Home security goes binocular with the new Reolink Duo 2K camera

Reolink has combined many of the best advantages the brand can offer into its latest product, 6500 Kelvin (K)/440-lumen spotlights, an infra-red mode for night-vision and a variant with a 10,400mAh battery that can also hook up to a solar panel for always-on power included. However, this new Duo also has something entirely its own: dual 4MP cameras.

They are rated for up to 2K (2560x1440) video at 15 frames per second, with 4 of those spotlights per 'eye' for the aforementioned night vision to come in color and to reach up to 30 meters in front of the camera. Furthermore, their combined 150° field of view comes without the need to pan at any time. Reolink also claims that this newly binocular nature confers improved "shape detection" on the camera.

This means the IP66-powered Duo may be better able to tell genuine threats such as human intruders from others such as animals running across the yard, and refine the notifications sent to the user via its mobile app accordingly. Additionally, this feature does not require a subscription.

All in all, this seems a considerable upgrade in home security tech from Reolink. On the other hand, some pan-enabled cameras can technically get a better field of view; furthermore, the battery-powered Duo only works with first-party solar panels, which are separate purchases. Finally, its microSD slot supports cards of up to 128GB, and the brand's cloud service only operates in certain regions.

Nevertheless, there may well be users out there who would like to stick something as close to a droid's head as possible onto their house. If so, the Reolink Duo comes in wired Wi-Fi, 4G/LTE and PoE versions in addition to the wireless option, starting at US$130. However, the SKUs do currently have discounts during their "early bird" launch event.

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