- RATING
Arlo has done it again with its new pan tilt cameras – they are easy to connect and provide the widest possible view of your home with no blind spots to take your security – and peace of mind – to the next level.
The new Arlo Essential Pan Tilt cameras are the latest in the company’s portfolio offer and they offer even more coverage to improve your home’s security.
They also offer great value thanks to their affordable prices.
The Essential Pan Tilt Security Camera and the Essential Pan Tilt Indoor Camera are Arlo’s first cameras that users can manually pan and tilt through the companion app.
They can also track movement so through 360-degrees on the pan side and 180-degrees on the tilt side.
That means – no more blind spots at your place.
We installed both – the Essential Pan Tilt Security Camera outside – it is weatherproof after all.
And we placed the Essential Pan Tilt Indoor Camera inside our home – but the big difference here is the special privacy mode.
Understandably there may be some customers who might not be comfortable with a camera inside their home.
Users can see when it is in this mode because the camera is facing the floor and is turned off.
But when you leave your home – the Arlo Essential Pan Tilt Indoor Camera can be switched on and be always on the lookout for movement. Or you can turn it on within the app and have a look around.
The Arlo pan tilt indoor camera is perfect for those who want to check in on their pets when they are not home.
Apart from the video there is also clear two-way audio so you can talk through the cameras as clearly as you would on a phone call.
Set up was really simple – it takes you step by step through the Arlo app and connecting to your wi-fi network was also easier thanks to dual band wi-fi.
But even though the cameras connect wirelessly to your network they do need to be connected to power.
And this is with good reason, especially for the outdoor pan tilt camera.
As with other Arlo cameras, the pan tilt cameras can sense movement and start recording.
But the camera – because of its pan tilt capabilities – can track the subject as they move through the area.
In fact, the cameras can pan 360-degrees – that’s a full lap and tilt 180-degrees.
And that would take a lot of power and, if it had a battery, you’d be recharging it quite often.
The Arlo pan tilt cameras come with a power adaptor and a 5m cable to make it easier to position the camera closer to a power point.
Inside was no issue – we positioned the Essential Pan Tilt Indoor Camera in our studio room – this is where I record my review videos and where I do my live crosses when I’m on TV. There are plenty of power points in there.
Outside we installed the Essential Pan Tilt Security Camera on our astro shed (the shed where we store and operate all our astrophotography gear) which is in the corner of our yard and offers a wider viewing area.
From this position the camera can see our back deck, the paved area in front of the shed and most of the backyard.
With a regular camera that wouldn’t have been possible.
For tighter areas like our front door and driveway our other regular Arlo cameras do a great job and can cover those areas effectively.
But for larger and wider areas you can now have a single camera like the Arlo pan tilt to offer coverage across that entire area.
The Arlo Pan Tilt cameras can record 2K video (2304 x 1296) and have colour night vision and a built in spotlight.
It’s possible to set a home position for the Arlo pan tilt cameras – this is the area where the camera recentres after it has tracked motion.
The motion the cameras detect are sent as a notification on the Arlo app where you can view and download the videos.
And of course you can take a live view through the cameras and manually pan and tilt them using the in-app controls.
The controls can be a little sensitive so a small move on the joystick on the screen can move the camera quite a bit.
But it doesn’t take too long to get the right feel so you can aim the camera even more precisely in no time.
And with the purchase of the Arlo pan tilt cameras (any of Arlo’s other cameras) you also get a free 30-day trial of Arlo Secure – the service that can save your videos in the cloud for up to 30 days and provide smart notifications which can distinguish between people, packages, animals and vehicles.
There are also new AI features including event captions which describes what’s happening in the video so you can device if you need to watch it.
One of the best features of the Arlo pan tilt cameras are the price. They are really affordable.
The Essential Pan Tilt Security Camera is priced at $119 and the Essential Pan Tilt Indoor Camera is $79. They are both available now.
VERDICT
Arlo has done it again with its new pan tilt cameras – they are easy to connect and provide the widest possible view of your home with no blind spots to take your security – and peace of mind – to the next level.
