Now more than ever is there a need for some security. Even if the looming threat of someone breaking into your house, or car isn’t particularly high, low level crimes like porch pirates absolutely are. This has resulted in a wide array of options ranging from rather basic cameras, to legitimate tools that can be used to ultimately be made whole again. One of the industry leaders, Reolink, upped their game with the newly released Argus 4 Pro. The revision to their popular Argus 3 boasts a number of exciting features, plus a powerful camera, but is all of this actually worthwhile?
For this review we received a rather simple box holding Argus 4 Pro. I’m guessing this is likely the inner box just without the retail slip cover. Regardless, it’s a well arranged container.
Everything is stacked neatly in logical compartments. On top is the manual, complete with multiple protected by Reolink stickers, the camera, and another box containing all the accessories.
Reolink included a mount, parts to wall mount, USB-C to USB-A cable, and a loop strap (it’s used in certain mounting situations). All of the parts felt nice, had a bit of weight to them, and make installation pretty simple.
I actually like how Argus 4 Pro looks. It reminds me a lot of a more modern take of R.O.B. that takes up very little space. On it are a number of lights, dual cameras, power button/microSD card slot on the bottom, and mount/power plug on the back.
The nice thing about this design is how easy everything is to access. I can remove the bottom, swap SD cards without having to move anything. The same is true for the USB-C port on the back, which is set up so the wire shouldn’t be very visible. Both of these also come with a protective rubber feeling cover. They can be somewhat hard to remove, at least the power cord one, though should provide suitable protection from the elements.
Installing Argus 4 Pro was surprisingly pain free. With the included mount guide, and accessories, it shouldn’t be more than a 10 to 15 minute task. The same is true for pairing the device.
All I need to do is turn Argus 4 Pro on, download the application, and scan the QR code on the back. In all I think it took me 3 minutes to get things up and running.
When viewed at full resolution the dual 8MP camera system does a surprisingly good job. I can easily make out structures, locations, or even finer details. Where it starts to become less impressive is zooming in. A lot of the crispness is lost in favor of a more general idea of what things are.
This is more than enough to spot a suspicious vehicle, or unwanted guest, but perhaps not spotting a license plate from across the street. In addition to the general quality, I was surprised by color accuracy.
Argus 4 Pro boasts Reolink ColorX technology, which makes it easier to appreciate your garden, or make sure you know what color car stole your package.
In low light Argus 4 Pro offered a surprisingly strong performance. I initially tested this outside, with it being more than capable of capturing an incoming threat, or nearby wildlife. However, due to how bright it is, even at 2 AM in Michigan, I opted for tested in darker rooms like my office.
When used there I could easily make out most things in my room. Not only were details visible, along with a surprising amount of color, a lot of this is due to the light arrangement.
The benefit to this is ultimately two simple things. Since there isn’t a single source of light pointing to a specific location, more of the area is visible. Along with that, there is less potential for something being washed out. This will sometimes impact license plates, or other reflective things in a way that proves counter productive.
Video performance was about what you’d expect. While picture quality remained impressive, motion wasn’t particularly notable.
Given Argus 4 Pro captures at 15FPS this was expected. Slow moving objects generally looked fine, with fast moving items looking pretty poor. Still, this should be more than enough in most situations, even if it is to just get a general idea of what happened.
While the camera is important, it’s just as important to touch on the software driving it. As previously mentioned, set up was a breeze. Following a successful link I could further protect it with a password, and edit a wide variety of settings.
When using a camera there are a couple options that are fairly easy to understand. These include siren, light, settings, an immersive view, pause, audio on, take picture, take video, capture quality, and enlarge.
Settings are the real highlight given you can control pretty much anything you could want. Some notable examples include motion sensor, along with reduce false alarms setting (prevents frequent alarms of the same thing), the size of an object you want it to react to, Detection zone, privacy zones, light brightness and more.
In terms of use I was pleasantly surprised by how useful false alarms are. This was something of an annoyance with the last camera I tested. I think I got around 100 notifications during my final tests while writing the review alone. Here I pretty much got an idea of what is going on and that was it.
I also like the size detection option. It’s fairly common for squirrels, or even the occasional cat/rabbits to appear and trigger an alarm. When properly set I didn’t receive any updates unless they were actually near the camera, or doing something worth paying attention to.
One of the things that impressed me the most about Argus 4 Pro is how quickly it could recognize certain things. During a number of tests only a small part of me would be visible, like just a small patch of hair, but it would frequently recognize that as a person. Not only is this impressive, it’s nice to know even a slight mistake could easily trigger a notification that makes a huge difference at a time of need.
For this review Reolink was also kind enough to provide a Solar Panel 2 to aid in using Argus 4 Pro. This is their new version that has the ability to provide 6W of power, to provide a wider variety of mounting options.
The build quality is nicer, and thinner, than the last solar panel we had the opportunity to check out, and it’s great to see it came with an adapter for those using older models.
In regard to function, during our time having it connected to Argus 4 Pro we experienced no issues. Even now it remains at a full charge that will easily continue to monitor future events. Well worth it if you just want to set it up and not deal with periodic charging/intermittent use.
Reolink also allows Argus 4 Pro to work with existing Google Nest (Home) Hub set ups. The offered features are limited to talk, sound and video, but extremely useful for anyone that wants to see who is at the door, or another thing without pulling out their phone.
In the grand scheme of things Argus 4 Pro is exactly what I’m looking for in a security camera. It supports local storage, offers fantastic visuals when you need them the most, night vision, all at a surprisingly affordable price. Add in the support for Google Nest Hub, and the surprisingly robust application, it’s the type of experience that just works, and does so extremely well. Whether you want to just see what is happening, or check as needed, it’s the type of experience that just works.
Editor’s Note: Reolink Argus 4 Pro was provided to us for review purposes.
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