Arlo Pro 4 Spotlight Camera Review
The Arlo Pro 4 is our pick for the best smart security camera on the market, thanks to supreme smart home integration, 2K video resolution, affordable cloud storage, and no base station. It's not a cheap or perfect camera, but we think it strikes the best balance of advanced features and price compared to other high-end cameras like the Nest Cam IQ Indoor and the Ring Spotlight Cam.
We're confident that it's a great option for folks looking for a high-end outdoor camera.
Excellent 2K video quality Color and infrared night vision Affordable cloud storage Smart home integration Tons of adjustable settings
Pricey camera and accessories Battery life doesn't match claims No free video storage Some video lag Sometimes-confusing settingsArlo Pro 4 at a glance
*Amazon.com list price as of 08/12/2021 at 10:00 a.m. (MT). Read full disclaimer.
† Requires optional base station.
Video quality and recording options
Video quality
The Arlo Pro 4 has great video quality, thanks to a 1440p (2K) video resolution, which is better than the 1080p on most other security cameras. Videos were clear with a lot of detail, making it easy to identify objects, animals, and people in the frame.
One of the Arlo Pro 4's best features is its night vision in color and infrared modes. The color night vision uses a built-in spotlight to light up subjects near the camera when there's motion. It's useful for getting a little more detail, but it's not as discreet as the infrared night vision setting.
We noticed a delay between an action and when it shows up during a live video stream. The delay depended entirely on our internet bandwidth, so you shouldn't have problems with a speedy internet connection.
Compare Arlo Pro 4 video quality in different lighting environments
You can customize the spotlight's brightness and behavior to suit your needs. We like that the light can flash or pulsate as a warning (even better with Arlo Pro 4's built-in siren). Still, the constant light setting is also helpful for lighting your path at night.
Field of view
We appreciate the Arlo Pro 4's 160ยบ field of view, which is much wider than a typical security camera (around 130ยบ on average). Such a broad perspective outdoors means less cameras needed for an area like a backyard—saving you money and hassle.
Although the field of view is great for capturing a lot of detail, you can adjust it in the app to 125ยบ or 110ยบ—both of which can work well for recording video indoors.
There's also an option to automatically zoom and track people moving in front of the Arlo Pro 4, which is more helpful outdoors when subjects are farther from the camera. We prefer to turn this setting off indoors because it can be jarring with closer objects.
Compare Arlo Pro 4 fields of view
Adjustable video brightness
You can adjust the brightness of the video for different situations. While the camera's night vision performed best with maximum brightness, a lower setting during the day helps avoid washing out the video's color.
Unfortunately, the brightness doesn't automatically adjust as needed, so we recommend choosing a medium brightness so you don't need to change settings often.
Recording options
To record video with the Arlo Pro 4, you can switch between five settings:
- Disarmed turns off all recording, but you can still record videos when viewing a live stream.
- Armed allows the camera to record video whenever there's motion.
- Schedule records video only during specific times.
- Geofencing activates other recording modes based on your location.
- Custom mode allows you to adjust when the camera records.
Arlo's arming modes
Arlo Smart subscription
Most of the Arlo Pro 4's best features are available only when you pay for an Arlo Secure Plan subscription. Fortunately, Arlo has one of most affordable cloud storage plans around and holds its own against offerings from Ring and Nest.
| Without a plan | Arlo Secure Plan | Arlo Secure Plan | Arlo Secure Plan Plus | |
| Price | Free | $2.99/mo. | $9.99/mo. | $14.99/mo. |
| Number of cameras | Unlimited | 1 | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Cloud storage |
None | 30 days | 30 days | 30 days |
| Video resolution | Up to 1080p | Up to 2K | Up to 2K | Up to 4K |
| Live viewing |
 Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Basic notifications |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Interactive notifications |
 No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Advanced detection |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| e911 emergency calls |
No |
No |
No |
Yes |
Info current as of 08/12/2021. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.
Features included with Arlo Secure Plan
- Arlo's cloud storage keeps video clips for up to 30 days before deleting them. This is usually more than enough to download important clips you want to keep longer. Arlo recently removed the five-camera limit on its pricier plans so you can have as many as you like. This huge improvement helps Arlo compete better on cloud pricing with Nest and Ring.
Arlo's cloud storage organizes your clips by date on the Library tab
- Activity zones allow you to specify areas the camera should ignore when tracking motion. These help focus the camera on high-risk areas like doors, hallways, and windows. These are easy to set up, but the controls can be imprecise on smartphone screens, so using a tablet or logging into your Arlo account on a web browser is a better option.
Here are Arlo Activity Zones as they appear on a web browser.
- Smart notifications can help you identify a person, animal, or vehicle. Unfortunately, they weren't always accurate during our tests—at first, they alternated between dubbing the cat a person and animal, but became more reliable over time (with the camera farther away).
We like that Arlo allows you to pay around $3 a month for a single camera, but the unlimited cameras of the $10 plan is a no-brainer if you own three or more Arlo cameras.
Features included with Arlo Secure Plan Plus
Arlo Secure Plan Plus is the most expensive Arlo plan ($14.99 a month) and adds two features:
- E911 allows you to contact the police near your home instead of your smartphone's current location—it's especially helpful when you're on vacation. Be careful with this feature because you can't deactivate it once you set it up. This might make some folks nervous that they'll accidentally tap the e911 button and get a false-alarm fine from the police.
- 4K video storage, which is applicable only on Arlo Ultra security cameras. You won't see any improvements on your Arlo Pro 4 with this feature.
Battery life
The battery life on the Arlo Pro 4 is quite good for a wireless camera but decreased by around 50% over a couple of weeks. We suspect that part of this decrease was an unreliable Wi-Fi router that dropped connection multiple times a day, which likely made the Arlo Pro 4 use more power trying to reconnect.
Still, we don't think it's possible to get a full six months out of the battery like it says on the box—even under more stable conditions.
Arlo offers three power management options in the video settings menu:
- Best Video uses more power to provide better video quality.
- Optimized tries to balance power consumption and video quality.
- Best Battery Life uses less power at the expense of video quality.
Our first two weeks of testing used the Optimized setting, so we look forward to seeing how the camera performs in the Best Battery Life and Best Video settings as we continue testing in the next couple of months.
Your rechargeable battery will likely be partially charged before setup, but we recommend topping off the charge during and after setup before mounting your Arlo Pro 4.
Keep in mind that the unit doesn't come with a USB power supply for the charging cable, so you need to provide your own to charge the battery. We first attempted to charge it via a laptop USB port, but the computer popped up a message saying there wasn't enough power for the camera.
Mobile app and notifications
There are plenty of customization options in the mobile app, so we spent an hour or so tweaking settings and familiarizing ourselves with the app. Overall, the app has an intuitive interface, but not all of the settings are easy to find at first glance. Arlo divides many settings across multiple menus, especially ones for individual devices. You’ll get the hang of it after a day or two.
Live video feed
The live video feed in the app is easy to use and has a lot of helpful controls along the bottom. With these controls, you can record video, take a photo, turn on the spotlight, turn on the audio, and use two-way audio to talk with people through the camera's speaker.
Here's the Arlo Pro 4 live video feed with controls along bottom.
Motion and audio alerts
The Arlo Pro 4 was almost too effective when we first tested motion alerts. We picked a window frequented by our test cat—a deluge of notifications prompted us to disable notifications until we found a way to reduce motion sensitivity.
The motion sensor in the camera works independently of the video settings. We adjusted it in the Device Utilities menu under Motion Detection Test. After lowering the sensitivity (under 50% in our case), the notifications were less frequent, tracking only large movements.
Arlo can also send audio alerts when the camera detects sound, but you'll likely never use the audio-only setting. The default arming mode uses motion and audio detection, and there's not much reason to use them separately.
You can also log into the My Arlo portal in a browser to control your cameras and change settings. It has the same features as the Arlo mobile app but with a slightly different layout for computer screens. It's definitely worth using if you want to set up activity zones.
Smart home compatibility
Arlo has some of the best smart home compatibility among security cameras, which extends to the Arlo Pro security cameras. Out of the box, you can expect Arlo Pro 4 to work with four smart home platforms: Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant†, IFTTT, and Samsung SmartThings. By linking your Arlo account to one of these platforms, you can make your camera work alongside other smart devices.
If you buy the optional base station, Arlo Pro 4 gains smart home compatibility with Apple HomeKit.
Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant
Arlo Pro 4's functionality with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant is essentially identical. The most convenient feature is viewing a live video feed on a smart display like an Echo Show or Google Nest Hub. We especially like this for spying on the cat while working or checking on the kids in the yard.
If you don't have a smart display, you can also watch a livestream on your TV using a Fire TV or Chromecast device, which are compatible with Alexa and Google smart speakers, respectively. Having a larger screen is a big bonus, and you can check your cameras between episodes to see if the kids are asleep.
You can arm and disarm the camera using voice commands or routines. This is great for when you're out of the house. Here's a routine you might try: set the camera to arm motion recording when you lock the front door and leave for the day.
IFTTT and Samsung SmartThings
IFTTT and SmartThings give you a little more flexibility in using your Arlo camera—mostly with how you set up routines to control devices. IFTTT is great for connecting Arlo to other devices and services that usually wouldn't work with your smart home system. A good example is using other security cameras like Wyze and Ring with Arlo. This frees you up to use a variety of cameras for your home without sticking to one brand.
The best part about pairing Arlo with SmartThings is that you can link it to other sensors in your home. It helps the camera know to start recording if there's motion just outside the front door or if a window opens that's just out of the camera's view.
Setup, installation, and accessories
Setup
Setting up the Arlo Pro camera is straightforward and uncomplicated:
- Download the Arlo app and create an Arlo account.
- Put the battery in the camera.
- Connect to Wi-Fi.
- Adjust settings to fit your needs.
We had some trouble connecting the Arlo Pro 4 to Wi-Fi because it wouldn't recognize the 2.4 GHz mode on our network, which normally uses a 5 GHz frequency. For a workaround, we connected the camera to a guest network that runs at 2.4 GHz (though we didn't have any problems when setting up on a different router a couple of weeks later). Overall, this minor snag didn't diminish the camera's better qualities.
Installation
Installation is also relatively easy, thanks to a simple magnetic mount that attaches to a wall with a single screw. We recommend finding a wood stud for a little extra stability.
If the magnetic mount doesn't work out, there's also a spot on the camera's back to attach to a standard tripod or a universal security camera mount.
We mounted Arlo Pro 4 on a tripod for our tests.
Accessories
Arlo makes some useful accessories to help you maximize your camera's potential, but they are costly considering what you're paying for:
- 8-foot indoor power cable (about $25)
- 25-foot outdoor power cable (about $50)
- Extra rechargeable battery (about $50)
- Battery charging station (about $50)
- Solar panel charger (about $80)
- Optional base station (about $100)
- Extra magnetic wall mounts (about $40 for a set of two)
- Adjustable non-magnetic wall mount (about $20)
The most outrageous prices are Arlo's proprietary magnetic charging cables, which cost more than double what a comparable USB cable would. We can bet that Arlo makes a hefty profit on its accessories in addition to its already expensive cameras.
Fortunately for Arlo, its accessories have excellent user reviews and durability. Other than wall mounts, use caution when buying third-party Arlo accessories, which could void your warranty or damage your camera. Still, it looks like there are some viable alternatives on the market if you don't want to spend $50 for a spare battery.
Customer service
Arlo provides an impressive number of articles on its support website that explain practically every feature in detail. We found it easiest to use the search bar for navigation. If you don't find an answer in the support section, you can jump over to the Arlo Community forum for another self-serve support option.
Between the support site and forum, you have plenty of resources. In the rare instance where you need direct help, you can contact Arlo over live chat or open a support case.
We're big fans of Arlo's customer support approach. It provides comprehensive information to troubleshoot problems or learn about features without talking to an Arlo representative.
Arlo has a phone support option, but this is available only to paying subscribers or within 90 days of purchase. While it's disappointing that this service isn't free, we think that phone support works mostly as a last resort when other support materials don't cut it.
How Arlo Pro 4 compares to the competition
|
Camera
|
Price*
|
Type
|
Video resolution
|
Night vision
|
Learn more
|
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best for smart home |
|
$199.99 | Indoor/outdoor wire-free | 1440p (2K) | Color/infrared | View on Amazon | |
| Best overall |
 |
$119.99 | Indoor/outdoor wire-free | 1440p (2K) | Color/infrared | View on Amazon | Read Review |
| Best budget |
 |
$35.98 | Indoor/outdoor wired | 1080p | Infrared | View on Amazon | Read Review |
| Best for Alexa |
 |
$99.99 | Indoor/outdoor wire-free | 1080p | Infrared | View on Amazon | Read Review |
| Best tech |
 |
$299.00 | Indoor wired | 1080p | Infrared | View on Home Depot | Read Review |
*Amazon.com list price as of 08/12/2021 at 10:00 a.m. (MT). Read full disclaimer.
Final word
If you want the best smart home features in a high-end security camera, Arlo Pro 4 is hard to beat. We love its video quality and endless settings because you can customize the camera to your liking without much fuss.
At $200, it's a bit more expensive than most folks probably want to spend on a security camera, and the battery won't last six months (contrary to Arlo’s claim). Still, we think that Arlo Pro 4 is a great choice for high performance where a cheaper camera might struggle. Head over to our wireless security camera review to see how it compares to other top products—or see where it fits into Arlo's lineup on our Arlo Camera Review.
How we reviewed
We installed an Arlo Pro 4 and tested it in a variety of situations to gauge these traits:
- Video quality and recording options
- Arlo Smart subscription plans
- Battery life
- Mobile app and notifications
- Smart home compatibility
- Setup, installation, and accessories
- Customer service
No security camera test is complete without a helper—Cloud is one of SafeWise's trusty test cats.
While we tested the camera for about two weeks before writing our review, we plan to continue testing over the next few months to see how it performs in the long term—especially battery life. Find out more about how we test and review products in our testing methodology.
FAQ
Unlike the Arlo Pro 3, Arlo Pro 4 can connect directly to your Wi-Fi network, so using an Arlo SmartHub base station is optional. Adding a base station has three main advantages: better battery life, local video storage, and Apple HomeKit compatibility.
- Improved battery life because the Arlo Pro 4 uses a more efficient radio frequency (than battery-hungry Wi-Fi) to communicate with the base station. The base station handles the Wi-Fi connection more effectively since it has a power cable instead of a battery.
- Local video storage is possible because the base station has a port for a USB flash drive (or microSD slot depending on the model) for storing videos outside of the cloud.
- Apple HomeKit compatibility on the Arlo Pro 4 works only when there's a base station. This is a popular smart home platform for folks that use iOS devices.
Yes, live streaming, audio notifications, and motion notifications all work without an Arlo Secure Plan subscription.
The subscription's paid features include video storage, activity zones, e911, and smart notifications (person, animal, vehicle, package, and smoke alarm detection).
If you connect the Arlo Pro 4 to a base station, you can add local video storage in lieu of cloud storage.
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*Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product. Safewise.com utilizes paid Amazon links.
Certain content that appears on this site comes from Amazon. This content is provided “as is” and is subject to change or removal at any time.
†Google, Google Nest, Google Assistant, and other related marks are trademarks of Google LLC.
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