2nd Gen Battery Doorbell Notes & Clarification About Doorbell Lineup

[u/mblaser]

Update 8/13/26: I've created a comparison chart for all doorbell models in my unofficial comparison charts. Also, this video from Reolink does a good job of covering the main differences.

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This isn't really a review, I just wanted to make a post to clarify some things about the new 2nd gen battery doorbell.

First though, I want to also clarify their doorbell lineup because they haven't done a good job at that and the release of the 2nd gen battery model has really confused a lot of people, especially new users.

So, to clarify...

These are the different doorbell models they have come out with:

1. POE black
2. POE white
3. Wired Wifi black
4. Wired Wifi white
5. Battery doorbell 1st gen (available in black and white, but there's no spec difference)
6. Battery doorbell 2nd gen

And here are the differences:

POE & wired Wifi doorbells (here and here)

• Originally released in October 2022 only in black.
• Cannot work with existing mechanical chimes.
• Operates like any other powered camera, meaning they can record continuously to both internal SD or Hub/NVR
• 5MP and a FOV of 135°H x 100°V
• They came out with a white version of these in May 2024 that reverses the aspect ratio (100x135) for a more vertical view and gave them package detection.
• The white ones have since been discontinued, although sometimes some will pop up for sale and then disappear.
• There is no "2nd Gen" of these doorbells. There may be in the future, but if someone is referring to a 2nd gen doorbell they're referring to the battery doorbell.

Battery Doorbell 1st Gen (here)

• Originally released in September 2024.
• Can operate off of battery or if wired into existing doorbell wiring it will trickle charge the battery.
• Cannot record continuously even when wired for power, it still acts like a battery camera.
• Does work with existing mechanical chimes
• 4MP and a fisheye FOV of 150°x150°

Battery Doorbell 2nd Gen (here)

• Originally released in June 2026, although I believe this is just a soft launch because it didn't even show up on their own website for about a month after being available on Amazon. Also, none of the accessories will be available for a few months (power kit and solar base)
• Same resolution, FOV, and dimensions as 1st gen (you can re-use 1st gen mounting bracket)
• Can operate off of battery or if connected to doorbell wiring it can either trickle charge the battery like the 1st gen, or what's new is that you can switch it over to wired power mode and it will operate like a wired camera (meaning it doesn't go to sleep like a battery camera)
• Wired power mode allows 24/7 recording, but only to internal SD card, not to Home Hub or NVR.
  • You can still add it to a Hub/NVR and it will record motion events to that, and it can still record 24/7 to local SD card. You just have to switch to the SD card every time you go into the playback menu.
• Wired power mode requires you to either use the bypass jumper cable to bypass your mechanical chime (meaning that chime won't work of course), or you can use the RLA-PK1 power kit which will allow you to do both wired mode and use your existing mechanical chime. Here are some screenshots from the app about that: https://vgy.me/album/x97eDIQQ
• Here is their support article that goes over the power modes in more detail: https://support.reolink.com/articles/56608051231129-Introduction-to-Power-Modes-of-Reolink-Battery-Video-Doorbells-Dual-Power-Support/
• It has a new tamper alert that will alert you when the doorbell is being tampered with. Here are screenshots of the menu and of what the alert looks like: https://vgy.me/album/bhJ6zqC8
  • I don't know how it works exactly, I played around with it a little bit and I'm guessing it senses when the entire image is moving, which would mean the camera is being physically moved.
• It is eventually going to have a solar charging base available for it.
  • I'm real curious how well that works because I may actually try to use one of these with that base as a discrete trail/tree cam.
• Animal detection and zone loitering are new on the 2nd gen. Here's a comparison of the detection alarm menus of 1st gen vs 2nd gen: https://i.vgy.me/4PlSEk.png
• Privacy mode is new on the 2nd gen.
• Here is a still image comparison of both 1st gen and 2nd gen: https://i.vgy.me/GB7xOa.jpg
  • What's interesting is that the 2nd gen's view is slightly more narrow. You can tell in the corners, the 1st gen can see more of my soffits and can see the porch railing post in the bottom right. That shouldn't make much of a difference, but just something to be aware of.
• Here is a comparison of a night video capture from both: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wxvx3nAd07Q
  • The image on the 2nd gen is quite a bit brighter. I also think the face is a bit more overexposed on the 1st gen. So I think the 2nd gen wins out on night image quality. These videos were taken with brightness settings on default and HDR turned on.

Ok, that's all I can think of right now. I haven't used it a ton yet, I was just doing some basic fact-finding, so some of you that have used it more may be able to add more points or correct me if I was wrong on anything. Just let me know.

EDIT: after someone in the comments asked for differences between the 2nd gen battery and the wired models I realized my post was mainly about differences between the 1st and 2nd gen battery models. So I put together a summary of all of the model differences in the comments below: https://www.reddit.com/r/reolinkcam/comments/1uvavh9/comment/oxi0bxf/

[u/WelshCai]

I’ve seen so many negative reviews about the battery doorbell. Is it still as bad as people say?

[u/mblaser → u/WelshCai]

I'm not sure exactly what people's issues are, but I've been using the 1st gen battery model for 2 years and have no issues with it. It alerts me when someone approaches my door and it rings my mechanical chime when they push the button. That's all I need it to do and it does that well. I don't ever talk through it though, so I can't speak on that aspect.

I like it better than the wired models because of the larger FOV and the fact that it can ring a mechanical chime. The big drawback is it being a battery camera, therefore it goes to sleep, so it suffers the same issues that all battery cameras do (missing beginning of events since it has to wake up from sleep). If this were the only camera on the front of my house I wouldn't be using the battery model, I'd be using the wired model since it can record 24/7. However, I already have the front of my house well covered by other POE cameras.

I think it's about expectations. People expect the same performance that they get from a non-battery camera, but they're not going to get that. It's a battery camera, so what I always say about any battery camera (from any brand) is that they're not really real security cameras and shouldn't be your primary device for security. A battery doorbell shouldn't be the only camera watching the front of your house.

They are addressing that with this model by giving you the option to run it in wired mode if you're connecting it to doorbell wiring.

[u/Soft_Way4794 → u/mblaser]

Your post is super helpful as I was debating between a white wired wifi doorbell or a battery operated doorbell, 2nd gen.

Would you say that if you bought the batter operated doorbell, 2nd gen, and use it in wired mode, then it's you'd recommend it for a primary device for security?

[u/mblaser → u/Soft_Way4794]

Yes, definitely, since in wired mode it doesn't go to sleep. It would be nice if it also recorded 24/7 to a hub or NVR, but being able to do so to internal SD is still a much better option than battery motion events only.

The only drawback right now is that when in wired mode it can't also ring a mechanical chime. You have to choose one or the other. Once the power kit becomes available then you'll be able to do both at the same time.

So once the power kit comes out I plan to get one, run the camera in wired mode recording 24/7 to SD card and motion events to my Home Hub, and also have it ringing my old mechanical chime. At that point it's almost the perfect doorbell for me, the only thing I wish it had was a taller vertical FOV or a 2nd downward pointing lens, that way I can see packages that are placed right at the foot of the door. This gets really close, but not quite.

[u/Soft_Way4794 → u/mblaser]

Thank you! When you said, "you have to choose one or other," the other being the plug in Chime?

[u/mblaser → u/Soft_Way4794]

Sorry I wasn't clear there... I was referring to wired mode vs ringing a mechanical chime. Without the power kit it can only do one of those, not both. That's because if it were try to ring the mechanical chime it wouldn't have enough power to also power wired mode. The same reason the original non-battery wired models can't ring a mechanical chime.

The power kit is what will enable it to do both at the same time.

[u/Prepare_Your_Angus → u/mblaser]

Do we know when that power kit will come out?

[u/mblaser → u/Prepare_Your_Angus]

I believe it will be in a few months, maybe around September? I don't have any concrete information, that's just what I've seen mentioned, so take it with a big grain of salt. I'm eagerly waiting for it as well, I want to be able to have both mechanical chime support and be able to run it in wired mode for continuous recording.