Reolink E331 Review

Reolink E331 Review: Introduction

Reolink, the brand I ditched all my Nest cams for, has made a name for itself in the past few years by packing features into its cameras without locking the good stuff behind a paywall, and the E331 might be its strongest budget play yet.

At under $55 in the US, it goes head-to-head with cameras like the TP-Link Tapo C220 and Wyze Cam v4, both of which top out at 2K. If you want to step up to 4K, something like the Eufy Indoor Cam E30 will cost you noticeably more.

The E331 sits neatly in between. You’re getting a 5MP sensor, a fast F1.6 lens, full pan and tilt movement, and extras like auto-tracking and crying detection, all wrapped in a compact indoor design.

Reolink is positioning it as a pet cam and baby monitor, but in day-to-day use, it’s just as effective as a general-purpose indoor security camera.

I’ve been using it to keep an eye on a home office setup, tracking everyday movement and the occasional bit of chaos.

Read my full Reolink E331 review to find out how well it performed.

Design and installation

• Powered by USB-C
• microSD card slot
• Bookshelf or ceiling mount options

The E331 keeps things simple, and that works in its favor.

It’s compact, lightweight at just 171g, and has a rounded design that feels modern without trying too hard. It’s not as playful as some of Aqara’s cameras, but it’s small enough to disappear onto a shelf or desk without becoming an eyesore.

The camera sits on a motorized base that handles both pan and tilt, giving you near-complete room coverage. You can rotate it almost fully horizontally and tilt it to cover different vertical angles, which makes it far more flexible than fixed cameras in this price range.

Tilt the lens upward and you’ll reveal the microSD slot and reset button. It’s a tidy solution, but there’s no real protection there, so the card could be removed if someone had physical access.

Power comes via USB-C, with a 2-meter cable and adapter included. The port sits around the back, alongside the QR code used during setup.

Most people will just place it on a flat surface and be done in seconds, but there’s also a ceiling mount option included if you want a more permanent install. If you go that route, you’ll need to flip the image in the app.

Setup follows the usual Reolink flow. Plug it in, wait for the voice prompt, scan the QR code, and you’re ready to go in a couple of minutes.

One interesting change here is that the app actually prompts you to insert a microSD card during setup, which isn’t something you typically see with other Reolink cameras… unless they’ve recently updated the onboarding process.

Like much of the recent Reolink lineup, it supports both 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi, along with Wi-Fi 6, so you can take advantage of faster, more stable connections if your network allows.

You don’t need to create an account to get started either. That only comes into play if you want cloud storage, smart assistant integration, or deeper integrations like Home Assistant, at which point you’ll also need to set a device password.

Features and app

• People and pet detection
• Motion scheduling
• Auto tracking

The E331 runs through the Reolink app, and there’s a lot to dig into here.

You get a level of control that’s rare at this price point. Alerts can be filtered by people, pets, or general motion, and there’s also crying detection if you’re using it as a baby monitor. You can fine-tune sensitivity, create detection zones, and set schedules for when different alerts should trigger.

If you enable motion alerts straight out of the box, expect a flood of notifications. The real value comes from dialing things in, for example, setting alerts for people and pets during the day but limiting it to people only at night.

It’s powerful, but it’s not exactly beginner-friendly. There are a lot of options here, and it can feel a bit overwhelming until you’ve spent some time with it.

Auto-tracking is one of the standout features. Once enabled, the camera will follow movement across the room, keeping subjects in frame as they move. Whether it’s a pet wandering around or a kid moving from one side of the room to the other, it does a solid job of maintaining visibility.

You can also define tracking limits, set preset positions, and choose a default “home” view that the camera returns to after movement stops.

Recording options are flexible. You can stick with motion-triggered clips, set up scheduled recording, or go all-in with continuous recording if you’ve got enough storage.

And storage is where Reolink continues to stand apart. Everything works locally via microSD, with no subscription required. You can also expand via NVR, FTP, NAS, or the Reolink Home Hub.

Cloud storage is available, but it’s entirely optional and significantly cheaper (from $3.49 per month) than most competitors. Importantly, none of the core features are locked behind a paywall.

Playback is handled through a timeline interface with thumbnails and event filters, making it easy to find specific clips. One thing to watch is download quality. By default, it saves lower-quality “fluent” clips, so you’ll want to switch to “clear” to get the full 3K resolution.

There’s also two-way audio, a built-in siren, and support for Alexa and Google Assistant if you want to view the feed on a smart display.

Privacy Mode is a nice touch too. With a single tap, the camera physically turns away and disables recording, which is much more reassuring than just muting it in software.

Performance

• Sharp video
• Strong IR performance

For the price, the E331 delivers where it matters.

The 5MP sensor records at 2880 x 1616 at 20fps, and daytime footage looks sharp and detailed. Colors are accurate, and there’s enough clarity to pick out faces and smaller details without any trouble.

The F1.6 aperture helps here as well, pulling in more light than typical budget cameras, which makes a noticeable difference in indoor environments that aren’t especially bright.

Motion handling is solid too, with minimal blur during normal movement.

The pan and tilt functionality is a big advantage. Being able to cover an entire room with a single device makes it far more versatile than fixed cameras, and when paired with auto-tracking, it significantly reduces blind spots.

At night, it relies on infrared rather than full-color night vision, but performance is still strong. The quoted 40-foot range holds up well enough for most indoor spaces.

The crying detection feature actually works better than expected. Even without a real baby to test it on, it picked up simulated crying reliably enough to feel genuinely useful rather than just a box-ticking feature.

Audio is serviceable but not a highlight. Two-way talk works fine, but the speaker sounds a bit thin and lacks punch.

Final thoughts

The Reolink E331 is about as easy a recommendation as it gets in this category.

It’s affordable, simple to set up, and packed with features that you don’t usually see at this price. The combination of solid video quality, full-room coverage, and subscription-free local storage makes it stand out in a crowded market.

The app takes a bit of getting used to, and the microSD slot is a bit fiddly, but those are relatively small drawbacks.

If you’re looking for a budget indoor camera that doesn’t cut corners or push you into a monthly fee, this is one of the strongest options out there right now.

How we test

When we publish our reviews, you can rest assured that they are the result of “living with” long term tests.

Smart security cameras usually live within an ecosystem, or a range of products that – supposedly – all work in harmony. Therefore, it’s impossible to use a security camera for a week and deliver a verdict.

Because we’re testing smart home kit all day, everyday, we know what matters and how a particular camera compares to alternatives that you might also be considering.

Our reviews are comprehensive, objective and fair and, of course, we are never paid directly to review a device.

Read our guide on our review process for smart security cameras to learn more.

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