Arlo Essential Review

In our estimation, the most significant difference between the Arlo Essential and other Arlo outdoor cameras is the Essential’s lack of SmartHub.

That’s right; you don’t need an Arlo base station or SmartHub to connect with this camera. Arlo recommends using the hub if you have one (for one thing, you need it to access local storage), but it’s not required.

But that’s not all this camera has up its sleeve. Here’s a full list of what you can expect from your Essential.

Arlo Essential features:

• 1080p video without subscription
• 130° viewing angle
• Indoor-outdoor use
• Two-way audio
• Color night vision
• Motion detection
• Customizable motion zones
• Geofencing
• Package detection
• Person detection
• Vehicle detection
• Animal detection
• Spotlight
• Siren
• Solar capabilities
• Rechargeable batteries
• Local and cloud storage
• Two color options

According to the Arlo website, the Essential Wireless Security Cameras come in both white and black. That’s a new step for Arlo, a company that’s known for its white camera shells.

That’s a lot of features! But some of them are out of reach unless you choose to use a paid subscription.

This camera is far from the first to include person, package, vehicle, or animal detection, but it’s one of the few we’ve seen with all four.

The different motion-detection settings are scattered across the app, making it challenging to manage them. Essentially, though, you can toggle all settings on or off. So if you want to get notifications for your Amazon delivery and your neighbor’s cat, you can. Likewise, if you want to exclude people, packages, vehicles, or animals from your motion detection, you can do that, too.

Said exclusion option is more helpful if you live on a busy street. If you live on a street with average traffic or choose to use the camera indoors, we recommend keeping all motion detection settings on.

This camera offers a test that helps you determine if your motion detection is working, which we like.

The spotlight definitely has the potential to startle intruders! We placed the camera on a landing for most of our tests. It gave us a bit of a shock every time the light snapped on when we walked up the stairs in the dark.

You can set the siren to activate automatically, or you can activate it manually from the app.

The siren comes with a warning that it’s “extremely loud,” but it didn’t sound very loud to us. The Essential siren doesn’t hold up next to the Arlo Ultra siren; we’re not sure you’d be able to hear it unless you’re close by.

This camera will work with Arlo’s upcoming Essential Solar Panel. We’re not exactly sure when the panel will be ready, but we like the idea of harnessing solar power vs. recharging the batteries.

The batteries in the Essential Camera are supposed to last six months on a charge. However we found that after a few days of use, the battery levels dropped by 9%. While that’s nothing to sneer at, it’s not promising if you want your batteries to last half a year without taking the camera down to charge.

To buy this camera on its own, it’s $44.00. If you want three, it’s $197.99* While Arlo isn’t the most budget-friendly camera manufacturer out there, these prices aren’t astronomical. Especially if you compare the price to Google Nest.

It looks like Arlo also plans to sell this camera as a bundle with the solar panel, although we don’t yet know when or how much it will cost.

The Arlo Essential comes with a three-month-long trial of Arlo Secure. After that, if you want cloud storage or anything else that comes with a higher-tier plan, you need to pay.

As you can see, many of the best features are hidden behind the paywall, which is disappointing. It’s hard to justify buying the Essential without the features when you can get a cheaper camera with everything included.

But the subscription is pretty affordable for a single camera, so if there’s a feature you really want, the cost likely won’t be insurmountable. Take the money you didn’t spend on the base station and get a few years of video storage instead! We would suggest the Secure Plan over the Secure Plus, unless you feel you can’t do without 4K.

The Essential camera works with Alexa, Google Assistant, and IFTTT, which is pretty typical. Less typically, it also connects with Apple HomeKit and Samsung SmartThings, but you'll need the Arlo base station. If you’re an Apple or Samsung stan, this is one of the only leading camera brands that will work with your favorite hub.

Arlo still lacks integration with Z-Wave and Zigbee, which means you can’t directly connect your camera or your Arlo account to many smart lights, smart locks, and other home devices. But with the existing compatibility, you can indirectly connect to almost anything. The links just have to go through a central hub or protocol.

If you need help connecting your Arlo products to your smart home assistant, we have guides for Alexa and Google Assistant users.

People aren’t crazy about the Arlo mobile app. It has three-ish star ratings on both the App Store and Google Play, and users are constantly criticizing it in their Amazon reviews.

It’s not the worst app we’ve run into. But we do wish that some of the settings were easier to find. It’s way more intuitive to click on a single device and adjust all its settings from one screen than it is to hunt down settings across the app.

If you love DIY home improvement projects, you’ll be thrilled to know you’ll set up this camera yourself. (Unless, like some of our team members, you know someone who loves to do manual labor in exchange for dinner.)

Arlo Essential installation steps:

1. Charge the camera.
2. Download the Arlo app.
3. Create an Arlo account.
4. Select Devices > Add New Device > Cameras > Essential.
5. Select your Essential model.
6. Choose whether to connect the camera to a SmartHub.
7. Connect the app to your Wi-Fi network.
8. Follow the app instructions to complete the camera setup.
9. Secure the Arlo mount in the desired location.

Make sure you secure the camera in a place you can reach again since (until the solar panel comes available) you’ll have to dismount it at least twice a year for battery recharges. Or you can mount it within an extension cord’s reach of an outlet if you’d rather bring the charge to the camera.

When all is said and done, if you’re looking for an Arlo camera, this would be one of our first recommendations. The base station-free design just can’t be beat, and the upcoming solar power function is another step in the right direction for user convenience.

• Features: This camera has a lot of safety features, including multiple types of motion detection, a light, and a siren.
• Pricing: The Arlo Essential isn’t the cheapest camera on the market, but for a leading safety brand, it’s a lower cost.
• Home automation: You’ll get plenty of indirect smart product connections with this Arlo camera.
• Installation: The Essential shouldn’t be too hard to install in your home.

If you want a fuller overview of how the Essential compares to other Arlo cameras, read our complete Arlo review. You can also check out our Arlo Pro 4,  Arlo Pro 4 vs. Arlo Ultra 2 pieces for even more insight.