Reolink Duo review: Dual-lens coverage hampered by connectivty issues
Getting broad surveillance coverage typically means trading some image quality for a wider field of view. Super wide-angle lenses tend to sacrifice detail and suffer from barrel distortion. The Reolink Duo attempts to skirt that problem by putting two lenses into one camera body and then stitching the two video feeds together. It’s not perfect—connection issues with one of the cameras frequently hindered the Duo’s marquee feature in my testing—but when it works, it works well.
The Duo comes in four different models: Power over ethernet (a PoE model, reviewed here), wire-powered Wi-Fi, battery-powered Wi-Fi, and battery-powered 4G. All four feature 2K resolution per lens and offer roughly the same features, with some minor differences in frames per second captured and local-storage capacity. Your choice will depend largely on how you plan to install the camera. The wired Wi-fi model is best for those who have access to an outdoor outlet, while the PoE and battery-powered models will reduce or eliminate the amount of wiring you need thread indoors.