Customer Ratings & Reviews

I have bought three of these and they’re the best cameras out there for quality for the price sound and picture quality

Easy set up and clear view of your home. No battery to charge. Very good camera

Love it! Way better than fixed cameras and ai gives a description which is cool. Only thing I wish the cable was longer but other than that it's been great.

I really love that is a plug in, so once installed I don’t have to worry about changing batteries. Great quality picture, excellent night vision.

I love this camera; it makes security much easier.

I switched to Arlo after getting frustrated with my other camera setup. These work great and I have two.

This works really good and tracks for a long distance and clear

Very neat camera will follow the person until it cannot

Great product Arlo is wonderful!! Happy with this purchase

This rotating camera is perfect! more security and takes up less space

A great camera great quality I love it! Highly recommend

PICTURE IS GREAT, HAVE TO RESET ONCE A WEEK, LOCKS UP AND WILL NOT RECORD.

Is complicated to install and to set un on the system

i got the Arlo Essential pan and tilt camera a couple weeks ago cause i wanted something to keep an eye on my living room and front door area when i’m out or at work. i was expecting just a basic camera, but this thing is way better than i thought. setup was super easy. i’m not great with tech but it literally walked me through everything in the app. i had it mounted and streaming video in like ten minutes. just plug it in, connect wifi, and it works. no drama at all. the picture quality is actually really sharp. it’s 2K so i can see faces clearly, read labels on boxes, and even see my cat sleeping on the couch in full detail. the pan and tilt feature is probably my favorite part though. i can move it around from my phone and look all over the room. i didn’t even realize how useful that would be until i started using it i can check both windows and the hallway with just one camera. the night vision is solid too. the image is clear, not all fuzzy like some other cameras i’ve tried before. and the two-way audio works great i can talk through it from my phone and the sound is clear on both ends. i also really like that it’s plug-in powered. i used to have a battery camera and it felt like i was recharging that thing every week. this one just stays on all the time, no worrying about it dying or forgetting to charge it. the app is pretty easy to use. i get motion alerts whenever there’s movement, and you can change how sensitive it is so it doesn’t go off every time my cat walks by. i set it to only alert when it detects a person and it’s been pretty accurate. it also works with Alexa which is a nice bonus. i can just say “alexa show me living room” and the video pops up on my Echo Show. honestly i can’t think of much to complain about. the video’s clear, setup’s simple, it moves smoothly, and i feel like i got more than what i paid for. i’m probably gonna get another one for the garage soon. if you’re thinking about getting one, just do it. it’s super reliable, easy to use, and the quality for the price is seriously impressive.

The Arlo Essential line is an excellent series of cameras for someone looking to monitor their home without professional install and with a very low cost to get started. Where Arlo differentiates themselves from so many other camera brands is the fact that they are a US-based company and that they tend to have very good privacy protections for their users (so far...). Unlike a few other well--known brands, Arlo will not share your video with law enforcement or the government without your permission unless they are presented a warrant. #Unboxing and first impressions# Unboxing the Arlo Essential Pan-Tilt camera was pretty pleasant overall. The camera arrived in a relatively small cardboard box, with all cardboard packing materials inside to ensure safety for shipping. There is thin plastic film on the camera itself, but otherwise the packaging is all recyclable. The camera comes with a wall/ceiling mount kit and power adapter with a permanently attached USB-C cable. Note the adapter is 9V output, so it's probably incompatible with anything other than the camera. However I was able to test the camera with a standard USB-C PD adapter and the camera worked fine - so if the included cable gets damaged, you probably have lots of options. #Using the Arlo Essentials camera# The Arlo Essentials PT(Z?) camera was really easy to set up. Arlo includes a 30 day subscription to their Arlo Secure subscription which is normally about 8 bucks per month per camera (or 18 bucks/month for unlimited cameras). Without the subscription, you can't record video and get no AI recognition features, but you can watch live video at no charge. It was incredibly easy to set up the camera in the app. I just had to follow simple instructions in the Arlo app and tap a button on the camera body, and it was able to add it to my network with zero fuss. Notably, the camera supports both 2.4 and 5ghz wifi, so you do NOT have to put this camera on a 2.4ghz only network! That alone is a selling point for me. Video quality is really good. The real time/Live video feed is very high framerate (appears to be 60, but not sure exactly). The recorded videos arrive with different framerates depending on the amount of motion in the clip. The downloaded clips great, with few compression artifacts.The camera will turn to follow people/pets/objects in motion, which is pretty standard these does but regardless the Arlo Essentials model does it well. #Final thoughts# I think Arlo has a decent value proposition with the Essentials line. You can spend a bit more money on a camera or system that has local storage and doesn't require a cloud subscription. You can also find camera systems that have much cheaper cloud subscriptions for a single camera. However, once you're at the multi-camera stage where you have 3 or more, the unlimited camera sub for Arlo is pretty reasonable, and the person/pet detection works really well in the week that I've had the camera. Considering it's a US based company with a strong track record for privacy, I'd consider Arlo as a premium option for security cameras.

Died after a few weeks. Never had this issue with any Arlo I have owned. Returning and not sure if I’ll get this one again. Will not power on anymore.

Setup and installation of this camera is really easy with Arlo's app. Compared to other cameras I've used, I actually really like Arlo's app and the cameras are super easy to use. Once setup and connected you have an option to use a subscription to store video on the cloud and access other features depending on the plan. You absolutely can still use the camera without a plan though and still get realtime alerts and notifications on your phone. It also connects and works with Google Home and I was able to view the camera on my Samsung SmartTV which is pretty cool. In terms of PTZ, the functionality works great and for me worked smooth. There could be some delay depending on your connection of course but I found the delay to be minimal. the subject tracking does also seem to work pretty well too. In terms of image quality, I installed this camera near my front door so it can spot anyone approaching either my garage or front door and I can clearly ID/see anyone approaching those areas. 2K up close is perfect for capturing enough detail to identify people or objects and maybe license plates depending on how far it is. Night vision is pretty good as well, epsecially for lighted areas like a front porch/garage door lights. Audio works great too and you can set it to alert you of specific sounds like a scream or dog barking. The only negative I can see so far is the limited features you have without a paid plan. It does work but most of the advanced features are part of the plan. While that can seem like a negative, you do get a lot for the plan so it really boils down to what your security needs are because the paid plan is well worth it considering the cloud storage and features that really do give peace of mind should something happen. Overall, from setup to using it, I really like Arlo's cameras and this camera in particular is amazing. If you haven't had a PTZ camera, you should get one, they're well worth it because you can see so much more.

Arlo Essential Pan & Tilt 2K Security Camera I have had 2 Arlo Doorbells and I am familiar with their products and the App. This little guy seems to perform really well. Out of the box, the setup went easily. I used the QR code that was provided inside the top of the box and in the Quick Start Guide booklet included in the box. It immediately brought up my Arlo App on my phone, and started the step-by-step setup instructions to connect to my phone and then my WIFI. I was up and running in no time. I like that this camera shows up in the app along with my doorbell. I can actually view both at the same time. If I rotate my phone to landscape orientation, I can get a full screen from either device. Mounting the camera is fairly straightforward, but I also felt the mounting clips on the bracket seem weak and vulnerable. On a cold day, the plastic may not hold up. The power cord is long, approx. 17 ft long which is good. By the time you mount the camera on your home, it could be 8-9 ft in the air plus the horizontal distance to an outlet. The cord is reasonably heavy and durable for outdoor use. The camera has no type of battery backup. Keep that in mind and try to conceal the cord and plug, as an intruder could simply unplug it and no more video would be recorded. The camera tracks moving people very well. It can rotate fairly fast and it does so smoothly and quietly. Tracking manually using the app, I’m impressed how far it can turn in either direction. It seems it can turn almost 350 degrees left to right. The picture is bright and clear. Notifications come across quickly. At night, the provided built in light is bright and really helps to keep the image clear. The light alone could scare an intruder off when he gets surprised and sees the camera taking his picture. I have not tried the siren yet. Using the camera inside before mounting it, I felt it would make an excellent inside camera. In that scenario, I wish the camera could be just set on a table or a shelf and the image could be rotated 180 degrees to allow the camera to operate sitting, and still provide a correctly oriented picture. Just a thought. I have come to the realization that you just have to buy the monthly plan to get the full use out of the camera. It’s the only way to utilize all the features and to be able to keep videos from the past 60 days. CONCLUSION: Overall, the camera is very reasonably priced for the quality and features it affords. It’s easy to set-up, no batteries are needed, and it works well as long as you have an outlet in a location where the camera will get coverage. I would also suggest mounting it under an overhang or the eaves to shield it from rain, ice, and snow. I would recommend it to a friend.

Even if where you live is generally considered safe, it is not a bad idea to still have security cameras installed. Even if it's just for a heads-up that a delivery is arriving or a neighbor is stopping by. We were familiar with Arlo after having used their wireless cameras before up until we moved and could install our wired cameras everywhere we needed (previously, we live in a 2-story house that we really couldn't run wired cameras to every place we wanted a camera) and kind of was done with needing to recharge the cameras. Still, all of those are fixed cameras with just barely enough of the areas being covered. I had been looking to add a pan and tilt camera for a while, but one system I use doesn't offer an outdoor one and the other I use had one, but the price was a little high. After discovering the Arlo Essential Pan Tilt was wireless but powered (and having installed an outlet in the overhang for house holiday lighting), I was thinking this would be nice to try out. After opening and getting it plugged in, I started the initial setup in the Arlo Secure app. That was fairly easy (also helps if you already have the app installed and an account created). I started to try out everything with it, especially the pan and tilt functionality. At that point, I was already glad to have gotten this camera. Unfortunately, the camera cannot record locally as there is no support for a microSD card and no way to connect to an Arlo SmartHub Base (like the one that I still have and used previously for recording locally before going to a wired system), so to record anything a subscription is required. Even though it uses a USB-C connection for the power cord, it use proprietary power supply that outputs 9V vs the normal 5V for typical USB connection, so likely cannot use an old power block or an outlet with a built-in USB power port, although it could possibly use a Power Delivery charger block with it (didn't try it out myself though). The power adapter is a decent size, so that, along with the extra cable I have tucked in the outlet cover (camera is only about 3 feet away) will make it a bit difficult to leave it plugged in while I have the holiday lighting plugged in. I do have some offset/extensions I might try to be able to still have the camera plugged in at the same time. After getting the camera installed outside, I initially had some issues with getting the live view in the app, even with strong Wi-Fi signal. It didn't matter if I was outside or inside right next to the wireless router. Strangely, I could still see the current view/preview when looking at the Video settings. I found that it would actually work properly in the my.arlo.com website app, but not on their beta webapp site. Later that evening, I checked again and it had started to finally work in the app without any additional changes. So far, I am liking what I am seeing and can do with the camera! It has a great looking wide view (130°), covering a larger area than our other cameras. For nighttime, the Night Vision can be set to Black & White or Color Night Vision. For Color, the spotlight must be enabled, which I wish wasn't the case as our front driveway is well lit at night. When in Live View at night, temporarily turning on the light (bottom right icon) will automatically change to view in color until the light is turned off. To get to the Pan and Tilt functionality (along with some other functionality), don't tap play on the Dashboard page. That just gives the static live feed. Instead, tap anywhere else on the image (other than the Play or Setting icons). This will take you to the list of events to review, along with another Live View Play icon. Tapping the play icon here will display the live view and pop up the camera movement controller, as well as any preset positions to view. Also, while in this view, on the bottom right-center, there is a quick-pan icon to do a quick automated step-through of all the preset locations or will do sweep of entire range of motion if none are set. I liked being able to set the Home position, along with an additional 4 preset positions, which makes getting the camera pointed to the area I would like to view much easier. To set those, go to the Device Settings (from any Settings sprocket icon, then Camera Positions. Set the Home positions first (where the camera will always return to when not being used), then add the other up to 4 positions. I also like that the motor that moves the camera is very quiet, so it shouldn't draw any attention when it is moving. The detection and notification features are nice. It can notify if detecting a vehicle driving by, or a person walking or approaching the house, among others. The notification that pops up (at least on the Android version) is the best I've seen so far. It will actually show a short, time-lapse of the event, along with a little "cut-out" picture of the person or vehicle it detected. As I will not likely get a subscription after the trial expires, I'm hoping that the style of these notifications (and the notifications themselves) are still available without the subscription (one of the other systems we use will only give a preview image with an active subscription, which is why we still use another one for those notifications). And when Auto Track turned on (in Video Settings), the camara can actually pan to follow the person or object that was detected, but I don't plan on using that. Whether looking for your first or fifth(+) security camera, and are fine with no local recording or with going with one of their subscriptions, with all the features available, this is a really nice camera and should be considered.

I recently purchased the Arlo Essential 1-Camera Pan Tilt 2K Security Camera (Wired Plug-In Powered – White) to expand my existing Arlo setup, and overall, it’s been a good value for what it offers. The setup and installation process was incredibly straightforward—Arlo’s app guided me step-by-step, and I had the camera up and running in less than ten minutes. It integrated seamlessly with my other Arlo cameras, instantly appearing in my app without any extra fuss or complicated syncing. The pan and tilt features are responsive, and the 2K resolution provides sharp, detailed images both day and night. The wired power means I never have to worry about changing batteries, which is a nice bonus for continuous monitoring. However, there are a couple of drawbacks that prevent this from being a perfect product. The biggest disappointment is that there’s no SD card slot for local storage. Everything has to go through the cloud, and unfortunately, you can’t view recorded videos without a paid Arlo Secure subscription. For a camera at this price point, that feels like a big limitation. I wish Arlo offered at least basic recording access without forcing you into a plan. All things considered, it’s a reliable and easy-to-use camera that performs well and fits smoothly into an existing Arlo ecosystem. But the lack of local storage and mandatory subscription keep it from being a five-star product. For me, it earns a solid three stars—good hardware and performance, but too many strings attached.