Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Arlo - Wireless Home Security Camera System with Motion Detection | Night vision, Indoor/Outdoor, HD Video, Wall Mount | Cloud Storage Included

Reviewed in the United States on July 7, 2016

One of the best purchases I've made. After doing tons of research on home security cams, this Arlo system was recommended to me and I went for it. The hardest part of this whole thing was trying to get it out of the damn box! Once I did that, the rest was simple. Solid construction, easy instructions and an excellent app to control the whole thing. Pricey, yes...but no wires or power outlets needed for the cams, and no need for professional installation. And did I mention that these cams are good for outdoor use as well? The night vision is amazingly good and it even looks better on my iPad. I can't wait for some punk to break into my house so I can catch his ass...

7 people found this helpful

Helpful

Kris n Boise

I've used Arlo for 2 years. Finally fed up, switching to Blink

Reviewed in the United States on June 18, 2020

Verified Purchase

Overall I guess it's a solid product for getting an intro to using easy to set up home security, but with all the headaches, and after using my 3 new Blink cameras for about 4 months now, I'm just fed up and done with Arlo.

As you can see from the screenshot, 3 of my cameras, all at once, need their batteries recharged. 2 days ago, one needed it, and the other two had about 40% charge. Last fall, my Tenergy battery charger quit working and I had to buy a new charger. Whether that's an Arlo problem or a Tenergy one, doesn't matter as it just adds up to a system that is, overall, too unreliable.

Here's the big pain level. Arlo seems to go through phases where the cameras are ...."back yard is offline. Make sure your SmartHub Arlo Home is powered on and connected to the internet." In the two years I've had this system, this has happened, on average, monthly. It'll actually go through phases where it happens daily for a week or two, then it's fine for a month or two.

I was in Denver (we live in Boise) for 4 months after my husband had a terrible stroke. I needed the dang cameras to do what they were supposed to do. Instead, I had my poor mom running from camera to camera changing/charging batteries and climbing up on a step stool to reset the base station. There were weeks when I had no video at all. These episodes last anywhere from a few days to several weeks, then, suddenly the system becomes stable again. It's not my internet connection either. I'm sitting here typing this review, online, and I took a break to walk out into the yard and reset the "back yard" camera. It's still offline saying I need to check my hub. My mom finally developed a strategy. I ordered extra batteries and she just changed one camera every 2 or 3 days rotating through all 6 about every 3 weeks. If I hadn't had someone in town to do this for me, I would have had no visibility at all to who was coming and going while we were away. God forbid someone buys this for an out of town or vacation property. Useless.

Two days ago, all the cams said they were off line. I had to traipse around the house, hitting the sync button on each camera. Then I had to revisit the ones that failed and open the battery door, then close it again (effectively taking the batteries out and putting them back).

Because of all this nonsense with having to PHYSICALLY hit the sync button on the cam and/or open the battery door I've never mounted the cameras up high. What use is this? The batteries go dead at highly unreliable intervals (no, it's not due to me overusing video quality or too many triggers), the cams go offline repeatedly. I'd be up and down ladders constantly. The Blink cams, however have been mounted 17' off the ground for 4 months and I've never had even one instance of a cam being offline or losing contact with the hub.

I guess the final straw was last week when I received the Arlo doorbell chime I ordered. It didn't plug and play like it should have. When I finally got it working, it was great, but then the whole system decided to need to reconnect and guess what? The doorbell quit working. I had people standing at my door that I didn't know were there. I didn't even get the phone call that I usually get - why? Because the system felt it wasn't connected to it's hub. I expect technology that REPLACES something tried to true to work 100% of the time.

Now I have 6 cameras, a doorbell, a chime, 48 batteries and 2 chargers that all tolled cost me around $1000. With Blink, the batteries should last 2 years and the outdoor cams, at $89 each come WITH audio. I believe the only Arlo product that has audio is the doorbell.

For those of you looking at Blink, Arlo's app is better than Blink's for computer users. There is no PC app for Blink without it being a 3rd party workaround. But Blink upgraded their phone app a couple of months ago and I find it very usable.

I'm off now to go gather up all my Arlo's and put them on Facebook Marketplace. Maybe I can recoup some of my money and buy a few more Blinks.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Kindle Customer

Great video quality and VERY dependable (crucial for monitoring a remote location).

Reviewed in the United States on September 21, 2017

Verified Purchase

Installed these cameras in my wife's elderly Mothers home. This really gives us peace of mind since she is close to an hours drive from us. The live video quality is excellent and the one camera has two way sound so we can listen in.
The other day she experienced a power outage for several hours. There was no battery backup on the router or the Arlo interface so we lost camera contact. When power was restored all cameras came back on line automatically (very important). We have had them for several months and NEVER had to do any resets.
The only drawback, and we knew this from the,start, you can only access the cameras intermittently since they are battery powered. Batteries however last a long time (we check in several times a day). The sound camera has a rechargeable battery, the others use 4 CR3 batteries.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Texas 777

Good for typical house locations, limited detection range for larger areas

Reviewed in the United States on March 21, 2017

Verified Purchase

Bought a 3 camera setup for our house and it works reasonably well. The pictures are clear, the wifi range is adequate and the app/website work well. Contrary to some other reviews, our battery life has been excellent with the batteries still > 80% after 3 months of use. There is a bit of an annoying lag between detection and the start of the recording but not terrible. The motion detector range is shorter than I expected, maybe 15 feet. I may move one of the cameras as it will not cover the rear driveway area as intended. Infrared range is about the same, maybe 20 feet but fully bright enough in that range.
Based on our OK experience with this setup, I bought another 4 camera setup for our ranch. This has not worked as well. First, you have to set up a whole new account with a second email or upgrade to the premium version to have more than 5 cameras. Had a long conversation with a nice lady somewhere overseas but couldn't ever resolve it. The wifi range is excellent as we have one of the cameras on the back side of a large metal shop building 150+ feet away from the house. The downside is that the motion detector range is so short you can really only use them to cover a doorway or porch area (10-15 foot range) where I was hoping to also cover my equipment shed (60' x 30'). The camera will show a great picture much further than that but won't trigger unless you're fairly close to it. Of our 7 cameras, 6 have worked with no problems at all and 1 constantly alarmed when hit by sunlight. Moved it to a shady location and no more problems.
All in all, if you are trying to cover a small area at a reasonable cost like a porch, garage door or other entryway, the Arlo system works very well. If you need to cover a larger area like a parking area or your backyard, the detection range will probably be too limited and you may be better off with a continuously recording setup.

Helpful

Dennis

Very impressed!

Reviewed in the United States on March 20, 2017

Verified Purchase

I am very happy with my new Arlo 4 camera system. The setup was very easy. Just select sync on the base unit and on the camera and it is connected. I was somewhat disappointed in the range of the cameras. My router is in the basement and I could only place the cameras about 60 feet from the base, although it did have to go through a few walls. I am very impressed with the HD recordings and how well the night vision works. I like how the system sends me emails when motion has been detected and how I can watch the recordings from my mobile device. I have had my system installed for about a week and the batteries have dropped just a couple percent. I highly recommend this system.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Lea H.

Very poor motion sensing

Reviewed in the United States on November 20, 2018

Verified Purchase

The premise is good...battery powered easy to install security system at a low cost...which it is. The problem is that goal may be too ambitious.

Very easy to set up and install and certainly affordable especially on sale. The problem is that it may not be effective as an actual security system. The battery powered nature means that the cameras are always trying to conserve power so if you want to actually record anything it's going to drain the battery fast. The motion sensing, even when turned up to maximum, is very inconsistent. It picks up bobcats or my dog in the shadows at night once in a while but will miss a person walking past it during the daylight....and this is with the so called intelligent sensing enabled where it's only supposed to pick up people. Some of the cameras seem to work better than others.

By default it will record 10 seconds of video when it senses motion (you can increase this at the cost of battery life) but I find the delay means that often by the time the video recording begins, the subject of the motion sensing has moved out of the frame or almost out of the frame...there's too much delay. And that's when it picks up the motion at all. And if the person doesn't walk out of the frame it doesn't continue recording past the programmed time so if you don't see what you need in that first 10 seconds your video ends anyway. This means that important evidence of a break in would not be there unless the prowler breaks in within 10 seconds of activating the motion sensing....kind of useless.

At 80% sensitivity I had to walk right up the camera and shine a flashlight on it from two feet away to activate the motion sensing....turned up all the way it sometimes works but still only close in 10-20 feet maximum range sensing.

I emailed tech support a couple times and only got a response the following response...."The Case with Reference Number - xxxxxxxx is awaiting your inputs. Please provide your inputs so that the Case can be worked on further." ... No link was provided and returning to my account on the website revealed no way to pull up the case. I tried again and got the same result....what are my "inputs?" and where to I provide them?

The online and app software is pretty good but a bit confusing and not as intuitive as it could be. There are inconsistencies in the way the mobile app works compared to the web app. I wouldn't fault this if the system actually worked as advertised.

I will likely need to return this and get something else.

Helpful

Jamison

A home security solution that requires batteries, but does not provide rechargeable batteries or a charger?

Reviewed in the United States on June 12, 2018

Verified Purchase

The negative comments are saved for the end of this review.

Let me begin by saying the setup of the system is pretty straight-forward and easy. Plug stuff in, put in batteries, push a couple of buttons and you're off. They did a great job of that part.

The cameras (although only 720p) have good image quality, but the placement of the base station is key. The cameras really need solid signal strength in order to avoid delayed response or buffering when viewing. They still buffer, but not as bad when the signal is strong.

The installation of individual cameras is pretty easy as well because they attach magnetically to the mounts, and those only require a single screw to put in place.

Ok. With all of that said, let me get to the major issue with these. When you're spending upwards of $500 on this system that requires batteries, why on earth would you not be supplied with what you need to keep it working? They do come with batteries, but they are not rechargeable. The size of the batteries means you won't find any rechargeable from Energizer, Eneloop, or any other major battery brand. Instead, you are forced into a gamble and buy batteries from companies you have never heard of before. The only way around this is to buy single-use batteries if you want a known name brand. The quality of the off-brand batteries is more often than not suspect.

As an alternative, maybe offer a kit to convert it to powered or perhaps a solar solution? I know both of those things are available when you buy the Pro. It just seems silly that when you buy this, you are committing to spend money annually to keep it running. I just don't get it.

Finally, I will comment on the "management" of your system once it is installed. The interface is not very intuitive and the ONE major thing I was looking to accomplish seems almost impossible. I want to have different sets cameras armed at different times. I want the outside cameras on at night, but not the internal ones. I have read multiple forum posts on how to accomplish this very thing, but none of them have worked for me. At the moment, the ONLY way I can get the system to monitor that way is to turn the interior cameras off and then arm the system. My example would be having 3 external cameras armed between 9pm-6am, and internal AND external cameras armed from 6am-5pm. As far as I can tell this is impossible because you cannot have them scheduled like that .

In the end, it does what it says it will and works well. I just think a few steps could have been taken to make it better. I hope the scheduling and control over the cameras improves with software updates.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Gennifer11

Long term user & I love them.

Reviewed in the United States on December 13, 2018

Verified Purchase

I really like the Arlo cameras. I've used the regular arlo for 4+ years, and if there is one thing I learned it's that the user has to be mindful of keeping up with the settings and batteries for Arlo to be great. During different times of the year, cameras can act differently. You might have to adjust the angle to not catch the blaring sun, or change the motion rate to not record falling leaves. I've lived in 3 different houses with these cameras, I learned how to use them properly with each enviornment, and I love them.

Batteries can last anywhere from a couple days to a few months. It all depends on the environment and the user settings. Average video quality with recording settings that only capture large moving masses (humans) give me an average battery usage of 1 month. If its windy, I will turn the motion detection rate down or turn the cameras off temporarily because I want to save battery. Each camera takes 4x CR123A disposable batteries and these are pricey. It would be benifitial to invest in RCR123A rechargeable batteries.

My new house is very long, my wifi router and base station are set up on one side of my house so the signal doesnt reach the other end. I had to buy a wifi range extender and then I connected a second base station strait to the range extender. Everything successfully synced up! Now I have good signal for all 5 cameras, 3 on one end of the house synced to original base station, and 2 cameras on the opposite end of the house synced to the new base station and range extender.

I'm very pleased with this product for a good low price. I've always purchase cameras averaging $90ea. Wait for those deals!

11 people found this helpful

Helpful

Jennifer F.

Wireless Convenience but No Sound

Reviewed in the United States on March 12, 2017

Verified Purchase

SETUP: This system has one of the easiest setups. The instructions were easy to follow, and the app walks you right through the steps. The base of the camera can be attached to a wall or structure, and then the camera attaches to the base via a strong magnet. The benefit is you can re-position the cameras fairly easily and you do not have to position your camera within reach of a power outlet, but the bad part is a thief could in theory take your camera quite easily if they can reach it.
RECORDINGS & NOTIFICATIONS: This model of Arlo cameras does NOT RECORD SOUND, but there are other Arlo camera models that do. The wireless models like this one do not accommodate sound. I believe the models that produce sound also require a cord connection to an outlet. I was a bit disappointed to discover this when this set arrived. These model of the Arlo cameras start recording when they recognize motion, and continue recording for 10 seconds only. If motion is immediately detected again within the camera frame after the initial 10-second recording, it will record another 10 seconds. Each recording generates a new notification from the app, which can get annoying if there is a lot of motion in an area and you get a multitude of 10-second recordings and notifications. You can set the "armed" times of day easily in the app so that you only receive notifications during those periods. You can also watch your feeds live continuously at any time. It appears you can add other Arlo devices to your system and use the same app, in the event that you want a camera that can record sound or one that records 24-7 in addition to these.
CLOUD STORAGE FOR RECORDINGS: Currently using the basic (free) plan, which is 7 days of recording for up to 5 cameras, but subscriptions seem reasonable and in line with other types of similar systems. Discovered there are subscription prices for HOME use and different subscription prices for COMMERCIAL use. Without thoroughly reviewing them all, it seems that the commercial options allow you to record from more cameras at a time. You can use "touch-ID" to log into your app, which is convenient. You can also grant access with others in your business or family so that they can manage the system as well.
BATTERY LIFE: The battery life seems to be excellent. We have been using the system for about a month and the battery life for each camera is still at 93% according to the app. Each camera takes 4 batteries (comes with the kit) but when it's time to replace them you'll have to buy 16, and it appears you can buy 8 or so for just under $20.
The kit also comes with some laminated signs you can post at your door or in the window as a deterrent, indicating that video monitoring is in progress.
COMPARED TO NEST: We use the Nest camera system at home and I do prefer the Nest cameras that record 24-7 and send a notification when new motion is detected. If motion continues with the Nest camera, you don't have to look at multiple recordings or get multiple notifications. With our Nest cameras, you can also use 2-way sound (hear sound on the recordings and you can talk through your app to whoever is on the other end of the camera). There ARE 1 or 2 Arlo models that have the same features as the Nest cameras, but this model does not accommodate sound either way.

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

jdsandara

Easy to Install and Use!

Reviewed in the United States on April 8, 2017

Verified Purchase

I just installed these and it couldn't have been easier. I am not mechanically inclined which is why I bought these. Dealing with wires is way overwhelming for me. No power cords, no cables to the recorder. Just one screw in the wall and you're done. I can at least do that much. Setting them up with the computer was a breeze. While I work with computers all the time, I think the setup could even be done by someone with little to no experience as the website walks you through everything. There's very little instruction in the box, but they don't differ much from the website. I.e. it's quick and simple.

I know others don't like personal info getting out on the cloud, I wasn't that concerned as my usage is for all outdoor security where capturing personal life is little to no concern.

I was expecting a little more from these, more of a constant recording than clips. I was concerned at first with the low sensitivity of the cameras and short recording times. The cameras only seem to take short clips and only about once a minute or so. The cameras wouldn't record until I was fairly close to them then wouldn't record another clip even though I was within range for quite some time.

While these are adjustable, it doesn't wholy solve the issue since the sensitivity isn't for distance. You can make the clips longer, more than a minute, but there's still a gap between recordings. To adjust sensitivity and length, go to mode and click the edit pencil and then go into each camera there is an option for both that can be edited by clicking on the pencil. This can be done on your computer through their website or the app on your phone, both work about the same and again are easy to use.

I'm still concerned about battery life, but I think that is something that might need to be adjusted based on how often the cameras detect movement. I ordered extra batteries just in case.

I may change my rating after I've been using them for a while.

Update: after only a week of use I decided to return and upgrade to the Arlo Pro. The Pro version has a lot of improvements such as rechargeable batteries. My batteries in the HD version ran down 20% in the first week alone. Granted I was still trying to find the perfect angle and sensitivity but with as much activity around my home the batteries still would need replacement often. The cost of batteries alone makes up for the extra cost of the pro. There other updates too like less lag time (I haven't verified yet but the reviews state this). I didn't get the pro originally because I didn't think I needed the sound etc. but you might want to consider the other benefits it offers.

I also compared to the costs of other systems out there and the pro is still more cost effective then most of them especially if you need someone to install then.

So if you're looking at these you might want to consider the pro.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

5 star
4 star
3 star
2 star
1 star

Arlo - Wireless Home Security Camera System with Motion Detection |...

›

Customer reviews

Customer reviews

Arlo - Wireless Home Security Camera System with Motion Detection | Night vision, Indoor/Outdoor, HD Video, Wall Mount | Cloud Storage Included | 4 camera kit (VMS3430)

Top positive review

Top critical review

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

From the United States

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

Questions? Get fast answers from reviewers

Arlo - Wireless Home Security Camera System with Motion Detection |... › Customer reviews

Customer reviews

Arlo - Wireless Home Security Camera System with Motion Detection | Night vision, Indoor/Outdoor, HD Video, Wall Mount | Cloud Storage Included | 4 camera kit (VMS3430)

Top positive review

Top critical review

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

From the United States

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

Questions? Get fast answers from reviewers

Arlo - Wireless Home Security Camera System with Motion Detection |...

›

Customer reviews