Arlo Essential Security Wireless 2K Camera with Spotlight, Indoor/Outdoor, 2nd Gen, 2-Way Audio, Color Night Vision, Motion Activation, Real Time Notifications, White, VMC3450, 4-Pack (Renewed)

A few years ago my son bought me the Arlo pro 4 it was a set of three and just in the last week I decided after a few incidents I needed more coverage outside and inside the house. I did my research if I wanted to stay with Arlo or switch to blink and it just made sense to stick with what I already have so I purchased a 4 pack of the Arlo essentials 2k and placed them in the house and outside. The ease of setting up the cameras was super easy and had no issues with connection. I now have a total of 7 cameras inside and out and two doorbell cameras as well. The cost was budget friendly if you do your research and find what’s right for you. Picture quality is great, I can control the brightness on the app and even choose if I wanted the spotlight on or off. If you are looking for a set of security cameras I highly recommend Arlo over the other brands.

Don’t pick up a wide area really surprised me

This review is for the Arlo Wired Doorbell & Pro 4 Camera since I was trying to integrate them to work together.Overall the cameras are just OK, however there are many issues that caused me to return the camera. The biggest issues are the long lag time that makes the video doorbell almost useless, motion sensing and recording not working consistantly, integration with Smarthings not working correctly with long lag time, and the quality of the cameras of not sensing motion and forgetting settings every night.Pros:* Good Price when on sale for $79 (Doorbell Camera)* Decent video quality (though hard to read a license plate)* Night vision (only in black in white) works well if the IR light does not reflect off an object close to the camera lens. (Doorbell Camera)* Color Night vision (Pro 4 – as long as you enable the internal spotlight)* Motion alert (only motion) will send to Smartthings to be able to trigger lights (via a web connection)* Will ring your wired doorbell* Announces on Google Nests, however there is a delay after the doorbell is pressed* Allows pre canned announcements that the user on the app can send while in a call after the doorbell is pressed.* Allows someone to leave a message after ringing the doorbell* Get email alerts of low battery (Pro 4 camera)Cons:* One of 3 cameras forgets / changes record length time every night to 10 seconds even though the app is set to record for 120 seconds (Pro 4 Camera)* One of 3 cameras will not sense motion most of the time and when it does you have to be very close to the camera (Pro 4 camera)* Cross triggering of recording of motion on one camera to start recording on another camera takes from 2 to 12 seconds and sometimes does not trigger the other camera.* Cross triggering of recoding will not work properly when linked to other cameras to record, setting time limit of recording to motion would not record anything if triggered by another camera* Cross triggering of recording will not work if you mask the recording area on the cameras triggered to record.* Batteries only lasted 4 to 6 days (Pro 4 camera)* Can not use color night vision if you turn off the spotlight. I have motion yard lights that turn on, however you must turn the camera spotlight on (and use camera battery) to see in color. (Pro 4 Camera)* Plan on spending hours to work with customer service. I found the phone number works best during the day. You must look to find the number.* Very long delay, about 13 seconds to get notification on your phone after the doorbell is pressed, and 8 to 14 seconds when trying to talk to someone at your door when they ring the doorbell. That is a 16 to 28 second round trip wait to ask a question. I have gigabit internet and a dedicated wireless router for just the one camera so it is not a bandwidth issue on my side. Customer service told me that they have a typical delay of 5 seconds.* Audio is choppy and drops out often, even with the built-in messages.* Motion sensor only works for the bottom half of the screen. If you aim the camera down to see the step in front of your door, it may not pick up anything from the sidewalk as people enter* No prerecording of what happened before the motion sensor triggers (when it triggers)* Masking of the area you want to record does not work properly. Customer service told me to turn it off to ensure I get more motion sensing.* No way to turn off black and white video at night, even when you have motion lights that turn on. (wired doorbell camera)* Light and the internal IR light will cause bad glares across the video if reflected into the camera lens* Camera will not record when sent “record” from Smartthings. (possibly may work if mask is turned off) then it would take 12 to 29 seconds to start recording (if it starts at all)* No way to turn certain types of alarm notifications on / off for different times of the day to the app while maintain motions sensors and recording.* Android app has some issues such as no way to turn on / off night vision light. You must log in to a web-based control to turn on / off* No direct connection to Smartthings, must rely on the internet and link your account.* Smartthings only gets motion alerts from Arlo, it cannot receive alerts for people, vehicles, packages, animals, etc.* Alarm types in Smartthings do not work properly: (Strobe, Siren and Strobe, Siren) All settings sound the siren and turn the light on.* Can not record locally with an IP based recorder or software like Blue Iris* Must pay a monthly fee to be able to record.* Must pay a higher monthly fee if you want to add another camera to use as a motion sensor so the doorbell will record when someone comes down the sidewalk towards the door.* The Android app needs to be fixed. Originally when I got the camera I could only use iOS (Apple) phone to connect the camera, they have since fixed that, however other features still do not work as of 9 December 2022Overall, I got this camera to use to integrate with Smarthings, to record on certain events and THIS DOES NOT WORK correctly with Smartthings. You must get other Arlo cameras to trigger the other Arlo cameras to record. You cannot use routines or existing Smartthings sensors to trigger a recording. The motion sensor on the camera is not sensitive enough to cover my sidewalk and driveway, and only the bottom half of the screen is what can be used to sense motion.Never got the cameras working properly, never received follow up support as promisedThe agent did not understand the problems, nor was able to fix them. the issues are in the hardware and software of the product.

Refurbished camera works great. Magnetic base allows for easy adjustment of viewing angles and easy removal for charging of battery. Mounting system is very simple and works great on vertical wall.

Arlo security camera. Works great. But sometimes a bit difficult to set up and us the controls. Really have to have patience to setup. If not connecting to your wifi, just start from beginning and reset completely.

Loveeeeee my cameras!!! This was the ideal quantity of cameras! The set up was easy!!! The install was quick and simple!!!

I originally purchase two cameras. One for the front yard and one for the back. I was not entirely pleased with the performance, but they do work so I kept them. When I decided that I needed more cameras, I stayed with the brand rather than start over. I truly wish I had just started over. I have purchased cameras from Amazon and directly from Arlo. I now have 9 Arlo Pro 4, 1 Arlo Doorbell (hardwired), and one Arlo Essential. The video quality of these cameras is very poor. I did try a few of the Arlo Ultra cameras which require a hub, but the video quality was indistinguishable from the Arlo Pro 4. The hub requirement made the integration of the rest of the cameras and access more difficult so any minute improvement was lost in the added hassle. I returned the Ultras and hub. It is rare to get any good footage with clear facial features. It is nearly impossible to get legible information for things such as license plates or vehicle lettering unless it is very close to the camera. It is common for the cameras to miss motion events entirely. (Such as the time my car was sideswiped in front of my house. Not one frame of video was recorded of the event although there were videos of vehicles going past before and after.) Many times the recording will start due to a motion event, but even though there is still motion in the frame it will stop recording missing much of what happens. It is common for a person to walk into frame and have the camera start recording but then end the recording before that person actually does anything. In the screenshot of the video library within the Arlo software you can see that one of the videos was only 2 seconds long. The person came out of the door and triggered the camera but it then stopped recording so there is no footage of what that person did or where they went. Along with this, it is common for the camera to stop recording after its preset 15 seconds or so only to have a new motion event begin that is completely disregarded. Again referring to the library screenshot you can see that the person came out of the house but the camera only recorded 2 seconds. The next video is of that person coming into the garage. This video lasted 25 seconds but stopped while there was still motion in the garage and before the door opened or the car left. There is no video of the door opening or the car leaving the garage. The outside camera picked up the car backing out but only started recording after the door was fully open and it stopped with the car half out of the garage. There is no video of the car fully leaving the garage, leaving the alley, or the door closing. This does not happen every time but it happens often enough to be a significant issue. The audio is frequently unintelligible as well. Many times there is a kind of static sound that either distorts the audio or the static is all that you hear. This is not limited to one specific camera or one particular part of the property which seems to indicate it is a design defect rather than interference. It is also not constant with audio becoming clear or turning distorted even within the same video. The batteries in the cameras are decent however they do not function if the outside temperature reaches -5 to -10 degrees Fahrenheit. I was able to keep my cameras working by purchasing power/charging cables and plugging every camera into home power. Another thing to note is that it appears that aftermarket chargers will not work with Arlo cameras. I purchased from two different suppliers on Amazon and neither of them would work correctly with the cameras forcing me to purchase the very high priced factory cables. It seems to be common for the cameras to loose their connection and show offline. It is usually a simple restart of the camera that resolves the issue but what is missed during the offline time? No way to know. Over all having spent nearly $3000 on the security system of 11 cameras plus paying for the monthly subscription in order to be able to record and access the footage, I am very disappointed in the performance and quality of the Arlo system. I purchased a very inexpensive system many years ago that only had wired cameras recording to a HDD system with an awkward app and interface. The quality is not much different with this system. I have to believe there are much better systems out there and I encourage you to keep looking. I give the cameras 3 stars because they do work. They are accessible. The notifications are customizable (to an extent). They have so far lasted for close to 2 years with minimal breakdowns. The system is adequate but very overpriced.Update 09/20/2024Arlo made some change in their software causing the “Smart Notifications” to become inoperative on most if not all of the cameras. The cameras stopped recording any motion events at all when smart notifications were turned on. Turning off Smart Notifications allowed the cameras to record however now we have to silence all notifications since we get pinged for a leaf blowing across the yard. Even with this setting change the cameras are still missing 30% or more of the motion events with some cameras going days with no recordings even though people, animals, and vehicles are passing within view. I am sure Arlo will correct the problem (I sincerely hope anyway) and I will update my review when/if that happens.Update 05/06/2025 -The cameras are working a little better with another update a couple of months ago, however they continue to miss events altogether or cut them off. I watched an online test/review (Project Farm) and Arlo cameras scored very low with the testing confirming much of my own complaints. I have purchased much cheaper cameras for my other properties with more functionality and better performance. Very disappointed. I am considering removing another star.

Wonderful cameras easy to setup