Customer Ratings & Reviews

Great battery life and video quality. The spotlight is pretty strong too. I also like the mounting flexibility of this particular model

I love it!Weve had it for a little over a month and barely had to charge it (it still had 25%). We also have ring cameras and this camera honestly is way better then the ring!! We plan on buying a few more of these cameras. The battery life is great, I love that it tell you if it’s a person,animal,or just motion. It also highlights a box around what the camera is picking up! It’s also very clear eve if you zoom in! The only thing that that needs a bit of work is the speaker to speak out to someone because it comes out very low and you can barely hear it if you try to get someone’s attention that is outside, but that’s the only “con”.

Wonderful, reliable camera, battery is lasting, good visual, usually picks up cars and people, but not 100%, works well and storms, the dark, and heat. Does not fog up in the morning. It’s a little expensive. Works well for an inside camera as well.

Great ease of access and smart alerts. I have dogs and a doggy door so being able to monitor while away is awesome. I can turn off animal alerts for my backyard, and have it set to only alert me of people while not away on a long trip. The reason for only 4 stars is for 2 things: At first setup, I didn't want to tighten the camera too much because it's all plastic. It started to noticably droop down more and more daily, so it had to be tightened more. It still doesn't feel 100% tight when I have to tinker with it to recharge the battery. I've had it for a few months now so I know it's not going to fall down but I wish those pieces were made of metal and not plastic. Which brings me to reason 2, tinkering with it to charge; battery life is about 1 month. It's not terrible. I get a notification when it needs to be charged, and I just happen to have an outlet nearby for my patio lights. So I unplug the lights and charge my camera. It's just an annoying task to have to do once a month, and wish it lasted longer. And if an outlet is not nearby for someone else's home, they would have to either grab an extension cord so they can leave it set up while charging, or take it down and bring it inside to charge it for a day.

Home safety, security and peace of mind starts with intel/knowledge. Getting to know your neighbors, having a monitored security system and good locks are critical. Real time high quality video of what is actually going on at my house is really taking it to the next level! Arlo brings it with this camera! So many awesome features at this price point, not to mention how easy it was to set up really propels this to the front of the line in security cameras! I currently have four quality cameras and a popular video doorbell that I have had for about 5 years. The cameras are front and back, one in the main area of the house and one is on our puppy to watch him throughout the day. After testing the Arlo, one thing became clear. It is time to upgrade my older cameras and Arlo is the way I’m going for sure. The features I love: - First was the video quality 1080p, Arlo Looks great and connects fast. Keep in mind your wifi and internet speeds as well as your device you're using (cell phone or ipad) remotely will play into connection speeds. - Arlo’s ease to set up. It was a breeze. This is a big deal. My other cameras, minus the video door bell, were very troublesome and problematic to set up. I mean a nightmare! I bought upper end cameras but great cameras with crappy software = problems and lots of data drops and restarting! The Arlo camera and app has been rock solid! - I like the two-way audio in this spot light platform. My current bullet cameras do not have that capability. I can place the Arlo on the corner of my house like a bullet camera and if someone pulls into my driveway I can talk to them! The audio is much more responsive that my popular doorbell set up. - No wires!!! NONE! My other wireless internet camera out front is wireless in technical terms (i.e. no ethernet cable required) but guess what…it had to have a power chord for power! I had to crawl into my attic and guide a power cable and cuss for hours to get the power cable to the “wireless” camera. Arlo is pick up and move ready to go anywhere I want it!! Indoor/outdoor…Awesome! - It can ID a person from an animal! Super smart and then notify me! - It has a siren I can activate manually or with a trip! That is really cool! Prowler outside in the middle of the night? … I feel like I could yell at them and hit the siren and that would get them running for sure! You can set up the app to call 911 as well or a friend if you want. -The spot light is a nice touch too. The night vision it has is crisp but all night vision has that weird night vision color. With Arlo you can turn the spotlight on as well for a color view. Getting color descriptors of a suspect’s clothing to give to police, like a red sweatshirt or pants is important! The spot light doesn’t illuminate the whole yard but anything close enough for the light to hit is going to capture nicely on the cam! See my pitch black home office and pitch black home office with the spotlight pictures for an example. - Rechargeable with a a one year charge. I can’t really test that yet but that would be impressive even if it was half that time. Consider that at some point you will need to charge it when installing somewhere. Some cons: - Kind of heavy (due to the large battery I’m guessing) this is not a huge deal unless you are going to set it up on a small tripod to move around a room (i.e. baby/dog monitor). On a small tripod it is front heavy and has a tendency to tip forward when pointed downward. Arlo makes a baby monitor that would work better probably for that. - Doesn’t have the option to zoom or pan. Again small complaint because 99% of the time one just points and leaves it. I have two pan and zoom cameras inside my house…guess what…I never pan and zoom. You can digitally zoom on your phone but the image loses some clarity. Also Arlo makes a 4K camera if that is really important to you. The siren really isn’t very loud. I feel my con’s are a little nit picky to be honest. It’s a spot light cam with audio so it’s a little bigger and the weight is well worth the wireless power for a year. Overall, It’s an outstanding high quality camera and has great features. The app is easy to use and install is a super easy! Highly recommend!

If you want a good Security camera that is simple to install and easy to operate this is best option that I have come across so far. The biggest concern I had originally was that this camera would be slow in sending alerts and activating the video to my phone and the battery power would not last. After installing the Essential XL and using it I can say I no longer have those concerns. The Arlo app alerts me quickly on motion detection and the video activates reasonably quick. Anyone who wants to monitor their property and doesn’t want to run wires or doesn’t have local power should definitely consider this camera. The only downside is that you have to sign up for subscriptions services if you want to use most of the features beyond the trial period and this includes accessing the video in the cloud. Features: This camera is a full featured camera with a 130 degree field of view, a 12x zoom feature, a spot light – note this not a flood light, two way audio, a siren alarm and color night vision. The image can be rotated 180 degrees in case you have to mount the camera upside down. The biggest feature in this camera is its extra long battery life of about a year between recharges. The batteries cannot be removed from the camera as in other Arlo cameras and it does take some time to charge the battery. The charge time will depend on the usb charger you use since one is not provided with the camera. The Arlo app gives you complete control over the motion sensing, the alerting and the use of geo fencing. If you chose to purchase the Arlo Smart subscription you get Smart Notifications like detecting people, packages, cars and animals. You also get 30 day cloud storage with the Arlo Smart subscription. Setup: The Essential XL Camera set up is fairly easy and is typical of most Smart Home devices. You have to download the Arlo mobile app on your phone, create an account and then follow the directions on adding the camera. It takes more time to mount the camera than it does to get it operational. Because the camera is wireless you have to make sure you have good wireless coverage in the area where you plan to mount it. You can quickly verify wi-fi signal strength by looking at your phone’s wi-fi settings while holding the phone where you plan to mount the camera. The camera’s mounting bracket can either be attached in the rear of the camera or under it. I mounted mine on my front porch and attached the mounting bracket to the rear of the camera. The camera mount is pivotable and allows you to tilt the camera to get the best viewing angle. There is a twist knob that you tighten down once you get the camera set into position and this locks the camera firmly in place. As mentioned above no USB charger is provided so although they provide a short USB-A to USB micro cable you will have to provide the charger. The first charger I tried was taking forever to charge the battery so I connected a higher powered one and the battery did charge faster. Once I had the camera mounted and working in the Arlo App I added the Arlo skill to my Alex app and now I can see my Arlo camera on my Echo Show using Alexa. Video Quality: At 1080p this camera does not have the highest video resolution but for someone looking to monitor their doors or driveway this camera meets the requirements. The video is always crystal clear and the camera provides a wide view without having a fish-eye effect. The color night vision is not the most colorful but the image is good even in low light conditions. App: You need Arlo’s mobile app to set up and manage the camera. The app is very intuitive and well thought out. The home page allows you to directly access the camera’s live view. From the home page you can also manage your devices, enter the Library where prior alert video is stored, go into settings as well as arm or disarm the camera. The app allows you to set up and manage the activity zones and you can set schedules or use geo fencing for arming or disarming the camera. If you pay for Arlo Smart you can also set up activity detection based upon packages, cars, people and animals. The Arlo Smart also has an emergency feature that allows you to trigger the siren, alert a friend or call 911.

Setup is extremely straightforward and easy as it operates from a battery (that can last for a year) and requires no wires. If you wish you can buy a solar panel separately to power it. The packaging includes mounting screws, a USB A to Micro USB cable (which is unfortunate as I would have preferred USB C), a mount that can adjust in any way you’d want, the camera (that can last for up to a year), and a piece of paper that notifies you to download the Arlo app and to charge the camera before installation. Once you download the app (which is available for Android and Apple) it goes through the process of how to setup it up to your Wi-Fi network (2.4 Ghz band only). Which is simple. At one point in the process it will tell you to mount the device and it gives you a picture of what it is currently capturing along with any audio with a black bar across the top of where you don’t want it to send you alerts (such as a street). There is about a 2 – 3 second delay on this audio/video. When alerted it will send a Push Notification (if allowed) to your phone so you can see what is happening. At which point inside the Arlo App you can choose to view that video clip, a live recording of what is happening, call e911 (in the US only), call a friend, or activate the siren. When you are live monitoring (again there is a slight delay from what you are seeing and what is actually happening of 2 – 3 seconds) you can choose to talk to someone through your phone/device and the camera. For me I placed my device about 10 feet away and it was raining which made it slightly difficult to hear what we were saying to each other. But if it were closer and not raining, I wouldn’t see this being an issue. As I found it to do a great job at picking up voices/noises. You can also take a picture, record video, mute/unmute the volume from the camera, and turn on the flashlight. I found the overall picture quality to be fantastic at 1080p. Colors were accurate, and nothing was washed out or difficult to see even though it was overcast and rainy. It supports a 130-degree field of view which picks up a ton of area. It even can capture things at night with its night vision which works well. It is weather resistant and can work from -4F to 113F. The App itself is great. It is very straightforward with an attractive look. On the main part of the screen you see any cameras you have connected. You simply press on the camera you want and it goes into the live view. This is also where you add new devices. On the top right you have the options to call e911, call a friend, or activate the siren. On the bottom row you have the Devices, Library, Mode, and Settings. Under the “Mode” setting you can either arm all your devices or disarm them. You can also turn on/off which ever devices you choose. I really enjoy this app. Under the settings section of the app you can adjust a bunch of things. Such as Flicker Adjustment, Camera LED, Device Info, Device Utilities (Camera Positioning and Motion Detection Test (can adjust how sensitive it is from low, medium, high from 0 – 100), video settings (brightness, rotate image 180 degrees, low light settings (spotlight/nightvision), power management (best video, optimized, best battery life)), activity zones (which I couldn’t get to load on mine), and audio settings (microphone, speaker, speaker volume). It also works with Amazon Alexa, Apple Homekit, Arlo, and Google Assistant. With Apple Homekit you need an Arlo Base Station which comes separately. I wasn’t able to get this to correctly work with any of them. Likely due to user error on my part and not having everything I need. The only thing that is unfortunate about this camera is that it uses cloud recordings, so you’ll likely need to buy a monthly subscription service to get the full use out of it. This subscription service varies between the 2k vs 4k options. But it something you need to incorporate into the cost of device. Where other cameras (that aren’t as easy to setup) usually have a hard drive that comes with it for local storage that doesn’t require a subscription. Overall, I think this is an excellent device and comes with everything you would want out of it for your at home/work security. It does come at a price premium due to the wireless nature of it. But man is setup and overall operation extremely easy and straightforward. Battery life is going to vary greatly depending on multiple factors and vary from user to user which is why I didn’t specifically discuss it.

Returning this product because the motion detection is completely unreliable. It rarely catches/records any activity including cars and people coming and going. Recordings that were captured were significantly delayed and missed the first 5-10 seconds of activity. It didn’t register people who stayed in frame for long periods of time either. I checked the settings with support and the settings were properly configured. Night vision was the most important feature to me and unfortunately the biggest flaw of this camera - it’s terribly pixleated and a headache to even watch. I have the fastest internet available and the camera is located within feet of the router - so unfortunately the poor performance can’t be blamed on connectivity. The spotlight was nice but since motion detection was unreliable the spotlight rarely went off on it’s own. I manually used it a few times but video quality hindered it’s relevance. Photos attached include a manual live view of a coyote that the camera’s motion detection missed and I had to go to the window to see if it was a deer or a coyote since the video was so pixelated.

I took a risk on Arlo years ago when they just came out with their first security cameras and have never looked back. In my opinion, Arlo has one of the best, if not the best, wireless security camera system on the market that is actually affordable and continues to make strides in the market setting the bar for other companies to try to keep up. They added to their arsenal with the new Arlo Essential XL Spotlight Camera. There are so many things to like about this security camera so let’s get started. First off, I was pleased to see they now make a camera that lasts about a year without a charge and it’s surprising they were able to do this considering it also has a very bright spotlight. You will immediately know how they made this possible once you open the box as the camera itself is about twice the length of their normal wireless cameras making room for a much larger battery. That was one of my issues over the years from their other cameras is that I would have to pull some of them down that weren’t wired to a power source to charge them. Potentially not having to charge this camera in a year is music to my ears. The other thing I am pleased to see with this camera is you do not need an Arlo Hub to connect it to your account, you can do it through your wireless network and smart phone app. The camera was very simple to set up through the app after you create an account; I added our new Essential XL camera to our existing system of five cameras within a minute or two. I installed it under the roof pointing at our boat parked in our driveway which works great; previously I had a camera and separate spot light and I was able to consolidate both into this one and relocate the old camera and spotlight to another area of our house. The spotlight is plenty bright enough for most areas and it also has color night vision instead of the typical greenish and black color imaging you would expect from night vision. The video itself is very clear with 1080p high definition and a 130-degree viewing angle. This package comes with a screw on mount with hardware and charging cable. My favorite part about the Arlo system is their smart phone app. It is very user friendly and you are able to change many of the options within the app unlike some other security systems. I found that it is definitely worth considering keeping the Arlo Smart service because of their cloud storage and object detection to ensure you don’t lose footage and are able to filter out some notifications. I recently made the mistake of going to another security camera system and went right back to Arlo because of their great products and all the additional features built into the app that they are consistently updating with more options for their users.

Love it, happy with our purchase of the XL cam and can’t wait to get more. Like the options of direct to WiFi or getting the others with the hub. Easy to use app.

Stinky design. I appreciate the extra battery capacity, but this camera weighs too much for the crappy little screw mount that came with it. Mine would wobble around on the mount. I tried to tighten it *just enough* to stop it from wobbling, and the camera housing broke where the mount screws in. Was told by Arlo support that physical damage is not covered by warranty. On the upside, it did capture a nice clear picture of my back yard.

Easy installation great picture great value worth the purchase

Several years ago, we installed a wired security camera system. To say that we have been overwhelmed is an understatement. From poor video qualty to cameras offline, we have experienced it. I have been wanting to try a wireless system for quite a while but my husband has been against it. He doesn't like the idea of having to change the batteries or having to use a cloud for monitoring. After a recent rash of car break ins in our neighborhood, we saw how well a neighbor's Arlo camera system worked. After researching more, we decided to give this Arlo camera a try. Out of the box, we followed the set-up instructions. After charging the camera and downloading the app, it was a breeze to get the camera up and running. To mount the camera, the you attach the mounting bracket and then screw on the camera. We temporarily placed ours in the tree in front of our house so we could get an idea of the view. The picture was so good. From daytime, into nighttime, even in a heavy rain, the picture was clear. You could see a lot of detail and it was crisp. There is a microphone and speaker for 2-way communications. There is a spotlight that can be configured to illuminate the view. You can set up motion activity zones to limit the number of notifications but the zone is defined by a rectangle shape, not a grid where you could really define the area. The packaging states that the battery life is 12 months. We haven't used the camera long enough to judge this. There are AC power adapters available so you can hardwire the camera to a power source, reducing the frequency of battery changes. We use Google Home. It was very easy to connect the Arlo camera through it. It works well through our Google Home. We are very pleased with this Arlo camera and plan to buy more cameras to add to the system. The only place that it loses points with us is that you have to use the cloud.

First off, the packaging is all recyclable, so I'm happy about that. The camera itself has some heft probably because of the large 1 year battery. I followed the instructions but was having issues connecting to our network. The camera has only 1 button and I kept powering it on and then off and trying the steps until I was finally able to get it connected to my 2.4GHz network. But when I finished charging it (took a few hours to get a full charge) and went to mount it on the wall in the front porch I realized that there is a 2-3 second lag. My router is less than 20 feet away so I moved closer to the router and there was still lag. Once I had adjusted the position to my liking, the camera has great coverage, I thought my job was done. But it kept disconnecting. Frustrated, I thought maybe the issue was my wireless router, so I replaced it with a newer model and went through the sequence of connecting it to my new router... Many minutes later, it finally connected and I was able to access the video feed from my phone app. I think the issue is that my router has dual-band capability and both the 2.4G and 5G have the same SSID, so maybe it's optimized for routers that have different names for each network. The 2-3 second lag is still there but I guess that's how it is supposed to be since the camera connects directly to the Arlo cloud and then shows the video feed in the app. I can live with that. The spotlight on the device is not bright or powerful enough to light up the entire porch so if you need a camera with more lighting, you should consider a floodlight type of camera instead. I tried the 2-way audio and it worked well enough, I was able to hear and be heard through the camera/app. This would be helpful if you aren’t home and want to know why there’s someone at your door. Overall, if you can get past the network issues and the lag, then it does an adequate job because it notifies you of activity and it is smart enough to differentiate an animal from a human.

I want to start off by saying I feel most every one will feel comfortable setting up and installing this unit. I am already an Arlo user and adding this camera to my others was fast and easy. The main difference with this essential XL spotlight camera is battery life. That's why I waited almost 3 weeks to review. I placed my unit on the front door. That's where I get the most traffic about 20 to 40 hits a day. Family going and coming usps, ups, fedex. I have it set up as to not see the road for passing cars. And I feel I will get about 6 months out of one charge. This is more than double the life than my arlo pro's. So it's only half of the up to one year that is advertised. But 6 months in my book is very good. And key features I like are * Two way audio - Giving you the ability to talk with the person you see. This works best when you are on wifi. * Video quality - Very clear picture *battery life - I feel any where from 6 months to a year for some *The App - I find the app very easy to use and set up each camera on it's own. You may have some you don't want notifications from. * Works with google assistant - I have mine set to turn lights on at night when a camera sees motion. * Spotlight - Helps see things in color at night and lets people know they are being watched. I have been a fan of arlo for some time now. And they continue to improve their products and the app. If you are looking for a surveillance you can count on you found it in arlo. You can start off with one cam and add on as you see fit.

The back part of the camera crack in the could weather

The Essential XL is a nice entry level wire-free camera for the Arlo ecosystem. For the price you get a wire-free, weather-resistant, 1080p security camera with an integrated spotlight. Like the Essential, the Essential XL also dropped the old Arlo requirement of needing to install a basestation and it can join your existing WiFi. This is great for homes where there is already adequate wireless lan coverage and you don’t want to install another proprietary hub or basestation. With that said, the Essential XL can also join an Arlo basestation easily with the added benefit of having local storage of footage. The Essential cameras design are similar to previous Arlo camera’s but notably missing the magnetic mount and an access door to remove the battery. Arlo transitioned to an integrated battery design in this model likely to save costs. Unfortunate, as batteries will eventually loose their efficiency and need replaced. Fortunately, the XL has an extended battery which can last up to an entire year on a single charge! Though I don’t think the battery will stay charged for an entire year based on my used case (used 10% over 2 week period), but the enhanced battery is a great improvement. Where as you lose swappable batteries you gain a feature missing from the previous entry-level Arlo cameras, an integrated light. The light is similar to those found on the Arlo Pro/Ultra cameras, which provides decent illumination of the immediate area around the camera allowing “color night vision”. There is also a built-in siren that can be triggered through automation or activated manually as well. The camera performed as well as my Arlo Pro 2/3 cameras, with image quality in between the two. Daytime performance is similar to the Pro 2 but nighttime clarity and color are improved thanks to the spotlight design shared with the Pro 3. Though the 1080p image isn’t as detailed as the 2k Pro 3s, it is still clear enough to identify people and animals from over 15’ away. Ultimately, the Essential XL is just that...the essential features of the Arlo experience with double the battery capacity and without the fluff.

Camera was easy to use and install but the color when it was outside was terrible. Also when it got really cold it would not work at all.

I bought this cameras for a Florida home in the rear of the house. I have several other cameras and have had them for years. The quality of the picture is unsurpassed. This battery lasts a year and is rechargeable. We are gone about 8 months so this cameras is perfect. It installed very easily with the bracket. I am an Arlo girl. Love their cameras.

Constantly updates when animals around my yard, helps keep an eye on my dogs when not home, I do have issues connecting to live feed at times but other than that better than my ring cameras that barely work