Customer Ratings & Reviews

I like these cameras but it is a bit confusing to use them. And the worst thing is you have to have a subscription for them to record anything for you to look at

Verdict: The Arlo Essential 4-Pack camera is a very compelling system for new and existing users of the Arlo ecosystem. Setup was very easy, performance is great, and the price is fair for what you get, assuming you are willing to pay a monthly subscription fee. Unfortunately, once the free trial is over, free usage of the cameras severely limits the capabilities that the Arlo ecosystem offers. If you are considering Arlo cameras, please understand that to get a useful system, you will need to pay a monthly subscription. The current functionality of the free tier is mostly useless in my opinion. I hope this review is helpful to guide an informed purchase decision. Background. I am heavily invested in the Arlo ecosystem. We have over twenty total Arlo devices ranging from older Pro cameras, floodlights, a doorbell with chime, two base stations, and now these four brand new essential cameras. I also pay annually to access premium services. While I would prefer not to pay, I find the value I receive to be worth the $120/year cost for unlimited cameras, unlimited storage on a rolling 30-day basis, protection zones, identification of camera triggers, animated previews, 24/7 response, etc. In this review, I will try to address the value of Arlo cameras from both the free tier and the premium subscription. First impressions. The package is small for 4 cameras… that’s because these cameras no longer require a base station, which is good and bad; good because they easily connect directly to your app on your phone through Wi-Fi, and bad because you no longer have access to local storage for your video recordings. The package includes 4 cameras, 4 mounts, one charging cable, and a quick start guide. Setup. The quick start guide includes QR codes to access videos. The app also does a fantastic job to walk through each step of the setup process with short video clips. While setup is very easy, it took some time… maybe 30 minutes, to setup all four cameras primarily due to the software update requirement for each camera. The essential cameras come with a free trial, which allows users to experience the full range of Arlo services from the premium subscription. Subscription model. After the free trial ends, users will still have access live-streaming, push notification, and two-way audio. HOWEVER, please note that you will not be able to view recordings… None! So you will get push notifications but will not be able to view the recorded videos associated with them, in my opinion questioning the value of having cameras at all. Users will need to pay a monthly subscription to access recordings. I suppose once you get a notification, you could livestream the cameras to see what’s going on and then use two-way audio to interact with a person on the other end. Hopefully you catch a notification on time, and you are not sleeping or out of network signal on your phone. If you are willing to pay ~$11/month indefinitely, you get a powerful system with unlimited cameras, storage (rolling 30 days), and other advance features. Subscription cost for a single camera is ~$5/month. With an Arlo Secure Plan: (1) Access video and event history for rolling 30 days, (2) Quick One Tap Direct Dispatch for police, fire, medical help (some plans), (3) Detect a person, package, vehicle or animal, (4) Customizable Smart Activity Zones for alerts that matter most. Without a Plan: (1) No video history on the Arlo Smart Cloud, only live viewing with camera, (2) No 24/7 Emergency Response capability, (3) Basic notifications without object detection, (4) Motion notifications that are not customized, (4) No around-the-clock monitoring from 24/7 Live Security Experts. Performance. I am very happy with the performance of the essential cameras. Image quality is very good. Notifications are fast. The spotlight is nice for added visibility and as a deterrent. Integration is seamless with the app and other older devices managed in the app. The app is intuitive and powerful. Features. The few features available in the free tier (once the free trial ends) work well overall, and these are obviously also available with a paid subscription. Live-streaming takes 5 to 8 seconds to connect, even when connecting to the cameras from another state or country. Two-way audio takes about 3 to 4 seconds to connect, AFTER you are connected on live-streaming (5 to 8 seconds). Notifications work well and come very quickly. With a paid subscription, you can customize notifications based on activity zones and benefit from AI recognition of vehicles, animals, people, and packages. Notifications also have live preview of movements, which is really helpful to quickly assess if a recording a worth viewing. You can tap on any notification and it will take you directly to that recording in the Arlo app. Things I love: - It works seamlessly with all my other Arlo devices (except the base stations) - App integration is perfect; the new cameras appear next to the old cameras in any order you want - Very good value for 4 cameras, completely wire-free, 2k resolution, and spotlight - Image quality is wonderful compared to the old first gen Arlo Pro cameras I have - I love the included spotlight. It serves as deterrent by letting people know a camera is recording - Night vision is fantastic. The spotlight also helps to provide different details from night vision - USB-C Charging! Thank you - Notifications with the new cameras are FAST! I get a notification within a second or two of a detection. This is much better than previous generations of Arlo cameras - I am happy with the app. It’s intuitive and powerful enough to do most things I need. The Arlo website provides more powerful features to adjust settings, membership, and more if you need - The 130-degree field of view is very generous and a welcome improvement from older cameras - Cameras can be installed as far as you can get a quality wifi signal. I have one camera about 40 feet from the house in a tree Things I don’t love: - No swappable batteries! I have these mounted a tree and in three other locations that require a ladder. When the old cameras are low on batteries, I grab the ladder and a fresh battery from one of my cameras that is always plugged in, and I put a fresh battery in the camera and I am done for another 45 days. Essentially, this is a 5-minute or less process per old camera. With these new cameras, I get up on the ladder, dismount the camera, leave the ladder in place while the battery recharges for an hour or so, and then climb back on the ladder to remount the camera… so inefficient. When I first tested these cameras, I briefly thought I would replace ALL my original pro cameras with these new ones, but I actually will definitely NOT do that. The lack of a removable battery significantly increases the time it takes me to keep these charged and operational. I think I won’t use these in hard to reach areas anymore, which is unfortunate because of the image quality. - I really miss the magnetic mounts. The included mounts make no sense to me because these cameras do not have swapable batteries so the camera must be removed from their mounted location to recharge. Of note, the mounts have a slide mechanics that makes the dismount process easier, but not as easy as the magnetic mounts. - The free tier does not have access to stored recording. The essential cameras are NOT compatible with base stations, so even if you have base stations (I have two), there is no way to get the cameras paired with a base station for local storage of video recordings. I think this is a mistake. I understand charging for cloud storage, but limiting access to local storage is pushing too far. Additionally, I recommend that Arlo provide a rolling 24-hour access to video recordings for free, otherwise there is no value at all in the free tier. At this point an Arlo camera requires a subscription, or it isn’t worth the purchase at all. Overall, I love my Arlo system and I love this bundle of four Essential cameras. I find that it’s worth the subscription cost for me, and it would probably be worth it for most users that have many cameras. My current Arlo system completely fulfills our camera and security requirements. The camera system is easy to install and very versatile. For users that are willing to pay for a subscription, I would rate these cameras a glowing 5-stars and highly recommend purchasing. However, for users who are no interested in getting into another subscription commitment, I would rate these 2.5 stars, and I would not recommend purchasing into the Arlo ecosystem; there are probably better options for you out there.

## Design Unlike other Arlo cameras I’ve used, the 2nd generation of the Arlo Essential cameras don’t have a removable battery. While you can’t simply swap in a fully charged battery for a drained one, the Arlo Essential 2nd gen camera does use a standard USB-C connector, which I do appreciate as some of my Arlo cameras use a proprietary cable that I always need to hunt down when it is time to charge. ## What can this camera do for free and what requires a Arlo Secure subscription? For free, you get: - Live streaming - 2-way talk - Very basic motion detection alerts (no activity zones, no person, vehicle, or package detection) A paid subscription to Arlo Secure gets you: - Cloud recordings - Activity zones - Person, vehicle, and package detection - Animated thumbnail previews included with the motion alert push notifications - 24/7 emergency response Since there is no onboard intelligence on the camera itself, I feel many will find that this camera is annoying when used outside without a subscription, because animals and leaves moving in the wind can trigger the motion detection and can lead to a ton of false positive notifications (and faster battery drain). If you don’t plan on getting a subscription, you’ll likely find that this camera is more ideal for indoor locations or for facing a stationary background outside. ## Does it need a Base Station? This Arlo Essential 2nd generation camera does not require (nor supports) a base station and instead connects directly to your home’s Wi-Fi. It supports the 2.4GHz band only. Most routers broadcast both 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks, so most people should be fine unless they purposely turned off 2.4GHz due to Wi-Fi congestion issues. Unfortunately, if you DO want to connect this camera to a base station, as I did, it is not compatible with existing Arlo base stations! I found this hard to believe, so I chatted with a support rep who did indeed confirm that base stations are not supported on the 2nd generation of Essential cameras (at the time of this review, their support articles were not updated to reflect this fact). So no local recordings can be done with this camera at this time. The rep did mention that this *could* change with a future update, but I was not provided with a timeline of when (or if) that would actually happen. ## Performance The camera has a very sharp and clear vision and night vision works very well. You can also turn on the built-in LED spotlight for color night vision. The camera also has a built-in alarm that you can set to automatically trigger when it detects a motion event, or you can trigger it yourself from the Arlo Secure app if you want to first verify that the motion is alarm-worthy. I’ve been using the camera about a week to monitor the sump pump in my basement and based upon a handful of live streaming sessions, the battery life has only dropped 4%. More active areas with more motion will obviously drain faster. Unfortunately, these cameras are not compatible with HomeKit at this time. Although Arlo has never supported HomeKit Secure Video as far as I know, it was still nice being able to view the cameras in the Apple Home app along with my other HomeKit cameras. ## What is going on with Arlo? I was first drawn to the Arlo system due to the free cloud recordings and the ability to record locally, but I feel like Arlo is dismantling many of these great features to put them behind a paid subscription. Free cloud recordings are gone for new devices (but kudos to Arlo for maintaining it for older devices, though). Now this generation of Essential cameras do not connect to a base station, so no local storage option either. And the Arlo app has been updated with a new “Feed” interface that makes the local recordings even harder to locate (and requires more taps) in the app. I feel there is too much feature fragmentation with the Arlo ecosystem. One would assume that if you buy a camera with the “Arlo” logo on it, that it would work with an existing Arlo system. It’s becoming too much of a hassle to know which camera and base station combination (if it even supports a base station) is needed to achieve a certain goal, such as HomeKit or local recordings. ## Summary While the Arlo Essential 2nd generation cameras provide great video quality and night vision, the ecosystem as a whole seems to be leaning towards a monthly fee rather than one-time purchase. So I would think of these camera as more as a subscription-based service as their local functionality is very limited. Those looking for a local storage solution with no cloud fees will likely want to look for another solution.

I had some Arlo cameras several years ago and they were my first wireless cameras. I really enjoyed them, but after getting a wired camera system, I realized how much I was missing. Wireless cameras are easy to install and can be placed nearly anywhere. I literally put one on my mailbox and one on a tree. Not running 100ft of ethernet cable to do something like that. So, there are certain advantages to wireless over wired as well. One issue with wireless is that you are always going to miss a few seconds of the situation as it triggers motion, then it starts recording. Also you are going to have to recharge them at some point. My previous Arlo cameras were simple to open and replace, so you could have a spare battery already charged and ready. However, these Arlo Essential cameras are sealed, so you have to remove the whole camera. So, this means if you put your camera in a place that requires a little climbing, you are going to have to climb up there from time to time. This also means you have to make sure the position of the camera is where you want it, every time you set it back in place. Of course, that amount of time is dependent on the activity of the area and how you use the camera. Having the LED enabled for night time and selecting better video over power will make it vary a lot. Looking at about a few weeks to a couple months worth of variation. As mentioned above, the other issue with wireless is the few seconds that you are likely to miss. For instance, a car drives by and by the time the camera starts recording, all you see is the reflection of light from their tail lights. For the most part, for the average speed of a person or animal, you will still see them, provided your camera position is decent. But, the recording also goes the other way around where it doesn’t record long enough. For instance, someone walks into frame and starts walking away from the camera, you might get 11 seconds of video but it was the 15th second that they threw a rock through your window. The image/video quality is decent. You can make out most major details, but not going to see the fine details, like plat numbers, unless you are right up on the vehicle. However, on a wet day the camera can be pretty much useless. The funny thing is, it still knows when there is an animal or person, but when you look at the footage you would be lucky to see them yourself. See the image below. Then you get this occasional purple video when it seems confused on whether it is in night IR mode or color night mode. See purple image below. The biggest issue I have with this system, and the reason I would not recommend them, is they are pretty much useless as security cameras unless you subscribe to their monthly secure plans. I’m pretty sure back in the day you would at least get 7 days of recording if you didn’t subscribe, but as it is now, you get nothing but a notification of motion without the subscription. You can open the camera with that notification, see live video and record directly to your device at that time, but by then the situation may have already passed. So, not only are you paying for the kit up front, you have to pay the monthly plan as well if you want them to be security cameras. The plan allows for up to 30 days of recording, smart notifications like vehicle, animal, person and additional features in the app like activity zones and customization. You can even get higher level plans that include 24/7 emergency response and if you have a security system as well, the professional monitoring with video verification. With the 4 cameras, you would want to get the “Unlimited Cameras” option. But, like all subscriptions “prices are subject to change”, so you might eventually be paying even more just to use your cameras in the future. Overall, for wireless cameras, they are not bad. Image quality is pretty decent, provided moisture does not settle on the lens and lighting is optimal. It’s just the lack of ability to record without having a monthly plan, there is no local storage to even prevent from having to be online and no ability to just swap the battery as you have to bring the whole camera in to charge it. Basically, if you want your security cameras to provide security, you have to keep the subscription going or they just become wireless webcams with motion notifications.

Our neighbor has been subject to petty theft. We have people walking through the neighborhood lifting car door handles and trying to steel stuff out of unlocked cars. Recently I had my catalytic converter stolen with an ETA of 6 months due to back stock... Super frustrating. I tried to mount an wireless camera from another name brand to the parkway tree but the battery life tanked in just 1 day of use. So I got tired of climbing up and down the ladder. So fast forward to Arlo Essential cameras. Setup. I ran through the the setup and firmware and I replaced the 2 cameras up in the tree with 2 arlos. I also placed 1 on the dash board of my car. Day vision is great. All 3. License plates are still hard to read unless it is really close up. Night vision with light use in the tree and inside the car behind the windshield is bad. The light hits the leaves in the tree and it over saturated the image. Same with inside the car. App was super easy to use. This requires a monthly or yearly subscription so no external storage allowed. Battery..... I have another competitor camera system that is battery and wired and it only lasts 1 days up in my tree with both camera locations. I was skeptical on the arlos but put it to the test. After dialing back the settings that was right for me and all I got 1 full week.... The amount of video and incidents it was was enormous so not bad.... App was super easy to use. The algorithm to detect vehicle, animal, person was pretty spot on. All together I am impressed with Arlo. Only 2 wishes. 1. Allow for local storage. 2. Wished the resolution was higher so I could pick up license plates Other than that. I would recommend this product for what it is advertised for. Side note I went ahead and bought the solar charger for this to help prolong the battery life so 8 don't have to keep climbing up and down a ladder to charge these cameras.

They are nice for the price when on sale, but battery dies every 2 weeks when sensitivity is around 80% so less sensitivity will help battery life. And needs monthly subscription ONLY if you want extra features. Works fine without subscription.

The setup was easy the 1st charge ran batteries down pretty fast 2 cameras where dead in less than a week , I charged them again seems they have been fine since , if you want to record etc. you will need to purchase a subscription about $15 a month . worth a piece of mind . Pictures clear be sure to have outside lighting at night unless you want to see a black screen they do have a light you can turn on or set to turn on with motion .

Great quality video like the option for color night vs black and white. Only downfall is the subscription required.

Works well. Just hate the subscription portion after trial month is over. Would have been 5 stars

Excellent piece of equipment, only thing I don’t like is u have buy a subscription

These have the worst subscription that i ever seen for cameras. Try something different.

Only 3 stars because you have to subscribe to each camera, other than that they’re pretty good.

ARLO cameras are worthless w/o a subscription. Arlo tricks u by giving u a free month subscription,by expiration date it will be to late to return cam. The "PRO 1" is the only cam that doesn't need subscription,but they been phased those out, so they can only sale the "PRO 2 & up", Sure they have a few better features(0 w/o subscription). Y would i need to save 30 days of video history to the cloud. When adding this cam u have to update the app, which is 50\50, but w/o subscription the app is 0\0...(at least the pro1 let's u save video history to app or base station, not cloud, also it's the only cam to use base station). Forget not being able to save recordings, u can't RECORD W\O SUBSCRIPTION.Just research other brands b4 buying arlo. Once all of my pro 1 cams die, i will look into other brands.

Battery life sucks and shouldnt have to pay to be able to use

Not pleased you have to pay for a subscription for any recordings

After 30 days the camera dont work unless you pay for a monthly subscription. Have 2 older arlo cameras that have worked fine for years and didnt have to subscribe. Returned it and went with a different brand that doesn't require monthly fees. Will never buy arlo again....

The camera’s work fine but I didn’t know for them to work? I’m talking about recording? You have to have a subscription or they are useless

Do not buy false advertisement you need a paid subscription to use this product properly. Do not buy. this product is generating false advertisement

Very disappeared. Poor quality, subscription required after 30 days. Eufy is the way to go!

As a whole, I do like these cameras and this system. I think they can work for most people and their needs. There is quite a bit to like here, but there is a thing or two that I wish were different or maybe could be done better. Set-up for me was a simple process. Just be sure to charge everything beforehand. It is more or less just follow some steps and you will be good. No issues for me. Installation though? Well, that was a bit of a mixed bag. While this will probably be dependent on your situation and where you are installing them, I just do not love the mounting options. I should say, more specifically, I wish the mounts offered a little flexibility. The hardware works, and is not bad to install, at all, but you really need to have your lines perfect as there is not a lot of range to move or change the angle of the cameras. It just made what could have been the perfect install, just a little worse. Also, it kind of limits any changes you may want to make down the road. Or at least makes them more difficult. Again, that may not be your experience, but just something to note. As for the cameras themselves, they give a detailed, nice, and clear picture (with zoom). Day or night (in color). They also come with quite a few options, which is always nice to see. Same with the app and operation. Two-way audio. Motion detection (very quick). Deterrence features (spotlight and siren). Alerts. Notifications. All of these things work well and are very welcome. The app, frankly, is not the best, but it is “good” and gives you what you need. I just wish there was a little more integration with other platforms, but notifications are very quick. Given that, I can live with some limitations and hope for the best going forward. Build-wise, obviously, time will tell. That said, I think everything should last. Everything is well-built and I think it will hold up. Again, it is going to have to be a wait and see thing. We shall see. I know this is the nature of the product, and on some level why the installation was so quick, but I am a little hesitant about the batteries. To be clear, in the limited time I have had them installed, the battery-life has been good, and they are rated for several months, but I am just not sure how I feel about removing them, charging them, etc…Again, I knew this going in, but I will have to see how my usage does with the batteries. If they perform well, but the batteries turn out to be an issue I may explore wiring them. Of course, this too is a wait and see kind of thing. For all that I like about these cameras, and despite some of my minor concerns that I touched upon to this point, my main “problem,” if you want to call it that, is the reliance on a subscription to truly unlock all that this system can do. To be clear, the cameras do work, and can work for a lot of people without it, but you kind of only get the most basic features. There is no recording, zones, or differentiated detection. It is a bit of a letdown. That said though, honestly, the sub costs are quite reasonable, and for most people are probably worth it. I just wish they offered a little bit more without the need for the sub, as they did with prior products (some I still have). Ultimately, this is a good system, the cameras are solidly built, and they work very well. I think, as is, they are a good value. I would suggest really know your use case and what you want out of a system like this and if you are willing to pay for a subscription to get it (or want local or cloud storage).