ARLO Go Review: Expensive Specialized Camera

ARLO PRO cameras from Netgear are common options for home security because they have wireless connection, long battery life and local storage support. The recently released Arlo Go GO takes the wireless side to the next level by adding an LTE modem to call almost anywhere. This means that you do not need to place the camera near the ARLO HUB or the regular WiFi network. It comes at a price, although ARLO Go has some convincing use, performance is similar to other Arlo cameras. However, ARLO GO lacks some important features, and it closes you in expensive and limited mobile data plans. The camera itself is not cheap, too.

Specifications

Goodness

Not very good

Design and preparation

The Arlo Go setting is easy and provides complete freedom. Do you want to put Arlo Go on your balcony? fine. Put it in your car? Also fine. On the other side of the country? You can do this too. First, you need to add it to your Arlo account. Just open the application and tell it you want to add a camera. After choosing the Arlo Go, the application tells you by clicking on the Sync button on the camera and displays the quick response code. Simply direct the camera to your screen, and you will be associated. There is no wireless center for tampering as you have with Arlo Pro. This speeds up things while preparing, but it will be limited later.

Instead of calling axis, Arlo Go Beams Video to the cloud directly above the LTE connection. There are many different versions of ARLO Go (which I will enter later), but you should be able to get a frame connected to LTE in your area. The LTE modem is used in this camera more power than WiFi, so GO comes with a larger battery than ARLO Pro (3660 compared to 2440 mAh). As such, it is a more fake device. The only new devices inside are the SIM card and a slot to add a microSD card.

The ARLO Go’s Plastic Shell is settling to close the battery and cards with a similar design for the Arlo Pro. The IP65 camera is classified as water and dust, although the mine does not seem to be closed along the way (see below). This seems to be something to correct, but it insists that it is just a cosmetic problem. I had ARLO coming out for several weeks, and I could emphasize the lack of evidence of water infiltration.

The front part of the camera has a flat black face with the camera unit and infrared lights for night vision. Netgear claims 25 feet of night vision, which is about it for me. My garage is located in the backyard where I tested the go about 20 feet, and it was clearly shed.

The bottom of the device contains rubber foot so that you can set it on a flat surface. If you want to install it somewhere, it comes with the ARLO Outdoor Mountain, which wipes at the bottom. This is a nice reward. You need to buy the mountain in the open air separately for Arlo Pro. Netgear also makes a number of other Goo accessories, including camouflage and Quadpod holders.

^{The housing does not fit together smoothly, but this appears to be a cosmetic problem.}

This camera is designed to live in the open air, so it is able to work in a wide range of temperatures. In the low end, it can work low up to -4 degrees Fahrenheit (-20 ° C). For those in warmer climates, ARLO Go is fine up to 113 degrees Fahrenheit (45 ° C). This is the same as the Arlo Pro domain, but those cameras will always be close. Arlo Go can be in some distant sites, so you should go to seize it when the temperature becomes very extreme. However, there are not many cameras with the best tolerance in the temperature of this.

It is difficult to measure the battery life because I did not get the camera for a long time enough to detonate a shipment. Arlo Pro 4-5 months works on a full battery, but this battery is likely to be shorter. ARLO is 1-2 months as LTE uses more power than WiFi. The rate of depletion I have seen so far supports this estimate.

Video and sound

Using a wireless camera means making some sacrifices. Like Arlo Pro, Go is limited to 720p video, and the image is somewhat compressed. When the camera downloads videos, it is actually 640 x 352 only. This is with the quality set to the maximum, but I can’t exclude an error of some kind. There is a video sample below so you can get a better idea of ​​quality.

Here is one in the dark.

The video looks fine – it’s definitely good enough to find out what is going on. The camera has 13 degrees, but the edges are not very distorted. However, zooming in getting more than just pixel chaos. Like other ARLO cameras, Go takes a very long time to wake up and start registration. Therefore, you may miss a few seconds of activity. Direct delay is not bad for LTE; Perhaps three or four seconds. However, it takes eight seconds to apply the direct application.

The modest delay is more than you get with the wired cameras, and it can use the dual -directional audio features: You are talking, and it takes a few seconds so that the speaker can get out, and you will get a response, and it takes a few seconds to reach your phone. It is not the best experience. However, sound quality is solid. The microphones on the camera are sensitive, and the speaker is more than good enough to understand the words.

Features and application

As mentioned above, there are many devices variables for this camera. There is Verizon version, “Arlo Mobile”, and AT & T. I think ARLO Mobile (which works on the AT & T network, I think) will not work with a different SIM card, while Verizon and AT & T cans can use this carrier SIMS. The Arlo Mobile variable appears to be the most common.

The ARLO Go plans are more limited than the PRO cameras that link WiFi. The plans depend on the amount of video uploaded. The basic plan includes 30 operators per month, each with a 30 -second video clip. So, this is 15 minutes of the video, which pays $ 4.99 per month for every camera. The main issue is that as a wireless fame, Arlo Go works like a full frame movement detector when it does not flow actively. With the absence of customizable activity areas, any movement in the frame is causing the camera to record a video – until a stormy day that can lead to the trees in the frame move. You can run through 30 operators in the afternoon, and other plans are much more expensive.

You don’t get a lot of data for your money with Arlo Go. As mentioned above (and you can see in the sample), the ARLO video is noticeably compressed. My videos are about 1 MB for 10 seconds. Thus, the monthly fees worth $ 5 makes you approximately 90MB of LTE data. This is a very expensive way – this camera costs more than $ 400, and you can stop working on the afternoon of a stormy day. Even tampering with the preparation of movement allergies does not help. The camera is already a little slow to wake up and register, so rejecting allergies ensures that you will lose the events you want to record. The first plan contains 225 minutes of video per month for $ 33. I can still see a camera that passes through this plan within days. If you want an aro Smart, which can filter alerts with people, vehicles and animals, it will cost this $ 39 for each camera every year.

The compatible versions of this camera look less restricted. Here, you can use the carrier plan with a regular data cover. There is nothing to worry about the minutes. It is just an ordinary data device on your account. If you are under the cap, you will continue to work. I still pay the price of LTE every month, though.

Perhaps one memorization is a microSD card. To be completely fair, this is not a common feature among competing cameras, which close you in cloud storage plans. You can set ARLO Go to provide all its video on the card, which is a great backup copy when it inevitably runs out of the monthly operators. However, you need to go and get the camera to watch videos on the card. With Arlo Pro, videos on WiFi are moved to a USB storage that you connect to the axis. ARLO Go does not have a WiFi network, so the card is not terribly comfortable.

The ARLO application is also a problem. It has not improved since I looked at Arlo Pro and referred to it as a problem of use. The interface is still related to confusing lists and random spots of delay. I also noticed a continuous problem as the application failed to download after opening it from the general view screen. It is only suspended on the login screen although I already logged out. When it already takes 7 to 8 seconds to download video feeding, the additional delay in the application is completely unacceptable.

ARLO has support for both payment and email notifications. The latter is not supported by all cameras, so it is good to see it here. You can get a screenshot to feed the camera in the email as well. Although the preparation of notifications and the conditions of the camera is not intuitive, the switch based on the site is not reliable.

conclusion

This is not a bad camera, and in some ways, it’s very great. However, you make several sacrifices for a connected camera LTE. The ARLO GO video quality leaves something required, even at the highest preparation. I can forgive a little here because it sends data via LTE, but the video is still not clear enough to take out the faces far away.

There is a case of use for Arlo Go, but it is narrow. If you need to monitor an external space far from the WiFi network, this camera is exactly what you want. I can imagine those who need a trail camera jumping on the Arlo Go and pay the monthly fees. However, I wonder seriously about the number of ordinary users who want to adhere to these plans. You can run through 30 experimental players in one day, so you are not sure that the higher plans will work reliably throughout the month. If you want the Arlo smart features, it will cost you more.

The price of the devices is very high. ARLO Go will run $ 429.99 when purchased on Amazon or another retail seller. Verizon has a copy for 9.99 with a two -year service agreement. If all this seems reasonable, you may already know that you want Go Arlo. For anyone else, you may be able to do it with Arlo Pro or another WiFi safety camera.