The eufy PoE NVR E40 and the Reolink RLK8-800B4 answer the same question - "how do I wire my house for cameras that record everything, all the time, to storage I own, with nobody ever billing me?" - and both answer it well. Both are fully wired Power-over-Ethernet systems, both put an eight-channel recorder and a 2TB drive in the box, and both record continuously with no subscription of any kind. If a wired, fee-free system is what you want, either one delivers the core promise. The difference is who each one is built for: one is a value four-camera kit with everything about its cameras spelled out, and the other is a bigger, app-polished whole-property system that asks you to trust the brand on the camera specs and pay a premium for the scale.
Both are wired, fee-free PoE - that part is a tie
Start with the shared ground, because it is why both systems are on this page. Both connect each camera to the recorder with a single Cat-5e cable that carries power and video together, so there is no battery to recharge, no outlet to find at each camera, and no Wi-Fi signal to drop - the video travels down copper and the camera simply stays up. Both record 24/7 to a built-in 2TB drive, giving you a genuine round-the-clock timeline rather than the short motion clips a cloud camera gates behind a plan, and both do it with no subscription, ever. And both are standalone surveillance infrastructure rather than smart-home citizens: video is the one category Matter still does not cover, so neither weaves into Apple Home, Alexa or Google routines. If you are still weighing wired against battery cameras in the first place, our wired vs wireless guide lays out that trade, and our local vs cloud storage guide explains why recording to your own drive changes the cost and privacy picture.
The core difference: published camera specs vs whole-property scale
This is the sentence that decides most of the comparison. The Reolink is transparent about its cameras: the listing states 4K/8MP bullet cameras, IP67 weatherproofing, H.265 compression and on-device person and vehicle detection. You know the resolution, you know the cameras are built for real weather, and you know the AI is there before you spend a cent. The eufy E40 sells the system and the software rather than a spec sheet: its listing describes an eight-camera-capable, 2TB, PoE-wired NVR, but it does not publish a per-camera resolution, a weather rating or a night-vision range. Holding every product on this site to the same rule, we mark those "Not listed" rather than assume the cameras are 4K. That is not a claim the eufy cameras are worse - only that Reolink tells you the numbers and eufy does not.
Where the eufy pulls ahead is scale. The Reolink kit ships with four camerason an eight-channel recorder, which covers a normal home's key approaches - driveway, front and back doors, a side gate - and leaves room to add up to four more later. The eufy is built around eight cameras from the start, so it is aimed at covering an entire property in one purchase: every side, outbuildings, a long drive. If you genuinely need to watch eight positions, the eufy gets you there in one box; if four cameras cover what matters and you would rather expand as you go, the Reolink is the more measured start. Our guide on how many cameras you need is the place to settle that before you spend, and where to place them helps you plan the runs.
The software: Reolink's function vs eufy's polish
For a PoE system you will live with for years, the app matters more than buyers expect, and this is the eufy's clearest win. Most PoE recorders are made by security-focused brands whose software is capable but plain - a bit like configuring a router. eufy comes at this from the consumer side, and its Security app is genuinely polished: cleaner live views, friendlier playback, and a setup that feels closer to a consumer camera than a rack-mounted recorder. The Reolink app is the more utilitarian of the two. It is perfectly functional and does everything you need, but it feels like hardware software, not a lifestyle app. If you or your household will check these cameras often and you value a smooth interface, the eufy's polish is a real, daily benefit worth part of its premium.
The flip side of that polish is lock-in. Buying the eufy means buying into eufy's hardware and app, so expanding the system and adding cameras largely means staying inside eufy's world. The Reolink is the more open of the two, which suits a buyer who wants flexibility over a single, tidy ecosystem. Neither is wrong - it is the familiar trade between an integrated experience and an open one, and which you prefer usually tracks with how much you enjoy tinkering.
Price and value
Price is not close. The Reolink RLK8-800B4 is the more affordable system by a wide margin, and the buy buttons on this page show the live figure for each. That value gap is the heart of the decision: the Reolink gives you four published-spec 4K cameras and a complete fee-free system for a good deal less, while the eufy asks a premium for eight cameras and the nicer app. Compare like for like before you decide - if you truly need eight cameras, price the Reolink as its four-camera kit plus the extra cameras to fill the recorder, and weigh that total against the eufy's all-in-one price and its software. If four cameras cover your property, the Reolink simply wins on cost.
The honest asterisk cuts the eufy's way once more: you are paying the premium partly for cameras whose exact specs the listing does not state. That is a fine trade if the app polish and one-box scale are what you want, but it is worth naming plainly. For the pure spec-and-value shopper, the Reolink is the clearer buy; for the buyer who wants to wire a whole property once and enjoy using it, the eufy earns its price.
Who should buy which
Buy the Reolink RLK8-800B4 if you want a wired, fee-free system for a normal-sized home with every camera spec on the table - 4K/8MP, IP67, H.265, person and vehicle AI - at the lower price, and you are happy starting with four cameras and expanding later. For most homes it is the more sensible, better-value buy, which is why it is our pick here, and our full Reolink RLK8-800B4 review goes deeper on it.
Buy the eufy PoE NVR E40if you want to cover a whole property in a single purchase and you care about a genuinely polished app, and you are comfortable paying a premium and living inside eufy's ecosystem without a published per-camera spec. It is the scale-and-software pick, and inside an eufy household it is a smooth, capable system - our full eufy PoE NVR E40 reviewcovers it in depth. The one-line rule: pick the Reolink if "published specs at a value price" matters most, and the eufy if "whole-property scale and a nice app" matters most. Both record everything, all the time, to a drive you own with no monthly bill, so whichever fits your house, you get the fee-free wired system this site keeps recommending. For the wider field, our best wired security camera systems roundup ranks both against the other PoE kits.
The usual honest caveat: we did not install and stress-test these two systems in a lab. We read each system's own Amazon listing and manufacturer documentation for its specs and what the kit includes, and compared them straight, crediting nothing a listing does not claim - which is exactly why the eufy's unlisted per-camera specs are marked as such rather than assumed. Where a judgment would need hands-on testing, we say so; the full method is on the methodology page.
