This battery-powered security camera kit is so good that I'm canceling my Ring subscription

We can understand it’s hard to trust anything other than the big security camera brands. Your home security depends on whatever you buy, after all. That is a big deal! There is a lot more out there than Ring, Arlo, Nest, and Wyze, though. And while plenty of options aren’t worth your patronage, there are some gems out there.

I’ve been testing a set of four Botslab W510 4K AI Security Camera units ($499.99 at Amazon) for a few months. They are my main security cameras, and I have temporarily removed my Ring setup. Is the grass any greener with Botslab?

The Botslab W510 box comes with everything you’ll need

I was surprised when I saw the box slam on my doorstep — it’s big. Nothing compared to the tiny packaging Ring cameras usually come in. I soon realized why. This box comes with everything you need, including four cameras and accessories that would normally cost extra with other brands. You usually just get the camera. If you want a solar panel, it costs more. If you want local storage, that also costs more (if it’s even available).

That said, less popular brands like eufy and Reolink have some close competitors. The main ones are the eufyCam S330 and S3 Pro 4-camera kits (both are $879.99), and the Reolink Argus PT Ultra 4-camera kit ($629.99). These also come in 4-camera kits, with solar panels, and local storage options. However, the Botslab W510, in this configuration with four units, still has a lower $499 MSRP. I also checked the price history on Amazon, and the price has never exceeded $499.99 there.

These security cameras are quite large  — they measure 7.54 inches high and 3.78 inches wide. The whole package weighs over 15lbs, while each individual camera weighs under 2lbs. There’s a solar panel for each camera, which is great, but it also adds to the size of each unit. These are certainly not discreet, but are they really meant to be? I like the idea that intruders will know they are being watched. It’s not like I’ll be carrying them, anyway.

Additionally, there’s a hub. The Base Station H200 manages all cameras and stores data locally. This takes us to the next advantage of the Botslab W510 security system.

The Botslab W510 has no monthly fees

The Botslab W510 security camera system needs no monthly fees to get full functionality. This is because the data is stored locally, in the Base Station H200 hub.

Not only will you avoid pesky monthly payments, which we are all getting tired of, but it’s also a plus for those who care about security. All data is stored locally and never gets to any company servers.

The hub comes with 32GB of built-in storage, which I found sufficient for my needs. That said, it has a 2.5-inch hard drive slot if you want to add more storage space to your setup, with support for hard drives of up to 16TB.

How was my experience using the Botslab W510 4K AI Security Camera System?

There are pros and cons to every product. Especially one like this one, with so many differentiators. This is not your typical security camera system, so let’s go over how I liked using these over the long term.

Let’s start with the initial setup. On the software side, getting these up and running was actually quite a breeze. Setting up the app and connecting the cameras took me about 10 minutes. That’s no issue.

What really gave me a bit of a headache was actually mounting these. These are heavier and larger than your usual smart security cams. You can’t just use 3M double-sided tape and expect it to stick to the wall long-term. I had to pull out my drill and set them up the old-fashioned way.

After deciding where they will go, I had to find walls or posts strong enough to hold them, too. Drywall or thin wood definitely won’t do. Then, I had to figure out the optimal placement for the solar panels.

I am not exactly a handyman, so your experience may vary, but I spent about four hours setting these up without even noticing.

All the features in the world won’t matter if video quality isn’t up to par. The Botslab W510 is among the few consumer security cameras that offer 4K definition. Other mainstream comparable models are much pricier for a similar setup. For example, the only battery-operated Ring cam near this level is the Ring Spotlight Cam Pro, which has a 2K resolution and is $139.99 for just one camera (no solar panel or anything else).

Again, the eufy and Reolink closest competitors do offer 4K as well. We just don’t know how well they record yet. 4K definition can look bad! Thankfully, the Botslab W510 does record better video than my Ring cameras (the best one I own is the 2K Ring Outdoor Cam Plus). Everything is clearer, sharper, and even the audio is better.

However, it does suffer from some downsides, just like other security cameras. The dynamic range isn’t great, so sunlight can burn out parts of the scene. It also struggles to capture facial detail as people move farther from the camera. To summarize, it’s not like the 4K you see in the movies, but it does better than usual in its category.

This supports both infrared and color night vision. Infrared night vision is on by default, and it turns on automatically when it’s dark — it works great. I also enabled automatic full-color night vision to see how it looks, and it was surprisingly good.

Overall, video quality is great, as long as you can keep your expectations in check. This is a security camera, not a full-frame mirrorless camera.

The Botslab W510 has a pretty standard 150-degree wide-angle lens, but it also has object tracking thanks to its camera head rotating mechanism.

It can rotate 360 degrees horizontally. It can also look up and down by 136 degrees. You can move it around in the app and even set your favorite spots, so you can quickly look at specific areas with the tap of a button.

Another highlight of the Botslab W510 system is its AI capabilities. Of course, it can detect people and follow them around, but AI helps with much more than that.

I especially like that it can customize notifications. For example, notifications often indicate whether the person is male or female and what they are wearing. It can also mention if the person is carrying something, such as a bag or box. It can even detect animals and tell you if a person is walking a dog or carrying a pet. It will also provide details about the surroundings. It often mentions a “person walking next to a cabin” or in a “patio.” It’s really cool. Not all notifications get these details, though. Sometimes it just says “motion detected.”

Additionally, the system can detect faces. You can actually add familiar faces in the app. You can also search for specific content. It can even recognize vehicles and automatically tell you about anything odd happening around your car.

Of course, battery life will vary depending on your usage. A camera that barely detects anything will last more than one in your front door, for example, capturing events several times a day. The official estimate is that the 10,000mAh battery should last 15-25 days per full charge.

That’s not too long, at least compared to other battery-operated smart cameras. This one is doing much more, though. At the same time, you’ll get solar panels for all your cameras, which could mean you never have to charge a camera.

Of course, how much these panels help will vary as well. Not all of us get much sun. I happen to be surrounded by tall pine trees, so shade isn’t lacking around here. It’s always nice and cool, but it also means solar isn’t my optimal renewable energy option. That said, two of the cameras get more sun, and those have never died on me. There is one on the back side of my cabin, which has depleted, but it is often only for a day or two. It will catch some sun eventually and recharge.

Then, there is one on the side of my cabin that is almost always dying on me. In fact, it is dead as I write this review (I suppose I have to find a new place for the solar panel). Thankfully, it has a 10-foot cable, so I have quite a bit of freedom to move it around.

What is the Botslab W510 missing?

While I really like the Botslab W510 kit, there are some things it is missing. They are no big deal to me, but I know these can be important factors to some of you.

For starters, the Base Station H200 requires an Ethernet connection. That said, this omission isn’t as big a deal as the lack of cloud storage backup options. Yes, the Botslab W510 and H200 only operate over local storage, and while many of you like this system for this reason, it would be nice to have the option to use cloud storage.

Also, some of you might want a camera system with 24/7 ongoing recording. Because this is a battery-powered security camera designed to be recharged primarily via a solar panel, this isn’t an option. You might want to look into wired solutions if you need this feature.

Botslab W510 4K AI Security Camera System review verdict: Should you buy it?

Now, nothing is perfect, and I certainly have some opinions on things I wish could be improved. For starters, while it is really cool that the camera can pan and tilt, I feel like it can be slow to respond. It tracks people perfectly at a distance, but once a person gets closer, it has a hard time following them while walking at a normal pace.

Also, there is a bit of an annoyance when trying to watch a live video or open a recording from a notification. It always takes a bit for the video to open, because the system runs through encryption and security features first. Honestly, I have had to wait like 10 seconds to watch a video sometimes. Maybe that is the price to pay for higher security, but it was certainly annoying.

I felt like by the time I was watching the live video, it was already too late. Now, it didn’t happen every time, but it did happen pretty often, and this is something I never had to deal with while testing other security cameras.

Overall, though, the Botslab W510 may have its downsides, but it’s a really cool security camera.

The level of freedom you get with the ability to make the camera look around is really nice, and now I don’t want to let it go. I don’t have to settle for the position I left the camera at. I was also a big fan of the AI smart notifications, which told me what the camera was seeing before even accessing the video. The solar panels are awesome additions, and both the video and audio quality are really nice. Not to mention, both the infrared and color night vision worked flawlessly. And there are no extra monthly costs, which is a breath of fresh air.

The 4-camera kit goes for just $499, which certainly isn’t chump change, but it’s a very competitive price considering all you get. By the way, you can also get kits with two, five, six, or eight cameras. Prices range between $399 and $899. Again, these are often on sale, too.

Would I recommend it? Let me tell you this: I am canceling my Ring subscription soon after finishing up this review. It may be annoying to wait a bit before launching a video, but it’s even more annoying to pay for a subscription just to keep using a security camera’s best features, which aren’t as interesting as these.