madan

eji said:

Arlo users, what's your experience with these devices? Good, bad, indifferent?

I'm looking to replace a couple of EZVIZ 1080p Minis. For cheap cameras, they've worked surprisingly well, but I'd like something with a bit more placement flexibility (which the Arlo's battery power offers) and HomeKit integration.

They're the best mobile cameras on the market.  I have 7 Arlo Pros on a base station and they've been excellent purchases thus far (knock on wood).  The devices are easy to use and put up:

1.  Simply install the app on your phone/device & make an account.  2.  Connect your base station to your modem or gateway.  3.  Turn on the camera and let it "sync" to the base station.  4.  Pin the camera somewhere and customize its preferences from the menu.  

It's superior to bullet and dome cameras in the respect that you have more flexibility.  Bullet/bubble usually feed to a DVR.  The Arlos can also feed to a "DVR"-paradigm setup by simply connecting external storage to your base station (a jump drive or M.2 external works well enough).  The Arlos also store your photos on your online account so you can view them online.  This redundancy is excellent.   Because the Arlos are battery powered, you don't have to worry about the power going out.  The base station itself has a backup power source for up to 30 min. to 1 hour.  The batteries in the camera have been excellent and I get about a month of use between charges.  It takes about 2-4 hours to charge a battery.  They charge through microUSB.  The cameras are small and relatively form-unobtrusive.  Sure, they're white and eye catching (my house trim is white so it actually works), but you can hide them with silicone cases found on Amazon.  The cases come in a variety of colors and some are even ghillied or camouflaged.

The cameras have good color/recording quality and average night vision.  Motion detection is also acceptable.  It also has sound/noise detection, as well as two way talk which works surprisingly well.  The cameras are tough enough, with one of mine falling and hitting concrete from an 8 foot drop and surviving.  They're light so you can either choose to bolt them on a drilled base or simply using their magnetic base with external command strips (15 lb strips are enough).  The app software is great.  It lets you customize the camera name, its range, sensitivity and the like.  You can view past recorded videos or check in real time.  The live streaming is toggled and that's a good thing because otherwise, you'd kill your phone battery and data in a heartbeat.  The software allows you to customize certain zones of activity within a camera's field of view (for subscribers...I'm not one).  The software is quick, stable and easy to use.  Homekit support is an unnecessary bonus.

With its backup power and its wireless capabilities, the Arlos are more resistant to interference than a wired bullet/bubble system for a fraction of the price.  The Arlos have far better battery than my Ring and the software is more user-friendly (even if it has less capabilities).  The video quality is comparable but the Ring requires a subscription fee.  The Ring didn't need a base station set up but the setup on the Arlos literally only took an additional 2 minutes.  I don't have any Nest since Google has been caught mining Nest user data without approval or consent.  I've had other camera systems in the past but so far Arlos have been tops.

I hope I feel this way about them for another 2 years.  Thus far however, they've been great. Highly recommended.