

Arlo Smart offers a smart security solution that can eliminate false alerts, but it’s all behind a subscription.īut you know what? The $3-per-month plan for a single camera is worth the cost to those who simply want more peace of mind. Another benefit of Arlo Smart is that you gain advanced features such as package, person, animal, vehicle, and smoke/CO2 alarm detection. Without it, the Arlo Pro 4 Spotlight Camera is limited to seven days of cloud recording at 1080p, versus 30 days with 2K footage.
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Out of the box, you get a free 3-month trial to Arlo Smart - the company’s premier security service. While there is an option to disable the spotlight through the settings in the app, it effectively defaults to standard black-and-white night vision. Now, I should point out that the spotlight kicks on whenever motion is detected, but I wish there was a way to force the camera to shoot in color night vision without it on. In order for this to happen, the spotlight turns on to shed some light on the scene, which helps to draw colors out more. When it’s nighttime, I appreciate that color night vision kicks.

It’s not terrible, but it does soften the quality a little bit. In low lighting, though, artifacting elements do appear more in the shadows. Highlights don’t look overblown, which helps to retain details that may otherwise be lost. When lighting is abundant, dynamic range is handled nicely throughout the scene to produce an even exposure. That’s no different from the Arlo Pro 3, which is surprising.ĭespite the lack of change, the Arlo Pro 4’s camera performance is just as excellent as before - producing sharp clips with plenty of detail, sharpness, and accurate-looking colors. Rounding out the features are HDR, auto track and zoom, high-powered infrared LEDs with cutoff filter, and a 12x digital zoom. That’s impressive coverage, but it’s most effective when it’s strategically placed at corners. The rest of the specs indicate it’s essentially the same hardware as before: A 4-megapixel ⅓-inch camera sensor with a wide 160-degree field of view. Then again, that’s what distinguishes the two camera lines. It’s not bad, but it would’ve been nice to perhaps jump up to 4K - much like its Ultra line of security cameras. Instead of making another upgrade, the Arlo Pro 4’s camera remains at 2K resolution.
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Going from the Arlo Pro 2 to the Pro 3, the camera’s resolution made a dramatic jump from 1080p to 2K resolution (2560 x 1440). It comes with a magnetic charging cable, which allows it to charge and still function simultaneously.
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Obviously, that’s not going to get me remotely close to that six-month range, but it’ll be enough to last a full month before requiring a recharge. Since I’ve placed it in a high-traffic area, its battery life has dropped by 3% daily on average. Speaking of battery, the Arlo Pro 4 has a removable rechargeable battery that’s rated for six months of juice. The Arlo Pro 4’s camera performance is just as excellent as before. However, I would imagine that the SmartHub would be a benefit for larger homes because it would manage the connection a lot better - while also helping out with battery life. For smaller spaces, like my apartment, this direct Wi-Fi implementation works because everything is within close proximity to the router.

That’s why I’m stoked that the Arlo Pro 4 Spotlight Camera now connects directly to my router, so getting it set up is a more streamlined affair. Plus, it means yet another thing that needs to be plugged into an outlet - also in short supply at my apartment. Most of the time, they require being hardwired directly to your home Wi-Fi router, which is made worse when Ethernet ports are in short supply. Nothing’s more annoying than having to connect yet another hub or bridge to your network. The Arlo Pro 3 required users to set up Arlo’s SmartHub base station in order for it to work.

What’s different about this cam versus its predecessor is that it ditches the hub - so it’s now a truly wireless affair. There’s no denying that the specs sheet of the Arlo Pro 4 Spotlight Camera is drool-inducing, but what’s often overlooked is how the system functions. Let’s find out if that’s the case with the Arlo Pro 4 Spotlight Camera. Whenever a device makes a numerical jump, there’s an expectation that it’s pushing things forward in a dramatic way.
