Customer Ratings & Reviews

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.

Arlo - Essential 1-Camera Pan Tilt 2K The Arlo - Essential 1-Camera Pan Tilt 2K is fairly close to being the perfect camera for indoor pan and tilt cameras. The cord that it comes is very long compared to most cameras that I have purchased in the past and the mounting hardware made this thing a breeze. The camera had to complete the firmware update process twice. The first time I did have an issue so I restarted the camera, and it began the process all over again and after the firmware updated the camera began operating like it was supposed to do. Now, why four stars instead of five? The pan and tilt is why. While it is quick, it is not super quick. So it would pick up someone walking, but not running, in close proximity to the camera. However, the purpose of where I have positioned the camera is that it does a great job. The fact that I am able to check in on the camera and go to pre-positioned areas with out having to manually press the buttons on the camera to get there is another wonderful thing about this camera that makes it that much better. The video quality is perfect, along with the audio.

My existing home security setup is all fixed camera systems so I was excited to try out my first pan/tilt camera. This is the first Arlo camera system I have tried and after some time with the system I came away with mixed feelings. On the hardware side of the device, the physical construction of the device is mostly plastic and the mounting system is flimsy. While the device pans and tilts as designed it feels like the camera and the mounting bracket have never made a firm connection. The 14 foot USB-C cable connects to the camera from the rear in a deeply recessed connection. I’m assuming this is to prevent the cord from coming unplugged during the pan and tilt operations, but the placement makes it a frustrating installation experience. I ended up needing to use needle nose pliers to shove the cable into the slot as my fingers were too large to fit in the gaps. At least the connection is secure. At six inches in length and just under four inches in width the device is compact enough to not feel like an eyesore, but it’s definitely not going to be blending into the environment. When motion is detected the camera pans and tilts to focus on where it detects the movement. This is louder than I anticipated and immediately draws attention to the camera. If you have the light enabled, it’s a bright, blinding light which is quite frustrating to deal with because you hear a noise, turn to look and immediately go blind from the brightness. But the 2K image of you getting blinded is comical to look at after the fact. On paper the specs of the camera are exceptional for this price category. The camera is 2K resolution with 180 degree pan/tilt range and a 12X digital zoom. The device includes a siren and 2-way audio and echo cancellation, all useful features that annoyed everyone I tested it with, primarily because they were blinded by the lights. For daily operation you’ll be relying on the SmartPhone app. I was disappointed in how slowly the pan and tilt operations respond to the the commands in the app. This is the first wireless camera I’ve tried as I prefer POE but that is not an option for this camera. The camera supports 802.11n for 2Ghz and 5Ghz and I’m using Wifi 7 AP’s on a 1.5GB download/ 350MB Upload. I was surprised at how slowly the video operations work within the app. As an aside, I have remote controlled robot vacuum cleaners on the same wifi and their controls respond instantly so whatever software controls are being triggered they are just not useful for anything more than frustration. To workaround this, the camera includes a quick-action button that when pressed tells the camera to do a full pan around the room. It’s a great button, but it’s also slow to respond and I kept thinking to myself that if someone was in my house breaking in and I was trying to real time tell the police what they were doing that I would be cussing in frustration a lot because these controls are so slow to respond. Aside from this one huge pain point, the App is simple to use, shows you what you need to see as long as you don’t need to change anything, and easy to review past footage. And the final thing to note is that this camera has no local storage and no ability to switch to local video storage which means you’ll be paying for a monthly subscription ranging from $7.99 a month for a single camera up to $24.99 a month depending on the specific features you need. The camera comes with a 30 day free-trial period so you can experiment.

Arlo has finally added Pan & Tilt cameras to their portfolio, maximizing coverage for a minimal investment (as compared to purchasing multiple fixed-view cameras to get the same coverage). +++ Pros +++ + Setup is a breeze: as an existing Arlo user, just scan a QR code (**critical tip: be sure to select Pan Tilt Security Camera NOT Pan Tilt Indoor Camera**). + A.I. learning: the camera learns to distinguish faces and vehicles over time and can detect packages, smoke/fire and animals. While these features require a Arlo Secure subscription, a trial is included to allow for full feature testing. + Includes both mounting plate (for ceiling mount) and L-bracket (for wall mount) for installation flexibility. + Renter-friendly: because these use a standard wall outlet and not POE (power-over-ethernet) these are easy to install and move. - - - Cons - - - - A subscription is required to really get the most out of Arlo's products -- including cloud video history, smart zones, smart detection (people, packages and vehicles), audio detection (gunshots, screams, barks, glass break or smoke/CO alarms). Adding this with my doorbell, my monthly out-of-pocket cost more than doubled (from $7.99 to $17.99/monthly for the Plus Plan). If you choose to upgrade to the Premium plan which adds event captions, professional monitoring and emergency response that monthly cost goes up to $24.99 (note: these rates are if you choose the annual option - month-to-month rates are $19.99/month for Plus and $29.99 for Premium, respectfully). - No Battery Backup (MAJOR flaw): the camera can be disabled simply by unplugging it from the wall which is a significant security oversight. A battery for backup is a glaring critical omission. - Dated video quality: In 2025, on a product that's wired, it should support native 4k resolution and optical zoom. If theres no battery life savings there's no reason to cut back on the video quality and use dated 2k video and digital zoom technologies. - Does not support Apple's HomeKit Secure Video. *** Summary: *** The Arlo Pan & Tilt Security Camera is a welcome addition that marries maximum camera coverage with intelligent AI features; however, the value is significantly hampered by the mandatory subscription which can easily run you $215-$299/annually (the different price tiers for monthly vs. annual subscriptions is also a shameless additional money grab). The lack of a battery backup for a wired device is simply baffling. Buy if you're already committed to the Arlo ecosystem and are willing to pay for the subscription to really get the most out of the camera.

Tl;dr: Arlo’s pan / tilt camera is useful for monitoring wide open areas. Instead of using a super wide angle lens, the camera turns to where the action is. The downside is if there’s action happening outside the viewable area, the camera ignores it. It’s best to set a “Home” range pointing to the area most likely to have movement (even at the edges) to ensure events will be picked up. Detail review: The camera is engineered for top-down mounting only. It is specifically designed to be attached to a ceiling, overhang, or shelf from above, and does not include a base or mechanism to sit securely on a flat surface like a table or windowsill. Unlike many other cameras, the image cannot be rotated 180 degrees in the app. It features a longer cord than other cameras I’ve seen to accommodate the higher mounting points. The cord is hardwired to the power adapter, preventing someone from getting an extended length USB-C cable without also getting a power adapter. It uses ~20W peak. The camera's tracking capability is better with objects further from the camera. The camera will not rotate very quickly, so loses people who are walking close to it. At lease 5 feet away is ideal to ensure the rotation can keep up. There’s no supplemental motion detector to alert the camera to things crossing next to the camera when it’s looking the “wrong” way. While this would be an added cost, it would significantly improve the usefulness of the camera. Alro added a bright LED light to this camera. It will activate in anything dimmer than standard indoor lighting. This ensures you’ll have the best image quality available at a given point in time. Videos were detailed and sharp. The app helps identify people and pets, then flags the motion appropriately. The light brings out the details on people / objects up to 10’ away. Clarity and Color Reproduction: The picture quality is generally excellent, providing a sharp image. Color accuracy is reasonable in standard indoor lighting conditions, and it improves noticeably when operating in brighter outdoor or well-lit environments. There’s tough competition in the wireless camera market. Arlo’s image quality is better than most of their competitors. The biggest downside is the lack of mounting options. With good connectivity, a solid app, and vivid picture quality, this will be hard to say “no” do.

The Arlo Essential Pan Tilt Wireless 2K camera is a very well-designed device that underwent a substantial test from me in my garage and came out excellent. This camera by Arlo has a strong built-in ability to find and easily stay on your Wi-Fi connection, even in my garage about 20 feet from the router through walls and a fire-proof door. Arlo has done a great job in their connectivity design which is so critical in these devices – no signal drift or lost connections at all. The installation is very easy, it is a marvel of simplicity. Once you install the Arlo Secure app (I was using an Android phone), the app will take over to guide you to the selection of this device and then will do a firmware update. The Quick Start Guide is pretty much just a couple steps to download the app and show you the series of selections to add this specific device; but it is a very intuitive process even without using the documentation. Tip of the cap to the Arlo engineers for a streamlined process. The app will also help you physically install the camera. The camera has the latest top-notch technology to track and follow people or pets or vehicles. There is a spotlight which is motion activated and this alone is a great deterrent to scare off intruders. This 2K camera has a very clear and crisp day or night color vision. The very advanced functions also include audio detection like barking or glass breaking. It has a 360-degree pan and 180-degree tilt capability. The device provides instant alerts to your cell phone. I liked using it set up in my garage since I often leave the garage door open and go back in the house at times. Also, this unit is plug-in, so inside the garage it is very convenient and won’t require re-charges. It currently works to keep me informed for smart home delivery to my garage – it seems ideal for this purpose. I found this camera to be of the highest quality and with so many terrific functions I certainly can highly recommend it.

It is never a good thing when a customer has to search online for videos on how to set up a product. Unfortunately the instruction packet provided is woefully short on many details - such as - how to get the camera to secure to the mount without falling off when hanging the camera upside down as it is capable of doing. After 20 minutes I was ready to pack the unit up, but I finally managed to slide the camera into the bracket and it secured. There was never a mention of having to slide it nor was there any mention on what was the correct way to install it. Two very tiny arrows are there, but no indication what the arrows were guiding you to do. Connecting the device to bluetooth was not easy easy. I followed the instructions and the only thing that was happening was the camera wanted to turn on its own. Once again I finally risked breaking something to get the product to work - I held the camera to hold the bluetooth pairing button hoping the unit would still work afterwards. I've had other products of this company that were easy to install. This is really horribly supported by instructions provided. Oddly, in order to mount the bracket to the wall you have to have the camera uninstalled - hence compounding the act of mounting the camera to the mount. Really awful design. App is totally useless - supposedly this is a pan and tilt, but trying to get this to position the camera to monitor the area I want was like pulling teeth. None of the app areas was clear to use or to set up. I cannot recommend this product - it is essentially a fixed camera which means I didn't need to replace the one I had. And apparently they also want to have you to subscribe and to pay for some services. One of the worst products I have tested all year.