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Arlo? I have the 3 camera set up and it's spot on
Does anyone have any recommendations for a single outdoors camera which is battery operated (long battery life please).
Something that you can install and have a easy setup so you can get notifications to your phone or email and it’ll record when triggered or show live feeds if required.
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Arlo? I have the 3 camera set up and it's spot on
I looked at the Arlo but I was put off by reading a lot of poor reviews, can I ask how long the battery lasts please.
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Depending on activity, front door / garden lasts about 5 months - garage lasts approx 6 months and back garden could easily be 12 months
Batteries aren't too expensive if you buy bulk, I looked at a few systems but glad I picked Arlo as it's perfect for my needs
I use the Blink XT2, great picture, 1080p, night vision good, I bought a different mount off Amazon which offers a bit more security against theft and more scope for adjustability. Camera is £99.
I have been looking at the Blink as well, whats it like for recording, I’ve read a lot saying it’s too sensitive and constantly records this draining the battery?Originally Posted by Rod
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Last edited by Martylaa; 12th July 2020 at 11:08.
The batteries in my Blink outdoor set up are still going strong after 12 months. Probably recording three or four cats an evening when they trigger the PiR
With careful positioning, avoiding bushes blowing, traffic, I've found it ok, best position is not to have it facing approaching people but side on as they pass.
You can adjust sensitivity and recording lengths too.
The app is very good and any recordings made can be mass deleted in one press.
Typically I use about 3 or 4% of storage per day and any deletions reduce it back down.
There's a purple light that comes on when it records on the camera and this can be turned off so as not to attract attention particularly cats!
Oh and you can also block out any part of the scene using a grid of squares which is also good.
I don’t think you’ll get better than Arlo, how long the battery lasts depends entirely on how often it gets triggered. We’ve got 7, some battery powered, some mains powered, some solar. I wouldn’t go for any other system now, it’s been reliable for the 3 or 4 years we’ve had it.
I didn’t buy xt2 because it’s so easily hacked, look it up online
We have a 3 camera arlo system and our insurance provided one that supervises the driveway and cars too (that’s Neos)
The arlo is spot on, good battery life measured in months mostly and doesn’t record too much dross .. caught the neighbours cat raiding our bins last week.. I say cat that things more the size of a panther, god knows what it ate to grow that big
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Do you have to pay subs to Arlo as well then?
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Arlo all day long
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I do like the look of the new Arlo Floodlight camera but it’s not getting released for another few weeks...
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Not unless you want more than 7 days recording keeping. It works well but you do need to make sure the Wi-fi coverage is decent.
We aren’t paying a subscription no although I think you can and I’m willing to bet it’ll all go that way eventually
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Ah my WiFi is spot on at home so no issues there.
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The Arlo hub creates its own Wi-fi zone. So it is that rather than your current one.
I have the new arlo model.
The front garden I had to wire in as it has constant passing traffic and lasted less than 3 weeks. The back garden lasted for ages through the winter, but with the kids all playing in the garden it needs charging every 5 weeks or so.
I simply swap the front and back around and I'm up and running in 5 minutes.
Arlo. The cameras are battery operated. So you have to buy batteries. But it works.
I have Arlo and also Ring mains powered. They have different good points.
Let me know if you find a system with battery powered cameras you don’t have to buy batteries for.
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
The current Arlo has a chargeable lithium battery in it.
I haven't had to buy batteries. Just keep them topped up.
Answers my question then. Should alleviate the OPs worries.
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
These issues are fixed by Amazon so not an issue.
https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-am...-idUKKBN1YE2D2
Only the first gen Arlo uses replaceable batteries, and that’s not the stuff you should be buying now, it’s very old tech. The Pro, Pro2, Pro3 and Ultra all use decent sized rechargeables.
Where are people putting these cameras, ladder access needed to charge/swap batteries or at a lower level?
Just ladder access, my PRO 2 cameras last 6 weeks plus on charge.
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My front door one is on the door frame, so easy access.
The one in the back garden needs a ladder.
These are decent £79
https://postimg.cc/gallery/8JHVyFG
Mines for the back tbh
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One of the plus points for the Arlo cameras I have, is that the notification of movement is very quick, and the video is viewable very quickly also. Not always the case with the Ring cameras.
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
I completely agree.
Our Ring doorbell is utter rubbish for exactly that reason.
By the time the app finally connects and shows me who is (was) at the door, they have already left and are half way home.
Must admit it's a failing on them. Excellent idea if it connected quicker. Wonder if Ring have anything to say about it?
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
I’ve had a 5 camera Eufy Eufycam 2 system for 2 months. So far it’s worked really well. The app is excellent and the image quality is very good. Eufy is an Anker brand so it’s backed by a large company. The battery is supposed to last 365 days which I have yet to test.
Last edited by Phil Lee; 13th July 2020 at 16:23.
To be fair, mine was the first generation and I hear they have improved a lot since, but I would not want another Ring product now as the Gen 1 was simply unfit for purpose and they never admitted it.
Their customer support was always very helpful and friendly, but ultimately they always concluded the problem was mine, poor wifi, poor broadband speed etc - which is all utter guff, as the Ring doorbell was just as crap when we switched to a 80mbs down/30mbs up service and a Ring wifi booster. Poor wifi connection remained their other excuse, despite the bell being less than 1m away from their own branded wifi point through a glass door.
It has completely died since and they offered me a 25% discount voucher to ease the pain, which makes it about the same price as you could buy it from Amazon anyway. Why anyone would want to pay that much for a Ring doorbell which never works properly and then dies just outside warranty is beyond me. Shame, as they are so close to being a great idea!
Maybe I just had a Friday afternoon version??.
We have ring external and arlo inside can’t fault either both work really well
I think the problem lies with their software. If Arlo can be virtually instant view at the same house it only leaves Ring hardware or software at fault.
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
I’ve got a mains ring camera on the front and a battery one covering the back door as couldn’t find an easy way for mains. It holds 3 batteries which lasts about 4 weeks per battery with a cat going in & out multiple times a day.
Inside I’ve got some Moobox cams and very impressed. Bit of an arlo knock off but their support has been excellent when required.
Which flavour of Arlo camera is recommended? Are the 720p 'HD' cameras up to snuff, or does it makes sense to get one of the higher resolution models?
Also, I quite like the look of the new Arlo floor standing model:
I can only echo this. Ring have definitely gone off the boil. I have 2x ring stick up cams (gen 3) and pro wired doorbell. Initially worked flawlessly until the last round of feature updates. Since then the cams won’t stream live view reliably 99% old the time and the doorbell now alerts constantly every 2 mins.
Support were great in that although spending hours troubleshooting they’ve not managed to sort it. However they sent out brand new kit for next day delivery as remediation, but the new gear has exactly the same issues. Their support forums have a growing number of complaints for the same issues but no solution.
Great hardware but software seems to suck at the minute.
They are probably just trying to get you 'over the line' for their 2 year warranty, then they will give you two fingers.
It’ll be a long wait for them as they’re only 4 months old now! I did in fact just return the cameras to JL this past weekend and they were great. They had a look at the support forums and agreed with me, got a full refund. I just need to find something better now...and thing what I’m going to do about this annoying doorbell (as it’s wired in I didn’t fancy just taking it out until I sort it or find a better solution).
The problem with the Ring doorbell is that there is no real local storage so that damned thing has to always upload in order to be able to record the next clip. Their software only looks for clips in the cloud as well. Right royal pain in the arse and if you speak to Ring they always but always blame your WiFi.
What they should really do is have a decent amount of local storage so that uploading is then a background task and then update their app to look locally first, that would improve things no end but then I suppose with local storage who would buy into their monthly plans?
The HD ones are old tech and use replaceable batteries, makes much more sense to get at at least a Pro, if not Pro2 or 3. Ultra seems overkill though.Which flavour of Arlo camera is recommended? Are the 720p 'HD' cameras up to snuff, or does it makes sense to get one of the higher resolution models?
Also, I quite like the look of the new Arlo floor standing model:
Agree entirely. With just one piece of ring kit, the monthly service charge is only a couple of quid. But without paying that the kit is entirely useless after the free trial period runs out. I probably mis-read their service offering before I purchased the bell and cameras. I read it as ‘you get up to 30 days’ file saving’ rather than ‘You get sweet FA without paying us and then up to 30 days storage’.
I think it’s pretty tight not offering even 24 hours storage before you have to pay. My fault though, I should have researched better.
Another suggestion for a small budget. I have a wyze camera, and they just launched a wyze outdoor camera. Normal wyze is USD 20 and the new outdoor is about 50. Only caveat, they don’t ship outside the US so you will have to get creative to get one.
Cloud storage for short clips is included and it holds and SD card. SD makes it fast and cloud is nice in case the camera is stolen itself.
I use the regular wyze on a non permanent basis, it also allows for time lapse on SD and great if you have older kids and want to babysit remotely. It also detects people (it detects humans, not who is who) which really limits the amount of notifications when lights spring on etc
Would like to get the outdoor, first reviews look good and software support so far is fine.
Also own a ring and indeed opening live stream is slow. Also not detecting humans means the alerts are worthless, cars passing by shining headlights into garden triggers etc. Hence the cheap wyze was a pleasent surprise, especially as no subscription is needed.
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I don't own one but the Eufy seems to get good reviews from real users
Arlo, I have had 5 of for many years, 3 are still first generation and going strong Batteries last 4-6 months on duracell. You can get rechargeable now also. I have an outdoor camera running off their solar panel, never been touched in 3 years. They have a new "essentials model out" , stand alone if you dont want a whole system, and cheaper. Arlo are one of the few camera manufacturers that pride themselves on their privacy policy. Never to resell your data. Unlike anything google or amazon owned...like Ring, Blink, Nest etc..
Went for the Blink XT2 option in the end, very easy to set up and install, no subscription fees and seems to do everything I need so far...
I’ll see how it handles over the next few months...
Thanks for the advice on this thread...
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I’ve recently ordered the Eufy 2c 2 camera set up, I’ll add a 3rd if I need it. You’re right though the user reviews seem really good and I got a good deal on mine at £184.
I’ve been very happy with my Eufycam 2 system. I bought 3 cameras at first (with the 3rd one added for free) then bought another 2 when they were at 40% off. The cameras are regularly on offer so don’t pay full price when you’re adding to the system.
Nice one, I’ll keep that in mind if I need the other one. Thanks
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