The Arlo Pro 5S 2K Outdoor Camera captures everything and is now 28% off

What is the deal?

The Arlo Pro 5S Featured camera is down to $180 with this Memorial Day deal.

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Key points of ZDNET

• Flagship Pro 5S 2K by Arlo battery-powered camera with 2K resolution for $250.
• The Pro 5S can go wherever you need surveillance, reliably detects motion accurately, and has a removable rechargeable battery.
• Arlo requires a subscription to access most features in the app, video quality could be better at 2K resolution, and it’s expensive.

The Arlo Pro 5S 2K is a completely wireless security camera that can be placed for indoor or outdoor surveillance. It’s sleek, compact, and reliable — all the qualities you’d expect from a new Arlo camera. But there are some things that I don’t want to do, although I can’t be sure whether it’s because of Arlo or because of me.

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First, it’s worth discussing the elephant in the room: the monthly subscription.

I love a great security system; it’s one of the few things I don’t forget to turn on every night, and as someone diagnosed with OCD, it helps me sleep at night. I have the Eufy Security system at home because it doesn’t require any subscription or monthly fees, although the initial cost isn’t cheap.

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The Arlo camera is more expensive than the Eufy Security camera in my house and still requires registration after purchase. I could complain endlessly about why I don’t like security camera subscriptions, but I will say this: if I buy a camera, I want to own the images. You don’t buy a camera to pay the manufacturer for every photo or video you take.

The Arlo Pro 5S 2K camera is not a standalone product. Although it is sold and can be used as one device, it will work best when linked with other Arlo Home Security devices. Users can purchase Arlo Ultra SmartHub separately to enhance their security system and enable local storage. SmartHub can record to a micro SD card sold separately.

Once set up, users can only access camera recordings when they are on the same network as the SmartHub, because the system works locally. This gives some users a much-needed sense of privacy and others a headache.

Arlo consumers can bypass this setup and remotely access video recordings stored in the SmartHub using port forwarding or VPN.

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Arlo offers different types of Arlo Secure subscriptions to enable up to 30 days of cloud storage, animated notifications and smart interactions, audio detection of alarms, smart activity zones, and action replacement. theft, critical alerts, 24/7 emergency response, and certain AI support featured.

Arlo Secure subscriptions range from $4.99 a month for a single camera up to $25 a month for an unlimited number of cameras, plus 24/7 professional monitoring services, video verification, Home Safety monitoring for location registration and alerts as well as incident detection and response through the Arlo Safety App.

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Aside from the monthly fee, I found the Arlo Pro 5S 2K to be extremely reliable and responsive – motion alerts appeared immediately; As soon as there’s movement in Arlo’s yard, my phone alerts me.

Battery life is outstanding. Arlo Pro 5S has a removable and rechargeable battery that lasts up to eight months on a single charge. I’ve only been testing the Pro 5S for a few months but the battery is still working fine and there are no low battery warnings.

The pictures taken by the camera are not good. I’m not sure what’s going on with my camera or whether my backyard isn’t nice enough, but I still have to wait for high-quality images from the Arlo Pro 5S. Instead, I encountered overexposed patches of grass in my feed, overwhelming much of the rest of the image and making it difficult for me to identify people as they passed by the area .

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I have to admit that my backyard gets a lot of sunlight, and overexposure was the only problem I had with the Arlo Pro 5S. Through this experience, I determined the Pro 5S is more suitable for monitoring the front or side of my home.

ZDNET Buying Tips

To be Arlo Pro 5S 2K Is it worth buying? As I see it, this is the perfect camera for someone who already has an Arlo subscription or setup, or someone interested in it — as long as they don’t mind the monthly fee. It’s an exceptional camera, that’s for sure, but it’s one that doesn’t reach its full potential without a subscription or as part of a larger Arlo setup.

I don’t believe I would ask the SmartHub to enable local storage because viewing it remotely seems like a hassle, but I can see why people would do that. If I add to my Arlo network, I will probably get a monthly subscription. But since I want to save money, the Pro 5S 2K will be the only Arlo in my house for now.