First Look at the New Tactacam Reveal Ultra

Tactacam trail cameras won OL‘s 2023 and 2024 trail camera test because of their image quality, detection range, reliability, and user-friendly app. The newest Tactacam hopes to make it a three-peat. The just released Reveal Ultra features GPS to keep track of your camera’s location, the ability to toggle between low-glow and no-glow flash, and live video streaming. I put this cellular trail cam through an initial walkthrough test and got it in the field a few days before the launch. Here’s a look at its performance so far.

Tactacam Reveal Ultra Specs and Features

• Price: $200
• Cell Network LTE
• Up to 4K photo definition
• Flash Range: Up to 96 feet
• Low-glow or no-glow flash settings
• 16 gb of internal storage
• SD card slot for optional additional storage
• Powered by 12 AA batteries
• Live video
• On-demand photos
• GPS

Low-Glow and No-Glow Flash

The Reveal Ultra can toggle between low-glow or no-glow flash. Low-glow flash means there is a visible red light that comes on when the camera is triggered. The low-glow flash is brighter and illuminates a larger area than a no-glow flash. A no-glow flash emits no visible light and is a completely stealth option. It doesn’t light up a huge area and is best for photos where the subject is less than 60 feet away — scrapes and trails. No-glow is also a great option if you’re using a trail camera for security rather than hunting.

Plans

One thing I like about Tactacam is their plans are straight forward and fairly affordable. Here’s a breakdown of the different plans they offer.

You can pause your plan and restart it at any time, which is a convenient feature. It’s also important to note that if you want to get on-demand photos, download HD photos, or enable live videos you have to get the Xtra plan, which is an additional $9 and covers all your cameras.

GPS

If you need to find your trail camera you can activate its GPS, which gives you a location update every 6 hours. The GPS function works even if the battery is dead or removed for up to 72 hours. That means if you lost your cameras, it gets stolen, or is moved by someone, you’ll be able to recover it.

New Accessories

Alongside the new trail camera, Tactacam released a few new accessories. The Reveal Battery Belt is a daisy chain of batteries that straps to the tree and can power your camera for months. How long it lasts will depend on the weather and your settings, but it will greatly increase battery life over 12 AA batteries.

If you’re hanging a camera in a spot that gets a few hours of direct sun, the Reveal Folding Solar Panel is worth considering. The more sun you give it the better the solar panel will work, but it will work well on a field edge or power line that only gets three hours of sun per day. The Reveal Folding Solar Panel’s internal battery has enough juice for 5,000 photos, so there’s plenty of reserve power for cloudy days.

Testing the Reveal Ultra

I conducted the Outdoor Life “walkthrough test,” which involves walking by a trail camera at 10, 60, and 110 feet from left to right and right to left during the day and night. The camera is set to no delay and max sensitivity. This test is meant to evaluate a camera’s detection range, trigger speed, and photo quality.

The Reveal Ultra triggered 100 percent of the time at 10 and 60 feet, but failed to trigger at night at 110 feet. That is above average performance based on past trail camera tests. Based on those results anything that walks within 30 yards of a Reveal Ultra will definitely be captured and beyond that will depend on the subject’s speed or obstacles between it and the camera.

The photo quality was excellent both day and night. The Reveal Ultra consistently caught me in the center of the frame and the images were crisp with no motion blur. The low-glow flash was impressive and it illuminated well beyond 110 feet without over exposing objects up close.

I only got the camera out for a few days ahead of the Reveal Ultra’s launch date, but it captured a 2-year-old buck about 15 feet from the camera with good detail. I like that the Reveal app shows you the weather, moon phase, barometric pressure, and wind speed alongside your photos. That intel could be valuable as you figure out deer movement throughout the season.

Reveal Ultra vs 3.0

The Reveal X 3.0 and Pro 3.0 are awesome cameras, especially at their current price of $125 to $155. The Reveal Ultra adds on features that serious trail camera users will appreciate. It has a new GPS feature, low and no-glow flash, and the live video streaming. It maintains the 3.0’s fast camera speed, good battery life, and easy-to-use app. The GPS feature is handy if you forget where you put a camera or if someone steals it. The ability to choose the type of flash means you can customize and adapt your camera to its current location. The live function has a lot of use cases, but I think its best use is to check a field for deer before walking into it or making sure you don’t bump deer under your stand.

Final Thoughts

The Tactacam Reveal Ultra is tailor-made for serious trail camera users. It has all the features you would possibly want and is backed up with a great app. If you don’t need the GPS, flash customization, or live video, you can save $75 and buy a Reveal X 3.0. Either way you’ll get a reliable trail camera with top-tier performance.