BERLIN—The Reolink Altas PT Ultra brings flexibility to outdoor security. On display here at the IFA trade show, it’s the first battery-powered outdoor home security camera to offer continuous monitoring as an option instead of just recording after motion-based events. That feature alone might raise concerns about the length of its battery life, but the 20,000mAh capacity allows it to last for eight days on a charge while continuously recording for 12 hours a day, according to Reolink. You’ll need to charge it more regularly if you want 24 hours of recording, but the battery should last much longer if you switch to event-based recording.The Altas PT Ultra is smart enough to differentiate people and vehicles in its motion recordings and alerts. It can capture 10 seconds of pre-roll before the event is triggered thanks to cached footage in its System-on-Chip (SoC). It can even pan 350 degrees, tilt 90 degrees, and automatically track subjects while recording an event. You might not even need to make use of its flagship continuous recording feature to catch the action you’re looking for, but it’s there if you need it. Footage can be stored locally and is captured in 4K UHD. It supports full-color night vision thanks to its large aperture and sensor that detects more light than usual IR night vision cameras.
(Credit: Andrew Gebhart)
The Altas PT Ultra looks the part of a robust security camera. Even without wires, you’ll need to find a sturdy place to mount it as it’s not exactly small or indiscreet. While utilitarian in design, it should have the power and flexibility to help you keep a close eye on your property at all times, wherever you are.
Recommended by Our Editors
Reolink hasn’t announced pricing for the Reolink Altas PT Ultra yet, but it’s due out in the US on Sept. 25. We look forward to testing it in the real world, so stay tuned for our full review.
Get Our Best Stories!
Sign up for What’s New Now to get our top stories delivered to your inbox every morning.
This newsletter may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time.
About Andrew Gebhart
Senior Analyst, Smart Home and Wearables
I’m PCMag’s senior analyst covering smart home and wearable devices. I’ve been writing about tech professionally for nearly a decade and have been obsessing about it for much longer than that. Prior to joining PCMag, I made educational videos for an electronics store called Abt Electronics in Illinois, and before that I spent eight years covering the smart home market for CNET. I foster many flavors of nerdom in my personal life. I’m an avid board gamer and video gamer. I love fantasy football, which I view as a combination of role-playing games and sports. Plus, I can talk to you about craft beer for hours and am on a personal quest to have a flight of beer at each microbrewery in my home city of Chicago.
Read Andrew’s full bio
Read the latest from Andrew Gebhart
