REOLINK RLK8-800D4 review

The verdict in one line

Best CCTV system for continuous recording

Channels

8

Cameras included

4 dome, 4K / 8MP

Storage

2 TB HDD, expandable to 8 TB

Cabling

PoE, up to 330 ft

Recording

24/7 continuous

Fee needed

No

Buy it if

You want everything recorded, all the time, with no gaps and no monthly fee.

Look elsewhere if

You rent, or you are not willing to run cable through walls.

Is the REOLINK RLK8-800D4 worth it?

Drawn for this site. Not a product photo.

This is what people mean when they search for CCTV rather than for a security camera. A recorder with a hard drive in it, cameras on network cable, and footage that exists whether or not anything triggered a sensor.

The listing specifies 4K at 8MP per camera, a pre-installed 2 TB drive, expansion to 8 TB, and PoE runs up to 330 feet, which means one cable per camera carrying both power and video. Person and vehicle detection runs on the recorder to cut down the alerts that animals and shadows would otherwise generate.

The install is the cost. Four cable runs through an attic is a weekend if you are comfortable and a contractor if you are not. Budget for that honestly, because it is frequently more than the difference between this and a battery kit.

The install is most of the real cost

Eight channels with four cameras supplied means room for four more later, which is the main reason to prefer this over a four-channel box. PoE means one cable per camera carrying both power and data, up to 330 feet per run.

Be honest about the labour. Four runs through an attic and down a wall is a weekend for someone comfortable with a drill and a fish tape, and several hundred dollars if it is not. Add that to the price before comparing this with a battery kit, and then weigh it against the fact that this is the only configuration here that records everything, continuously, with no plan and no dependence on anyone's servers.

What it costs to keep running

Plan fees for the REOLINK RLK8-800D4 over five years: $0, because it keeps its own footage; the hard drive is already fitted in the recorder.

The REOLINK RLK8-800D4's 2 TB drive holds about 12 days of continuous 4K from all 4 cameras before it starts overwriting the oldest footage. Recording on motion instead stretches that to more than a year.

Different card or recording mode? The storage calculator uses the same assumptions.

If this is not the one

• REOLINK RLK16-800B8Best large CCTV system
• Lorex U-Series 8Ch 4KBest CCTV system for a lived-in room
• Tapo C320WSBest outdoor camera overall

Head to head

• REOLINK RLK8-800D4 vs aosu D1 Classic 4-Cam KitSide by side
• REOLINK RLK8-800D4 vs REOLINK RLK16-800B8Side by side
• REOLINK RLK8-800D4 vs Lorex U-Series 8Ch 4KSide by side