Thank you Reolink for sending us this TrackFlex Floodlight camera to review!

We have reviewed several Reolink cameras by this point, and my favorite before now was the excellent Elite Floodlight WiFi.  While it does require hard wiring it into your electrical system, it results in a clear picture with a very wide viewing angle that is always online, along with a useful floodlight that helps keep you safe. The Reolink TrackFlex Floodlight WiFi is also a permanent-mount camera that, rather than covering a narrow but wide view, can cover a much larger area, and in greater detail, too.

Unlike the Elite, which has two wide-view cameras tied together for a vertically narrow but horizontally wide viewing area, the TrackFlex has a set of two lenses, a normal 4k camera view, and a second zoomed-in lens. Then, the camera assembly is on a swivel pod that lets the camera aim in almost any direction horizontally, along with a decent tilt vertically, allowing you to view almost anything within a decent range of the camera, though if you stand right under it, it won't find you.

However, getting to that spot under the camera is almost impossible without it noticing you. The reason is pretty simple, and it's because of the PIR sensors. These sensors are really the TrackFlex's secret weapon; without them, much of this camera's magic would be lost.

PIR actually stands for 'Passive Infrared'. This sensor works by detecting a change in infrared radiation. For those unaware, all warm objects emit infrared radiation based on the temperature of that object. Humans, animals and cars all emit heat while alive (or in operation). Once a change in the infrared spectrum is detected, the TrackFlex camera then focuses on that point, making sure to record what it sees. The PIR sensors in my testing are shockingly accurate, as long as you aren't inside the house. If the camera is not pointed at the window, and there is movement inside the house (but you can see it through the window), the camera won't notice it. Otherwise, it works really, really well.

The only exception might be that there is no PIR sensor on the back of the camera. This is not really a problem, at least for me, because you have to install the camera into an A/C junction box. In my case, I swapped out a light fixture for the Elite Floodlight camera, and decided that this TrackFlex Floodlight would fit that use case even better, so I swapped that one for this. It still requires a hard-wired installation to your power lines.

Essentially, it can be mounted anywhere an electrical box is available. This could theoretically be indoors, if you wanted to replace a room light with a camera + floodlight, but realistically it's meant to replace an existing outside light. It is designed for ceiling/overhang or wall mounting. Since I installed this TrackFlex Floodlight right where I had the old Elite Floodlight, it's connected to the same internally-switched outlet, so I am still using an inexpensive light switch blocker so that you can't accidentally turn it off.

As someone who has replaced outlets and light switches before, and understands how to enable or disable power via my breaker box, I found the installation quite straightforward and not too difficult. Before I began, I turned off the switch that controls the power to that outside light. I know I should have shut off the breaker as well for double protection, but thankfully no one turned on that outside light switch while we were working. I did this during a bright, sunny day, though unfortunately this review unit arrived in the winter, so it wasn't that warm. Thankfully it was still above freezing that day.

My son and I grabbed a ladder and some tools and we removed the old light from the external soffit overhang. We had to unscrew a couple of screws to lower the existing camera light from the soffit, unveiling an adapter plate with a standard square junction box underneath. Three wires were also exposed, which connected to the old light.

Since the wires were not live, we then removed the adapter plate and untwisted the wire caps which tied them together. There were three colors: white, black, and in my case, brown for ground. Once separated, I was able to entirely remove the old camera.

Before the next step, I connected the TrackFlex Floodlight's camera module to a USB-C 5V20W DC adapter, so I could pair and connect it to the Reolink app. I already had the app installed and configured because I reviewed the previous products, so it was easy. I connected it to my Home Hub, which makes centralized configuration and viewing multiple cameras much easier.

Next, we followed the provided installation instructions on the Reolink app. They include step-by-step instructions, like attaching the mounting plate to the junction box. Then, I was instructed to install the base bracket onto the mounting plate, while carefully feeding the wires into the opening. This model makes it clearer than before which direction to face out, so it was easy to line up.

Then you lift up and connect the Reolink to the mains power. I used the included wire caps and twisted together the white, black, and ground wires. In this case, the ground wire from the Reolink's side is green, while it was brown in my installation. Once all connected, you then attach the TrackFlex Floodlight to the mounting plate with the included screws. That's it for mounting it!

I will say that the older Elite Floodlight is made of sturdier stuff than this new TrackFlex Floodlight. The Elite uses metal in the camera mounting plate and base. This TrackFlex seems to be all plastic. It's meant to be mounted under an overhang, so that's probably fine, but if I was mounting this camera directly under the weather, the Elite Floodlight might be a better choice.

Whatever the case, if you do not feel comfortable following directions where live electrical wiring is involved, or if there is a chance that the wiring uses different colors or is so old that standards likely changed since the house was wired, then call an electrician to install it. Safety is of the utmost importance, after all.

One great benefit of having a hard-wired camera light like this is that you can not only replace the functionality of an old standalone light fixture, but because it's WiFi, once it's connected and associated with your app (or Home Hub), that's all you need to get it working. While a hard-wired Ethernet connection is no doubt superior, I've had no problem with WiFi, and I didn't have to run that wire through my attic.

Since I've had it all connected and working, it's been really great. I actually like it even more than the Elite Floodlight for my front-door use case. With the app, I am able to aim the camera to get a full view of my front door, my driveway, or my mailbox. I found a nice default monitor point that I was able to set that gives me a full view of my driveway while still being able to see my mailbox clearly. Then, when the PIR sensors are triggered, the camera can just follow what moves from there. I've seen everything from delivery trucks to local stray cats get caught on camera. I love knowing that this camera lets nothing get by it with so many sensors and the clarity the main camera offers.

Since I work from home in my basement, I often leave the camera app up and running so I can watch what's happening outside. It helps me catch deliveries, or know when the mailman's here. If my dogs are barking at something, I can check the camera, and it can now see far enough to know if it's something in my yard or something from across the street. I love the flexibility of being able to point it to anything.

One of my favorite features is being able to set the default monitor point, and then also being able to setup multiple preset points in the app. Since my default monitor point covers most of the front view, I have a second one set to look at my front door. If for some reason I didn't notice the camera doing its thing when a delivery person came by, I can just tap the front door monitor point, see if I have a package, then click the other point and the camera points back to where it was before. You can also set timeouts so it will return to your preferred point automatically. I love that feature.

With a recent firmware update, the Floodlight part also works better. Since I use the Reolink Home Hub, some features were locked behind a Home Hub update. I can now enable automatic light mode, since it will dim to whatever the camera needs to be able to see well at night, and get brighter when motion is detected for a reasonable timeout. Before this update, it would flash on and off for several seconds if something was detected, which I didn't appreciate - but it drove my wife crazy.

Just like other Reolink products, there is no subscription or any additional fees unless you sign up for Cloud storage. And with microSD card support onboard or using the Home Hub, I really see no need for that. All of the existing features, like optional data storage encryption, optional notifications, email alerts, FTP uploads, and all of that are still available.

In my experience testing the notifications support, I found it to be far more reliable than before. This is especially true with car and moving object detection. This is likely because the camera is always on and at full-blast, being A/C powered, and of course those excellent PIR sensors. You can adjust detection sensitivity if you find it too sensitive (or not enough).

Most administration is done with the same Reolink app as all other modern Reolink products. They offer a Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS version. Most of my testing was done with the Android app, along with the Windows one. I was also able to access the live feed and video recordings from the Home Hub web interface from my Linux desktop machine.

Some of the features and options are slightly different since the Home Hub is managing my cameras. There is a new Local AI Video Search feature that, honestly, seems really great. But it does not yet support Home Hub connections. Since I don't have a spare microSD card to test the camera outside of using the Home Hub, I wasn't able to test this feature yet. I really look forward to this being supported via the Home Hub, since being able to search for videos via text prompts sound really amazing. Imagine being able to find all delivery people or trucks from just a text prompt! Until that happens, I'm still quite pleased with the feature set available. Currently, that AI search is only available from cameras directly connected to the app, and those managed by Reolink's high-end NVR systems.

If you are security conscious, and you don't want to let the camera's data leave your network, there is a way to do this if you have the right router like I do. In my case I have an Asus router, and with those you can block internet access for any device with a simple click in the router's interface. I tested this, and I was able to confirm that I could access the camera just fine from the house, but as soon as I was on mobile data, I could no longer access it. If you have the right setup like I do, but are concerned about privacy, this could be a great way to mitigate any privacy risks while still taking advantage of its wireless and easy to setup nature. Of course, if you don't have the right router or hardware, this might not be an option for you, so plan accordingly. With the Home Hub setup like I have, you would need to block the Home Hub itself, but if you use the camera connected to your WiFi, then you would need to block the camera.

If you don't have the Home Hub, the setup process is quite similar to the other Reolink cameras I tested. The camera can be accessed from within your home via your local network, or from outside of your house as long as you paired the camera to your phone first. When you set it up for the first time you connect via Bluetooth, but after that it's mostly via WiFi as far as I can tell. You set an administrator password that prevents someone else from trying to take over your camera without permission. I don't believe setting up the camera is possible without a mobile phone, but I could be wrong. The Android app is snappy and responds well, and I have been extremely happy with it.

The camera picture quality is excellent. It can see very clearly in the daytime, and at night it gets a remarkably clear picture as well. I will say that the Elite Floodlight does seem to handle low-light conditions a bit better, as this model is more likely to switch to black and white video footage more aggressively than what I found with the Elite. The camera can use infrared that it emits to supplement the lack of light to offer a usable black and white picture, even with the floodlights shut off. If you shut off all light, including the invisible (to humans) infrared, then the camera might have trouble. However, I see no reason to not have at least some light on, from the Floodlight itself or at the very least the included infrared. There are plenty of ways for this camera to keep things bright enough, what with those powerful floodlights attached to it.

In the app, there is a Clear and Fluent video modes. The Clear is the much higher native resolution 3840x2160, while the Fluent uses a much lower 1920x1080 resolution. Unless you have poor WiFi reception, or are traveling and have a slow internet connection on your mobile phone, I see no reason to use Fluent mode. The camera offers 20fps, which is more than enough for a security camera system. I will say that sometimes while running the app the frame rate can stutter, which isn't something I noticed on the Elite. Perhaps that's because it sends two video signals at once, with the zoomed-in camera being a second 1920x1080 stream of video. Whatever the case, it never presented a big problem.

One thing I forgot to mention is that the zoomable lens camera allows you to control the level of zoom. Fully zoomed out, it's the same view as the default 4k lens. Fully zoomed-in, it's rated at 6x zoom, and you see only a small portion of the main video feed; just 6x larger.

One unexpected but cute feature is that not only does the camera offer audio along with its video recording (it's a setting, I had to turn it on), but it has a speaker so you can talk over an intercom. It's not super loud, so carrying on a conversation might not be fun, but it does work in a pinch and is a nice to have feature.

One thing I noticed in the specifications sheet is that the camera is rated for a temperature range of -10C~55C (14F~131F). In my area of the country, the winter months can definitely get below 14F. I am not worried about it, really, as our other Reolink cameras survived the winter just fine. But it's worth noting in case we get another deep cold spell.

The Reolink TrackFlex Floodlight WiFi has a great feature set and excellent performance. Hard-wiring it into my house was really easy, and never worrying about battery life is awesome. The Android app is quite good, as is Home Hub integration. The optional features like notifications or alarms on activation are also a nice touch. With the correct installation, the TrackFlex can monitor up to 270 degrees around it, which is really great. Being AC powered, you can use this camera on a high-traffic area without issue, or even monitor it all day or night if you want to. With that said, the Elite is probably better for high-traffic areas, otherwise the camera will be going every which way all the time.

If you want to retain control of your recordings via microSD card or Home Hub, or if you simply want an excellent-performing camera, then I highly recommend checking out this Reolink. While I like the metal build of the Elite more than this mostly plastic TrackFlex, in most other ways it exceeded my expectations. It's been really reliable and a joy to use. The only complaint my kids have is they hate feeling like they are being watched all of the time, with the camera looking at them so closely, but then again, is that really so bad? Whatever the case, I strongly recommend the TrackFlex Floodlight WiFi, especially if you want to retain control over your video content, while being able to access your camera feeds from anywhere - without any monthly fees, ever.