Arlo - Pro 3 4-Camera Indoor/Outdoor Wire-Free 2K HDR Security Camera System - Black

=== Summary == I'm a huge fan of the Arlo Pro 2 camera system so I was naturally very excited for the Arlo Pro 3. It has many features my Arlo Pro 2 does not have, such as 2K recording, color night vision, integrated spotlight, and 160-degree viewing angle. After using it for the past five days, I can say that Arlo didn't disappoint -- for the most part. Although I LOVE its reliable video and audio quality, easy-to-use mobile app, its quick and smart notification system, and long-lasting battery, I'm very disappointed that Arlo chose NOT to include 7-day free cloud recording for the Pro 3 and still hasn't kept their pledge to make locally saved clips accessible from its mobile app. If Arlo had kept that option, it would've been a 10 out of 10 product and a Complete Win. As it is, I rate it 4 Stars out of 5 overall. _____ *Pros: -Slick and attractive design. -Super simple & quick setup process. -Clean and color-accurate video quality from HDR & 2K recording. -Audio recordings are noise-free, skip-free, and sound clean and clear. -Smart Alerts are smart & accurate most of the time. -The mobile app is feature-rich and easy to use. -Long-lasting battery. -The motion-detection sensor is very responsive & quickly turns on the spotlight. -Robust & varied accessory ecosystem. _____ *Neutral: -Accessories are expensive. $50 for a 25-ft charging cable? -The cool features require a monthly plan. -The cheapest Arlo Smart plan costs $2.99/month per camera. _____ *Cons: -Clips can be saved to local storage but you can't view it from the mobile app. Arlo has 2 months left to keep their promise. === Design & Setup === When it comes to design, build materials, build quality, and general fit-and-finish, Arlo has done a fantastic job with the Pro 3. The cameras and base station look great and blend perfectly within my home. In the hands, it feels solid and durable, and taking it apart to insert the battery was a smooth and frustration-free experience. The charging port is on the bottom and the charging interface from the cable connects magnetically to the camera now, which is a huge improvement in terms of convenience. With the Arlo Pro 2, the charging cable on the back got in the way of my outdoor mounts and the rubber flap was fragile and easy to become dislocated. Setting up the Arlo Pro 3 was a completely frustration-free and speedy process. Connect the base station to the router, give it power, and add each camera one-by-one inside the Arlo mobile app. Upon first startup, there were firmware updates for both the base station and each of the cameras. Those went through without any hiccups. In the box, there was one magnetic wall mount and one outdoor mount accessory. Sadly, the cable in the box was too short and I couldn't run it from the wall to my front porch. But checking Arlo's accessory store, a 25-ft charge cable is available so I'll probably be getting that. It's too bad most accessories are so expensive, though. For some of these accessories, I'll be waiting for third-party companies to make cheaper alternatives. === Mobile App & Customization === After all the cameras have been added, I fine-tuned the camera settings within the well-organized and easy-to-use Arlo mobile app. The app has three main tabs on the top: Mode, Devices, and Library. In the "Mode" section, you tell the cameras when to detect for motion and audio events and what to do about it. For one of my cameras outside in the front porch, I have it to detect for both motion (80% sensitivity) and audio (level 3 sensitivity out of 5) and to record a video for 300 seconds. After the event has finished, Push notification is sent to my smartphone. Other options inside Mode include "Disarmed," "Scheduled," and "Geofencing." I leave my cameras "Armed" all the time. In the "Devices" section, you can view each camera video feed to initiate two-way speaker conversations, manually take photos or record a video, and turn on or off the spotlight camera. You can also create Activity Zones so you only receive alerts when something happens inside that zone. And there are numerous other options -- battery level indicator, camera LED behavior, check device info, motion detection test, video quality levels (brightness, Auto HDR, local 2K live streaming, auto-zoom & track, low light settings, night vision), power management, and video angle (160-, 125-, or 110-degree). The final section is the "Library" and this is where you go to view all the clips that have been recorded in response to events. The newest event is always on the top and you can select a video and mark it as a Favorite, share the file with someone, "donate" it to Arlo for their R&D, download it, or simply delete it. But wait, there is more~! From the main screen of the app, when you tap on the 3-dot menu icon and tap on Settings, you'll discover the "Arlo Smart" section. It's here where you can tell the cameras to detect for package deliveries (only one camera can do this) or detect specifically for people, vehicles, animals, smoke/CO alarms, and more. For the part, these smart detections worked pretty well, correctly flagging my dogs and cat as animals and my UPS delivery man as a human. Package detection wasn't as quite consistent, probably because not all of my packages arrived in rectangular or square boxes but sometimes in large envelopes or plastic bags. All in all, I'm very impressed and delighted by all the features that are offered by Arlo. It truly is a complete home security camera system. === Video & Audio Quality === With its 160-degree viewing angle and 2K video resolution, the crispness and clarity of the videos were highly satisfactory. The colors were true-to-life, color gradation was handled very well, and the HDR feature did an excellent job correctly exposing the dark areas. The audio recordings were exceptional as well, way better than my Arlo Pro 2. The audio is cleaner with less noise and skips and I was very impressed by how far it can record conversations. My wifey and daughter were talking about 30 feet away from my Pro 3 in the living room and I could hear and understand each word they were saying loud and clear. I love it when a new successor product completely outperforms the previous model and Arlo Pro 3 succeeds in doing that. === Battery life === I've been recording 5-minute clips in 2K and viewing live feeds in 2K. Also, the spotlight camera is set to turn on all the time during low-light situations. After recording 82 5-minute clips (almost 7 hrs of footage), the Arlo Pro 3 camera still had 25% battery left. I'm impressed. === Cloud Recording, local storage, & Arlo Monthly Plans === This is the part of my review where I get a little negative. After being used to the 7-day free cloud recording feature of my Arlo Pro 2 system for the past two years, I'm very reluctant to begin paying a monthly fee. To be honest, it's not TOO bad. For $2.99 per month per camera with the Arlo Smart plan, I get 30 days of video playback, enhanced notifications, activity zones, and person detection. After all, it probably costs Arlo lots of money in server and storage costs. But still...the Arlo cameras are one of the most expensive wire-free security camera systems on the market. Therefore, I think Arlo should make available AT LEAST a 3-day free cloud storage option for customers who are shelling out so much money for their systems. I think that's a good compromise. In terms of local storage of video clips, Arlo has dropped the ball here too. Yes, you can store your clips locally but you can't view your local clips from inside the mobile app. What was Arlo thinking? I've had that feature in my $200 Samsung camera for four years already! Arlo announced that in the second half of 2019 they will implement a way for users to view local clips from within the app. Well, Arlo, you have two months left to keep your word. I'm currently using the 3-month free trial subscription and time will tell whether I stay on the basic Arlo Smart subscription plan or not. Whether I do or don't, I'll come back to this review and add a comment to share my opinion on whether I think it's worth it or not. === Conclusion === Overall, I like the Arlo Pro 3. It's well-built and engineered, it produces high-quality video and audio clips, its mobile app is simple to use and very responsive, and its smart features like animal detection and package detection are cool and neat. But with such a high $500 upfront cost, Arlo should've included some form of free cloud storage and ability to access locally saved clips from the mobile app. With that said, I still recommend it because the execution is so good and it has such a robust accessory ecosystem.

Arlo Pro 3 I have quite a bit of experience with the Arlo line as I have been using an Arlo base station along with 2 of the Pro 2’s and 2 Pro’s for the past few years. I love these, they have been reliable, secure, and can take a beating in the elements. I have no doubt the Arlo Pro 3 will prove be even better! === In the Box === Inside the box there are the two Arlo Pro 3 cameras, the Smarthub base, 2 rechargable batteries, a magnetic mount, 1 outdoor mount, 1 magnetic charging cable with usb charger, power cord for the Smarthub, and an ethernet cable. I find it a little odd that there is only one charging cable in the box for two cameras. I suppose the idea is the batteries are expected to last so long that you can survive with just one cable, simply removing the cameras or their batteries and charging them as needed. For me, personally, I like to wire the cameras up to a power source so that I never have to worry about them, so I would have appreciated two cables. The way the kit is put together it almost guarantees you will need to buy at least some accessories such as an extra charging cable or the dual charging station. In case you were wondering, the batteries are different than the older Pro or Pro 2 models so not compatible. === Setup === Setup is dead simple with the Arlo app. Find a spot near your router for the Smarthub (has to be connected via ethernet, wifi not supported) and plug the ethernet and power cable in. The app will detect the new Smarthub and then you follow the instructions to add each camera. There’s a button on the bottom of the camera to release the unit from its housing to insert the battery. The whole process could not have taken more than 5 minutes. I was a little worried I might have issues since I use the same app to monitor my existing Arlo base station but looks like the older base station and new Smarthub and all six of my cameras can co-exist in the same app. I could have added all the cameras to the new Smarthub if I wanted to but I’m glad that I am able to use two base stations as there are some areas around my yard where the old base station couldn’t reach. Now I have two hubs in two different corners of my home so I have much better coverage for the cameras. As mentioned above, there are two types of mounts included. With the magnetic mount once you affix it to your wall the camera simply pops onto the mount at almost any angle. It also makes it easy to remove the camera when you have to recharge the battery. The other mount is a necessity if you need to mount in an outdoor or high location. For now I’m using the magnetic mount in a new location and replaced one of my existing mounted Pro 2’s with the Pro 3 While cloud recording is automatic, you may also want to connect a USB hard drive to the Smarthub for local copies of the videos. === Usage === Once everything is synced and mounted you use the Arlo app on your phone to manage and monitor the video feeds. The system should be armed which means the cameras will detect motion and automatically save the video to the cloud, turn on the LED spotlight, and send a notification to your phone. You can go into the device settings to turn any or all of this off. You can also configure the cameras to take action on sound instead of motion or to activate the siren on the camera. The siren is not ear piercing loud but I’d imagine it scare most intruders away especially if the spotlight also comes on. I didn’t find the auto zoom and tracking to be that great. It’s not very smooth especially when the object it is tracking is moving quickly. You can use the app to have two way audio communication with someone but this is not a feature I use often. The system can also be synced with a smart home system such as Apple’s Homekit. Here you’ll be able to see your cameras live in the Home app on your Apple devices. One of my favorite features is I can open the Home app on my Mac and select a video feed to keep open in a small window in the corner of my screen. Perfect for watching out for the pizza boy! Google Assistant and Alexa are also supported but I haven’t tried these out. If you want to turn off the detection and video recording, simply open the app and disarm the system. There are also options to arm/disarm on a schedule or geofencing. === Performance === I can definitely tell a difference in the image quality between the Arlo Pro 2 and Pro 3. Take a look at the image samples below. There is more detail in the Pro 3 screenshot and the colors are more natural than the Pro 2 which is quite a bit oversaturated. The color night vision is pretty neat. You could clearly see I was wearing a red shirt at night but note that it does not work if you do not have the LED spotlight enabled. === Pros === App based setup Two-way audio 2560 x 1440 resolution w/ HDR Color Night vision Wider field of View than Pro 2 Spotlight Built-in Long battery life Auto Zoom and Track Homekit, Google, and Alexa support Built-in Sirens Alarm Detection Local USB Storage === Cons === Includes just 1 magnetic charger Pricey when you consider you'll likely need accessories and a subscription as well Overall, the Arlo Pro 3 is a nice addition to the Arlo lineup. You get mostly the same features as the more expensive Arlo Ultra, only sacrificing resolution. I would definitely buy these over the Arlo Pro 2 at this point as the increase in resolution, color accuracy, and night vision are worth the upgrade.

Pros: * Great video quality. * Simple setup. * Useful and Flexible features. * Easy to use app. * Long battery life. Cons: * Not inexpensive. * Base hub is not compatible with my other Arlo products. My Review: My first experience with Arlo products was their Security Lights. While they work great, and their battery life is excellent, the setup was very finicky and the settings within their app were not exceedingly clear. My experiences thus far with the Arlo Pro 3 Security Cameras are similar for how well they work, but night-and-day (pun intended) for how easy they are to set up and use. In fact, initial setup was so easy that I was surprised it was done so soon. Plug the hub into power and ethernet, then fire up the app. It was that easy. Setting up the Security Lights was cumbersome. Setting up the Arlo Pro 3 cameras was brain-dead simple. I inserted the partially-charged batteries into the two cameras and after setting up the hub, the app asked if I wanted to also set up my 2 cameras. Done. The app even gives you a good idea for how strong the video quality is based on wireless signal from the camera to the hub. Nice! The design of these cameras is really nice, too. They have an outer shell that the “guts” of the camera slide into to keep everything contained and water-tight. The shell is what is mounted and you can easily separate the two to swap out a charged battery without disturbing the mounting position. If you just want to leave the battery inserted and charge with the supplied cable, you will have remove the camera with housing from the mount unless the provided magnetically-coupled cable reaches easily for the duration of charging the camera’s battery. Each camera has a microphone and speaker for 2-way communications, a bright spotlight for better illumination, the camera (of course) and a wide-angle motion sensor. The app even noticed that I already had the Security Lights configured and offered to set up some synergy between the lights and the cameras. Setting up the motion zones, the video quality, notifications, etc. was all easy, and the video quality both during the day and at night was amazing. Another nice feature is that while all the video can go to the cloud for storage, analysis and easy access, you can also plug in a storage device to the hub for local file storage in place of or in addition to the cloud. While the app integrates both the Pro 3 Cameras and the Security Lights together, the hubs for each are completely separate. It would have been nice to eliminate the Security Light hub (I need two for proper coverage) and the Camera hub, but at least the app controls both seamlessly. Overall, these security cameras may not be the least expensive options, but the video quality, features and design definitely make them worth spending a bit more money on.

Security is vital in this day and age. I don’t think a week goes by where I don't see a story on the national news about someone who was helped by a video doorbell. I’ve had a video doorbell as a part of my security system for many years now and as nice as it is, it’s helpful to also have a few strategically placed WiFi cameras throughout my home. I find that Arlo’s system is the most user-friendly robust option in the market and their newest system -- the Arlo Pro 3 is a nice step up from their previous generation of cameras. Arlo provides a lot in the box including the Arlo SmartHub, Pro 3 Wire-free Cameras, their rechargeable batteries, the SmartHub power adapter, ethernet cable, mounts, the camera charging cable, and camera power adapter. Even though all the pieces in the box can seem intimidating, it’s a relatively simple system to set up. You first connect the SmartHub to power and your internet source using the provided ethernet cable. Then you download the Arlo app and follow set-up instructions for the system. You will also have to insert the batteries into the cameras and ensure they are charged. You can place the mounts wherever you would like. Arlo also includes the mounting hardware for the mounts. The one thing that strikes me as odd with the mounts is that Arlo only provides one of each style of mount. Since I got a system with 2 cameras, I found it odd that I wouldn’t be allowed to mount them both the same way. The cameras attach to the mounts using either magnets or by being screwed into them. With my Arlo Pro 2 system, I actually just found places to mount the cameras using the magnets, which is another option. The only downside to this is that the camera can be easily removed from its mount -- and even stolen. The app does walk you through the set-up of the SmartHub quite simply. Once you connect it to power and the internet, it will likely have a firmware update to complete. I had to do this step and it took approximately 5-7 minutes. Once the hub is set-up, you can start adding cameras. One of the things I was most excited about with this hub is that I was able to add the Arlo Pro 2 cameras to it as well. This was a great benefit to my household since it meant that we wouldn’t have to keep both hubs connected. I didn’t have any issues with connecting the old and new cameras. The hub automatically recognized the new ones and I only had to press the ‘sync’ buttons on the older cameras in order for the hub to connect to them. All in all, it took about 30 minutes to have the entire system set-up -- that includes firmware updates. Another change that Arlo made with this system is how the cameras charge. The Arlo Pro 2 cameras used Micro USB, which I typically feel is outdated technology these days, but Arlo changed it to be a proprietary magnetic charging cable that is unique to this system. I would much rather see the cameras charge using something more universal like USB-C. I don’t like unique charging cables because if they get lost you have no way to charge your device. Video quality is amazing. I used one of the cameras to monitor our puppy while he was in his playpen. He’s a crafty little guy and knows how to get out of tight places so we keep a close eye on him when we are in a separate room from him. The Arlo Pro 3 camera was an ideal option since it gave us a perfectly clear image of him. These cameras work great not only for monitoring entryways and spaces but also for places like nurseries. I love these cameras because of the easy set-up and the quality video it provides. They are incredibly flexible in how you decide to use them and that makes them an ideal choice for many different uses. Arlo is my go-to when it comes to wireless cameras for my home.

I must say I was excited to test out this system. I currently have an off brand, 4 camera system and Guardzilla 360. The off-brand cameras tend to lose WIFI connection quite a bit and is very frustrating. The 360 is a nice camera, but the software interface for my android phone really needs an upgrade. This unit comes with a base unit, and in my case 2 camera’s. Setup was pretty straight forward. Simply plug in the base unit to power and Ethernet, then download the app to your phone and follow instructions. You also must install the batteries into the cameras. Mine were both around 50% full. The kit came with one magnetic mount and one screw mount, both worked well. First think I noticed once I fired these up was the clear picture. These offer 2K image quality and it looks really nice. 2K sits in between 1080p and 4K. (Alro Pro 2 is 1080p and Arlo Ultra is 4k) Phone interface also works great. Camera features: -2K Video with HDR – Great picture and color -Integrated spotlight – This light’s up your subject when they are triggered by motion. -160 Degree Viewing angle -WIFI - Stays connected and works well -2 way audio – Listen and talk to people. (short WIFI Delay) -Color Night Vision – Works well, however, my areas are lit so I turn the night vision off for even a better picture. -Magnetic Charging -Built in Smart Siren Battery life will be hard to comment on as I have been using for only about 3 days. I would say I am losing about 1.0 – 1.5% each day on the more active camera and less with the other. With that being said I predict no more than 3 months from a full charge for the more active camera, half of the 6 months they state you could get. So the battery drain will definitely depend on how often the camera is activated and probably ‘live’ viewed. My second camera which is activated much less should last much longer, but Even 3 months for an active camera I feel is pretty good. Smart phone App: Live View – You can also active the sound and spotlight though the app. Global Access Voice Controls - picture is clear and smooth, Not choppy like my other units. - I do hear wind in the audio occasionally in my case. Pretty windy area, perhaps they could work on providing a little wind protection on the mic. The other feature I want to point out is the Activity Zones. You can draw a square or rectangle in the area you want the camera to detect. This feature works really well. No more false alerts. Another feature in the software is the Auto Zoom & Tracking. This will see a person walking up your driveway let’s say, and zoom in on them and track their movement. You get a 3 month ‘Arlo Smart’ trail with your purchase. After this you would have to pay $2.99/mo. Per Camera or $9.99 / mo. For up to 10 cameras. If you don’t subscribe you will have to use an external USB connection to your hub and the only way to view the images is to connect that USB to a computer. So you really lose all the online features etc. I know I did not cover every feature, so please view the Arlo website for the, but I wanted to provide an overview on the features I have used to date. Overall a good quality security camera system that performs very well. Hope this review helped you out. Cheers!

So I will start by saying this is my second video security system. 1st was a wired 4K setup and this is now a 2k wireless setup. I prefer wired as it’s the most stable. While this Arlo pro 3 is great design wise, it has its issues. That’s where my opinions come from. So like many people say this 2 pack security system is great looking. Simple yet stylish if that matters. Also they are very small for its capabilities. The 2k video is very good. Tho not perfect. But I’m assuming that’s the wireless fault. Nothing that you will complain about but I’m picky I guess. Could have been better. I do like how these camera will literally track and follow a specific person moving in the field of view. Which is WIDE. I also like that while you can use the app to view live fields. You can also set up storage to save video locally. Great as a back up. Night vision is very clear. Now the set up is by far the best yet. It’s so easy took me about 15-20 minutes. The camera install was the hardest part and that was easy. Good job there. The app works very well too. Very easy to navigate and change almost every setting possible. Easily pairing and all. That was a great designed app for sure. Now to the things I didn’t/don’t like. -1st and the most annoying part is the time from when the camera detects something to the time you get the notification. Sometimes takes up to a min. And I have super fast internet. I know that it has to connect to the Arlo severs but come on now. We need instant access to see what’s going on. 2nd. U have to pay for the premium service. Not for me. While it has good features I think it’s a bit pricey but not too bad. 3rd is minor but still. You get like 1 million notifications. I sleep with my ringer on and I get notifications for sounds and cats and everything else. Lol. Not the end of the world but I thought I’d mention it. Overall. It’s a very good setup and a decent price point minus the subscription price. And I would recommend it. Unless you can deal with wired like myself.

This Pro 3 wireless camera system is top tier. The 2k resolution is more than enough. I personally think it's unecessary to go for the ultra given the fact that phones don't have 4k, which is what you'll be viewing cams from 99.999% of the time. Ample resolution with pro 3's. The battery life is pretty legit...as long as you play optimize the video quality sliders and motion sensitivity. I'd definitely recommend to get the 25' outdoor magnetic charge cord, if you don't want to EVER think about touching the cams again. Great job Arlo. I'm not gonna complain too much about service charges...that's EVERY companies business model....how are they gonna make overhead and profits people. If it was higher than current I'd understand, and complain too. Maintain those pricepoints Arlo. Maybe give subscribers a slight discount for sharing video you guys use.

I love our new Arlo because I can see and hear any movement whether it be an animal or person or a vehicle on my property. What I love most about it is that there’s no cables to be run everything ‘s wireless and goes through my Wi-Fi network. I even got the solar panel attachment. Love love love my new security system!