One of the biggest frustrations in home security right now is that the smartest features are often reserved for people who pay a monthly subscription fee, with much of the intelligence and video processing happening in the cloud rather than inside the home.
At CES 2026 in Las Vegas, Reolink addressed that head-on by announcing a new subscription-free AI Box designed to upgrade its existing cameras, including lower-cost models, with advanced AI features. By processing video locally, the AI Box delivers faster alerts and responses, keeps footage private and under your control. It’s worth noting that while Reolink does offer optional cloud storage plans, recording and viewing footage stored locally have always worked without a subscription.
The AI Box is a local processing hub that brings motion detection, analysis, and video search onto your home network. It’s a plug-and-play add-on that works with most Reolink cameras, excluding 4G models. Qualcomm’s powerful Dragonwing IQ8 Series chip, built for locally run AI, runs Reolink’s proprietary AI video platform, ReoNeura, which serves as the AI Box’s brain.
As a result, Reolink users with cameras that don’t run ReoNeura can access smarter alerts, summaries, and natural-language video search without replacing their existing hardware. If you use more than one Reolink camera, the AI Box also allows them to share data and work together more intelligently, rather than acting as isolated devices. It’s a practical way to make an existing setup smarter, rather than pushing users to replace cameras that still work.
I saw a live demo of the AI Box at CES, and the local video search was the feature that immediately stood out. Using natural language prompts, the system quickly pulled up clips based on what actually happened in a scene, like finding a person wearing a hat, someone in specific clothing, or even a dog running through the frame. It narrowed results in seconds, without scrubbing through hours of footage, which is when the value of on-device AI really becomes clear.
Alongside the AI Box, Reolink also outlined how its broader camera lineup is evolving in the same direction. New battery-powered cameras and doorbells in the Power-Efficient Series use Qualcomm’s low-power Wi-Fi chipset to stretch battery life to as much as nine months per charge, addressing one of the most common frustrations with wire-free security. At the higher end, the OMVI X16 PoE shows how Reolink is approaching coverage when power isn’t a limitation, pairing a wide panoramic view with a pan-tilt-zoom lens so a single camera can monitor large areas and still deliver true optical detail when it matters.
Reolink's focus is on battery life, long-term ownership, and cost control. Advanced AI features aren’t locked to Reolink’s premium cameras and users aren’t pushed toward subscriptions just to get basic value out of their systems. That approach feels especially relevant to me right now. I’m in the middle of helping my son think through his first smart home security setup, and one of the biggest sticking points has been ongoing fees. Once you start adding cameras and doorbells, subscriptions add up quickly, which is why Reolink is getting a close look as one of the few major brands still offering robust features without forcing users into a paid plan from day one.
Reolink says its new 2026 lineup will begin rolling out this summer, with pricing still to be announced.
[Image credit: Techlicious]
