ZDNET’s key takeaways
- Arlo’s flagship Pro 5S 2K digital camera is battery-powered and options 2K decision for $250.
- The Professional 5S can go anyplace you want surveillance, is reliably correct at detecting movement, and has a detachable rechargeable battery.
- Arlo requires a subscription to entry many of the in-app options, the video high quality might be higher for 2K decision, and it’s costly.
The Arlo Pro 5S 2K is a very wi-fi safety digital camera that may be positioned to surveil indoors or open air. It is glossy, compact, and dependable — all qualities you’d count on from a brand new Arlo digital camera. However some issues left me wanting, although I am unable to say for sure if it is due to Arlo or me.
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First, it is price discussing the elephant within the room: the month-to-month subscription.
I like an awesome safety system; it is one of many few issues I do not neglect to change on each evening, and, as a identified OCD sufferer, it helps me sleep at evening. I’ve a Eufy Safety system in my residence as a result of it does not require any subscription or month-to-month charges, although the startup price is not low-cost.
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Arlo cameras are costlier than the Eufy Safety ones all through my residence and nonetheless require a subscription after buying. I might go on an infinite rant on why I dislike safety digital camera subscriptions, however I will say this: if I purchase the digital camera, I wish to personal the pictures. You do not purchase a images digital camera to pay the producer for every photograph or video you’re taking.
The Arlo Professional 5S 2K digital camera is not meant to be a standalone product. Whereas it’s bought and can be utilized as one, it is meant to work finest when linked with different Arlo Dwelling Safety units. Customers should purchase a separate Arlo Extremely SmartHub to raise their safety system and allow native storage. The SmartHub can report onto a micro SD card that is bought individually.
As soon as arrange, customers can solely entry the digital camera recordings when they’re in the identical community because the SmartHub, because the system works domestically. This provides some customers a much-needed sense of privateness and others a headache.
Arlo customers can bypass this setup and remotely entry the video recordings saved within the SmartHub utilizing port forwarding or a VPN.
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Arlo provides several types of Arlo Safe subscriptions to allow cloud storage of as much as 30 days, good interactive and animated notifications, audio detection of alarms, good exercise zones, theft alternative, crucial alerts, 24/7 emergency response, and sure AI-powered options.
The Arlo Safe subscriptions vary from $4.99 a month for a single digital camera as much as $25 a month for a limiteless quantity of cameras, plus 24/7 skilled monitoring providers, video verification, Household Security monitoring for check-ins and site alerts, and crash detection and response by way of the Arlo Protected App.
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Month-to-month charges apart, I’ve discovered the Arlo Professional 5S 2K to be extraordinarily dependable and responsive — the movement alerts are available in instantly; as quickly as there’s motion on the Arlo’s aspect of the yard, my telephone lets me know.
The battery life has been excellent. The Arlo Professional 5S has a detachable and rechargeable battery that lasts as much as eight months on a single cost. I’ve solely been testing the Professional 5S for a few months, however the battery continues to be going sturdy, with no low-battery alerts.
The picture captured by the digital camera wasn’t nice. I am not sure what is going on with my digital camera or if my yard is not fairly sufficient, however I used to be left ready for the high-quality picture from the Arlo Professional 5S. As a substitute, I used to be met with overexposed patches of grass in my feed that overpowered a lot of the remainder of the picture and made it onerous to establish folks once they walked by that space.
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I will admit my yard will get a variety of daylight, and overexposure was the one challenge I skilled with the Arlo Professional 5S. By means of this expertise, I made up my mind the Professional 5S is best suited to surveil both the entrance or aspect of my residence.
ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation
Is the Arlo Pro 5S 2K price shopping for? The way in which I see it’s it is the right digital camera for somebody with an current Arlo subscription or setup or somebody fascinated by it — so long as they do not thoughts the month-to-month charges. It is an distinctive digital camera, that is for positive, however it’s one that does not stay as much as its full potential with out a subscription or as a part of a much bigger Arlo setup.
I do not imagine I might get the SmartHub to allow native storage, as viewing it remotely appears troublesome, however I can see why folks do. If I had been so as to add to my Arlo community, I might most likely get a month-to-month subscription. However since I am on the cost-savings aspect of issues, the Professional 5S 2K would be the solely Arlo in my residence in the meanwhile.