Customer Ratings & Reviews

Doesn't start recording until the object is almost of camera so youbonly get a split second of what triggered it. Battery does not last 6 months as described. Very distorted if you try to zoom in at all. Have to buy a separate hub storage if you want local storage so you dont have to purchase a subscription. There are way better options on the market, just do your research.

This camera is a great addition to our home. We wanted something to monitor activity in our backyard and it's doing a great job for that. One thing I didn't realize was when it's too cold outside, the camera won't function. It operates with battery power not direct wiring so that is why. Something I can live with as the number of times that happens is limited.

The Essential 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. The Essential 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 can also join an Arlo basestation easily with the added benefit of having local storage of footage. The camera design is 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. 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 is just that...the essential features of the Arlo experience without the fluff and priced reasonably.

Pros: - Easy setup (with Arlo hub) - easy installation outside - Picture quality Cons: - Difficult hardware - Configuration - Difficult setup on multiple Accounts Adding the Alro Essential spotlight camera to my existing network of Atlanta cameras was a breeze. The Alro Essential will work with, or without the Arlo network hub, but for the ease of installation I would strongly suggest purchasing another Arlo camera, or the Arlo hub for your home (without it, you would have to manually install it using IP addresses in with your home network making a typical setup non-intuitive for someone who does not have much experience with networks). Unpacking the camera went well. After charging it for the recommended three hours, I opened up my Arlo app, selected the "Add device," and followed the process of adding the Arlo essentials camera. The setup time took approximately two to three minutes. I went outside, found the spot I was looking for, and before installing the camera outside, I made sure the bandwidth/signal was not an issue (it is recommended to do this before you drill the base into your home outside to ensure there are no lag, or dropout issues). After installing the base and attaching the camera to it (this was an issue that I will mention later), I testes the picture quality in the app by specifically setting it up to have a better picture (I would suggest this setup; you may lose battery quicker, but your picture will look better overall). After a few days of usage, the picture, and sound quality was excellent for the use I had of the product. I only lost some picture quality at night, but with a 1080 P camera that is expected. Unfortunately, the camera and Arlo app have their downfalls that I do want to point out. First, the hardware (or base of the unit). The base is equipped with a trackball that allows you to "move" the camera in any position you want. However, what I found difficult was the knob to twist, and keep the adjusted setting. Please know that over tightening the setting may cause the trackball to slip, and your camera may fall over. Also, the back of the camera you physically have to twist onto the connection base so that it holds position while on is rather difficult to take off. What the user should do to recharge it, is carefully hold the base, and gently twist the camera off the base to avoid moving your adjustment setting (when I did not do this, the trackball gave out and the camera fell down and out of place). Second, one of the downfalls of the app is setting up your space to record. I found that this takes a lot of time setting up your zone for recording movement, etc. If you do not set this up appropriately, your camera will record any movement including cars, people walking, and even tree branches swaying in the wind, thus your camera's battery life will fail in days (especially if your picture quality is set to the highest it goes). Also, when adjusting your zone for recording, you may see a loss in any movement if you are not careful. For instance, I was walking near the sidewalk and onto my front lawn and the camera did not record. Unfortunately, this poses a problem because you may want to record someone physically entering onto your property. Again, careful adjustment to your zone settings is needed, and you may experience drastic recording experience; this takes a bit of playing around with, and it mat frustrate the user. Lastly, my wife and I have two different Arlo accounts with an Arlo camera on it already. Now, you cannot use the same account login on multiple phones or devices. Instead, you will need to create multiple accounts and add the cameras separately. Unfortunately, when adding the Essential camera to my wife's account, for whatever reason, the phone would not find/add the camera to it (my wife has a newer phone than I do and we could not scan the QR code for the camera to install). The issue of not having the second camera on her account poses a problem for security, as I am the only one that can view both cameras (if I cannot view it and something happens, it defeats the purpose if my wife cannot see it either). I would strongly recommend a different approach for Arlo in the future for camera installations when pairing across multiple accounts. Overall, the camera performs like it is supposed to. With a little elbow grease and some patience, recording zones, and picture/sound quality are there for the Arlo Essential camera. If you are looking for a better picture, I would suggest upgrading the Arlo 4K camera for better quality overall (at both night and day).

Very nice, excellent service. I love it and like how that works

Bought cámara at BestBuy in Chicago on December 2020. Camara worked great for the first 8 months… then I recharged it and now goes from 100% to 12% in less than 1 week!! In the pictures it was 13% on October 17th, charged to 100% that day and now today (October 23rd) is back down to 12%!

We are loving our extra home protection option of wireless security monitoring system with solar option. We purchased 3 and posted them on our three main points of our house. It has video, photo, audio, talk back, and siren alert which you can slarm and it is very loud and will detour animals, thieves, etc. I am a verified Best Buy customer Cbglorified

This was a perfectly satisfactory wireless camera system. The app can be a little wonky when you first start, but since then it has been wonderful.

I’m not loving it. I have 4 Ring cameras and I love the quality but they don’t work with Apple's HomeKit. I bought this camera because it said it was comparable but it’s not unless you have a hub and that’s an extra $100. I installed it anyway next to my Ring camera to compare the two and the Ring blew it away in color, clarity and night vision. I decided to keep it as a garage cam but I wouldn’t by another one.

I have six of the original Arlo cameras around the house that are connected to a Base Station. Was interested in this latest offering from Arlo because it is Wi-Fi enabled. Set-up with my home wi-fi was very easy. The camera is aimed at my pond to capture wildlife at night time. I love that I can now see visitors in color with the spotlight camera. The range of quality light is at least 15 feet, maybe a bit more. Just understand that this is not a floodlight. For my needs, it exceeds expectations.

Absolutely terrible. Bought these a few months back and will go about a week before having to recharge the batteries again. I don’t live on a busy street, don’t have a lot of cars driving by or people walking by. Don’t know why I’m having this issue.

Night picture looks real good it has color . Set was quick. I have other arlo cameras too. It also has a spot light too.

Loved the cameras could place them wherever I wanted even miles away from the house!

Great device , needed something for security purposes does the job , lovely item.

I’ve always wanted to have security cameras installed and we finally bought this and the Arlo doorbell after postponing for 2 years. So glad we found this at Bestbuy as it had good reviews overall without breaking the bank. I’m a woman and not technical, but I was able to replace our wired doorbell with our new Arlo doorbell and the 3 security cameras around the house by just following the instructions. We can now watch the front and back of the house as well as in my garden area. It’s fun to see which animals visit the garden. Overall it’s Great camera, so easy to setup, and we are so pleased with our purchase.

Very good easy for women like me to install myself save money

I like these cámara work great end happy to bay these items

Battery life is great. Big upgrade from pro 3 version.

Easy to link up. Love the night vision/light option. Small and easy to charge .

I really like the camera, I already had two needed another one for the backyard!!East to install &add to the ones I have.