The Reolink E331 is a 5MP indoor Wi-Fi pan-and-tilt camera with auto-tracking, now on sale at Argos in the UK for £39.99, with a deal listing showing £29.99. It records to microSD with no subscription needed and speaks ONVIF and RTSP, which matters for Home Assistant.
What is new with the Reolink E331 at Argos?
The E331 is a plug-in indoor camera from Reolink's E series, built around a 5-megapixel sensor that records 2880x1616 at 20 frames per second, according to Reolink's product page. Argos markets it as a "3K" camera. The head pans 355 degrees and tilts 50 degrees, and the camera can follow a moving person or pet around the room using auto-tracking.
AI detection covers people, pets and a baby-crying alert, and infrared night vision reaches up to 12 metres. Wi-Fi is dual-band with Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), power comes over USB-C at 5V/1A, and footage can be saved to a microSD card of up to 512GB, which is sold separately. Reolink gives a two-year limited warranty.
| Spec | Reolink E331 |
|---|
| Resolution | 5MP, 2880x1616 at 20fps |
| Pan / tilt | 355° / 50° |
| Night vision | Infrared, up to 12m |
| Detection | Person, pet, baby cry; auto-tracking |
| Wi-Fi | Dual-band 2.4GHz / 5GHz, Wi-Fi 6 |
| Local storage | microSD up to 512GB (not included) |
| Protocols | RTSP, RTMP, ONVIF, FTP |
| Power | USB-C, 5V/1A |
| Assistants | Alexa and Google Assistant |
One discrepancy to be aware of: Reolink lists a horizontal field of view of 87.5 degrees, while the Argos listing quotes a 106-degree wide viewing angle. Treat the manufacturer figure as the reliable one.
Does the Reolink E331 work with Home Assistant?
Very likely, but it is not confirmed by name. The E331 supports ONVIF and RTSP, and Home Assistant's Reolink integration supports Wi-Fi cameras, with pan-and-tilt buttons, an auto-tracking switch, and person, pet and baby-cry detection sensors. However, the integration's tested-models list names the E1 series rather than the E331, so we have not seen it confirmed on this exact model.
You will need an admin account on the camera, and the integration expects ports such as 80, 443, 554 (RTSP), 8000 (ONVIF) and 9000 open on your local network. Motion events can arrive by ONVIF push, which Home Assistant's documentation describes as slightly faster and lighter on the camera. For an NVR-style setup, see our Frigate NVR guide.
UK price and where to buy
Argos lists the E331 at £39.99, and a deal listing shows it reduced to £29.99. Retail prices move quickly, so check Argos before buying. That is a low price for a pan-and-tilt camera with local storage, though you will need to add a microSD card. For how Reolink's wider range performs, read our Reolink camera UK review and our Reolink IFA 2026 roundup.
Should you buy the Reolink E331?
Buy it if you want a cheap room camera for a nursery, living room or pet, and you are happy to run it locally. Think twice if you need strong privacy guarantees, since indoor cameras with cloud-linked apps and tracking still deserve care over where they point. If you are comparing pet-focused options, our best pet camera guide covers the alternatives, and we have not tested the E331 hands-on.
Frequently asked questions
- How much does the Reolink E331 cost in the UK?
- The Reolink E331 is listed at £39.99 at Argos in the UK, and a deal listing shows it reduced to £29.99 at the time of writing. Prices on retailer listings change often, so check the Argos page before you buy rather than relying on a figure from an article. The price does not include a microSD card, which Reolink says can be up to 512GB, so budget a few pounds more if you want local recording. That is the main running cost, because Reolink does not require a subscription for local storage. Compared with many pan-and-tilt indoor cameras that push cloud plans, this is a low entry price, though we have not tested the camera ourselves and cannot yet comment on long-term reliability or app quality.
- Does the Reolink E331 work with Home Assistant?
- The Reolink E331 should work with Home Assistant, but the integration documentation does not name it specifically. The camera supports ONVIF and RTSP, and Home Assistant's Reolink integration supports Wi-Fi cameras, offering pan-and-tilt buttons, an auto-tracking switch and person, pet and baby-cry detection sensors. The documentation lists the E1 series as tested models, not the E331, so confirmation on this exact camera is missing. You need an admin account on the camera and certain ports open on your local network, including 554 for RTSP and 8000 for ONVIF. If Home Assistant support is essential, wait for owner reports or buy from a retailer with an easy returns policy.
- Does the Reolink E331 need a subscription?
- No, the Reolink E331 does not need a subscription for basic recording. It saves footage to a microSD card of up to 512GB, which is sold separately, and Reolink says it also works with its NVRs and Home Hub devices and supports FTP and NAS storage. Person, pet and baby-cry detection run on the camera and send alerts through the Reolink app. The main caveat is that a microSD card inside the camera is exposed to theft or failure, so anyone wanting off-camera backups should use FTP or an NVR. We have not seen any paid cloud plan advertised for it, but confirm on the Argos listing before purchasing.
›How we researched this
Claims in this article are checked against primary sources — manufacturer specifications, official documentation, Which? research, Ofgem guidance, or gov.uk — rather than forum threads or video reviews. Where the author has direct hands-on experience with a product (most Home Assistant, Zigbee, and home-networking gear is running in his own homelab), that is stated explicitly in the text.
For categories outside that personal setup — such as boilers, heat pumps, and other areas that are traditionally a heating engineer's domain — verdicts are built from cross-referenced manufacturer data, published lab results, and vetted expert and owner reviews rather than a claim of personal hands-on testing. See the editorial policy for the full methodology.
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