There was a time when home video security systems where expensive, complex and difficult to setup but not any more. Netgear sent me an Arlo Q to review, part of their security system range. The Arlo Q is a high quality security system that is really easy to get started with and has some excellent features. In this video I unbox the system, set it up and see what you can do with the system.
Arlo Q is a 1080p wireless security camera with night vision, two way audio, motion sensing and a web site / mobile app so you can keep a track of your home or work while you are away.
As you can see in the video the system is really easy to setup, you pair it up with a Arlo account and then you can remotely view the camera live in full 1080p, you can also hear what is going on via the built in microphone and the service will notify you when there is movement or sound picked up by the camera. The lenses is 130 degrees so it has a wide angle of view and the 1080p camera is very clear. When it’s dark a night vision mode kicks in automatically so you still see what is happening. The image quality is excellent but I did find that in night mode it can pick up a lot of ambient light reflections which some times make it hard to pick out details. It is probably worth spending some time positioning the camera during night mode to get it setup correctly.
When motion is detected it automatically records a clip of the movement or sound which is stored in Netgear’s cloud, you then have 7 days of access the clip for free (more if you want to pay). Alerts can be sent via Email or push notification to an iOS or Android app, sorry there is no Windows app but the web site works well on Windows. If you are an IFTTT user you can link your account up to the service for more advanced notification. You can setup schedules for when it should activate motion sensing or you can use Geofencing on Android so it arms the system when you leave your home. Another nice feature is two away audio so you can use the speaker built into the camera and talk via your phone.
The camera is wireless and mains powered (via a USB adapter) Netgear say you can mount them outside as they are weather proof. They have a magnetic base that should make it easier to mount. The Arlo Q costs around £159 on Amazon.
The system is really simple to get started and the quality of the picture is excellent, the service and apps have a lot of options. I found the Geofencing a little bit buggy, sometimes it would think I am away from home when I am actually in the house so it would start alerting me of movement. Hopefully this can be fixed with future app updates
Have a look at my video where I unbox, setup and try out the system and see what it can do.
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