolink camera with LTE coverage instead, such as theGo PT Ultra. For wildlife recording, theGo Rangeris ideal. But if you can install PoE infrastructure, theDuo seriesis superior, offering the same stitched wide-angle view, higher resolutions, and the ability to stream the feed 24/7 without draining the battery.
All the Reolink cameras work within the same easy-to-use smartphone app and desktop software. There’s no better option for a whole-home system of coverage that doesn’t need a pricey subscription plan, and the Argus 4 Pro fits nicely into the existing range with a decent upgrade over the previous Argus models.
