Arlo Pro3 Wireless Outdoor Home Security Camera System CCTV, 6-Month Battery, Colour Night Vision, 2K HDR, 2-Way Audio, Alarm, 2 Camera kit, With 90-day free trial of Arlo Secure Plan, Black
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Instant Alerts
Find out immediately if there is unwanted activity at your property.
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Siren Deterrent
With the built in siren you can sound off unwanted guests whether you are at home or away.
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100% Weatherproof
Our durable design withstands even the toughest conditions.
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Endless Power
Pair with a solar panel or a magnetic charging cable for round the clock preventative protection.
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Arlo Service Plans
Sign up to an Arlo Secure service plan for a monthly fee to unlock advanced features on your camera
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Visual Security
Store your videos on the cloud, in the resolution they were recorded, for up to 60-days
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Advanced Detection
Arlo service plans enhance our cameras with advanced A.I. features to identify security risks
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Faster Response
Patented locked screen technology for a faster incident response including call an emergency contact
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Greater Peace of Mind
Easily set-up or cancel – and if your camera is stolen your plan entitles you to a free replacement*
Arlo Home Security Cameras: Protect What You Love Most
 Arlo Pro3 White |  Arlo Pro3 Black |  Arlo Ultra |  Arlo Floodlight |  Arlo Floodlight Black |  Arlo Essential |  Arlo Essential Black | |
| Video Quality | 2K HDR | 2K HDR | 4K UHD | 2K HDR | 2K HDR | 1080P | 1080P |
| Field of View | 160 degree | 160 degree | 180 degree | 160 degree | 160 degree | 130 degree | 130 degree |
| Wireless | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Works without Base station | NO | NO | NO | YES | YES | YES | YES |
| Colour night vision | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Spotlight / Floodlight | Spotlight | Spotlight | Spotlight | Floodlight up to 3000 lumens | Floodlight up to 3000 lumens | Spotlight | Spotlight |
| Siren | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Weather Resistant | -20° C to 45° C | -20° C to 45° C | -20° C to 45° C | -20° C to 45° C | -20° C to 45° C | -20° C to 45° C | -20° C to 45° C |
| Wifi bandwidth required | 2.4 GHz wifi | 2.4 GHz wifi | 2.4 GHz wifi | 2.4 GHz wifi | 2.4 GHz wifi | 2.4 GHz wifi | 2.4 GHz wifi |
| Local Storage | USB | USB | micro SD | Base station required | Base station required | Base station required | Base station required |
| Noise cancellation | ✘ | ✘ | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ |
| Weight: | 311 g |
| Size: | 2 Camera System |
| Dimensions: | 7.8 x 5.2 x 8.9 cm; 311.84 Grams |
| Model: | VMS4240B |
| Part: | VMS4240B |
| Colour: | Black |
| Pack Quantity: | 1 |
| Batteries Required: | Yes |
| Batteries Included: | Lithium Ion |
| Manufacture: | Arlo |
| Colour: | Black |
| Quantity: | 1 |
| Size: | 2 Camera System |
Excellent picture quality and truely wireless
Firstly I’ll start with the negatives as there are so little. Let’s get the price out of the way, it is a lot of money but you are definitely getting what you pay for!
Signal quality on live stream was hit and miss compared to the 4k camera I have but this camera is further away, some weird green glitching when viewing live stream about 1 in 5 times but recording was still clear without glitches or cutouts.
Now that’s out of the way these cameras are amazing, the picture quality is better than any camera I’ve used before and I have used loads, I currently run 3 cameras around the house and this Arlo system is the easiest and quickest to set up.
In the video you will see the initial set up of the additional base station I own and the ultra 4k camera along with this 2k pro camera in the garden as I have a complete set for reference.
The whole AI smart stuff works extremely well, I had the garden set to people and animal but disabled movement, the washing blowing on the washing line never set off the alerts but as soon as the dog came out I had an animated alert sent straight to my phones notification panel.
You can configure areas of interest, sensitivity, what to do on detection (lights, alarms).
I love the night vision, not only is the infra-red crystal clear but when sensing a person the lights come on and the camera records in full colour!
The lens can go to an ultra-wide setting which is pretty much 180 without much distortion and the picture quality is amazing.
Everything is compatible with my Google home and I can view all my cameras in the kitchen and on the lounge TV.
2way voice works much better than I expected as it opens a true 2way channel where both people can talk at the same time without feedback.
Battery life seems good, I wouldn’t think it’s 1 years worth due to the amount of alerts I get but in 1 week the battery lost 5% charge which is amazing and charging is done with the magnetic charger so I can charge from a power bank if I don’t want to take the battery out.
Since configuring and using for over a week I have had no false alerts and I’ve been so impressed I’ve been showing the guys in work who are now looking at getting one.
Overall a very expensive but very good security system with so many features you could spend all day getting it perfect.
If you have something of value and you need cameras which are easy to set up and give you great recording and a great experience then these are well worth it!
Excellent picture quality and simple to install
Firstly I’ll start with the negatives as there are so little. Let’s get the price out of the way, it is a lot of money but you are definitely getting what you pay for!
Signal quality on live stream was hit and miss compared to the 4k camera I have but this camera is further away, some weird green glitching when viewing live stream about 1 in 5 times but recording was still clear without glitches or cutouts.
Now that’s out of the way these cameras are amazing, the picture quality is better than any camera I’ve used before and I have used loads, I currently run 3 cameras around the house and this Arlo system is the easiest and quickest to set up.
In the video you will see the initial set up of the additional base station I own and the ultra 4k camera along with this 2k pro camera in the garden as I have a complete set for reference.
The whole AI smart stuff works extremely well, I had the garden set to people and animal but disabled movement, the washing blowing on the washing line never set off the alerts but as soon as the dog came out I had an animated alert sent straight to my phones notification panel.
You can configure areas of interest, sensitivity, what to do on detection (lights, alarms).
I love the night vision, not only is the infra-red crystal clear but when sensing a person the lights come on and the camera records in full colour!
The lens can go to an ultra-wide setting which is pretty much 180 without much distortion and the picture quality is amazing.
Everything is compatible with my Google home and I can view all my cameras in the kitchen and on the lounge TV.
2way voice works much better than I expected as it opens a true 2way channel where both people can talk at the same time without feedback.
Battery life seems good, I wouldn’t think it’s 1 years worth due to the amount of alerts I get but in 1 week the battery lost 5% charge which is amazing and charging is done with the magnetic charger so I can charge from a power bank if I don’t want to take the battery out.
Since configuring and using for over a week I have had no false alerts and I’ve been so impressed I’ve been showing the guys in work who are now looking at getting one.
Overall a very expensive but very good security system with so many features you could spend all day getting it perfect.
If you have something of value and you need cameras which are easy to set up and give you great recording and a great experience then these are well worth it!
Best for people with sizeable properties to protect.
The quality of these cameras really is very good and if you have a sizeable property or plot that you need to keep secure then they will make an excellent investment.
The downside for some prospective purchasers may be the fact that, to get the most from this system, you really need to sign up to the Arlo Secure Subscription, which adds additional cost over and above the purchase price of the cameras.
Whether that takes these beyond the desired budget level is for each individual to decide, but the quality of the system itself is very good.
Experience the convenience of having a fully functional camera with hands-free recording wherever you are. The sophisticated, powerful and effective outdoor security camera from Arlo Pro delivers professional grade 1080p HD video quality, two-way audio, multiple sensors for better image quality & night vision for complete peace of mind. It’s small enough to be tucked away out of sight, so you can keep an eye on what matters most – your home and family. Save time by arming your smart devices before leaving, motion detection zones have 10x the sensitivity of standard cameras and guarantee notifications via app notifications or text message if detected motion is detected.
With a built-in siren, night vision and even 2-way audio, Arlo Pro is safe for anyone to use. App lets you watch your camera live on your smartphone or tablet 24/7 without any problem. I already have 2 Arlo cameras installed in my house so this one added to the same app without any problem. You get 90 Days free cloud storage and after that you have to pay to keep videos recorded and save on cloud. Without subscription you can watch live videos but can’t see passed events.
Overall a great device from a well known brand and works great. At the time of review this product was available for 286.75
Overall a Good Produc
Upgraded from an Arlo HD Wireless Home Security Camera with Base station (2015) to an Arlo Pro 3 with base Station (2019).
Happy to see some good improvements. Here is my full list of Pros and Cons
Pros:
– Nice picture (wider and with more details than the previous camera!) and bidirectional sound (in and out), inclusing hability to talk to someone via the camera.
– Nice motion sensor sensitivy calibration via led on the camera. While adjusting motion sensor, led blinks when it detects motion which is good. This way there is no need to try each sensitivity level by via normal video detection and recording. More straightforward
– Good to have activity Zones and ability to filter/not filter persons, animals, moving objetcs, etc. These 2 features help to receive less notifications. Note that this will not help increasing battery life, because this are all post recording steps (processed in arlo servers)
– subscription costs seem fair enough to me. These are devices that are constantly filling their servers with data. There are streaming services that are more expensive such as Netflix, etx. Without substription we loose many features including level of security (someone can break your local storage, but hardly the arlo servers 🙂 ) , so worth to give the extra.
Cons:
– Arlo seems to follow the same steps as other companies such as Apple or Sony. They try make things as proprietary as possible. For me thats sad, and would be happier if i see arlo following more standards like batteries (2AA or 3AA for example), chargers(for AA and AAA bateries, for example), etc. If some of this breaks, we will need to buy all these expensive parts which is not something that would be really needed. Its more a strategy for profits, but i really prefer standards and reusability.
– would be interesting to have the 2 features (activity zones and notifications by animals, persons, objects etc) implemented by hardware, or somehow smarter, i.e., making the camara to do these steps and save battery by not recorsding, streaming, etc. Hopefully this will be considered in the future (but could increase hardware costs i believe)
– cameras are a bit expensive if without discount, but nice when with discount (bought mine with 55% discount, 2 caneras and base station, around 250eur. Not bad if you campare for example with smarphone that can easily reach these these amounts. Good to give a bit extra instead of cheaper security cameras.
Extra Notes:
– this security system is good, many times people complain because they dont study/explore the system enough. For example, while doing my experiments, noticed after a good time that t was triggering way more than it should (even with the record areas defined), because i also had the system armed when sound was detected. In my case i just disabled the sound.
– having the camera in a good and strategic place and well positioned is essencial. Should be in a place hard to reach and placed in a way where the sensor will detect meaninfully most of the times.
Overall a good produc
Does the job in a subtle way
Many options out there, none perfect all have at least a couple of issues which you need to decide which issues you can live with. The faults on this are need to subscribe after free cloud runs out. Otherwise need to buy data stick and faff with security internet to allow you to see recordings away from home. Second issue is you get one screw in clamp and two magnetic clamps to hold the cameras to the wall. Magnetic look great but rubbish so need to buy a couple of screw in clamps which are great. Otherwise brilliant as far as I concerned.
Very Good camera system
This camera system has excellent detection and can be adjusted to include or eliminate smaller animals like cats, and as the field of view is very wide it can be narrowed to exclude things like moving branches or bushes when it is windy otherwise there can be hundreds of videos of nothing except moving greenery. Video quality is very good both day and night, I know the rounds of all the local cats that come through our property.
A couple of minor points to be aware of. 1) I did not find that the set up was very easy in that I had to force the camera to find the router, the page by page instructions didn’t work. i.e On one page it said “if the camera doesn’t connect click here.” I had to do that most times. Also in one case the software update took hours for some reason 2) battery life is definitely not 6 months, I have had them set up for only 1 month and the fully charged batteries are between 50-60% so battery life looks like 2-3 months. It’s not a big deal as the cameras are easy to get at but if ladders are needed it becomes more of a pain to keep doing. At the least the camera keeps sending out messages to my phone when charging is required.
Good upgrade from pro 2
I’ve upgraded from a pro 2 setup, keeping the original base station, to the pro 3 for a couple of my cameras. I think it’s a noticeable upgrade, especially if you can get the pro 3 add on camera for a decent price. The picture quality is much better, and the field of view. I’m not entirely sure why people rate it lowly due to the subscription as surely this is pretty obvious if you read the description!
Lack of instructions in fine tuning the system but initial setting up is easy
I like the quality and ease of initial setting up.
Don’t like that there are no guidance instructions for working your way through all the various fine tuning options. You have to guess and stumble your way through by experimating. No explanation of what the options mean! You get two magnetic mounting brackets – which I wouldn’t advise using because it would be so easy to steel the camera- and one screwed extension bracket. I went on line with Amazon and bought two more screwed extension brackets. Overall, impressed with quality, but early days yet.
Battery Life
When looking for a wireless security system Arlo seems to fit the bill. Very easy to install and the integration with the app works extremely well.
Battery Life
the claimed 6 month battery usage between charges is very optimistic and i can only assume this was carried out under extreme circumstances, so for real world use its very doubtful. That being said we get about 6 weeks from ours which are in constant use with pets etc. Im still more than happy with this time .
Brilliant!
These cover our gardens and windows. We have been able to access these on holiday half way round the world. Picture quality is excellent. Easy to set up and install. Instructions are simple to follow.
exceeded expectations
I had a cheaper camera, but in reality I didn’t check the app cause it was annoying. so I realised I wasn’t actaully securing my house with that camera. I saw the good reviews, went for the arlo pro4.
now the app sends me real alerts when things happen around my house, and I can see the preview without even going into the app. that really impressed me.
too early yet to know about the battery, but it appears good.
Does the job
We bought one of these for a recent trip. I was nervous about the reviews that said that the battery died out quite quickly, but in our case it was totally fine after about two months away (and near daily check-ins). The night vision feature was helpful, as was the ability to turn on the light attached the camera.
Superb system and easy to setup
After lots of research, the Arlo system ticked all the boxes and have to say not disappointed. Very easy to install (also bought the wired bell) and easy to use. Good battery life, great picture, and good support from Arlo ( needed some help wiring bell)
Superb system and easy to setup
After lots of research, the Arlo system ticked all the boxes and have to say not disappointed. Very easy to install (also bought the wired bell) and easy to use. Good battery life, great picture, and good support from Arlo ( needed some help wiring bell)
Superb system and easy to setup
After lots of research, the Arlo system ticked all the boxes and have to say not disappointed. Very easy to install (also bought the wired bell) and easy to use. Good battery life, great picture, and good support from Arlo ( needed some help wiring bell)
Superb system and easy to setup
After lots of research, the Arlo system ticked all the boxes and have to say not disappointed. Very easy to install (also bought the wired bell) and easy to use. Good battery life, great picture, and good support from Arlo ( needed some help wiring bell)
Clear picture-
Easy to install – does the job it was bought for !!
Very senstive
The system in itself is good and sensitive but when you try and turn motion and animals off it does not do this so you have a lot of false triggers which flattens your battery and annoys me pinging, the side house batter has lasted just one week and not 6 months. The push notifications are not in real time they take about 5 seconds to get to your phone by this time someone could have been in your car. The system in its self is slow to load once you have an actual notification to see animation of what is happening outside.
Great wire free camera
Easy to use and easy to set up, this model doesn’t need a hub or subscription it is quick to arm and send notifications , make sure you dont buy one that needs a hub or you will spend twice as much
Amazing quality!
Best smart camera available – look no further unless you want 4K. The quality is excellent and as far as I can tell, battery life is great even with the light on.
Amazing quality!
Best smart camera available – look no further unless you want 4K. The quality is excellent and as far as I can tell, battery life is great even with the light on.
Amazing quality!
Best smart camera available – look no further unless you want 4K. The quality is excellent and as far as I can tell, battery life is great even with the light on.
If you want the best security camera Arlo is i
Very robust and easy to to set up and install and the results are stunning and we feel safe. The rechargeable batteries are easy to deal with, the weather proof covers are superb and signing up to cloud recording gives you full effect with the lights and emergency siren on the cameras should you need it. The base station is compact and easy to pair with the router and we are delighted
Good Camera with some problems
Loads of good points for the cameras.
Great quality video
Reactive notifications
Stylish
8.99 a month is far less than a security service.
But. The battery life Is pretty poor. No way it would last six months. And the set up. What a pain, if it disconnects it can take three or four times for the cameras to reconnect.
However, once they are all working. It is an amazing service.
Good Camera with some problems
Loads of good points for the cameras.
Great quality video
Reactive notifications
Stylish
8.99 a month is far less than a security service.
But. The battery life Is pretty poor. No way it would last six months. And the set up. What a pain, if it disconnects it can take three or four times for the cameras to reconnect.
However, once they are all working. It is an amazing service.
Good picture and sound quality
Received four cameras and four batteries I charged them fully before use, i downloaded the arlo app which goes through setting up which I found easy enough,when we went to put them up we realised they had only given us two brackets so can only mount two outside bit silly when there are four cameras for the price I would expect a bracket for each camera. They were easy to install only needed to drill three holes per camera and screws and plugs were provided,in the app there are lots of things in the settings so you can set up motion sensor it will pick up vehicles, people ,animals and even sounds I have it on zoom so when it detects it zooms in and follows the person. Also has a siren option so if your not home and an intruder was picked up you can sound the siren to alert neighbours also package detection so will keep an eye on your packages. Has a light for night mode which is pretty bright and will come on when motion is detected ,they came with a 3 month subscription and its 8.99 a month after that which I think is abit pricey and I’m not sure whether I will be subscribing yet will see how they go over the next couple of months . The picture quality is pretty good in day and night mode microphone is great and pics up sounds really well overall I think they are ok but not worth the price
Pretty good
Very easy to set up and install. It looks as though the batteries will last about 2 months before a recharge, quite a bit less than the headline period often quoted of c6 months, but manageable. One the bugbears is that the motion detection facility persists in alerting us to cats even when the cameras are set to spot people and people alone. Having said all of this at current prices the Pro 3 set offer decent VFM and I’m pleased that I bought them.
Good Surveillance system
All my cameras are close to the base unit, so no issues with connectivity. I also managed to hook up an old ARLO HD camera (720) to the network. Pictures are very clear and the functionality is very good with geocaching (system turns on when my phone leaves the house) and detection zones that can be customised by the user. I think this is a good system
Good Surveillance system
All my cameras are close to the base unit, so no issues with connectivity. I also managed to hook up an old ARLO HD camera (720) to the network. Pictures are very clear and the functionality is very good with geocaching (system turns on when my phone leaves the house) and detection zones that can be customised by the user. I think this is a good system
Best ever security system ever.
Motion detection outstanding, registers if animals or humans. Night vision is more than adequate. Picture quality exceptional. I started with a 2 camera system, this is an addon. 15 cameras can be added. Wide angle of detection. So easy to set up, took me less than 30 minutes.
‘Does what it says on the tin’
Night vision, picture quality and motion detection all very good. WiFi performance rather weak even though there’s no walls between the hub and the camera. Battery life could be much better. First recharge needed after 2 weeks! Worried about the corrosion resistance of the recharging contacts as we live by the sea.
Requires a Subscriptio
Excellent design and image quality. But, I did not realise on ordering that I needed a subscription to unlock all the features – not necessary on my previous (earlier version) Arlo cameras.
Simple to install and use
Replaced old wired system that meant hard drive, monitor and drilling holes in wall. This one is simple to install and use. Battery operated. Software as an app only iPhone and iPad. Can see delivery drivers, foxes at night, spotlight comes on at night, simple replay. Family can see on their devices too.
Simple to install and use
Replaced old wired system that meant hard drive, monitor and drilling holes in wall. This one is simple to install and use. Battery operated. Software as an app only iPhone and iPad. Can see delivery drivers, foxes at night, spotlight comes on at night, simple replay. Family can see on their devices too.
Simple to install and use
Replaced old wired system that meant hard drive, monitor and drilling holes in wall. This one is simple to install and use. Battery operated. Software as an app only iPhone and iPad. Can see delivery drivers, foxes at night, spotlight comes on at night, simple replay. Family can see on their devices too.
Simple to install and use
Replaced old wired system that meant hard drive, monitor and drilling holes in wall. This one is simple to install and use. Battery operated. Software as an app only iPhone and iPad. Can see delivery drivers, foxes at night, spotlight comes on at night, simple replay. Family can see on their devices too.
Extremely easy to install and very useful to have on my phone, the picture quality is excellent. I have one positioned on the kennels and the dogs move around frequently so have loads of notifications and so the battery usage is more but overall very, very pleased.
Wireless cameras
Brilliant setup and easy to use grr product had seen some not very good reviews about wireless cameras but these are excellent can’t fault them..
If in high use area with lots of detections recommend a power supply via usb cable
We are very pleased with this product
Easy to install and use
Picture quality and night vision is very good along with recognition of objects etc.
Excellent!
Did quite a bit of research before I chose Arlo but very glad I did. Installed and set up easily, but be prepared to take time time with this (all similar systems need this time). Responsive customer services very helpful with queries. Image quality and operating features excellent. All my cameras are permanently connected to chargers and I would recommend this unless you use video zones to to isolate unwanted movement, eg bushes and trees. Also, you will not have to disarm cameras during the day if you are, for instance, working in a garden which is under camera surveillance. I use four cameras to record motion triggered clips and have purchased a fifth camera that, when installed, will record constantly to monitor vehicle movement in and out of the close we live in (neighbours very happy about this). Really pleased with this system.
Excellent!
Did quite a bit of research before I chose Arlo but very glad I did. Installed and set up easily, but be prepared to take time time with this (all similar systems need this time). Responsive customer services very helpful with queries. Image quality and operating features excellent. All my cameras are permanently connected to chargers and I would recommend this unless you use video zones to to isolate unwanted movement, eg bushes and trees. Also, you will not have to disarm cameras during the day if you are, for instance, working in a garden which is under camera surveillance. I use four cameras to record motion triggered clips and have purchased a fifth camera that, when installed, will record constantly to monitor vehicle movement in and out of the close we live in (neighbours very happy about this). Really pleased with this system.
A very good produc
This is an expensive system but gives excellent results. The instructions for setting the system up are very clear and simple. However, positionihof the cameras is crucial particularly if outdoors to avoid strong sunlight and rain drops on the lens and had to buy custom made covers for the cameras which overcomes these problems.
A very good produc
This is an expensive system but gives excellent results. The instructions for setting the system up are very clear and simple. However, positionihof the cameras is crucial particularly if outdoors to avoid strong sunlight and rain drops on the lens and had to buy custom made covers for the cameras which overcomes these problems.
Great produc
Having upgraded from the Arlo Pro 2 system, this is a big improvement. Fantastic video quality with a much wider viewing angle compared to the Pro 2 cameras.
Hopefully the re-designed unibody case and magnetic charging port should prevent water ingress which plagued the Pro 2 cameras (one of my Pro 2 cameras got wet via the USB charging port).
All in all a great product and well worth the money.
Impressed and disappointed
The cameras are very good quality and easy to set up and are user friendly on your phone or device
But the fact they are blue tooth means ypu are restricted on were you place them because they have to be charged up, and very regularly sometimes twice a week which makes a mockery of the six month battery life the manufacturer says
Also the one camera is hard fixed by a bracket, but the other is held in place by a magnet and i am dubious that it would hold it securely in high winds
All in all slightly disappointing for ober 400 for 2 camera’s and a hub, plus you have tp pay a month fee after 3 months trial period.
Excellent Purchase
Recommended Arlo by a family member. So far, we are very pleased with our purchase. Very clear coloured night vision, motion detection and excellent picture quality.
Simple to use and install Arlo System
Grown and developed the Arlo use around our house. It is easy to set up and add on more coverage. The quality of pictures and on line through the mobile is excelle
Great cameras
These are great cameras, easy to set up and install. You choose the alerts you receive. Very easy to use through your phone
Arlo Pro 3
The cameras are easy to set up and install. Works with Apple HomeKit seamlessly. The settings are simple to understand and offer a range of camera options. Night vision is amazing, tracking is spot on and image quality is fantastic. The only negative is battery life, mine ran down in 3 weeks not 6 months as described in the product info. If you can access the cameras easily and recharge them they are a very good product.
Arlo Pro 3
The cameras are easy to set up and install. Works with Apple HomeKit seamlessly. The settings are simple to understand and offer a range of camera options. Night vision is amazing, tracking is spot on and image quality is fantastic. The only negative is battery life, mine ran down in 3 weeks not 6 months as described in the product info. If you can access the cameras easily and recharge them they are a very good product.
Arlo Pro 3
The cameras are easy to set up and install. Works with Apple HomeKit seamlessly. The settings are simple to understand and offer a range of camera options. Night vision is amazing, tracking is spot on and image quality is fantastic. The only negative is battery life, mine ran down in 3 weeks not 6 months as described in the product info. If you can access the cameras easily and recharge them they are a very good product.
Arlo Pro 3
The cameras are easy to set up and install. Works with Apple HomeKit seamlessly. The settings are simple to understand and offer a range of camera options. Night vision is amazing, tracking is spot on and image quality is fantastic. The only negative is battery life, mine ran down in 3 weeks not 6 months as described in the product info. If you can access the cameras easily and recharge them they are a very good product.
Superb quality and easy to set up
I purchased the Pro 4 camera solution. Within minutes I was up and running. Everything you need is i the kit. Video tutorials are simple to follow and effective
Amazing Cameras
I am absolutely delighted with my new Arlo Pro 3 cameras. I owned a Arlo Pro before, and I couldn’t be happier with the change! I would definitely recommend these cameras!
And very easy and quick setup. A
Arlo pro 3
The Arlo pro 3 2K is a fantastic product with many great security options to set your cameras up to according to whet you want to capture and or record. Picture quality and live streaming is seamless. Easy to instal.Thanks Arlo.
Great upgrade from previous Arlo versions
Decided to upgrade to Arlo Pro3 from Arlo and it was the best decision made. Easy to install, the quality of the picture, recordings and sound is such an improvement. Really recommend.
Fantastic cameras you won’t regret installing these!
I bought the four pack of Arlo wireless cameras. They replaced my Hive, which, quite honestly have driven me bonkers. They would drop out all the time, you can’t mute the sound. There was a lot I didn’t like – Then along came Arlo. I absolutely love them. They haven’t dropped out once, you can mute them, have the light on. They have an inbuilt siren, what a great idea. The picture quality is great, no complaints. I love the way they auto zoom and focus. The light being on does eat up the battery in a high motion area, however, you can switch this off. So far I am super pleased with Arlo and would not hesitate in recommending these camera’s.
Great system
Very easy to set up, great video, good alert/notification system to the app. Gives piece of mind to keep an eye on the property. I looked around at other camera options before buying – arlo pro 3 is quite expensive, but it is worth it.
I’ve now been using these devices for 5 months. I purchased this two camera kit + one additional camera. I have a small, end terrace house with a camera on each corner. Cameras no further than 8m away from Hub, through one external wall each. Front is also through 2 internal walls.
Simply, I’ve learnt that you cannot beat a wired system. Not just for the obvious case of battery life, but for general reliability. I have 200mbps Virgin broadband with 20mb upload (deliberately increased to try and improve). My findings:
– The batteries are appalling in ‘busy’ motion areas, especially in cold weather, lasting approx 1 week. Arlo say that even with motion zones set, the camera still uses battery to process the motion and ignore it. The front house camera is simply useless without being connected to mains power. It watches a low footfall pedestrian pathway and medium traffic central housing estate road. One car approx every 10 mins at busy times, perhaps.
– Almost every time I have attempted to access live view via the app, for whatever reason, the response is slow and not at all as advertised. It frustrates me as I’m trying to see who’s at my door, whilst in the Supermarket… watching a circle go round and round. Sometimes, a simple restart of the app helps. Other times, the Hub is needing a restart as cameras fall offline. Pointless’ springs to mind. This is sometimes the case in the middle of the night and also during peak times for broadband usage. A real hit and miss. Arlo support simply haven’t got any answers and I don’t really blame them.
I still however, do like the system. Having tried this now, I wouldn’t purchase again. I would resort to a more expensive and more reliable WIRED system that simply ‘works’. But for now, it suits. I have purchased third party outdoor chargers for front and back to save having to go up a ladder every week, two-weeks. Only improvement is battery, still they take a while to load, sometimes and still fail to connect to Hub. When these products are advertised on large American house, I simply can’t see them working too well. My shoes box sized house struggles with super fast internet. Again, Arlo have no answers. Each use case is different which is why you SHOULD buy and try.
I’ve now been using these devices for 5 months. I purchased this two camera kit + one additional camera. I have a small, end terrace house with a camera on each corner. Cameras no further than 8m away from Hub, through one external wall each. Front is also through 2 internal walls.
Simply, I’ve learnt that you cannot beat a wired system. Not just for the obvious case of battery life, but for general reliability. I have 200mbps Virgin broadband with 20mb upload (deliberately increased to try and improve). My findings:
– The batteries are appalling in ‘busy’ motion areas, especially in cold weather, lasting approx 1 week. Arlo say that even with motion zones set, the camera still uses battery to process the motion and ignore it. The front house camera is simply useless without being connected to mains power. It watches a low footfall pedestrian pathway and medium traffic central housing estate road. One car approx every 10 mins at busy times, perhaps.
– Almost every time I have attempted to access live view via the app, for whatever reason, the response is slow and not at all as advertised. It frustrates me as I’m trying to see who’s at my door, whilst in the Supermarket… watching a circle go round and round. Sometimes, a simple restart of the app helps. Other times, the Hub is needing a restart as cameras fall offline. Pointless’ springs to mind. This is sometimes the case in the middle of the night and also during peak times for broadband usage. A real hit and miss. Arlo support simply haven’t got any answers and I don’t really blame them.
I still however, do like the system. Having tried this now, I wouldn’t purchase again. I would resort to a more expensive and more reliable WIRED system that simply ‘works’. But for now, it suits. I have purchased third party outdoor chargers for front and back to save having to go up a ladder every week, two-weeks. Only improvement is battery, still they take a while to load, sometimes and still fail to connect to Hub. When these products are advertised on large American house, I simply can’t see them working too well. My shoes box sized house struggles with super fast internet. Again, Arlo have no answers. Each use case is different which is why you SHOULD buy and try.
This product gives you peace of mind and confidence
Home security, Brilliant pictures ,even picks up Bees flying around the camera
2345
Having has a number of other battery powered cameras we were skeptical to go with yet another brand. However , these are amazing and the best home security purchase we have made so far. No false alarms the auto zoom feature is amazing too. Would highly recommend the Arlo Pro 3
Great product and software package, could improve night mode
Great camera and software service. I haven’t given it 5 stars because I feel the night mode could have been much better esp because I live in an area with poor outdoor lighting.
Easy to use and affordable
User friendly product and app. Nothing to be worried about!!!. Great visually and perfect picture quality.
Good produc
Good product. Very easy to set up and user friendly
App is very useful and intuitive, and cameras themselves are very good.
Couple issues I’ve had around detection:
1) mistakes pets for humans, if they’re up on tables, counters, etc
2) motion detection triggers automatic recordings which are a touch late – when you view the recording, the person/pet who triggered the camera has already been in the room for a few seconds by the time the video starts
Other than that, worth noting that the USB storage option (for those who don’t want to pay extra for Arlo’s cloud service) is useful, and let’s you view content from your USB drive on your phone, but doesn’t let you delete videos from the USB. For that you have to remove the USB drive from the Arlo hub and plug into your PC.
App is very useful and intuitive, and cameras themselves are very good.
Couple issues I’ve had around detection:
1) mistakes pets for humans, if they’re up on tables, counters, etc
2) motion detection triggers automatic recordings which are a touch late – when you view the recording, the person/pet who triggered the camera has already been in the room for a few seconds by the time the video starts
Other than that, worth noting that the USB storage option (for those who don’t want to pay extra for Arlo’s cloud service) is useful, and let’s you view content from your USB drive on your phone, but doesn’t let you delete videos from the USB. For that you have to remove the USB drive from the Arlo hub and plug into your PC.
Good Ki
2K gives a good balance between the visual quality and the storage required. I bought the three cam option. Set up was easy but you need to ensure the hub is located to give the three cams a good signal – this may not be possible if you have cams at front and back of your property (a second hub/subscription may be needed). So plan before you buy and read the Arlo FAQs on their support site. That said it’s very good quality product and quick to set up.
Excellent cameras
Bought these to add to some earlier Arlo cameras but these are so much better. The images are really clear and they pick up sound from quite a distance.
Can't fault this se
This set consists of two cameras and a ‘hub’. Setting them up involves connecting the hub to your network (By a cable, it’s not wireless) and the pairing the cameras with the hub. This is easy to do. The Arlo application for iOS connects to cameras and hubs and lets you control them and also view the images remotely. The kit comes with a charger dock for the cameras, and fittings to allow you to hang the cameras on walls or ceilings.
Picture quality is excellent and wide. A single camera covers pretty much all our living room and the whole of our hallway. At night the image is good. The cameras also have speakers which has proven to be handy as we use it to talk to the kids when we go out (Usually to ask them to do something for us!). The application on your phone can be used to view the images live and it will also notify you if movement is detected by the camera. The application will record the image when it detects movement and store it in a cloud account, but you need to pay for this feature once the trial period has ended.
This is an extremely high quality product that worked flawlessly for me, and has high quality image quality both in day and night and comes with a well integrated application.
Simple setup, lasting battery, and flexible paid plan.
Arlo beats the competition with its unbeatable flexible pricing plan. All other features are the cherry on top. Reviews are critical of battery life but in my experience with regular use it lasts as advertised. Arlo’s detection (capabilities/features) stretch the life of the battery by using smart tech for detection. This minimizes notifications and hours of unnecessary footage.
Simple setup, lasting battery, and flexible paid plan.
Arlo beats the competition with its unbeatable flexible pricing plan. All other features are the cherry on top. Reviews are critical of battery life but in my experience with regular use it lasts as advertised. Arlo’s detection (capabilities/features) stretch the life of the battery by using smart tech for detection. This minimizes notifications and hours of unnecessary footage.
Simple setup, lasting battery, and flexible paid plan.
Arlo beats the competition with its unbeatable flexible pricing plan. All other features are the cherry on top. Reviews are critical of battery life but in my experience with regular use it lasts as advertised. Arlo’s detection (capabilities/features) stretch the life of the battery by using smart tech for detection. This minimizes notifications and hours of unnecessary footage.
Very good but expensive produc
I would have gave 5 stars if it was a little bit cheaper. Apart for the expensive price I can’t fault the cameras. Very easy To set up. Picture is clear. And works with HomeKi
Care of the elderly
A system perfect for elderly care in ensuring safety and well being
Outstanding quality
The Arlo Pro 3 cameras, offer outstanding quality. The image is crystal clear, with a very wide angle of view (user changeable in the app).They were very easy to get connected and are very straight forward to fix to the outside walls (i did purchase an extra screwed mounting post, as i wasn’t happy with the magnetic option not being tampered with, as an outside location). I also purchased the solar panel chargers, so i never need to manually charge the batteries again.
Outstanding quality
The Arlo Pro 3 cameras, offer outstanding quality. The image is crystal clear, with a very wide angle of view (user changeable in the app).They were very easy to get connected and are very straight forward to fix to the outside walls (i did purchase an extra screwed mounting post, as i wasn’t happy with the magnetic option not being tampered with, as an outside location). I also purchased the solar panel chargers, so i never need to manually charge the batteries again.
Good but some limitations
The camera and it’s features are good though it would be good to better manage notifications. We regularly have people or animals walk in view of the camera be good if when you set zones it exclusively reported on these and not the wider view. Means we either receive hundreds of alerts a day or turn them off entirely which defeats the point a little. The range is also frustrating. Both our front and back camera are at the very edge of the range apparently despite being less than 10m away from the router and moving closer to either would lose the other signal entirely, which they often do anyway. That all said the camera is great, picture quality and night vision really good, which let’s face it is when you mostly want it to work well.
Great system
Quick and easy to get set up and running. Impressed with the option to set zones for alerts to stop moving trees triggering it all the time
Excellent camera kit from ARLO.
I’ve had several wireless cameras around the outside of the house for some years and as technology has evolved these cameras have been updated.
This kit from Arlo consists of a base station that plugs into your modem/router via LAN Ethernet connection and the cameras connect to the base via a secure wireless connection. I had a slight problem with one camera that had problems connection to the base, it’s a good distance from the base with it being fixed on our shed down the garden. This was sorted out by using a mains ethernet sockets that allowed me to locate the base station in the kitchen, the camera then worked fine.
Setting up the cameras was a breeze compared to other cameras I have used in the past, there are two mounts provided in the kit, one is the standard screw mounting and the other is a magnetic mount, both are good quality and look upto the weather outside.
The picture from these cameras is excellent, good clear pictures of any movement within the cameras field of view are then store on the cloud or memory stick/HDD plugged into the usb port on the base station, the cloud based storage is free for 3 months after that period you have to pay a subscription fee, I’ve opted for a 1gb SSD storage drive, OK you do lose a few features but the cameras still record images to the SSD.
The other great feature of these cameras is they have a built in LED flood light, with this function switched on the cameras can record in low light and in colour, this light comes on when someone approaches the camera. There is also an alarm function on these cameras, this is activated via the ARLO app, the siren is fairly loud but I feel it could be louder. Two way audio is another useful function, this is particularly useful as an intercom for delivery drivers, especially in these times.
Battery life on the cameras is around 3 weeks between charges, this is OK for me but can be improved by altering setting in the app, the other little bugbear is ARLO have supplied a special charging lead with these cameras, it is a USB lead with a special magnetic base that attaches to the camera, I would have preferred a standard USB connection to the camera so I;m not tied to ARLO accessories
The ARLO phone app is good and simple to use, you can change setting within the cameras through the app, all important firmware to the cameras and base are update via the app too.
I like this kit and quality looks good, one or two little snags along the way but they have been fixed without any real issues.
Great design, OK performance but still a good buy
Great cameras, subtle and smart design, extremely easy to set up.
There is a compromise between battery life and image resolution, so images don’t look as good as they do on the Arlo website if you want a reasonable battery life. The Hub also has a fairly weak range, not working for me one floor up and two rooms down. Tracking doesn’t appear to be limited to activity zones, so my cameras are picking up more than they should.
Great wireless camera
I really like the Arlo pro 3 and Arlo Ultra. It lets me see a nice wide angle and gives me peace of mind that my property is being watched.
I have grown to not be able to live with out this camera system!
It is state of the art for a wireless camera and works so well with the app.
I genuinely get about 6 – 7 weeks life out of a single charge.
The picture quality is amazing too.
Any questions ask and I’ll try to answer quickly.
Reply
There is a bit of a delay in receiving notifications on mobile devices other than that it is good
Quality video stream easy to connect to hub but battery use is high> battery life not as advertised
Quality video stream and easy to connect to the hub but the battery on these if you use with full functionality is poor lasting only weeks rather than the advertised months. ideally these should be supplied with outdoor weather proof power connection.
Also watch out for the cloud subscriptions and make sure you set system to record on hard drive or SD card depending on your hub base type. Check the system compatibility table to see what camera can be used with what hub . Ideally you need WiFi in the house and a smart pad or phone to download the arlo app to view the files or live viewing. Failing that you can use as a dumb system and record onto SD card or USB drive.
I have owned Arlo Pro (The original, with alkaline, non replaceable batteries) for a number of years, 3 or 4. These new Arlo Pro 3 are amazing, there is no comparison to the old. I’ll split my review up in to a few sections, App, Daytime, Nighttime, Deisgn/Aesthetic.
The App:
The App is the same for Arlo Pro -> Newest Arlo products, this is a really big selling point for me. I have now connected all of my old cameras and new cameras to the same base station, and now all are on the same App. The notifications from the app are really nice, really nice. There is a 3 month free addon with these cameras, that is the ‘Smart detection’. This shows a small snapshot of the detected movement, and even identifies whether it was a package, a car, a person or an animal. I love this feature, truly love it. Its hilarious getting animal notifications for dogs and cats! You can send an alarm through each camera to warn off intruders and even have two way audio through them. One of my favorite things to do is to listen to the birds through the camera in the mornings. The microphone picks up so much audio.
Daytime Recording:
The field of view is incredible, it’s almost 180 degrees. I’ll attach a couple of photos to my review in due time. The quality is 2k, and is really really clear. Crystal clear in good light, and very clear in low light. The quality of these over previous Arlos is not even comparable, these are so much better.
Nighttime Recording:
Wow! This blew me away. The night time recording using infra red is excellent. The ‘throw’ on the infra red is superior to anything I’ve seen before. The old Arlos had to be very close to the object to pick it up at night time, but these really flood the area with IR and it’s very clear at night in black and white. What blew me away here though, is there is a small LED floodlight, it’s really nothing over the top and I wasnt very impressed, however! At night time, that little flood light lights up the whole area and the camera sensor can pick up night time shots in full colour! Really! I absolutely did not expect such a good picture, in colour, at night time. If night time recording is a priority for you, this is a winner!
Design/Aesthetic:
These are very well designed, the charging point is magnetic, the batteries are rechargeable, the case can take a magnetic mount as well as a tripod/screw mount. It can be ran wired or wireless, I mean, they have really iterated this thing to near perfection. The camera itself, due to the increased capabilities, is larger than the old Arlos, which I guess is a downside. It’s heavier, but its much better built. Everything about it oozes quality. You can pop the case off and quickly replace a battery to save you take the camera down completely, and recharging the camera. This is good for when you dont want to lose camera coverage.
These may seem expensive at the outset, but I guarantee these cameras are worth it. They’re truly incredible pieces of technology. To be wireless, last this long, and have as many features as these do, packaged in those little cameras is just amazing. 10/10 from me.
You need an Arlo subscription to get the most benefit from these cameras
I can’t believe how well these work. You’ll need an Arlo subscription to get the full benefit of these cameras, but they still work pretty well standalone. If you don’t have an Arlo plan then you only get limited cloud storage. Not the end of the world as you can plug a USB stick into the base station and store video there. However, those videos can’t be streamed; you need to download them and then play them. A minor inconvenience.
The base station adds another WiFi network to my already crowded house spectrum. There’s no option to use your existing WiFi network which seems a little restrictive. However, I wonder if they are using a slightly different standard to regular WiFi as it works extraordinarily well. I can happily steam 2K video from a camera situated in my back garden. I’d struggle to do that with my BT WiFi even though the router is closer.
I was a little disappointed that I couldn’t integrate the cameras with my Synology. The cameras support RTSP, but I couldn’t get my Synology to recognise the stream. I think the camera is using some kind of proprietary encryption. Similarly, I couldn’t find a way to configure the base station to use the Synology for network storage of recorded footage. Local device USB and cloud seem to be the only options.
You have the option of managing and viewing footage via your phone or via a website. Annoyingly, the website uses the Flash plugin and so you have to go through a whole pile of security juggling to get the plugin working in your browser (commonly called ‘the Flash dance’). This will be beyond most people and will only be allowed in Chrome until December 2020 anyway. Hopefully, the website will be updated before then. It is my preferred option for viewing the video.
The video from these cameras is incredibly clear. The lenses are very wide angle and you can see a whole room almost no matter where you place the camera. The video is best viewed via a computer or tablet. It’s hard to see the 2k detail on your phone, although it can be OK full screen depending on the size of your phone. I like that I can use my Echo Spot to view the steams too.
A Solution If Your Camera Locations Have No Mains Power Available
This is indeed a good alternative if the locations you want your cameras has no mains but I would compare the cost of installing ethernet cables to the locations and having POE (Power Over Ethernet) cables which can record 24/7 and don;t have to have their batteries charged up.
Anyway I shall start with my tips.
1. Cameras are heavy so use strong mounts (they weigh 319g) or they will vibrate in the wind.
2. Turn off audio detection if used outside or they will use 25% of battery life every night as the system tries to decide if it hears a real noise or the wind. Like cheap action cameras all you get is wind noise anyway.
3. The convex lens tends to collect large drops of water during and after rain making the image very poor. Try and mount under cover.
4. No option to record date and time stamps on the video image / still photos.
5. You need to subscribe and pay a monthly fee after the trial period. A local USB memory stick can be added but not sure how well this works.
6. Don’t miss-place the dedicated USB charging lead or you will not be able to charge the cameras up.
Setup was pretty easy and the app works quite well other than the creators could not decide to show the time in 12 or 24hr format and it gives the alert times at e.f. 03:58am but in the recording history 15:58 (using Android app).
Scheduling cameras to be active at different times of day can be done but is the most tricky setup I have ever used!
So my garden one is active 24/7 while the indoor one is only active 23;30 to 07:00
The camera picture quality is good but the bright white LED night light is a bit of a giveaway so that also may want to disable.
The kit only comes with one magnetic mount and one tripod mount (which did not fit) and I have my garden one on a bendy tripod wrapped around the trellis fencing.
Arlo of course are part of Netgear.
Extremely Good Cameras, Excellent Battery Life
This is an excellent surveillance system. It is extremely easy to set up and use. The system comprises two cameras with two different mounts- more in a moment-, a wireless router-type box, and a charger, which has an unusual magnetic charging attachment, which I would be happy to see adopted as a standard for other electronic devices.
You do have to download the app, which appears at first to require payment, but as far as I can see that is just for enhanced features, such as cloud recording. If you do want to record and don’t want to use the cloud the wireless box has a slot for an SD card.
Once you have the app, set up is pretty simple. You name the cameras and link them to your wireless network then situate your cameras- as I said earlier, there are two different types: One is magnetic, which I’d recommend you only
use for a high up, i.e. out of easy reach, places- It’s great, the magnet is extremely strong and secure but also very easy to remove, the other is a screw mount, which is a little more difficult to remove but not difficult to install.
In operation, it’s just sit back and watch. You can set the system to notify you of any movements, which are illuminated by very bright security lights at night. Night vision is very clear when the lights aren’t on.
Battery life is excellent. This was one area that I was concerned about; obviously, if the battery runs out halfway through your two week holiday, it wouldn’t be fit for purpose…well, I’m happy to report that after being fully charged three weeks ago, the batteries on both cameras are still showing a good amount of charge, looks like another week at least.
I like the little extras: There are speakers that let you tell intruders to politely leave the premises, or say hello to the postman; a siren for when you want to go nuclear and you can turn the lights on remotely.
Through the app, you can view your property from the other side of the world or your living room and keep tabs on the battery lives and wireless strength for each one.
This is a really excellent system and I thoroughly recommend it.
simple to set up
First thing that struck me on opening the box and seeing the kit was
how well designed it was. Compact with sleek black and white curves
with no hard edges – not ugly at all.
The contents are a smart hub with power adaptor and Ethernet cable,
3 cameras, 3 rechargeable batteries, 3 wall mounts, a camera power
adaptor and instructions.
Once laid out, it’s pretty simple to work out what goes where without
reading the instructions, but, nevertheless it’s always best to do so.
The batteries already have a half charge so you can get the feel
of the systems before you set it up properly. It’s all wireless so there are no ugly,
messy wires everywhere.
The wall mounts come with wall plugs and screws so there’s no need
to look for your own. One of the mounts attaches to the camera with
an adjustable screw while the other 2 are magnetic – they attach securely
with no fear of falling off. Obviously, if these were outside they would have
to be hidden or well out of reach as they can be detached by hand.
Once in place, they are easily removed and recharged using the simple
magnetic charger. It just attaches itself and away you go – very simple.
With normal use ( 5 mins of recording a day) the batteries can last between
4-6 months on full charge.
Once you’ve powered up your smart hub and connected to the internet,
you need to download the Arlo app to your smart phone (either from Apple Store
or Google Play) Once again it’s quick and simple to follow and within a few minutes
you are up and running.
It has 2K video and a 160 degree view, an integrated spotlight, colour or mono night vision,
zoom facility, 2-way audio so you can have a conversation and a siren – all of which are
very easy to control through the app.
The system can work out what it’s looking at – person, vehicle or pet. You can edit this
through the app, for example, if you don’t want your pets or animals to register or if you just
purely want to look at vehicles.
The motion sensor will send a message direct to you phone if there is any movement.
Arlo.com have a useful support page if you have any problems and you have the option
to set up an account with The Cloud to store your footage. There is a free trial included
I love the potential a lot of customising options.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS.
After 3 weeks of use I like this system a lot and love the potential of what it is capable of, once I master all the customising options.
It has a couple off irritating quirks like the 5 second delay between live footage and displayed footage and I dislike the sensitivity to animals outside resulting in unnecessary alerts. However, I am sure I these will be remedied soon once I am more familiar with the features.
USER MANUAL. –
There was no obvious link or mention of a user manual or guide but google search for “ARLO PRO 3 user manual”. Produced an comprehensive 78 pages online one from the ARLO website, that can be downloaded for offline reference. Note. I cannot include a link here but I have included screen grabs of the table of contents pages.
ONLINE TUTORIAL & REVIEW.
Even though the initial setup is easy it is worth checking out YOUTUBE as a guide to see what options are available. There are several excellent reviews and tutorials including a couple of short ones from the ARLO brand and other much longer and in depth reviews and tutorials detailing the many options.
WITH & WITHOUT MONTHLY SUBSCRIPTION
Straight out of the box to a simple setup was less than half an hour,
with very little technical knowledge and just a screwdriver and a smartphone app.
There is no need to buy the extra monthly subscription as there are are lots of customisable options included. The online user manual and online tutorials are worth referring to .
However, for those who want even more customisable security features and icloud storage you need to consider one of the monthly subscription offers, ranging from 2.49 for a single camera to 12.99 for up to 5 cameras.
CAMERA LOCATIONS & MY REQUIREMENTS
I installed one wall mounted camera above my front door and the magnetic clip camera inside my living room looking out of a large window. .
I did not need any monthly subscription as the included system, once customised, met all of my particular needs, including saving data to either my iphone, my pc or an external drive. I can view my cameras from anywhere in the world via my apple devices, or at home, from the permanent camera display on 2 android screens. I also have a PC setup that enables me to record or zoom in at high resolution on a big screen.
Each day I learn new features that are better than I expected and as my knowledge and expertise grow – so does my overall satisfaction.
Posh "smart" security system, but battery-operated cameras seem strange
When I first got these I thought this would be a very advanced, CCTV camera set. I think simultaneously falls a bit short of that, and is more advanced than standard CCTV too. The selling point of this set is that it is “smart”. There are all kinds of functions. You can record in 2K HD. There are tools which enable package, motion and person detection. You also have a spotlight, 2-way-audio (so you can have a chat with the burglars?) and a wide-angle lens. These cameras connect to the Arlo Cloud App. These sound fantastic, although I didn’t have the chance to try these out because I intended to give the cameras to a friend after my test – and I would have needed to trial the Arlo Cloud subsciption service. That would have been too much hassle.
Where I find these cameras fall short is that they seem to be battery operated. Therefore if you cannot change the batteries, say every few days, or once a week. Then it’s effectively defunct. You cannot go on holiday for an extended period of time. You just can’t. There is the option to buy the solar panels for the kits – but in practice that’s a lot of extra gear. And will it still charge through the winter months? I think it may be possible to wire these into the mains with a plug, but again you’d have to buy extra costly kit.
The set that was sent to me, the Arlo 3 with 4 cameras, retails at 900 which is cheaper than a professional CCTV camera, I imagine (I’m not familiar with said systems). But at the same time it is pretty steep. From other reviewers here, you have to be pretty confident about what you’re buying if you’re spending that much.
In which case the reason I’m giving this 4 stars is because it is sophisticated, the tech is cool, the design is beautiful, it all seems to work well. But I feel like the battery operated thing, could cause problems. If you can find a solution to that, or you’re happy to be recharging batteries, or maybe only use 2 and keep the other two rotating on charge – then this could work for you. It’s sophisicated as I’ve ever seen a home security system. The Arlo Smart Cloud plan with all the functionality is an additional 7.99 a month. So just factor that into your costs as well.
All in all, this seems to be a very well thought-out, and well designed security system, with lots of handy features. But it may also be worth looking at alternatives to see how they compare with this one.
Many positives. Do they make these cams value?
First of all I’ll talk about the cams I have. The Arlo Pro 3. With 2 cameras and the station.
A few things to talk about right out of the box. The quality of the cams. It’s exceptional. Very good looking. The design and fabrication is top drawer. The hub itself is great looking too. Almost modern art. The whole set up is stylish.
Set up is as expected. Very simple. Everything connects first time and is ready to go within minutes.
Installing the cameras on the wall is just a couple of screws. The wireless nature of these cameras take the hassle out of installation. But the wireless is also a fault. The batteries are decent enough, but if you put a camera on an area which sees a bit of movement throughout the day, they do go down quite quickly and require a charge. I have found that rain is triggering my cameras and causing triggers every minute. Not ideal.
But you cannot argue with the features, the picture quality and the night vision. Really excellent stuff.
In particular I like the two way voice communication. So you instantly have a way of telling unwanted people they are on camera. Or just telling your friends or family the door is open. Which is how I use mine.
I set up one camera in the front for now. The second one will go around the back. Right now my WiFi doesn’t stretch that far so I’m waiting on a WiFi extender.
If you look at the pics you can see the night vision really is decent. With the spotlight activation on movement it helps also.
I’m rambling a bit here. I can see that battery life is an issue for a lot of folk. So getting wires might help you out. For me. I’m happy to charge them once every so often.
The cameras really are good. Do they justify their 550 price tag. I would say it’s a very small amount of money for a very stable and reliable camera system to protect your home.
Previous cameras I have had have been from ezviz which are great. These are a class above. Great.
A great security system let down by customer service
These home security cameras are not cheap by any means. You have to be serious about needing them rather than wanting them.
Out of the box, they are extremely easy to set up and use. Plugging the Arlo hub into the back of my Virgin Media Hub, then downloading the Arlo app, I was able to have the first camera up and running within a couple of minutes.
The Arlo app, while very extensive, is also very complicated until you know your way around it. It took me a day or so, after installing all 4 cameras, to get the settings for each individual camera perfected. Settings range from sensitivity of motion detection, colour night vision etc.
Daytime recording gives lovely crisp and clear imagery. However, night vision is somewhat disappointing. Even more so when colour mode is used at night.
Wifi signal is acceptable. I have 2 of the cameras set up inside the house and signal is strong. The third camera is set up on the patio and the signal is still quite strong. The 4th camera is set up near the bottom of my garden which is approximately 100 feet away from the wifi source. Signal is a little hit and miss at this distance and as a result, some recordings are either missed, or very patchy and blocky.
Another excellent feature is motion tracking. For example, when we let the dog go outside, the patio camera immediately reacts and follows the dog around the garden (within the limitation of the camera angle of view).
You can set up the app to give an alarm alert on your phone if motion is detected, which is both a bonus, but also can be very intrusive. Again, when we let the dog out, my phone is chiming non stop. You can opt to switch this off, but then you need to switch it back on when you require it for more serious motion detection.
Battery life so far is very impressive indeed. My cameras have been set up for nearly 2 weeks now and the patio camera (which sees the most activity) is still at 57%
I have also plugged in a portable USB Hard Drive to the rear of the Arlo hub so all recordings are automatically saved there. Hopefully, this will continue once the trial period given by Arlo expires. (To continue using the Arlo Cloud after the trial period I find to be very expensive as it is a monthly subscription).
I had a few issues when setting up the app to respond how I wanted so I contacted Arlo. This is where the system lost points as their response was both woefully slow and unhelpful. Thankfully, after a few hours playing around with settings I was able to sort the issues myself.
Overall, I am very impressed with the system. It’s been amazing watching back some of the footage from the garden which has detected badgers, foxes, and a heron.
Works well but only a 3 month cloud trial included.
The Arlo3 Pro is an easy to use security camera system that works very well. However the price seems very high and there’s only a 3 month subscription to the cloud services included. After this it’s 7.99/m. You’d think at this price it would include 12 months. You don’t have to use the cloud service if you don’t want and you can plug in a USB drive in the back.
Easy to setup and get started and you can record high resolution QHD video. It is good quality. You can take still photos but these are strangely at a lower resolution of just Full HD.
The cameras have built-in lights that can be used for better night vision. With these on you get colour night vision. With them off you get black and white night vision.
Fairly easy to manage using the Arlo app and I was able to setup a detailed schedule to keep the security cameras on when I needed. Battery life of the cameras seemed okay to me but will run down quicker the more the cameras are used (night light etc).
Works really. The emotion and person detection is excellent. We bough this system to keep an eye on an elderly family member during the daytime tomake sure that they are OK at home.
Has a really clear microphone and speaker for emergency contact too.
However, if you have the sensativity turned up to make sure that you pick up plenty of movement, the batery will drain within 48 hours so the additional charge leads would be a must.
The multi user app option is really good, and the master user can specify which camera’s different people can see. You can also grant and deny each user the abilty to change camera settings should you wish to.
Overall: Very impressed
The Arlo hardware and monitoring software is fantastic. I would urge everyone to forget about hard wired camera when Arlo comes out of the box, installed and monitoring within minutes. Fantastic.
Solid but expensive
Solid system if somewhat overpriced. Motion detection could be further and activates best when the movement is across the camera, so not ideal when looking straight down a driveway. WiFi range is good even when 20m from base station. Charging the batteries is annoying without a charge station as you have to remove the camera which can mess up the activity zones. Camera playback is good when full screen on a PC, but would be nice to have the cameras display in 4 real quadrants.
These are a good mid range camera. They have great video quality and the microphone is very sensitive
If you are upgrading from Arlo or Arlo pro these are worth it but from Arlo Pro 2 you are just paying extra for the Spotlight and slight increase in video quality.
At 2k the video is very clear, there is a wide angle lens option so you can see more. Can’t fault them for their night vision and colour night vision (using the spotlight) it is also very clear.
The sensitivity has been improved over the older model which is great, sometimes a little too sensitive but this can be tweaked.
As with all Arlo cameras, they are very easy to install. You get one magnetic mount and one screw mount, it’s a shame you didn’t get two of each. These will work with any existing screw mount you may have.
These are wireless cameras but I suggest you get the charge wire so that you don’t have to compromise on any settings.