I had Arlo cameras for a few years now. I currently have four of them. I am now buying a deal on a bundle of four cameras with a solar panel. I think these cameras work much better than anticipated. You can use them without a subscription. I want to point that out because sometimes reviews will say the opposite. I also personally have no issues with charging the cameras in very cold weather. The video I get with these cameras are very clear. I also get clear audio and can talk through the camera when Im viewing it through the app. I can download videos I capture and email them to my spouse. The battery life lost a long time before I have to charge it. I personally do pay $10 for all my cameras to have recordings of up to a month and I get alerts that identify what the camera sees. So if a package is on my front porch it will say "package is detected". There are alerts for motion, person, animals. You can also have it alert you to sounds if you want or smoke/CO. These are great cameras which is why I'm now buying more for my property.

Bought these a couple days ago and could not get them to connect. Followed all instructions and had no luck. Tried contacting support and there wasn't any. Terrible customer service. Your only option is to search threads of other people having the same problem. Don't waste your time. Returned them and will be looking for other options.

1. One solar panel, four cameras. Unless you're going to bring three cameras inside to charge, you'll need three more solar panels! 2. Cameras won't charge when temperatures are below 32 degrees F. 3. Once the 90 free access to Arlo Secure plan expires, you have NOTHING but live view! If you get a hub & storage device, only one person/smartphone can have access and control. Kinda like having a two car garage door opener with only one remote, only much worse!

I have several Arlo products--original Arlo, Arlo Pro, Arlo Pro 2, and security lights. I thought that since these were connected to the internet or a bridge they would work better at a longer distance...nope. While all my other products stay connected; the essential cameras do not. Even distanced the same as the other cameras. they still lose connectivity. The night vision is too dark to see anything. The battery drains far too early than advertised. I regret this purchase!! Save your money or buy the Arlo Pro 2 because these are NOT as advertised.

Have called them for technical support 5x in last 3 weeks. Continue to walk me through the troubleshooting steps. System fails again within 24 hours. I call and they walk me through the trouble shooting steps again. Again system temporarily works for 24 hours and fails. It stops recording and stops sending motion alerts. Horribly unreliable and their customer service doesn't resist. Took months to replace the cameras that failed even under warranty. The second system the camera failed in the first month. Took about 6 months to get it replaced. Will replace arlo system with anything else! Seeking a system that has customer service and doesn't have technical support that acts as a middle man instead of letting me talk to the person with the knowledge. Maybe the person is actually the text book with “go to answers and responses.” Maybe not an actual person they get information from. When system works, it's good…. If works.

Great picture, field of view, and easy to install. I am, however; disappointed in response time. I have only tested the most important camera so far. I walk into range and I can see the camera activate and when it does notify me it starts where I saw it activate and I out of the field of view by that time it does notify me. This particular camera is covering my vehicles is why it is most important.

I was so excited to migrate over to a wireless camera system and this has been one of the worst purchases ever. The Arlo doorbell faceplate started curling up and blocking/skewing the view only after 1.5 yrs though it states that the device is good in all weather. The Arlo Essentials Spotlight Camera system system that we purchased has had three out of the five cameras stop working and two will no longer charge. One is so blurry that it makes you wonder why you even have it out there. We were able to get a hold of Arlo and they sent another one to us, but getting through to this company takes weeks…it defaults to a 90 day support period though you have a year warranty. Do your homework before you buy this!

Purchased these cameras to put in locations without access to power. Purchased 2 more identical solar panels so all 3 cameras could be charged with solar panels. When reading the specs it said that the cameras would work to -4 degrees. That was fine, but what they don't tell you is that the battery will not charge at temps below 32 degrees. That isn't air temp, that is battery temp. For example, if the night temp is in the 20s or below, there is a good chance the battery won't charge the next day no matter how warm it is during the day. And this is not just the solar panel, the battery won't charge on regular house power until the battery is over 32 degrees. What they should say is the average 24 hour temp should be at 35 degrees or above for the camera to charge and work. Bottom line, in colder regions, these cameras are about useless with solar charging for several months a year. Arlo's recommendation? Run power to the camera and remove the battery...

I purchased this set after getting a recommendation from a friend for this brand. Brought it home, Set it up without any problems and then after 2-3 months one camera went bad and wouldn't charge. After speaking with customer service several times and doing the same troubleshooting over and over and over, they replaced the camera. Here's where the issue is. You MUST be able to access a 2.4ghz connection to add a camera. Even though their website says the cameras will run fine on a 5ghz system, they won't install on it. So now here I sit with a brand new camera I cannot install because my router won't separate on demand. If it will run on 5ghz, why won't it install on it as well? Customer service is slow to respond, typically took at least 48 hours to hear back. When they work, the pictures are good but it's constantly alerting to things blowing in the wind or cars going down the street even though the areas are not in the coverage area.

I regret buying these so much! The batteries run out so fast and nothing we do helps. These pick up every movement even if your settings are correct as well as your activity zones. Since the latest upgrade two cameras won't connect at all! Save yourself the trouble and buy wired. These are on clearance for a reason!