Review on Arlo Essential Wire-Free Video Doorbell - HD Video, 180° View, Night Vision, 2-Way Audio, Wi-Fi Connection, No Hub Required, Wire-Free or Wired, White - AVD2001 by Mark Adams

Update August 24, 2021: We now have the Ring Doorbell 4. It was a day and night experience. I'll be happy to pay the difference. If you want to know why and compare my opinion, the update is under this first review. (Arlo original review of July 20, 2021) I thought Prime's Echo Show deal would eclipse many (many) negative reviews. I would give zero stars if I could. Avoid the product. I was really wrong. Upon opening this product it seemed easy to set up. After a few days I noticed that the picture quality was extremely bad. I have an Xfinity and have removed key devices like Wi-Fi printers, coffee makers, etc. to reduce network bandwidth usage. However bad picture quality. Contacting support was useless at best. All of their replies were copied/pasted and I had a new collaborator for each email. Some even repeated the same questions. It felt like I was being ignored. My verdict on this product is below (my wish list): ✓ Easy to install. Main parts, wires added if you want to connect them too. Second corner panel in case your door requires it. ✓ Simple pairing and installation instructions. ✓ App required. This is a device that requires an internet connection. ✓ Shows at least 6Mbps download to ensure video quality. It's not enough for 2k, or the product is defective in my experience and many reviewers. ✓ Adding DC power to a rechargeable lithium battery will damage the battery and shorten battery life. ✓ Poor image quality. Pixelated, delayed and tearing. Images within a few meters of the camera are recognizable, but beyond that they are useless for personal or professional/criminal purposes. ✓ Beep but there is a delay when opening the app. The actual live stream also has a delay. ✓ Advertised 2k, actual Can't even see chunky food labels from a few feet away. ✓ The video in the app was square and had fisheye distortion. Although the camera could shoot further to the side and I could turn my widescreen phone sideways, the app didn't expand the field of view. I was able to zoom in but the effect was still distorted. ✓ Reduced fisheye distortion on PC but still noticeable. Large screen area in the OC area with the same zoom, record, pause and view tools. Similar patchy pixelation when viewed in a browser. ✓ Monthly/Annual fee for most core features. ✓ Extremely short clips. Capture only the taillights of a car pulling up to the edge of the frame or a person/large pet moving out of frame. Depends on the weather. ✓ Reboots the same. A person standing on a porch or sidewalk will sound an alarm for 5-10 seconds even if the sound is muted. ✓ Records 10-15 minute trigger videos more often. Some of them are a bit longer, but none of them are magical foreshadowing. This can mean that the most important part of the plot or important parts that give information about what happened in the video are missing. For example, a car pulled up, but you don't see the people inside who got out. Not a big problem, except that our area has had issues with mail theft, stolen catalytic converters, and other issues. It helps to keep an eye out for strange cars. When a neighbor asks if our camera caught something and I watch all the clips of blurry people, illegible license plates, Watching cars out of frame and people moving in/out of frame it's just useless. Also a waste of monthly fees. ✓ The manual recording is interrupted when you are logged in via the app. The app's notifications push you right out of your manual PC inputs, and so does the app. You cannot perform actions at the same time even after authentication. It's great to be extra safe, but it's a little frustrating. I found this out by contacting Arlo support about the image quality. ✓ Incorrectly tagged images. People are machines, machines are people. Many packages are not recognized. Many people almost fell out of line and turned themselves into a movement label in bright civilian clothes. Videos with multiple trigger cues either don't trigger any alerts or just turn into a simple motion. Beware of packages that don't alarm. ✓ Poor customer service upon reaching. The process only delayed the return process. Update (Ring Doorbell 4) so you can compare and decide: ✓ Ring is a chunky car. Just like Arlo. This is a similar build, but the ring looks more like a rectangle. You can go to smaller sizes but you like one shape or another. Ring has certain security points that you need to be aware of. Unlike Arlo, there's no button here, so people can just press and render your security camera pointless. The ring has a hex screw that secures the battery.✓ Front panel replaced! Not that it matters but my purple. I have to report that Ring sent us a free letter out of the blue just as a greeting. It's a piece of plain plastic. Make what you want out of it. ✓ The battery falls out at the touch of a button. Much nicer and more secure than Arlo, where you can pop open the entire camera screen cover and press with a paperclip. ✓ Both have an extra wire mount/solar panel that can damage/overcharge the battery. I hope they introduce a feature to stop charging a fully charged battery to extend battery life. Not just to help customers be comfortable and all that, but lithium and battery materials are limited. ✓ Neighborhood community! All communities are game changers. I didn't even have to ring the doorbell. it was ordered but I participated and was able to participate. Videos are not published automatically, you decide which videos you want to share with your region. Adjacent areas are defined by users, but you may not define more than the specified area. Local law enforcement also decides to get involved if they wish.✓ Can I go back to preaching to my neighbors? I've been warned about window sniffers, burglaries, auto theft, property damage, favors, missing/found dogs and more. All within minutes. Yes, Nextdoor is an app, but it's also useful. External apps like Nextdoor or social media require you to upload your content and then download it, which can affect the quality. ✓ Better quality at 1080p than the promised Arlo 4k. As? i'm still confused The same goods in my network! I blame the coffee maker which is overused and always making coffee for people (joke). Also, Ring required a download speed of 1 Mbps from me. I like the tech team who can write a program to compress videos. Less packet loss between customer and corporate servers. Yay. ✓ Preroll to find out what worked. It will appear as a small window within the video. ✓ I specify how long the recording lasts. The algorithm also highlights a section that it found moving or important. ✓ Of course he's not very good at grades, but better. ✓ The user interface is much better. a long video strip, that I can hold and fast-forward. This is very handy when I want to see the very fast movement of all the cars triggered by my camera at night or skip the cats visiting the birdbath in the morning. ✓ Same field of view, less fisheye AND I can rotate my phone to see a larger image. I can also pinch/zoom or pan and move the image. ✓ Very easy setting for trigger zones. The sensitivity settings are also easy to understand. ✓ Again, the control panel and the Ring app itself will fire a nuke at Arlo. I am very willing to give them money and hold them accountable for their product. Your customer service was helpful. I'm sure I'll face problems, but I'm sure they'll have fewer obstacles.