I just don't see the viability. Specs say it comes with 7800mAh battery and requires a 2A/5VDC power adapter. If you figure it draws 250mA with IR on for 12 hours during the winter and at best, 125mA during the day during the winter, I don't see it running much beyond 40 hours before it needs a recharge. And I think I'm being VERY conservative on the cam's power draw, considering it has a cellular radio. No wonder Reolink is very careful not to offer an estimated run time in their
specs.
And then you have to recharge it, with no AC power on site. You'll either need to be in a vehicle with an inverter or stand there with a cellphone battery bank to re-charge....and how long will that take?
So I would say that the solar panel is a must. And how rugged is that? Looks pretty flimsy and vulnerable to vandalism to me. If you have 2 or 3 overcast rainy days in a row you can say bye-bye 'cause the cam's batteries won't get recharged.
An excerpt below from Reolink's own blog,
here.
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"Battery Life of 3G/4G LTE/5G Cellular Security Cameras Remains to Be a Problem
For the battery powered 3G/4G/5G mobile security cameras, you may concern that they could die out without your notice."
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And you'll need a cellular data plan for $50-$75 per month?
Based on the above negatives, he might be better off with a cellular trail camera that will send him an image when it's triggered (no streaming video), as they can go 2 months on lithium batteries and he could swap out a pre-charged pack and be on his way.
Not having AC power there is this biggest drawback, IMO. If he had power, he could have a VERY nice Dahua Starlight turret (non-Reolink) camera and a cellular modem + enclosures and mounts. The initial hardware expense might be a tad more than the Reolink but better quality and dependability...overall better setup.
Absolutely no way that AC power could be made available? I'd look at the trail cam with cellular and live with being alerted with a still image.
