Arlo – Essential Spotlight Camera – Indoor/Outdoor Wire-Free 1080p Security Camera (3-pack) – White

The cameras were a pain to set up. Everything I looked up online, seemed like a lot of people had the same issue that needed to be resolved by contacting Arlo support. I have to say there support team have great customer service, but I have not been happy with the product at all. After days and many attempts to get working, I finally got it to work. I leave town and a day later the cameras are offline. The solution was I needed to do something with the cameras which I couldn’t because I was away. Well, those cameras became pointless during trip. Maybe they work better some others and what they are using them for, but for me they weren’t a good product. I will try something else.

These cameras work great, we installed on our cabin. Internet in the mountains is pretty bad but still able to get good video. The app is very user friendly and I recommend getting the solar panel, it keeps them charged. Battery life only about three days without solar panel.

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).

The Arlo Essential camera looks nice and unique with it’s white body and black facade around the lens area. It’s approximately the size of a hockey puck in size. This is my second Arlo camera being added into my Arlo ecosystem. I already own the Arlo Ultra 4K camera and smart hub. This was an easy way to have the Arlo Essential Spotlight added into my Arlo network at home. The app is easy to use to get the additional camera added in, and that process will take less than 5 minutes to do.
The tricky part for me is the lack of distance that the smart hub can handle. I have a strong modem and router with broad coverage that works well in all of my 2400 sq. ft. home. I could not get this camera to connect properly to the smart hub to have an adequate signal.for a strong camera connection. So rather than putting the camera in the ideal security spot I wanted to, I had to settle for a different spot that would be closer in proximity to the smart hub. Not sure where the blame lies with this one, whether it’s the Essential camera or the smart hub. Either way be sure to check the camera signal strength before you decide to place your camera in the designated spot.
The Arlo app on iOS works well and is fairly easy to navigate. This camera displays in 1080p so it’s a fairly clear picture you’ll receive when it’s wide, but gets very grainy and blurry when you zoom in. I also like the spotlight ability of this camera as an added deterrent to make sure that you can make others aware of its presence. I have my camera placed outdoors and it’s weathered some rain already and continues to work well. The Essential camera is great for allowing 2 way audio to speak with someone on the other end in order to communicate with any visitors. The built in siren can be a good deterrent to make others aware that you’re watching and help to alert nearby neighbors.
One gripe I’ve had with this Essential camera is the Arlo claim of 6 month battery life. I have been disappointed with the lack of battery life in real world use. My camera ran for 5 days under the Arlo “Optimized” setting which allows for balanced video quality and battery life. 5 days of usage and experiencing a dead battery is unacceptable. I would hope that this is a product glitch or a defective product as one of the problems. I’m sure that no customer would want to be taking this camera off every week to recharge it with the supplied USB charging cable.
One good thing I do like about this camera is that I get 3 months of cloud service to view recorded footage of motion activities. I don’t like having to pay into an ongoing monthly subscription service in order to see any recordings. Just another money drain on your wallet by the manufacturers. Please offer an internal way for customers to view their own recordings with a micro SD card.
PRO:
Compact design
Noticeable light and audio deterrent
Free 3 month cloud video recordings
CON:
Battery life
WiFi range connectivity
Monthly subscription fees
Video quality when zoomed in