Arlo - Ultra 2-Camera Indoor/Outdoor Wire Free 4K HDR Security Camera System

This so called 4k system has such low video quality that when you try to zoom in on a face from less than 15 feet away it looks like a tv show where they purposely blurred out of the face. I really don’t know how they claim this is 4K when it’s not even 480p Totally unusable footage if zoomed at all. Also, when it gets a little foggy or it rains they cloud up & are even more useless. I did also buy a high speed sd card for it because it was supposed to have better video quality with it but it didn’t improve at all. Also if you plan on having the cameras further than 20 feet away they have a Posterous amount of lag time & audio cut out. Even when right next to the base station they have tons of lag time. It’s not my internet, modem or router either. I have a very high end gaming setup. Also, they start recording when motion is detected but they take a few seconds to start recording so whomever or whatever set off the camera is often left the view of the camera before it starts recording. Horrible... The batteries only last about a week if your lucky,so you go buy the solar panels for them adding an additional $250 to the cost of the system. Only to have to return it all upon finding out that the video quality was so horrible. By the time I was done buying the entire system I was over $1350.00 in. After I returned everything I did my research and found “backstreet surveillance” cameras that have actual 4K video & optical zoom lenses for just a couple hundred dollars more. Best Buy should look into carrying their products.

I have been a Arlo user for couple of years I bought the Arlo Pro 2 6 camera pack they were good But the ULTRAS have several significant upgrades like the wider field of view the audio is quite a improvement And the color Night vision

The new Arlo Ultra Security Camera and Hub are nice improvements from the previous Pro 2 series, adding 4K video, enhanced hub, spot light and an update mobile app along with other excellent features. Setup was rather smooth with the mobile Arlo App, had my system up and running within an hour. The app walks you step by step through the whole process, from setting up the network connection to adding and placing cameras. Covers all the bases in a security camera system. Clear crisp video monitoring and recording. Love the fact you can zoom the camera to read a license plate in the driveway. For me it is great for keeping an eye on the kid and Beagle on our football field size front and rear yards. We live on the edge of the city with ten acres, three acres being in yard and seven acres in woods, it is a big plus to have an excellent view of our surroundings. Features that make the Arlo a leading security cameras system: - “Noise-cancelling microphones that reduces distracting background noises like wind, rain and street activity, providing you clearer distortion-free sound.” - Two-way microphones and speakers for clear conversation, fun when your friend watches your house for you! - One-year Arlo smart 30 days of cloud storage. - e911 service which will send police to your home with a touch of a button. - Weather resistant in all seasons. - Color night vision. - Spotlight built into the camera. - SD Storage. - Good documentation (download). - 180-degree view. Have mixture Arlo Ultra and Pro2 cameras in my system, which work seamlessly together connected to the Arlo Ultra Hub. The hub is backward compatible with all Arlo wire-less cameras. I keep my cameras plugged in so that I do not have to charge them weekly, so I have not tested the battery charge life. What I do like about the wire-less nature of the cameras is that it is simple to unplug them from the charging cable and place them in temporary locations. Arlo is still using Adobe Flash; I believe they need make the move on to html for smoother operations on the PC. On a Windows 10 PC with Chrome you must enable Flash in Chrome and each time you want to view a camera feed must re-allow Flash Player within the interface to run. The mobile app does not require that extra exercise to view the camera feed. Coupled with our home/garage security system the Arlo Ultra gives us an extra security layer that keeps us feeling comfortable at home and away.

Was a little skeptical buying these by some of the reviews. So far they are great. Been having them for about a month. I upgraded my plan to view in 4k. Battery seems like they will last about 1 1/2 months without charging. Only complaint is the two way talk is a little low in volume but not a deal breaker. Color night vision is awesome!

Upgraded from the Pro2, I decided to give arlo some time to fix all the kinks. Set up was a piece of cake. Activity zones didn't work at first then suddenly started working. I like all the features so far. No major complaints so far. wish the Charging Cable' was available so I can run all then on power. Battery life is pretty good also. Remember to charge them before installing cameras as they were all at 50% charge.

This is a great little IR security system. You see everything in color. The spotlight is a great add on too. This is much better than the Arlo Pro system that we also have. I would recommend this Arlo Ultra to anyone wanting a security system.

Today, I am reviewing the Arlo Ultra HD Camera.  Unboxing was a breeze; the camera came with a power cable, battery, mounting hardware, magnetic mount, and a hub station. Although cumbersome, the hub has to be plugged into your internet router to use the Arlo camera system successfully.  The instructions did not include how to mount the camera, though. After I went on the internet to look, I figured out that the plastic piece included with the mounting hardware needs to attach itself to the screw. The reason? This plastic piece fits into the back of the magnetic mount. Keep this in mind when you figure out where to mount the camera.  I charged the camera for the recommended three hours. Make sure to press the eject button on the camera, physically, to insert the battery into the camera for charging. Again, the instructions were vague on doing this. While charging, I downloaded the Arlo app and created an account. This process was simple. After the camera charged, I plugged in the smart hub into my internet router, opened the app, and unplugged the camera. The Arlo app locates both the hub and camera during the setup process automatically. During the location process, the Arlo app will download a firmware update for the hub and camera (this takes about five minutes). Again, this is a seamless, automatic process. Once the hub and camera's firmware are updated, you are ready to install the camera outside your home. Although you can do this on your own, make sure to have your application opened so that you can see where your viewing angle is inside the app. Installation was simple, and the mounting bracket is not necessary (I installed mine through vinyl siding above my garage).  After installation, the camera began detecting my movement, and it was smart enough to tell me that it "spotted a person." In the Arlo app, you can set up other settings such as "wide angle view," as well as video display settings. I chose the "4K" live video setting; for now, the camera will allow you to view live footage in 4K, it will not record 4K footage, yet (you have to pay an additional fee for cloud 4K video recording). Although disappointing, the camera does provide a clear picture. You can pinch the screen to zoom in and out of the camera, and still maintain a quality picture. The camera's built-in speaker captures the sound well. However, when using the talking feature (to talk back to someone approaching), the audio was not loud enough (I turned the speaker up and still, it was not that loud). Do not let this make or break your decision on picking this camera up. Additionally, there is an option to turn on and off the spotlight included in the camera. Since my camera is mounted above my garage, the two garage lights that were installed previously automatically turn on when motion is detected. Although not necessary for me, you have an option to turn the spotlight feature on, and off in the Arlo app. I will say, the spotlight feature is ideal for those who do not have automatic motion detecting lights (the picture was too bright). However, you can adjust the picture brightness on the camera if needed. Though, I did not need to after I turned the spotlight off (the picture was just "right").  With my high internet speeds at home (350 MBPS), I found the Arlo app easy to use, but at times, the app "lagged" when I went into the library to view footage, and change the viewing settings to my liking. Although not an issue, when playing back footage in the library, I notice that it takes the Arlo app some time to load. Again, this is not a big deal, but keep in mind that you may experience lag with playback and setting changes.  Now, the best feature that the Arlo Ultra camera provides is that it records when it detects motion; the Arlo Ultra does not continuously record (although you can pay for this setting). The point of this feature is to save your battery. You can monitor the battery in the Arlo app, by the way. After a few days of use, the battery remains at a full charge. Expect to have the battery drain more when you continuously record, though. According to Arlo's website, expect your camera to remain charged for three to six months. Noted, you will have to remove the camera to recharge it for three hours (so do this when you are home). Although if it is too cumbersome for you to remove the camera from the magnetic plate to charge it, you can install the charging cable into the device. However, this defeats the purpose of the "no cable needed" idea.  Additionally, Arlo includes a full year of thirty-day cloud storage (this trumps what Nest does, which asks you to pay five dollars per month for continuous recording/cloud storage). Other features include an auto-tracking option (this is a "pay for" feature).  Overall, the Arlo App is easy to use. However, app lag issues do not provide a "seamless" user experience (it takes too long to load videos and connect to the camera). The camera itself was a breeze to set up (after some research); the picture and sound quality are fantastic. I would recommend the Arlo Ultra system for someone that does not want to drill more holes into their home to feed wires. The design of the camera and the ease of use makes this camera an ideal suitor for those who want a "do-it-yourself" home security system. 

This is my first time using an Arlo product and I’m quite impressed by it. The Arlo Ultra 4K UHD Wire-Free Security Camera System is very user friendly and very intuitive to get up and running with ease. I currently have an off brand security camera that is also wifi capable, but requires an electrical outlet. My experience with this Arlo has left me with a great comparison between the products I own. This Arlo Ultra 4K provides a great picture quality and audio recording for my needs. I like to have a camera of this nature monitor my front walkway and front door. I can see who is coming and going and when deliveries are being made. My desire for this camera is strictly for residential purposes, but I’m positive this would be a great asset for a business owner setting as well. Main things included in the package to get you up and running are the following: 4K camera unit, wall mount w/ magnetic base, smarthub, rechargeable battery, and cables. You will also need to install the Arlo app to your smartphone, and in my scenario it worked seamlessly on my iPhone. Getting the smarthub connected to your network is easy as you utilize the Ethernet cable to plug into your network. Power up the camera with the battery installed and you’re up and running as the app will walk you through the process and it guides you very well. Once I had the smarthub and camera synced up, it was time to figure out where I wanted to place the unit for best usage. I was able to drill a small hole within my home’s vinyl siding in order to get the mount drilled in. The mount has a magnetic face to it and therefore the Arlo 4K camera has a magnetic base and it connects easily and strongly to one another. Position the camera how you like for your viewing area and it holds position very well. I really liked being able to place this camera outdoors without having to run wires and cables to hide them. The battery has been doing really well so far, as it’s down 15% and it’s been running for about 4 days now. I live in the northeast US and experience a good cycle of all 4 weather seasons. So far I’ve gotten the camera wet in a rain storm and it’s still working really well. Depending on which way the rain is blowing / falling it will distort the lens of the camera and possibly effect what you see and record. I’m assuming snow will be an issue for me when winter time is upon us as well. I have my camera in an uncovered area as I don’t have the ability to mount it under an overhang of some sort. The camera has a lot of great features which I’ve been playing with since getting this set up. The ultra-wide 180-degree panoramic view is nice. It gives me a full scope of my target area without a fish eye lens effect or cutting off the edges of my area. Great to be able to get a true full view of a larger zone. The advanced night vision works really well as I tried it a few times late at night. The infrared camera ability depicts the person and surroundings really well and it’s what I was expecting. The added bonus of this camera is that it has an integrated spotlight which lights up your target area and can create a color video to see a better picture of what’s happening. The light I feel is a nice security feature since it will activate on when motion is picked up and deter any potential bad guy from the area. I also have the ability to activate a horn like alarm from my app in order to make an audible sound to deter someone and let them know they’re being monitored with two way conversations from the mic and speaker. The Arlo Ultra also comes with a 1 year plan of Arlo Smart Premier Service which I feel is fantastic for having as a provided plan by Arlo. After that 1 year is up I can subscribe to different tier levels of playback service, and at a quick glance they seemed affordable. I wish this was a non-pay service to be able to monitor these videos. Another feature offered is an e911 action which will allow your Arlo Smart app to access emergency services. This seems like a unique feature that sets it apart from competitors. If someone is truly breaking into your house or you spot suspicious individuals, I would think this could be a great asset in order to alert the right authorities to your home address. On that note as well, you can also have the app contact a friend or neighbor for example similar to the e911 feature. This could be useful if you see something happening and can quickly have a neighbor across the street be alerted that something is occurring at your residence. The 4K camera is a big step up for me from my previous 720p camera which gives me a general idea of what happens at my front door. The Arlo 4K is very clear and detailed for my target area within about 6-10 feet. After that distance I have noticed that images tend to get grainy and blurry when I try to zoom in on something which is unfortunate. I was hoping to be able to see and read out a license plate of a car in my driveway about 20 feet away and couldn’t make it out at all. I could see what kind of car it is easily, but in daylight hours and camera set at BEST VIDEO QUALITY of 4K I was unable to read the license plate. This was a bit of a let down, but I’m toying with settings and trying to see if I can make adjustments to see these types of items better. The app is pretty easy to use and allows for some tweaking on which alerts you want to receive and you can also set a zone for your alert region. The camera has the ability to notify you of motion or person or animal for example when the alert pops up on my iPhone XR and Apple Watch Series 3 (non cellular). Great to see a snapshot picture of what the camera is alerting me about on my Apple devices. A few other nice features I’ve found while I’ve used this for the past few days have been the power management aspect. I can set this on a battery conserve method and it reduces the quality of the video, or I can go to a best video setting which will ensure I’m getting the highest content but the battery duration could suffer a bit. There is also an optimized setting which gives you a balance of video quality and battery life, and that is where I’m running it currently to help prolong until my next recharge. Another nice feature which I’ve utilized, but haven’t found fully useful yet is “auto zoom & tracking.” This feature helps to track a person for example as they come into view of the camera. In this scenario the camera eye tracks the person moving and follows them. In my case a UPS delivery was made and the camera tracked the person walking into the driveway to the front step and then away from the house. Interesting to see this feature, but I don’t know if it’s fully useful yet as I didn’t really find any benefit from it. There also is a feature for package detection in the beta stage within the app. I have this activated, but haven’t seen it function yet so I can’t fully give feedback about that. One concern I have with this product is for anyone that may have an older version of an Arlo camera they invested in. From what I gather this new Arlo 4K camera and smarthub only work with 4K camera units. Therefore for a consumer, who has a previous camera, they will not be able to use that older camera unit with this new smarthub. I hope that Arlo fixes this issue and will make sure to allow previous Arlo camera devices to be used with this new smarthub since it’s all within the same ecosystem. So far I’ve been happy with this security camera and feel confident in the Arlo brand. I’ve had great connectivity and am able to get a view from the camera via my smartphone when I’m away. No issues with connections or blur. Overall I feel it’s a pretty good camera with a high price tag at almost $400, for which you’re getting a smarthub base and a single 4K wireless camera. For me this is pretty good functionality, peace of mind home usage, and hoping for long term use with this. Hoping this helps you out in your decision. PRO: Small and compact design 4K video quality Wireless and wire free Great app for viewing and alerts Security monitor features to deter CON: Expensive price tag Backward compatibility Blurred imagery for distance viewing (license plate) Comes with only 1 rechargeable battery Needs a 2 or 3 hole base mount for better stability