Arlo Essential Video Doorbell Review

We review Arlo'southward wired and wireless video doorbells to come across which is the right fit for your front door.

Arlo Essential Wired Video Doorbell

Arlo Essential Wired

4.2 out of 5 stars

iv.15

  • Pros

    Congenital-in siren

  • Pros

    e911 feature

  • Cons

    Express standout features

John Carlsen

Staff Writer, Security & Smart Home

Read More

The Arlo Essential Wired Video Doorbell is a corking starting point before you decide to become all-in with Arlo for your security camera needs. It has a congenital-in siren to assistance scare away intruders—surprisingly no other doorbell cameras have such a useful security tool. Information technology also stores pre-recorded responses to help you greet visitors more quickly—a feature previously exclusive to the pricier Nest Howdy.

For more particular on why we like the Arlo Video Doorbell, check out the residue of our Arlo doorbell review. Nosotros also explain why you lot shouldn't sleep on the Arlo Essential Wireless Video Doorbell.

Compare Arlo doorbells

*Amazon.com price as of 08/12/2021 at 12:00 p.g. (MT). Read full disclaimer.

What's in the box

  • Arlo Video Doorbell Wired
  • Power kit and wire extension
  • Wall mount screw kit
  • Flat and angled mounting plates
  • Security latch release pivot
  • Quick starting time guide

Arlo Essential Video Doorbell features

Core features

2-mode audio: All smart doorbells—not merely Arlo's—accept two-fashion audio so you lot can talk to visitors on your porch. The audio kicks in after someone presses the doorbell button, and you accept the call on your smartphone.

Motility detection: Arlo doorbells have congenital-in motion sensors that ship you notifications without a visitor pressing the push button.

Easy installation: You lot tin can install these doorbells in less than x minutes—simply follow the step-past-footstep instructions in the Arlo App. Still, information technology might take a little longer if you need to drill new holes for the mounting screws.

No base station: Arlo Essential Video Doorbells work by themselves right out of the box. They connect straight to your Wi-Fi network after installation— yous don't need whatever actress equipment, so you lot spend less money. You can add an Arlo SmartHub base station if you want local video storage, though we're not sure it's worth paying more the doorbells themselves.

Video quality

Arlo's video doorbell records 1536p videos in a foursquare aspect ratio—similar to what you detect in an Instagram mail. This gives you a better view of your porch than Band'due south widescreen video. Some other brands—like Nest and August—use a similar attribute ratio for their doorbell cameras. Only Arlo has the highest resolution of the bunch, making for crisp videos both day and nighttime.

Advanced detection

The Arlo Video Doorbell likewise uses artificial intelligence to distinguish between people, animals, cars, and packages. While other doorbell cameras offer similar features, online reviews say that Arlo is less likely to send you notifications that misfile dogs with people.

Quick replies

When a invitee rings the doorbell, y'all tin can skip the small talk with one of five pre-recorded letters:

  • "Leave the package by the door."
  • "You lot are being recorded."
  • "I'll be right at that place."
  • "Nosotros tin't answer the door right at present."
  • "Get out your message."

These are great when you can't come to the door or just want someone to stick around while yous turn the stove off in the kitchen.

Answering the door

One noteworthy quirk is that Arlo treats doorbell calls like a regular phone phone call on your smartphone, where you choose to have or decline a telephone call. It can exist confusing at first but is a bit easier than opening a tiny notification. There's likewise a siren in the Arlo Video Doorbell, which you tin can activate in the app to startle uninvited guests trying to open the door.

Some other feature we similar about the Arlo Video Doorbell is pre-recorded letters you lot can play for visitors, an choice that pops upwardly after you accept a call. This is such a fourth dimension-saver, specially with deliveries where face-to-face interactions are unnecessary or if you're finishing an of import email for piece of work.

Emergency call service

We think that Arlo'due south best feature is its e911 emergency call service that you can use to contact emergency responders. During a typical 911 call, the police reply to your telephone's location, only e911 sends them to your home whether you're there or not. While y'all demand a multi-camera video storage subscription to use the feature, it's worth checking out.

Smart home compatibility

Arlo has some of the all-time smart home compatibility amidst security camera companies, and then making it work with your favorite smart habitation devices is practically stress costless. Information technology's piece of cake to add together Arlo products to the most popular smart home platforms (though your mileage may vary with what you can exercise):

  • Amazon Alexa
  • Google Assistant
  • If This So That (IFTTT)
  • Samsung SmartThings

Wired power source

Yous can connect these devices to your existing mechanical doorbell chinkle for continuous power and added convenience. By using your existing doorbell chime, the doorbell works like it always has, so you know when there are visitors even if your telephone is charging upstairs.

The Arlo Video Doorbell requires a hardwired connection to your existing doorbell chime. This is standard exercise for well-nigh video doorbells but comes at the cost of a slightly more complex installation. It likewise limits placement options when you compare information technology to battery-powered models similar the Band Video Doorbell.

The Arlo Essential Wired doesn't have a bombardment, so it isn't equally flexible every bit its wireless sibling. Still, we retrieve it's better for most folks because a wired connexion is more reliable and cuts $50 off the price tag. Although the Arlo Essential Wireless doesn't require wiring, hooking it upwards to your doorbell wires is a handy mode to accuse the bombardment.

Arlo Secure Plan subscriptions

Despite some impressive features, the Arlo Video Doorbell has a few problems—the biggest of which is that the camera doesn't come up with free cloud storage. This is a feature that Arlo offered on its older products just stopped offering on new products like the Arlo Ultra, Arlo Pro four, and the Arlo Essential Video Doorbell.

Fortunately, Arlo's deject storage costs $2.99 a month for one-photographic camera plans, which is i of the best prices among security cameras and video doorbells.

Compare Arlo Secure plans

Without a programme Arlo Secure Plan Arlo Secure Plan Arlo Secure Plan Plus
Cost
Number of cameras Unlimited 1 Unlimited Unlimited
Deject storage Icon Tooltip  Dark None 30 days 30 days thirty days
Video resolution Up to 1080p Up to 2K Upward to 2K Up to 4K
Live viewing

Icon Yes  Light Yes

Icon Yes  Light Yes

Icon Yes  Light Yep

Icon Yes  Light Yes

Basic notifications

Icon Yes  Light Yep

Icon Yes  Light Yeah

Icon Yes  Light Yes

Icon Yes  Light Aye

Interactive notifications Icon Tooltip  Dark

Icon No  Light No

Icon Yes  Light Yes

Icon Yes  Light Yep

Icon Yes  Light Aye

Advanced detection Icon Tooltip  Dark

Icon No  Light No

Icon Yes  Light Yes

Icon Yes  Light Yes

Icon Yes  Light Aye

e911 emergency calls

Icon No  Light No

Icon No  Light No

Icon No  Light No

Icon Yes  Light Yep

Info current every bit of 08/12/2021. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.

We like that the Arlo Video Doorbell offers a ton of extras when you subscribe to an Arlo Smart video storage plan. Our favorite emergency feature from this subscription is the e911 call service that connects you to emergency responders. For convenience, we similar the parcel detection for when your new kitchen gadget arrives on your doorstep.

As good as the e911 feature is, you lot need to subscribe to Arlo Secure Plan Plus to use it, even if yous take only one camera. Considering $14.99 a month is a high price to pay for cloud storage on one photographic camera, it's a skilful idea to hold off until you have more than ane Arlo security camera or video doorbell.

Final word

The Arlo Essential Wired Video Doorbell gives the Nest Hullo a run for its money past offer many of the same features in a cheaper package. Information technology likewise has excellent video quality and works with a wide variety of smart dwelling house platforms. While the e911 service brings actress security to your home, it can exist pricey to get the feature if you accept only i camera.

Overall, this is one of the best video doorbells you can buy today thank you to a list of thoughtful features that become beyond chatting with visitors on your stoop. Cheque out our Arlo security cameras review to run across how the Arlo Essential Video Doorbell compares to its siblings.

How nosotros reviewed

We aren't able to do hands-on testing on the Arlo doorbells due to limited resource. But we took advantage of our experiences with testing other smart doorbells to guide our inquiry. We plan to update our review after testing the doorbells in person.

For at present, nosotros looked at the tech specs from Arlo's website to acquire what makes the products unique and to compare how they stand to the boilerplate smart doorbell. We likewise researched user reviews for both products to proceeds a greater perspective. If yous want to larn more well-nigh how we evaluate products, check out our full testing methodology.

Arlo doorbell FAQ

Aye, you can view a live video feed from any Arlo Video Doorbell or Arlo security camera—even if you don't have a subscription.

The Arlo Essential Video Doorbell doesn't require a base of operations station. This applies to both the wired and wireless versions.

Yes, you lot get simple notifications when someone rings the doorbell or when the camera detects motion. You can also lookout man the alive video feed and utilize two-way audio to speak with visitors at your door.

Disclaimers

*Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/fourth dimension indicated and are bailiwick to change. Any price and availability data displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase volition apply to the purchase of this product. Safewise.com utilizes paid Amazon links.

Certain content that appears on this site comes from Amazon. This content is provided "as is" and is subject area to alter or removal at whatsoever fourth dimension.

†Nest Hello, Google, Google Assistant, and other related marks are trademarks of Google LLC.

John Carlsen

Written by

John Carlsen

John is a engineering science journalist specializing in smart home devices, security cameras, and abode security systems. He has over nine years of experience researching, testing, and reviewing the latest tech—he was the Smart Home Editor for Top Ten Reviews and wrote for ASecureLife before joining SafeWise as a Staff Writer in 2020. John holds a Bachelor's degree in Communications, Journalism emphasis from Utah Valley University. In his spare time, he enjoys hiking, photography, cooking, and starting countless DIY projects he has nevertheless to complete.

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