Arlo Floodlight Camera Wireless Outdoor Security Light

5280 Busa

June 26, 2024

I should have stayed with Nest

I was looking to move away from the Google Nest cameras (after eight years of reliable service) and I thought Arlo was a good alternative based on the reviews I read. However, my experience so far has been bad with this camera.

Pro's:

1. non-US-based technical support is responsive via chat or phone. Note: if using chat through the app, they may ask you to reinstall the app in which case your chat will be disconnected. It's possible (but not easy) to get back into the chat with the same tech. If you get disconnected, you may have to start from scratch. Fun!

Con's:

1. Pairing with your WiFi network can be challenging without the Arlo SmartHub ($100 extra).

2. Arlo app is bad (in my opinion). Not intuitive at all. Your camera history is located in a separate page from the live video feed. Compared to Nest where you can scroll history on the live video feed.

3. If using outdoors in a location not easily accessible, you must buy THEIR expensive 25' charging cable so you don't have to remove the camera to recharge. There is no shorter cable option. Note, If your camera is only three feet away from a power outlet you'll have 22 feet of extra cable to manage. I tried to use a 10' cable from another manufacturer to solve that problem and Arlo put the camera into 100% charging mode (see pic) which does not allow the camera or light to be used. Also, the plug on their cable is very large and may not fit many outdoor/weatherproof outlets.

4. Spotlight works intermittently. Sometimes it comes on with motion and sometimes it doesn't. Even with motion sensitivity at max it is inconsistent.

5. 2K image is still blurry when trying to zoom in on an object at a distance.

6. Color night vision is not clear past 20 feet and the only way to see objects in color is if the spotlight is turned on (as noted earlier, it is inconsistent). If just using the black/white night vision mode, object clarity is reduced substantially.

7. Adjustable mount on the camera house had a loose bolt so I had to add threadlock and re-tighten to keep the camera from moving.

Final thoughts. This camera might perform better in environments where it is more accessible for charging and where its not looking past 15 feet. However, being a Nest user for almost nine years, I would suggest their outdoor flood camera as a better alternative to this Arlo camera.

Not the best quality

After a few months the solar charging panel we got from Arlo stopped working. A few months later the camera started giving problems also. You can see from the video they are not truly weather proof.

0:09

Repeat review with video

We love this camera with built in floodlights. It is almost like a trail camera. We might live in town, but have captured the image of a black cat, an orange cat, a fox, 2 opposum, and a racoon.

0:11

2 cameras filled with water. RMA process a nightmare.

We have 3 Arlo floodlights and a doorbell. They've been my single biggest headache as a new homeowner these last 6 months. Constant issues, disconnects, etc.

Last month, bad rain storm, one filled with water. Went through RMA process which took a month to finally get a new camera shipped to me. It arrived without a battery. That had to then also be shipped.

Once I got it back up, first rainstorm took it out in the same manner. (Video attached.)

These are far from weather proof. Negative temps in the winter took them down. High winds will set off the audio sensors. Water fills them. Absolutely nightmare all around.

0:24

Camera Fails to Respond to Motion Detection Settings

Ok. First time every providing feed back on a product purchased. This is a case of a Love/Hate relationship. I have several people I know who have decided to do the self home security thing. So, have been researching and watching numerous YouTuber videos trying all the different Brand wireless security systems out there. The long and short of it is you will find videos that praise or scold the brand product you 1st had interest in. Personally, finding that source of research to be extremely biased and unreliable. At some point you have to make a buy when you feel you have done your home work and give a product a chance. For those who do not know, Arlo originally was part of NetGear. On Feb, 6, 2018 the board of directors of NetGear decided to separate the Arlo Business from NetGear. I happen to be a NetGear person which had a lot to do with my interest in Arlo. That said, the Primary focus is that the system had to be truly wireless. Did not want to mess with running wires. 2nd Priority was it needed to serve as my own home security system. Here is where the Love/Hate relationship started. Most probably thinking why is this dude giving the product 1 star but then rating the features as 5 star. Here is why. I Love all what the CAMERA is capable of. I HATE that the firmware/programing is INCAPABLE from NOT SENDING - ANIMAL Motion Detection NOTIFICATIONS. We have a mid sized dog that roams free in the house when gone. And we have birds that land in the back yard as well as squirrels, the occasional stray cat. The Arlo App has "Routines" which you can set, what cameras to include and then make a rule set which establishes what you want the camera to do. There are 3 Routines to select. ARM HOME, ARM AWAY, and STANDBY. I have included a screen shot of the HOME settings which shows I have turned off the ANIMAL Motion Detection. This is to STOP the notifications of any ANIMAL movement. This is important because if you hit the ARM AWAY or ARM HOME, and like us have an animal inside that is not in a cage, AND you have decided to pay for the Arlo Secure Plus which comes with 24/7 Emergency Response, you are going to have the police camping outside your home everytime a camera picks up animal movement AND sends out a notification. (This would be where Arlo responds the the review by saying that their 24/7 Emergency Reponse service would only contact the authorites based on the camera feed intercepted). Yeah, I recognize that, but that is missing the POINT. Even if you chose, to monitor your system yourself, if the firmware/software is not capable of STOPPING the animal detection notifications, your phone is goinge to be blowing up. I am returning a Arlo Essentials Spot Light camera which I was using for the in home camera for this very issue. I have saved multiple time stamped Arlo chat sessions, all with repeated measures instructing me what to do to try and rectify the issue. In my last session they admitted that there was a known issue specifically with the problem with animal detection and continuing to send out notifications when that type of motion detection was turned off, but said they had a resolution. I guess just not for the camera I purchased. So, It is going back. I have this Pro 3 Flood light because as you can see from the short video clip we have a decent amount of space at the back of our yard I wanted a camera to pick up and the light is very powerful. This camera was following the settings I had with the animal movement detection turned off but just this morning 3/4/23 I got an animal movement Notifcation. NOT being able to keep animal Notifications from coming through, COMPLETELY REMOVES being able to use these cameras for purpose of security or like an alarm system. And there is the HATE.

0:15

BDonovan

February 4, 2023

Wow! what a surprise this cam is!!!

Everyone claims it all but for a change this Arlo Pro 3 is exactly what I need. Installation was a breeze and took only a few minutes to attach to my home. Setting up the zone I need secure was a cinch and it's accurate as hell! I haven't had one alarm that wasn't what it was supposed to be. The night color is on target to. Recognizing someone in my zone at night will be as easy as daytime. I love this camera, simply put!

Very bright for battery power

I was impressed by how bright this light is and how great the video quality is at night.

0:12

Bright and Effective!

This is probably my favorite of all the Arlo cameras we purchased. The LEDs are very bright and make night videos very clear. Detects every animals that passes by including cats, opossums, and squirrels. Sleek design.

0:14

Green Jeans

November 22, 2022

Insanely useful and easy

I've had this for over a year and was afraid it would be a pain to set-up. It took <30 minutes from open box to watching videos. The way it follows bears, coyotes, raccoons, and delivery folks is astounding. It looks like someone is panning the camera. And the light is useful and startling to visitors.

0:15

Crystal clear video

This was easy to setup. The video are amazingly sharp to see. Wish the price was cheaper but feel I made a good decision buying it.

0:14

It’s a super great floodlight

0:12

Good camera, battery life leaves a bit to be desired

Arlo makes a solid light/camera combo. I’m a nest/google guy at heart but they had me hooked with the price. Installation was straightforward and simple and the light output is phenomenal. Only thing it’s la king is subpar battery life. Have it set to the best settings to reduce consumption but the battery lasts about 14 days or less. Not. Fan considering I have to bust out the ladder every time I need to change it.

Was just what I needed

We needed a camera with the combination floodlight for a side of our house that we needed video coverage on. This floodlight video camera was exactly what we needed it is giving us invaluable footage of a side of the house we had no cameras on I strongly recommend it for any place that you need an extra light and security camera coverage.

0:20

Have to Buy

It’s great

0:12

Not perfect. And dont do it unless you are ready for $10/mo subscription.

Updated:

Older arlo cameras give 7 days cloud storage, and local storage that can be accessed when on the same wifi as the base station. Many other cameras offer similar for less money. Now Arlo want more. They kept the same high price for cameras, but eliminated any access from outside your base station wifi without a subscription. Seriously? these are overpriced paperweights if you dont have remote access. and $10/mo? I feel violated. I am so disappointed in this company. I bought a few new cameras to test before growing my system. Arlo will not get any more of my money ever.

Previous review:

Plenty of people have reviewed the camera performance so i wont bother. But the install solution could be so much better. The best install option is to replace an existing light and hardwire it. But the ceiling mount is a larger diameter than a normal box, and the hardwire is super long and bulky. The wire is only t wires so wasnt hard to cut to shorten. And while your at it you can put it through the mount for a nice tight fit. If you do that, you can shove the plug into the box and you have a nice clean install and never have to charge

I think I wasted a lot of money on these...

So I have 3 x Pro 4 cameras, and 2 x Pro 3 floodlights, along with a sub that is supposed to give me unlimited cams.

The 3 Pro 4 cams seemed to be ok, but I really only had 2 setup. Then months later, I bought 2 of the floodlights. (Nice of them to only include a short micro/mini (whatever it's called) USB charger cable, so if you want to have them hard wired, and weather proof, you are forced to buy charger cables for the floodlights.

So I'm fighting and fighting to get all of these cameras working reliably, with multiple resets. The floodlights require me to go borrow a ladder from the neighbor to get up on the entrance overhang, and these things work long enough to give you the confidence to climb back down. Then later, they'd quit working. (I'm scared of heights by the way, and at 50, the idea of falling off a ladder is very frightening)

Eventually I ordered a dang near $400 Orbi Mesh system to make absolutely certain that it wasn't a wifi problem. I was still having issues over multiple days.(during initial setup, all cameras showed STRONG connection, so they should be good, right?) So I have a total of 3 cameras on the Orbi Mesh and 2 cameras on my original wifi, and nothing else on my wifi networks. (I also have the 5 Ghz portion turned off in both of my wifi routers, to assure I'm on 2.4 during setup)

Yesterday I finally got all 5 working once I figured something out. I noticed an icon in the app that told me the floodlights were not using a factory charging cable, (Wasserstein cable) so I unplugged the cables on the floodlights to try and see if the cameras were angry about it. Viola, everything seems to be working as intended!!!! YAY! No more climbing up on the roof!!!!

The rest of the day, I'm testing, and getting videos in my library from all 5 cameras, I'm so bloody happy that I finally figured it out. I just need to buy those super affordable (sarcasm) $49 Arlo cables for the floodlights, when they become available...

Then I woke up to the screenshot above.

Both WIFI networks are working fine. I tried connecting to both with my phone, and watched YouTube videos. I even reset the Orbi wifi for good measure. Still nada.... the whole system is broke, and I'm so frustrated, I want to cram them in someone's cramhole.

Also of note.

At night, I have to be within 25 ft of the cams to trigger them, even when set at 100% sensitivity. It won't even trigger if someone is in the slightly darker hallway of the lower level.

The CCD in these cams are worse than the one on my cheap phone from back in 2010. What good is 2k video, when you're putting $1.99 image sensors in them? (Yes, videos are set to quality)

In a nutshell, potential owners, consider looking elsewhere. The listed stats make them seem good, but the reality is that they are overpriced, pains in the bum.

Easy to install and use, very reliable and clear resolution

It captures everything walking in front of it and identifies them correctly. The view is wide, easy to set up, the light is bright and dimmable and the app is user friendly. I couldnt be happier with this purchase. The only downside, which i was warned before, is that the live camera feed is a few seconds behind.

0:13

Functional, but quality issues

UPDATE. With the mounting plate replaced, and the unit mounted, I can add a couple of stars to the rating.

I bought the Arlo Pro 3 Floodlight Camera to upgrade the Arlo Pro camera guarding my driveway. I liked the idea of adding a floodlight to the driveway as an extra security measure. Around the house, have six Arlo Pro cameras powered by solar panels and six Arlo lights. On the front door, I have an Arlo Pro camera and an Arlo doorbell camera. Also, I have a couple of Arlo Qs inside the house. In other words, I'm a long-time Arlo user and have generally been an Arlo fan.

I had to order a replacement for the mounting plate because I made the mistake of using the screws that came with the unit to mount the unit to wood. Even with pilot holes, the screw head stripped, and I damaged the cheap plastic mounting plate trying to get the screw out. My bad. I've worked with Arlo stuff long enough not to trust the cheap components that come with it. Arlo customer service was accommodating and sent a replacement mounting plate. I went to the hardware store to buy wood screws and used them to mount the replacement mounting plate.

Using wood screws, the installation was simple, took a few minutes. A concern, the only thing holding the big unit against the wall is a tiny screw. Even when it is screwed in tightly, the unit still twists on the mount; so, we'll see how long the mounting lasts. Also, mounting the heavy unit on a plastic mount seems risky; the unit wobbles in the wind. I recommend that Arlo rethink the mounting plate option, replacing it with a deeper metal plate for--at least give the impression of--improving quality.

The image quality is exceptional, and the floodlight brightly lights the entire front yard. The floodlight triggers almost instantly, about 1 second lag time from motion to light. I wish I could say the same for the camera. Even with the strongest Wi-Fi and fastest Internet connection money can buy, my Arlo Pro cameras have a 5-8 second lag. I was expecting a similar lag time with the Arlo Pro Floodlight Camera. I was disappointed to find that the lag time is usually worse, from 8 to 20 seconds. I know that Arlo might blame that on the Wi-Fi network or distance from the base. But, the lag time remains the same if I test it five feet from the router without any obstructions. That means someone can walk from one end of the view to the other, and the camera only captures them leaving the view.

The motion detection is strong. Set at 80%, the light and camera capture movement up to 35 feet away, easily covering the entire driveway and sidewalk.

I can't speak about the battery life yet. But, be prepared for a huge battery. The battery is 3 times longer than the standard Arlo battery, but it still fits with the same charger. I have a mount for an Arlo solar panel that I used for the Arlo Pro camera. However, Arlo Pro Floodlight Camera requires a different solar panel ($60) or a different outdoor cable ($50 for 25 ft.) for external charging. I'll wait for the first battery charge to wear out before buying the solar panel.

The auto-tracking feature is kind of cool but seems experimental at best. It degrades the images. Also, it has difficulty tracking the motion. It gets confused if there are multiple moving objects in the frame. For example, if I'm walking in the driveway, it focuses on the flag waving on the edge of the view.

PRIOR REVIEW

I will update this once I have a working system mounted. Meanwhile, a tip:

If you're mounting the Arlo Pro 3 Floodlight Camera on wood, toss the screws that come with it and get some real wood screws from the hardware store.

The screws that come with the unit melted. The heads stripped as I screwed them in by hand. And, yes, I drilled pilot holes. Attempting to hack saw the screw, I damaged the cheap plastic mounting plate and had to call customer service for a replacement.

I blame myself. As a long-time Arlo user with seven cameras, six lights, and five solar panels, I learned long ago that Arlo's functionality is solid. Still, Arlo components are cheap, especially the mounts and the mounting screws. I usually buy third-party components before mounting Arlo equipment; but, no third-party mounting components are available for the floodlight camera.

Meanwhile, as an Arlo user and fan, a suggestion for Arlo: Sweat the small stuff! Improve the quality of the components. This heavy and long unit should include a wall mount made from metal and quality screws for wood.

Great product

Great motion detection flood light. Super bright. Easy to install on both the app and to set up.

0:50

Richard T.

May 19, 2021

Great camera and floodlight ruined by subscription service.

I've been invested in the Arlo eco system for 4 years now. Currently using four of their Pro 2 cameras and base station. I've been very happy with it and wanted to add this Arlo Pro 3 Floodlight camera to the driveway. Everything went smoothly until I went to check the notifications only to find that the library for this camera was empty. After doing some research it turns out that Arlo took away the free 7 day cloud feature that came previously free with the Pro 2 and stuck it behind a subscription service for the Pro 3. No subscription = no video history. Doesn't matter if you have a usb drive plugged in for local storage, you just get a notification for movement. thats it. Also the wireless connection appears to be weaker on the Pro 3 compared to Pro 2. It kept disconnecting.

Avoid this one

Before posting a terrible review for this product, I have been showing great restraint while I work with Arlo on the miserable performance of this floodlight camera. I have Arlo Pro2s, ArloPro3s in several places on my property. If you look at the image attached, you'll see that the cameras recording at the same time are clear, but the Floodlight camera is all fogged over due to condensation. So, there is no fog, as it appears in the floodlight camera view. The worst part might be their support... they have done everything from suggest I move it inside (its a floodlight, folks..) to pitching it down so that moisture can drip off of it. They continuously provide irrelevant advice. They told me to move it, I need it right where it is. They told me to attach a hood of some sort to keep the moisture off. Yeah, that would look great! I know, how about you just make a product that works? It is beyond ridiculous. Three months into reporting it, they have stopped communicating with me and when they have in the past, its the same questions (how fast is your download/upload speed, what is your shipping address?.... how does this resolve my issue???). Oh and the subscription deception is real. They sort of forget to tell you about that when you buy it. Spare yourself the misery of investing in this fancy piece of junk.

Great foreground action, but missing background sensor fields.

This has been great to position off our garage to focus on my car at night; we've had a lot of thefts in the neighborhood lately. We even caught an odd bloke muttering to himself out on the sidewalk, which was great to avoid heading to the car at that time. However, we've set up 2 additional desired fields for motion sensor that are still within the camera's scope, but are further away along the perimeter and we have not received any notifications or recordings when we know there has been activity (us entering/leaving the house). We don't want to scar our home's siding by screwing in another camera directly to the house, so this has been a little disappointing that we don't have a catch-all with the Pro 3.

Awesome Motion Light

Easy to set up and add to my system. Lots of light! The down side - small (like teeny tiny) screws and if you don’t really snap the light and battery into the housing, it will fall out easy.

0:13

Great clarity!

The above photos are of 1) coyote and 2) bobcat recorded on this floodlight camera, in front of my house. My neighbors who have seen these shots (and others) have expressed how clear the photos are. I had not known of a bobcat being in the vicinity, but my vet neighbor agreed. I've gotten photos of groundhogs, squirrels, deer, and yes, the regular neighbor that drives down to my dead-end location. I have a couple of Arlo2 cameras, but the floodlight gave me wifi coverage far past what the 2s were showing, and the quality of the photo is excellent. You can enlarge it, so I've been able to identify the face of someone who drove down in their vehicle. I highly recommend this floodlight camera.

0:12

You Don't need a subscription to use this item

omg this camera is great the video is so clear its easy to install and the app amazing i can view my whole yard

0:58

Terrible camera - Poor Picture Quality, Flaky Motion Detection, Bad Tech Support

I bought this camera to alert when cars are coming through my driveway to my house.

Picture Quality:

I have attached three images showing objects at 2-3 meters (6-9 ft) from the camera. The first two are at full daylight, but you can barely recognize the face and the license plate is unreadable. These two screenshots are the best frames that I could find in the video stored as motion was recognized. The last photo is at night, the car is stopped and the license plate is completely washed out. This happened when using both: the IR or the floodlight.

Motion Detection

The drive way leading to my gate is about 150 m (~500 ft), yet when the motion detection catches a vehicle, the video starts when the vehicle is about 5-10 m (~15-30 ft) from the gate. The approach is never part of the video even if the car is moving at about 10 miles per hour.

Also, it doesn't always detect the cars. Today, It missed a USPS delivery truck coming, dropping off a package by the gate and leaving. Also, it missed a friend leaving on a minivan. For both of these events I was next to the gate and neither were recorded.

Technical Support

I tried to contact tech support. In the app it has two options: <company> support (support.arlo.com) and community support (community.arlo.com). I only tried the company support. Clicking the link on the app takes you a website that encourages self help. Talking to a representative happens via chat. The chat is launched in Safari (in iOS) not in the Arlo app. The most terrible thing is that if you switch app (you get a call, or go to look at the Arlo app) the chat disconnects and you have to start over. It does not reconnect, and when you start a chat again you go back to the queue. I tried a couple of times and gave up.

After the chat, I got an email that a case was created. You cannot follow up with support via email. The email is sent from an unmonitored email address. I clicked in the link to give additional details, but the support channel is a one way communication. You can update your case, but you cannot see any of the previous communications. I received an email saying that my case requires "additional information to proceed", but it does not specify what information is needed. When I go to the support portal, there is no history again, just a text box and a "Update Case" green button.

===

This is really one of the worst product/tech/service I have received in a very long time, and I am used to buying new tech from young companies. USPS is coming by tomorrow to pick up the return.

Don't forget to add the $50 cable...

I've been using Arlo cameras for the last 2 years and really love them. The best thing about them is that they can be mounted pretty much wherever you want, and I always make sure to run a power cable so I don't have to be changing batteries all the time.

I currently have 3 Arlo Ultra 4k cameras all using Wasserstein power cables with no problems. When I bought this floodlight I ordered those same cables since the floodlight uses the exact same cable connector as the Ultra 4k cameras. I like Wasserstein because they are priced reasonably and are great quality.

The problem is this floodlight camera disables itself when using anything other than Arlo's own, (and ridiculously overpriced), power cable. What the heck Arlo??????

In the first screenshot you can see how the floodlight disabled itself when it was plugged in with the Wasserstein power cable. The funny thing is in that screenshot the camera just below it, (Arlo Ultra), is using the same Wasserstein cable and is working just fine. There is no explanation for this other than Arlo is getting greedy and implementing firmware updates designed to block 3rd party power cables. I wouldn't mind buying Arlo's cables, but theirs is $50... yeah, $50 for a USB cable!!

The camera itself is good and the light is bright so I'm keeping it. You can definitely tell it isn't as good as the 4k cameras which makes me wonder why the floodlight isn't offered in a 4k version. But my biggest gripe is that if all new Arlo cameras are going to require only Arlo branded cables I probably won't be buying any more. I've been a loyal Arlo customer and have recommended them to friends and family, but that stops now unless Arlo lets us use 3rd party cables like all of their older cameras allow.

I picked up the stupid $50 cable yesterday and now it's working as it should have with the other cables. There's no reason it shouldn't have worked with the Wasserstein cable.

Mi Guel LVZ

May 25, 2020

Best floodlight camera out there!!

This Arlo Pro 3 Floodlight camera is the best out there. I was doing a lot of research for a good floodlight camera and this one has topped all others. Pricing is respectable for everything this camera does. The zoom quality is amazing, the floodlight is very bright and motion sensors are great. To top it all off I am able to talk through and have an alarm sound. A countless sensor triggers and a good amount of floodlight use and the battery is at 70% after a weeks use. Very easy to install and even easier to remove to charge.

ARLO Experienced User That's Very Pleased

I've had my Arlo Pro 3 Floodlight Camera for over a week now ( see picture) and I tested it with the different settings and have to say it's one of the best camera's they developed and with the floodlight I can definitely see a lot better at night time now. But the features I enjoy the most are the automatic "Zoom" in feature that can set the focus on a person that's in your zoned in area while it's recording and the very clear pictures at night. I did purchase the Arlo Accessory - Outdoor Magnetic Charging Cable | 25 ft, Weather Resistant Connector also as this works better for my personnel needs. We also have 6 other Arlo camera's, the Arlo Pro 2, Arlo Pro 3, the Arlo Audio Doorbell, Arlo Q and Arlo Baby we've been extremely happy over the last three years and yes we have a strong Wi-Fi connection.

The perfect piece

If you're familiar with this system this motion activated floodlight camera definitely wont disappoint. The light output is exactly what I was looking for. I just wish the motion light itself could be used without being in "arm mode" and for that reason I'm deducting 1 star.

This is the answer for those of us who dont have a gang box or junction box in the area we're looking to add light. This combined with the 25' out Arlo charging cable make for the perfect combo. I used a cable management kit along the siding to hide the charging cable going from my outlet to the light.