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Reolink was one of the companies that we really had our eye on at IFA 2024 last month. Apart from Reolink’s major rebranding, the company had several new products that it showcased at Europe’s largest consumer electronics trade show. Among them, there’s no question whatsoever that the new Reolink Altas PT Ultra was the star of the show in Berlin.
The Altas PT Ultra is by far the most impressive new battery-powered security camera that we’ve seen in 2024. It offers best-in-class specs and performance, plus a number of industry-first features that you can’t get on any other battery camera in the world.
In this article, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about this game-changing new battery camera.
Key features
Those of you who are familiar with Reolink are well aware that the company makes some of the best security cameras in the business. That includes wired PoE camera systems as well as wireless battery-powered cameras. Reolink cameras offer class-leading quality and versatility, so you can create the perfect security camera setup no matter how many cameras you need or where you want to place them.
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While it’s true that all of Reolink’s cameras are impressive, there are some key features that make the Altas PT Ultra stand out.
Battery
The Reolink Altas PT Ultra has several exciting new features that you won’t find on most other wire-free security cameras. At their core, however, none of them would be possible without one crucial feature: A massive battery.
Reolink’s new Altas PT Ultra security camera has an ultra-large 20,000 mAh battery — double the capacity of similar battery cameras from other brands. With a battery that huge, Reolink is able to offer cutting-edge features that you simply can’t get with comparable cameras from other companies.
4K UHD continuous recording
Image source: Reolink
So, what types of exciting new features are enabled by Reolink’s massive 20,000 mAh battery? The most obvious one is continuous recording, which you won’t find on any other battery camera out there.
One of the best things about PoE camera systems is that they record continuously, capturing everything that happens around your home or office. Since these cameras draw power over an Ethernet cable or from a wall outlet, battery life isn’t an issue.
Things are a bit different with battery cameras. Most battery-powered cameras would run out of juice in one day if they offered a continuous recording option, but the Altas PT Ultra isn’t like other cameras. Thanks to the huge battery capacity and Reolink’s efficient tech, the Altas PT Ultra can record 12 hours of continuous 4K Ultra HD footage per day for up to eight days on a single charge… and that doesn’t even take into account the optional solar panel.
Meanwhile, if you don’t want continuous recording and you use it for PiR-triggered recordings, the Altas PT Ultra can deliver up to a whopping 500 days of battery life. That’s truly incredible, and no comparable battery camera even comes close.
Pre-recording
In another industry-first, the Reolink Altas PT Ultra has a pre-recording feature that isn’t available on other comparable security cameras.
When motion events trigger recordings on other battery-powered security cameras, you almost always miss the beginning of whatever movement triggered the event. But that’s not the case with the Altas PT Ultra. Thanks to 10-second pre-recording, you’ll get a full 10 seconds of footage prior to the motion that triggers each recording. That way, you’ll never miss a thing.
Day and Night Color Vision
Video recorded during the day on the Reolink Altas PT Ultra offers stunningly vivid colors. Of course, that’s true with many security cameras. But what if you could also enjoy full-color video footage at night instead of the annoying night vision that you get on most other cameras?
With Reolink’s industry-leading ColorX Night Vision technology, nighttime video footage is recorded at up to 4K UHD resolution in color instead of with white or greenish night vision. As a result, you can see far more detail than you would with a regular battery-powered security camera. The short video above shows you how impressive the difference can be.
360° blindspot-free view & auto-tracking
The “PT” in the name Altas PT Ultra stands for pan and tilt, which means this model isn’t a typical battery camera with a fixed field of view. Instead, the Reolink Altas PT Ultra has a motorized camera head that supports 355° panning (left to right) and 90° tilting (up and down). That way, the camera can follow all the action instead of only capturing a few seconds of it.
Using Reolink’s advanced auto-tracking technology, the Altas PT Ultra will automatically pan and tilt to follow whatever triggered a motion event. That includes people, cars, and even animals. Reolink uses enhanced smart detection to identify the source of motion triggers, and it also helps cut down on false alerts.
Local recordings, no subscription fees
With the Altas PT Ultra, all video recordings are stored locally on a memory card, either in the camera itself or in your Reolink Home Hub, if you have one. This setup has two main benefits over cloud recording, which some other battery camera companies force on users.
First, local recordings enhance your security. Since recordings aren’t transferred over the internet or stored on cloud servers, your privacy is protected.
Second, you don’t have to pay any monthly or annual subscription fees. Some other security camera brands cripple their wire-free security cameras unless you pay a subscription for enhanced services you might not even want. Reolink offers cloud services as well, but it doesn’t force you to pay by gatekeeping certain key features and locking them to a subscription plan.
Now available to order
As you can see, the Reolink Altas PT Ultra is one of the most exciting new battery cameras that has been released in 2024. As a matter of fact, it’s easily the most impressive new model we’ve seen in years.
The Altas PT Ultra is available to order now, and it retails for $209.99 on its own or $229.99 with a solar panel.
