Arlo Secure: Home Security 4+

Really, really good but not great… like but don’t love…

App itself is very full featured. In comparison to all the others I’ve tested, Arlo is still at the top. Haven’t tested Nest to be fair tho. Arlo does a lot of smart things in the setups allowing a lot of customization, particularly in setting how one or more cameras behave based on motion on another - that’s really great and also the customization of geo settings and arming specific cameras of choosing based on location, presence. arrival, departure, etc. Also great ability to adjust motion zones, lighting, brightness, duration, etc. My biggest complaint is the time it takes for a camera image to load after receiving an alert. Not the alert image, the actual camera if clicking the alert to open the app. It’s painfully long and seems longer than when just viewing the cameras without an alert. And this is when one has the greatest sense of urgency in wanting/needing to view it! My 2nd biggest complaint is the CVR feature, not awesome or that user friendly compared to all your other features/capabilities… cannot do a quick view “overview” like some competitors offer, or even a 2x or 5x speed view, which would be super helpful! And for the price we’re charged it’s not great, and it’s a per camera fee, at least allow 2-3 cameras for the fee to make up for the lack of CVR features. Still work to do to be the best.

Brings peace of mind

We have had a three camera system up for over 6 months. The cameras have worked amazing, even in negative winter temperatures in northern Wisconsin, (way north). The two outside cameras that are exposed to full weather and temperatures have only had problems when we were -30 degrees and lower. They will shutdown if to cold, but come back on when it warms up. The third camera is protected a little more and it doesn’t get any colder than 35 degrees and has had no problems. Strong wifi is needed to support the system. We are currently using Starlink satellite and have no problems with delay or coverage.
The video clarity is very good and the stored video library has been helpful on several occasions. We have a $9.99 monthly membership.
We recommend buying the official Arlo power cords to plug-in if your cameras will have a lot of activity. Otherwise you will be changing/charging your battery, (XL battery), every three days. The two cameras that have extensive activity for detection we have hooked up to Arlo outdoor power cords. The one camera that has very little activity, the battery goes several months between charges. Other family members also have Arlo cameras and they are very happy too.

Random pros are we have been able to monitor weather conditions while away from home, get great video of wildlife and monitor people that may be up to no good, but see our security cameras. We have no cons.

Great Video Quality but Beware of Ad Creep

My wife and I use Arlo Baby primary on our smartphones.

Pros: We are impressed with the video quality. We use the music and light features to stimulate our baby before he gets out of his crib. This is a part of his morning daily routine which allows him to ease into getting up and give us a few extra minutes to get his bottle ready. Also being able to view the room from anywhere on your smart devices when you are away from the home is a clear advantage from other stand-alone baby monitors. This comes in handy when you have a babysitter for a night out or might be doing work around the house in areas where wifi signal is week or non-existent.

Cons: The live feed does take a few seconds to load (10-20 sec) which may not seem like a lot but can sometimes be frustrating when you just want to pop-in to take a quick look at your little one. The most annoying thing about the app is that every 10th time you open the app there is an ad to promote some paid Arlo premium feature like Arlo smart. Before you can view the live feed of the room you have to click past it. I find this to be a major turn off and considering regulate two-way monitors don’t do this, it sets Arlo baby a part, in a negative way. I haven’t found a way to opt out of seeing these Ads but I would suggest to Arlo to at least provide such a way to do so or stop the Ad creep altogether.

Developer Response ,

Hi BrownPartyof3,

Thanks for sharing your experience with the Arlo app. If you're not able to view your live feed properly, refer to this article to learn how to troubleshoot: https://kb.arlo.com/1124. If you need further assistance, please contact our support team at https://support.arlo.com. Our team will be more than happy to help you further.

And your feedback about seeing advertisements will be provided to our development team. We appreciate your patience and understanding.

Best regards,
Arlo Team