Arlo Wired Floodlight Camera review – this may be the perfect security camera for your home

For those that have read my musings and reviews over many, many years – you’ll know I’ve tried every type of security camera there is – but having installed the Arlo Wired Floodlight camera a month or two ago, I’m ready to buy two more!

Now while I’m a huge fan of the fully wireless cameras Arlo and many other brands have been selling now for many years there’s always a risk you forget to follow that low battery notification and end up with a day or more where your camera isn’t working. Likewise, you might be installing your cameras in a place where it’s harder to reach for battery replacement, this is ideal for your elderly family members who might end up calling on you to come and change the batteries – perhaps go wired instead.

Critically, this device is not wired for anything but power, and – it’s vital to note that while the Arlo Wired Floodlight Camera is just $249, you will also have to pay a sparky to hard wire the electricity, this is not plug and play and cannot be DIY installed under Australian regulations.

One you’ve picked a spot and your electrician has wired it for power, the setup process is identical to any other Arlo camera on your network. Within the Arlo App you can then set up your video profile, brightness, sensitivty and such.

As well as of course the floodlight settings.

We set this up in the ideal location in the front corner of our home under the eve, that means that any family member arriving home at night, or a guest approaching the house will have their path lit – and lit bright by the two stunning LED lights . Because the Camera in the middle and the lights are on articulating posts you can twist them to broadly direct the light where it’s needed too.

I had previously used the Arlo Floodlight (Battery) and the light from this is as good or better – perhaps more direct.

What impressed me most though here is that you don’t miss a thing – Here’s a simple example.

You’ll notice you see Harri’s feet enter the frame, in essence it picks up the exact moment of motion detection. For me this is a critical thing if you are looking for complete home security.

I see this Wired camera position as the first line of defense, from there it’s wireless at the front door, plus the doorbell and another inside the door.

If you play around deep in the automations you could actually trigger another camera to record when this one detects motion, there’s a lot you can do in the settings.

Night time video is great, of course thanks to the floodlight, so even in those conditions you get a great video;

Another sign of a great camera is how it handles the extremes, in this case bright light. Here’s a middle of the day video with a direct glare from the overhead sun.

But the colours and overall scene reproduction is excellent.

Producing 2K video the clarity is excellent, and perhaps critically that 160 degree field of view means you get a lot from a single camera like this.

If, like me, you have the road in view of the camera, you can set detection zones within the Arlo app settings:

My only complaint here is the restriction on a four sided detection zone. I’m sure it used to be that you could manipulate the zone to suit the shape you choose, but in the end, I’m able to get the coverage I need.

I’m so impressed I’m going to put one at my back door for security purposes, and then in the backyard of our place we have an old school floodlight on the second floor looking down on the backyard, I suspect these 2000 lumens will light the place up like the M.C.G.

For existing users of Arlo cameras this is a perfect way to top off the home security – you will instantly know where you’d want to put this in your system.

If you’ve not got any home security, the $249 price tag will be super appealing, but don’t be put off by then having to pay for installation – that’s the price of awesome quite frankly, perhaps also note that you can choose to go Wireless with a range of Arlo cameras as perhaps a better starting point to home security.

Would it be better if it was 4K? Maybe, but I don’t really see where I need that. Handy, yes, critical – no.

Well worth a look this one, and a complete hands-off experience for owners.

Web: Arlo