Arlo Ultra Review: Best Wireless Security Camera
Our Verdict
Become the Arlo Ultra if you want the best fully wireless security photographic camera. Nonetheless, you may desire to cheque out the Arlo Pro 2 if you lot're looking for something less expensive.
For
- Excellent daylight video
- Optional colour nighttime-vision videos
- 4K resolution
- Comprehensive, easy-to-use software
- Good audio
Against
- Can log in from only one device at a time
- Web portal requires Adobe Wink
- Expensive
Tom's Guide Verdict
Go the Arlo Ultra if you want the best fully wireless security camera. However, you lot may desire to check out the Arlo Pro 2 if you're looking for something less expensive.
Pros
- +
Excellent daylight video
- +
Optional color night-vision videos
- +
4K resolution
- +
Comprehensive, easy-to-apply software
- +
Skillful audio
Cons
- -
Tin can log in from only one device at a time
- -
Spider web portal requires Adobe Flash
- -
Expensive
In all my previous testing of Arlo security cameras, I have found the units to produce top-notch videos, supported by some of the best software on the market. Its newest model, the Arlo Ultra (starting at $399), is the company'due south best blueprint notwithstanding.
This weatherproof, wireless photographic camera is the first model from the visitor to tape 4K video, accept built-in spotlights and feature dual noise-cancelling microphones. While a few of these features don't add much value, the rest of the parcel makes information technology a very worthy successor to our previous favorite outdoor wireless security camera, the Arlo Pro 2. If you can afford it, the Arlo Ultra is one of the best dwelling house security cameras, non to mention one of the all-time outdoor security cameras you can get.
Editor's Annotation: Arlo has introduced the Arlo Ultra 2 , which has replaced the Arlo Ultra. The Ultra 2 has a built-in spotlight, enhanced night vision, 4K resolution, a 180-caste field of view, noise-cancellation and full-duplex sound. You can still find the original Arlo Ultra at some retailers, merely it is being discontinued.
Arlo Ultra review: Design
Like physically to previous Arlo cameras, the slightly larger (iii.five ten ii x 3.1-inch) Arlo Ultra has the brand's signature smooth, ovoid white body with a black faceplate. Fifty-fifty when attached to the 2-inch-circular past about 1.five-inch-tall magnetic mountain, the photographic camera has a comparatively low profile. Different earlier Arlo models, the magnetic stand can exist fastened to any position on the camera, which makes information technology easy to place the device merely virtually anywhere.
Regardless of how much the Ultra camera looks like previous models, it sports a significant number of improvements and new features. For instance, in addition to the two traditional IR LEDs (for grayscale dark vision), the Ultra has 2 motility-activated 6500K spotlight LEDs higher up the lens for total-color night videos. You tin remotely flash the spotlights to warn intruders away, or turn them off completely, to make the camera less visible.
The Ultra has 2 racket-cancelling microphones, situated on either side of the lens, instead of the usual single microphone. It likewise has higher maximum resolution (up to 4K) and two motion- detection sensors (as opposed to the one sensor in previous models).
Unlike earlier Arlo models, the magnetic stand can be fastened to any position on the photographic camera, which makes it piece of cake to place the device merely about anywhere.
The Ultra can be used indoors or outdoors. Although the rechargeable battery is still rated for three to half-dozen months of "average apply," Arlo says that it has improved the camera'southward efficiency to accommodate the greater number of active functions. Unlike the typical mini-USB charger, the Ultra uses a magnetic charging cord that snaps securely to the bottom of the camera, helping to avoid weather-induced shorts.
The indoor charging cablevision included in the box is a skimpy 3 anxiety long. Optional accessories available or soon to be released include an 8-foot indoor ($24.99) and a 25-foot outdoor magnetic charging cable ($49.99), an external dual-battery charging station ($49.99) and a solar console for outdoor power ($79.99).
More: Arlo Q vs. Arlo vs. Arlo Pro vs. Arlo Pro 2 vs. Arlo Ultra
The required 5 x 6 x 1.v-inch white-and-black SmartHub is included in virtually Ultra packages, and can support as many cameras and-or other Arlo security devices (such as a smoke alarm) as your network's bandwidth can handle. This new version of the Arlo SmartHub will also be compatible with the new Arlo Security System devices. Ports on the back include Ethernet (a 77-inch cable is included), power and a slot for a microSD memory card slot (it supports speed class 10, UHS1, V10). The menu is non included. The hub also has an lxxx dB siren that yous can set to be triggered by move and/or sound, or manually activated remotely.
Arlo Ultra review: Video quality
The Ultra'southward video quality lives upwards to (and surpasses) the standard prepare by previous Arlo cameras. In add-on, it has a number of new video settings, with varying levels of usefulness.
The Ultra's 4K video is of a college resolution than the earlier Arlo cameras'. Notwithstanding, while you tin can stream live 4K video from up to two cameras simultaneously (if your network bandwidth allows it), there are a few caveats:
- The hub's microSD card can salve 4K videos, just to view them, y'all need to remove the card from the hub and watch them on a computer or other device with a micro-SD menu reader. (Arlo plans to implement remote viewing of the microSD carte du jour onetime this twelvemonth, probably for an additional fee.)
- If you desire to save 4K videos to the cloud, you lot will have to spend an additional $1.99/month on top of your subscription. Otherwise, the highest resolution video that you can store in the cloud is 1080p.
- If you have Track & Zoom turned on, even if you buy the 4K recording program, the software will automatically switch to 1080p.
In my daylight tests, I was impressed with both the 4K and 1080p videos from the Ultra, which were both better than the video I had captured with the Arlo Pro 2. My Ultra's indoor daylight videos were well-exposed, with accurate color, and peachy details in both shadows and highlights.
My outdoor daylight tests were created under less-than-optimal conditions, on a series of very cloudy, rainy days. Yet, the videos have skillful detail, accurate color and exposure.
The color night-vision videos weren't as excellent as those taken in daylight. Even so, the Ultra's 6500 M white spotlight was bright enough to illuminate subjects so that the camera could capture colors that looked great on my Samsung Galaxy S9's screen. However, on a large computer display, the 1080p video midtones were softer, and faces blurrier than on the smaller telephone screen. Equally expected, the 4K videos were sharper and clearer than the lower-resolution videos.
The Ultra's two 850nm infrared LEDs produce grayscale night videos that are marginally better than the Pro two's. When viewed on a phone, they take an acceptable dynamic range, so it's not hard to place a person'due south face. What'southward more, the Ultra's infrared style captures motion with less blur than the Pro 2. When viewed on a large, calibrated computer screen, the Ultra'southward face is soft, and contrast is reduced, though still better than the Pro 2.
What makes 4K recording particularly useful is when you desire to zoom in on a small area of a video to view of import details, like a auto's license plate. In my daylight tests, I could easily read the numbers on a license, even though it was a tiny percentage of the video's full wide-angle field of view, and therefore slightly pixelated.
However, in my night videos (in both modes), the license plate appeared blown out and illegible in nigh cases.
The only way I could consistently capture a clear license plate at dark was to reduce the brightness command considerably, to the point where the rest of the video was as well dark. Irresolute among the spotlight's diverse settings of Constant, Flash or Pulsate did not aid the situation, nor did turning HDR on or off in either the infrared or spotlight modes.
Arlo Ultra review: Track and zoom
Ultra'due south new video mode, Track and Zoom, needs some work before it will be useful. Different the Wyze Cam Pan, which rotates 360 degrees to track a subject, the Arlo Ultra takes reward of its larger resolution to digitally track and zoom in on a subject every bit it moves beyond its 180-degree field of view.
While the quality of my Track and Zoom videos were good to fantabulous, I was unimpressed by the feature. The Ultra's Tracking in my outdoor daylight videos followed me wherever I walked, but the camera lagged behind my movement in my other videos, and it focused on the incorrect areas in portions of indoor videos. In all the videos, the zooming was minimal, and in many cases information technology did not provide significant additional data to help a viewer recognize a confront.
Arlo Ultra review: Audio Quality
The Arlo Ultra'south recorded audio is articulate, audible and of a good volume, even when the person was more twenty feet from the camera on a windy day.
The total duplex two-mode audio is quite good. However, when speaking from a telephone to the camera, information technology was much louder than when speaking from the camera to a telephone. With the latter, I had to take the phone shut to my ear to hear it, even when the phone'due south volume was cranked up to its highest setting.
Arlo Ultra review: Motion and sound detection
With Ultra, Arlo'southward splendid move and sound detection has increased both in functionality and features. The modes — Armed, Disarmed, Schedule and Geofencing — nonetheless provide like shooting fish in a barrel-to-use controls for how the Ultra'southward software will reply to specific situations.
Scheduling when the camera will respond to motility or sound is flexible, and so you tin can set several unlike time periods per day, and easily repeat them for specific days of the week.
Editing the Armed style or creating a custom fashion is a unproblematic footstep-past-footstep process, identical to previous Arlo cameras. If y'all create a custom style, you can also take motion and-or sound trigger another connected device.
The Ultra'due south dual motion detectors are rather sensitive. I could set the sensitivity slider all the way to 10 (out of a maximum of 100), and the camera was however able to detect a moving person without giving false alerts for changes in light and other similar incidents. Notwithstanding, Arlo all the same doesn't have a button in the exam screen to actually gear up the photographic camera's motion sensitivity. I had to get to the video settings screen to adjust the slider at that place.
Move-detection tools that are bachelor only if you have a cloud plan.
Arlo Ultra review: Cloud storage costs
Arlo'south cloud plan strategy has changed with the Ultra. Unlike the other Arlo cameras, the Ultra doesn't include permanently gratis seven-day rolling deject storage. Instead, the Ultra comes with 1 yr of Arlo Smart Premier ($nine.99/month), which includes thirty-day rolling-cloud service at upwardly to 1080p for upwards to 10 Arlo cameras (regardless of the model). The Premier plan also includes AI move detection that distinguishes amongst people, packages, vehicles and pets, and the new e911 service, which alerts emergency services local to your camera.
That's a generous add-on, merely when the complimentary yr ends, you'll have to sign up for i of the company'due south plans if you lot want cloud storage. The Arlo Smart plan provides the aforementioned level of service as Smart Premier, but is charged on a per-camera basis at $2.99/month/camera. The Arlo Smart Aristocracy program provides rolling 60-day storage for upward to xx cameras for $fourteen.99/month.
More: Arlo vs. Ring vs. Nest - Who has the best video storage plan ?
If you lot want to relieve 4K video to the deject, you tin can upgrade any of the plans to Premium Video Recording for $one.99/month per camera.
If y'all run the Ultra equally a wired photographic camera, you can also pay for continuous video recording (CVR), which is displayed on a convenient timeline. The price is $9.99 per month per camera for 14 days of recording, or $99.99 per year. For 30 days, it's $19.99 per month, or $199 per yr.
All videos are also automatically saved locally to a microSD memory card in the hub (card not included), which ways that a cloud plan isn't necessary. Former in 2019, Arlo plans to add the ability to remotely access clips saved on the card. Arlo'south spokesperson declined to state whether remote access to the card would involve a fee.
Arlo Ultra review: Smart dwelling compatibility
The Ultra supports Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa and IFTTT. Arlo has indicated that information technology plans to support Apple HomeKit soon.
Arlo Ultra review: Mobile apps & web portal
Arlo's software (both the mobile app and the spider web portal) has long been among my favorites for its depth of useful features, its clean, intelligent interface and its comparative ease of use. Although that nonetheless remains truthful, the web portal is now long in the molar, for the elementary reason that it notwithstanding requires Adobe Flash, which has been proven to exist a security risk. Although the mobile app gives you full command over the photographic camera, you'll still need to use the web portal to manage your account and cloud programme.
One other divergence between the mobile app and the spider web portal relates to the useful options for getting quick help if there's an intrusion. When you lot view the dwelling folio or livestream on the web portal, you accept an immediately accessible button to actuate the new e911 system, which will phone call the emergency services local to the camera, rather than services local to you (and your phone).
The mobile app takes that concept a bit further. In addition to a button for activating e911 on the home screen or live view, you lot can audio the siren on the hub or phone call a friend (or family unit member) to investigate. The Arlo app also at present has the option of using a fingerprint login.
One of my pet peeves about the Arlo software still hasn't been addressed. You lot tin't have more than one interface active at a time. If you are checking out a camera or editing a setting on your telephone or computer, and a family fellow member logs in from another device, yous will be logged out.
Arlo Ultra review: Bottom Line
The Arlo Ultra isn't cheap. A unmarried camera plus the required hub and i yr of gratuitous Smart Premier cloud plan is $399.99. An add-on camera costs $299.99. Other packages include multiple camera systems, with the hub and Smart Premier cloud plan, such every bit 4 cameras for $999.99, or ii cameras for $599.99. For a more than affordable choice, bank check out our Arlo Pro 3 review and our Eufycam two review; both those cameras offer like features, but have lower 1080p cameras.
The Ultra delivers top-quality video, and its powerful-but-simple software makes it quick and easy to phone call for help. If you lot want the best home security camera — and are willing to pay for it — the Arlo Ultra is the wireless camera to get.
Arlo Ultra specs at a glance
| Video Resolution: | Up to 4K |
| Field of View: | 180 degrees |
| Night Vision: | ii white LEDs for color dark videos, plus two IR LEDs for more traditional grayscale night videos |
| Network Connectivity: | 802.11 b/thousand/north/air conditioning, Bluetooth Low Energy 4.2 |
| Smart Home Connectivity: | Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, IFTTT |
| Audio: | Full duplex 2-way sound |
| Mobile Devices Supported: | To take reward of the 4K resolution, iOS version nine.0 or higher, or Android five.0 or higher |
| Spider web Browsers Supported: | Internet Explorer 10 or above, Firefox 3.5 or higher up, Safari 3 or above, Google Chrome (any version) |
| Cloud Storage & Monitoring: | Costless year of Arlo Smart Premier deject service, which includes 30-day rolling cloud service at upward to 1080p for upwardly to ten Arlo cameras (regardless of the model). After that, the same program costs $ix.99/month. Or, y'all can get the same level of service on the per-camera footing at $two.99/month/camera. For rolling sixty-day storage for upwards to xx cameras, you will pay $14.99/month. |
| Local Storage: | Slot in the hub for a microSD menu (speed form ten, UHS1, V10). Card not included. |
| Security: | 128-bit SSL, AES-128, TSL, 2 gene authentication |
| MSRP: | $399.99 (for one camera with hub, including one year of Smart Premier deject storage plan) |
Credit: Tom'south Guide
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/us/arlo-ultra,review-6497.html
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