Arlo Pro 2 Review - Review 2022

Earlier this year, the Arlo Pro outdoor security camera system earned our Editors' Choice for its superb video quality, ease of utilize, and myriad features including motion and sound detection, rechargeable batteries, geofencing, and its ability to piece of work with other smart dwelling devices. The company's latest offer, the Arlo Pro 2 (starting at $479.99), gives you everything that you go with its predecessor, just offers a few upgrades including 1080p video and support for Amazon Alexa vox commands.

It also offers a couple of features that only work when plugged in, such equally Look Back, which allows yous to run into what happened several seconds before a motion- or audio-triggered event, and a CVR (continuous video recording) option. Information technology'due south expensive, and is the case with other Arlo cameras, it requires a hub, which is included, to connect to your wireless network, but it's still our superlative pick for outdoor dwelling security cameras.

Pricing, Design, and Features

If you already have an Arlo base station, you tin can selection up a unmarried Arlo Pro two camera for $219.99. The two-camera kit reviewed here goes for $479.99, and a four-camera kit will cost you $799.99. Included in the kit are a base station, rechargeable bombardment packs for each camera, a base station ability adapter, a photographic camera power adapter and cable, four metal wall mounts and mounting screws, an Ethernet cable, and a quick start guide.

The Arlo Pro 2 looks virtually identical to the Arlo Pro, the only divergence beingness a smaller blackness front console. It measures iii.1 by 1.9 by 2.8 inches (HWD), weighs 4.8 ounces, and has a glossy white housing that meets IP65 waterproof standards. A magnet embedded in the rear of the enclosure allows yous to attach the photographic camera to the round metal mounts or any metal surface, or you lot tin just place information technology on any flat surface area.

There's a Sync push on the top of the camera, along with a button that opens the bombardment compartment at the rear. The Arlo Pro two uses a rechargeable battery pack that is rated to last upwardly to six months. To charge the battery, bring the camera inside and plug the included charging adapter into the power jack located merely below the battery compartment. The Arlo Pro 2 can as well run on AC power when used indoors.

Netgear Arlo Pro 2

The biggest upgrade here is the photographic camera's ability to stream and record 1080p video (the original Arlo Pro topped out at 720p). Otherwise, it offers the aforementioned 130-degree field of view and speaker and microphone assortment for two-way audio advice. Six infrared LEDs provide up to 25 anxiety of night vision in blackness and white, and the camera offers an 8X digital zoom.

The base station measures 5.0 past six.9 past ii.3 inches (HWD) and has LED indicators for ability, net, and camera connectivity, and a Sync button for pairing cameras on top. Around back are two USB ports for attaching USB drives, a LAN port, a reset button, a power button, and a ability jack. It is powered by a 900MHz CPU and contains 802.11n Wi-Fi circuitry and a 100dB siren that can exist fix to go off when the camera's motion or audio sensors are triggered.

New to the Arlo Pro 2 is a Expect Dorsum feature that uses pre-buffering technology, similar to that of the Vivint Doorbell Cam, to capture the three seconds of activity earlier a motion- or sound-triggered effect. Likewise new is the addition of Activity Zones that let you to zero in on a specific area of the camera'due south field of view then that only motion in the zone will trigger a recording and alert. However, in social club to use the Look Back and Action Zones features, the camera has to be plugged into an AC ability source.

The camera comes with a complimentary Basic subscription plan that gives you lot seven days of cloud-based video storage, 3 months of technical back up, and the ability to connect upward to five cameras on 1 account. The Premier programme goes for $9.99 per calendar month or $99.99 per year and provides 30 days of storage, unlimited support, and connectivity for up to 10 cameras. For $14.99 per calendar month or $149.99 per year, the Elite program gets you lot 60 days of storage, unlimited tech back up, and back up for up to xv cameras.

Arlo cameras but record video when motility or sound is detected, but if you want 24/vii recording coverage yous can subscribe to a CVR plan. Yous become xiv days of 24/7 recording for $9.99 per month, or $99 per twelvemonth for each camera, 30 days of coverage for $19.99 per month or $199 per year for each camera, or 60 days of coverage for $29.99 per calendar month or $299 per year for each camera.

The Pro 2 uses the same Android and iOS app as every other Arlo camera and can exist accessed via a web browser as well. The home screen shows all installed cameras with their individual battery level, betoken strength, and motion and sound detection status. Each camera also has a gear icon that takes you lot to a Settings screen and a Play button that launches a alive video stream. The alive video screen contains buttons that let you to manually record video, have a snapshot, switch to full-screen style, mute the speaker, and initiate two-mode audio advice. Camera settings include an on/off switch, battery and signal connectedness levels, video and audio settings, and a Movement Detection examination. Video Settings is where you become to enable night vision, create activity zones, and choose a power fashion (All-time Video, Optimized, Best Bombardment Life).

Netgear Arlo Pro 2 Right

Dorsum at the home screen are buttons for Devices, Library, Mode, and Settings. Tapping the Library icon takes you to a screen with a list of recorded video and snapshots. Click on any video to view it, share it with friends, marking it as a favorite, or delete it. Tapping the Mode icon lets you arm or disarm audio and motion detection, create arming schedules, enable alert notifications, suit motion and sound sensitivity settings, and create rules for recording motion- and sound-triggered events. At that place'south also a geofencing way that you can configure to arm the move and audio sensors when yous exit a pre-defined perimeter and disarm them when you return domicile. The Settings folio includes account information and allows you to grant access to the system to friends and family. It likewise allows you to change the order of where the cameras appear in the app, tweak camera settings, and edit profile information. The Devices icon takes you back to the main camera page.

The Arlo Pro 2 works with dozens of other smart dwelling house devices via If This So That (IFTTT) applets and Stringify flows, and can exist integrated into a SmartThings home automation system. It also works with Alexa voice commands to display video on an Echo Show or Fire Television device.

Installation and Functioning

The Arlo Pro 2 is very easy to install and configure. Start past downloading the app and creating an account. Connect the base station to your router using the included LAN cable, power it up, and when the power and cyberspace LED indicators plough greenish, tap Add Device in the app. I did this and the base of operations station was immediately recognized and added to my account. I then inserted a battery pack into each camera (they come fully charged out of the box) and made sure the cameras were within three anxiety of the base station. I pressed the Sync push button on the base of operations station and waited a few seconds for the Sync LED to flash green, so pressed the Sync button on ane of the cameras. Within 10-15 seconds the camera was added, and I repeated this process for the 2d camera. I took both cameras outdoors and mounted one on the left side of the front end of my firm and the other on the right.

Netgear Arlo Pro 2 1

The cameras delivered excellent daytime video in 1080p with rich colors and sharp image detail. Black-and-white night vision was also precipitous out to around 25 feet and nicely lit. Movement detection worked very well, but I had to lower the sensitivity to avoid false alerts due to high winds.

I brought i of the cameras dorsum inside and plugged it into a wall outlet to test the Look Dorsum feature and was able to see recorded footage from before the movement sensor was triggered. The geofencing characteristic always armed the cameras when I left my home perimeter and disarmed them when I returned, and my IFTTT applet to turn on a D-Link Smart Plug when a camera detected motion worked every time. Motion and sound e-mail and push notifications arrived instantly after a sensor was triggered, and I had no trouble viewing video on my TV using an Amazon Fire TV Stick and Alexa voice commands.

Conclusions

At $479, the Arlo Pro 2 is expensive, but you lot become ii weatherproof cameras and a base station with a congenital-in siren and USB connectivity for storing recorded video locally. As with the original Arlo Pro cameras, the Pro 2 cameras are completely wireless, use rechargeable batteries, and can exist easily installed anywhere as long as they are in range of the hub, but this time around they bring 1080p video and Alexa compatibility, and when used with an AC power source, recorded clips will contain footage of activities that occur seconds before a triggered event. All of this makes the Arlo Pro 2 our height choice for outdoor security cameras.

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