Reolink Duo 3 Camera Test: A New Benchmark in Security

The main interest of the Duo 3 lies in its sensors, whose images are assembled to arrive at a final definition of 7680 x 2160 pixels. So we’re not quite at the 8K announced by Reolink, but not too far, even if we shouldn’t forget that these are actually 4K images placed side by side. The definition is in any case a clear increase compared to the Duo 2 and its 4608 x 1728 pixel images for a field of vision that does not move, or at least not on the horizontal axis: 180° (55° on the vertical axis, compared to 60 for the previous model). . At this point, the Duo 3 has no equal. Of course, an infrared mode is offered for night time and as an option there is a small LED projector to restore color in night time recordings.

on the day

With its 4K sensor, the Duo 3 offers good image quality. The connection between the two video streams is always visible despite our numerous attempts to make it disappear, but the result remains fairly clean. Compared to Ezviz’s HB8 2K+, the Reolink camera reproduces our scene more beautifully and, Finally with more details. Overexposure is still a threat in places, so some elements ultimately seem to stand up better on the HB8 image, such as pieces of our topographical map, but the Duo 3 does better overall.

from the night

When light becomes insufficient, the Duo 3 switches to infrared vision. Although dark areas and contours are not always well-defined, with blur, the Reolink camera lags behind the Ezviz camera in this situation, even if its best resolution is felt on the electronic card at the center of our test. In frieze over scene or second portrait to left.

By turning on its projectors, the Duo 3 returns to colorful images and closer to the detail seen during the day. Our test scene looked slightly better in the light of the on-board projector than in daylight, but their range is obviously limited.

Compared to infrared LEDs, on the other hand, projectors offer a longer range. We were able to identify faces up to 6 meters away on the Duo 3’s color night vision, compared to just 5 meters away on infrared images. In both cases, it is very good and sufficient to put the Reolink camera among the best models we compared for this exercise. However, we should point out that we observed the same with the Duo 2 and more affordable models like TP-Link’s Tapo C510W are not far behind.

We will also recognize the Duo 3 as having a particularly responsive detection system. With or without AI, in infrared or night color, the camera managed to detect our movements as far as the other end of our lab, a little over 9 meters away. In fact, its detection system is slightly more reactive at night; The camera sends constant alerts with motion detection set to maximum sensitivity. It’s best to minimize it and use intelligent detection to avoid false alerts.