With the HDR (high dynamic range) feature of the 2K Arlo Pro 4, you can zoom in and see more detail in the brighter and darker sections of the footage. This makes it perfect for monitoring medium to large regions. You can cover a wide area with the camera’s 160-degree field of view. However, if you don’t require a very broad field of view, you can reduce it to 110 degrees. The video is flat and clear even at 160 degrees, so it doesn’t end up appearing like a severely distorted fisheye image. Since the camera is completely weatherproof, you can leave it outside in all weather conditions—rain, heat, and cold—and still have year-round security. Additionally, the Arlo Pro 4 has two-way audio that is just as responsive as phone calls, so it’s not just about the video. The Arlo app on your smartphone instantly sends a notification when motion is detected along with a video of the incident. A spotlight is also onboard to light up the scene in front of the camera. A built-in siren that you can manually activate or programme to go off automatically to keep out trespassers is also included.
Arlo Pro 4 review: Design
Similar to the Arlo Pro 3 and other Arlo home security cameras, the Arlo Pro 4 has a glossy white plastic casing that is removable in one piece and a black front that houses the 160-degree camera lens and an LED spotlight. You can remove the shell to uncover the rechargeable battery by pressing the button on the bottom of the Arlo Pro 4 that is located next to the connecting pins for a magnetic charging cable (for hardwiring the camera). It is a reasonably small home security camera, measuring 8.9 x 5.2 x 7.8 cm (h x w x d) or 3.5 x 2 x 3 inches (h x w x d). The Arlo Pro 3 is a waterproof device that has a magnetic stand that may be fixed to a wall or used free-standing. On the back of the camera, there is a screw mount that is optional because the camera may be simply removed from this mount. It should be noted that this kind of mount is an optional extra that costs $19.99, £12.99, or AU$39 and is not included in the box. As previously indicated, the Arlo Pro 4 eliminates the need for a SmartHub by connecting directly to your Wi-Fi network. In fact, we had little trouble setting up the Arlo Pro 4. Simply by following the step-by-step instructions in the Arlo, we were able to update the firmware for the camera, enter the Wi-Fi password, and scan a QR code that was displayed in the app.
Features
You receive a free trial of Arlo Secure, which offers cloud recording, along as the Pro 4 camera. You will only be able to perform rudimentary detection and, if you have a base station, the option of offline recording if you don’t want to keep paying for storage. Since the best features require an Arlo Secure subscription, we do not advise going subscription-free. Depending on the quantity and type of cameras you own, there are also a few more possibilities now. For £2.79 a month, Arlo Secure gives you access to up to 2K recording (the Pro 4’s resolution); Arlo Secure Unlimited costs £8.99 a month for any number of cameras. You get 30-days of history with either. Arlo Secure Plus Unlimited, which costs £12.99 per month but doubles storage to 60 days, is required to get 4K recording, which the Arlo Ultra offers. Personally, we’d choose the less expensive option unless you have a 4K camera and must have it filming at maximum resolution. In every instance, Arlo’s plans cost a little bit more than those that come with Nest, such as for the Ring or Nest Cam (outdoor or indoor, battery). Additionally, Ring offers extras for the Ring Alarm. However, Arlo’s technology has a lot of advantages that can make a larger monthly fee seem worthwhile. You can focus the camera on the regions you want to record while ignoring those you don’t by using activity zones, which are provided first. Cameras only start recording without a subscription when the PIR motion sensor picks up movement. It still pays to aim your camera carefully because any movement will trigger a camera wake-up. Just when the Pro 4 will resume recording depends on activity zones. The Pro 4’s battery life, when used properly, should be about 20 weeks. Then, even if everything is recorded, you may utilize smart alerts to only receive notifications about particular events. People, cars, animals, and all other motion are your options. Here, object detection is excellent. The system does occasionally make mistakes, but for the vast majority of the time, the Pro 4 and Arlo Secure work as intended. In order for the cameras to notify you if your smoke alarm activates, you may additionally include smoke/CO alarm detection in the mix. The app’s library contains all of the video clips, which you may sort by date and event type. You can download clips to preserve footage, and each clip has a clear thumbnail that makes it simple to find and playback the event you’re interested in. you check our article on Arlo Pro 4 review.
Arlo Pro 4 review: Performance
A 4MP lens on the Arlo Pro 4 captures video in 2560x1440p 2K resolution. Rain or sunny, every clip we saw over the day looked sharp, bright, and colorful. Compared to the majority of other security cameras I’ve personally tested, there is a lot more detail. Additionally, you can adjust the brightness in the camera’s settings, which is useful if you decide to point the camera into a shaded area. It can also fit loads into the frame because of its 160-degree field of view. We had the camera pointed into our tiny back garden, and it did a great job of monitoring nearly the entire space. Even if you choose to keep the motion-activated spotlight turned off, the coloured night vision does a respectable job of illuminating the scene at night so that we could see what was happening, especially closer to the camera. With an Arlo Secure membership, which costs $2.99/£2.79/AU$449 per single camera per month, we used the Arlo Pro 4. You get unlimited video cloud storage for 30 days, animated previews for interactive lock screen notifications, call-a-friend functionality, adjustable activity zones, and the ability to distinguish between humans, pets, and cars. It’s essential to have because without it, you won’t be able to utilize the camera to its full potential. The Arlo Pro 4 was effective in detecting movement in use; it essentially never missed anything or anyone. We regularly received notifications from Arlo Secure informing us that a “person has been detected,” along with a thumbnail image and the time they were spotted, as well as a quick “siren” button to sound the alarm if necessary. The motion sensors were a little too sensitive, as we discovered, as they occasionally alerted me when the curtain moved in front of the camera without identifying the object as a person. We would assume it would work the same for animals but were unable to test this out. In the Arlo app, the clips in the library are also labelled as “person” or “motion” which makes finding the event you’re looking for much quicker and easier.
Arlo Pro 4 review: Video quality
Particularly at this price, a security camera ought to produce high-quality footage. The Arlo Pro 4 does well compared to other security cameras, but it is still constrained by the requirement to take into account slow, high-latency connections. As a result, you can anticipate that videos will be full of artifacts and smeary details, but thanks to the 2K resolution, details are undoubtedly on the sharper end for security cameras. Colors are typically a little muted when using the default settings, but when the spotlight is on at night, the camera reproduces colors well. Even with the IR light or spotlight on, the image at night gets much murkier and loses a lot of the detail you would expect during the day. However, we loved how it handled shadows, increasing the brightness of the darker parts to highlight more detail. Depending on where the camera is positioned, it does appear to sacrifice detail in brighter areas of the frame, but we think it’s a worthwhile trade-off. With a brightness slider, Auto HDR toggle, three field-of-view options from 110° to 160°, power management settings, and low light settings that cover color, night vision, brightness, and spotlight toggle, Arlo thankfully offers a variety of video adjustment options. A neat technique, but we are not convinced it adds much value, is the ability to switch the vertical axis of the video and activate a feature called Auto Zoom & Tracking, which digitally zooms and pans to track people or animals that it finds. also you can check our article on Arlo Pro 4 review. When there are several people in the frame, it might be confusing to watch since the camera tries to divide its attention between them rather than just focusing on everyone in the picture. In general, night vision aside, video quality at least matches other 2K smart home cameras, making it good enough to make out faces the camera captures, but we wouldn’t count on it to capture any license plate numbers unless you have it mounted low and very close to the street or pointed at your driveway—details are simply too far gone once you get a few dozen feet away from the camera.
Arlo Pro 4 review: Battery life
According to Arlo, the Arlo Pro 4’s battery will endure for three to six months. We put the camera through rigorous testing for our evaluation, so we can’t confirm how rapidly “normal use” depletes the battery. The amount of motion detection, how frequently Live View is utilized, whether the spotlight or siren is engaged, and how frequently the two-way microphone and speaker are used are all likely to affect how long the battery lasts. Since the Arlo Pro 4’s batteries can be swapped, you could buy a second battery to replace the damaged one rather than having to disable the camera while it charges. Using the included USB cable and power adapter, we discovered that it took about three and a half hours to recharge the battery.
Price and Availability
Although it occasionally goes on sale for $179.99, the Arlo Pro 4 normally costs $199.99. The Arlo Pro 4 is identical to its predecessor, the Pro 3, except that it may work without a hub or bridge. Additional accessories include the Dual Charging Station ($49.99) for charging two batteries simultaneously, the Solar Panel Charger ($59.99), and a variety of extra magnetic charging cables in various lengths. For $29.99, you can even purchase a housing covered in camouflage to give your camera even more cover. you will read our article on Arlo Pro 4 review.
Conclusion
Although each Arlo Pro camera generation has improved over the previous one, it was difficult to see how the Arlo Pro 3 could be made better. Arlo employees must have shared this sentiment because the Arlo Pro 4 is the company’s fourth generation product with hardly any changes. The Arlo SmartHub base station, which has been a necessary part of every Arlo Pro camera since the launch of the product, is no longer required, which is a significant change. If you have a SmartHub, you can use it with the Arlo Pro 4, but it’s not strictly necessary to get a strong enough wireless signal to set up this indoor/outdoor camera outside. And that’s a significant advancement.
