Looking to secure the perimeter of your back patio? Our favorite outdoor security camera, the Arlo Pro 5 (9/10, WIRED Recommends) is currently marked down almost half off. Amazon has the single camera marked down from $180 to $100, and a two camera kit marked down to $130 for even better savings.
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Photograph: Simon Hill
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Photograph: Simon Hill
The video quality is surprisingly good for an outdoor security camera, with a 1440p output resolution, which is bolstered by a new and improved 12-bit sensor. The result is great coverage in both dark and bright areas, without losing details or overexposing. It also has a huge 160-degree field of view, which our reviewer Simon Hill says is “almost enough to take in [his] entire garden with a single camera.”
The notifications and app are excellent as well, with a huge variety of features and settings to dial in your smart-home setup. You can set activity zones, filter by different events like people or pets, and tweak the sensitivity so you aren’t bothered unless it’s absolutely necessary. It loads quickly too, with notifications for both iOS and Android that are detailed and easy to access.
Of course, a good outdoor cam needs to work well at night, so the Arlo Pro 5 has options for either a bright spotlight or digital night vision. Arlo even offers a color night vision mode, which our reviewer said is excellent, although moving objects can look a bit blurry. There’s audio recording and a speaker so you can make announcements to your visitors, and it even has duplex in case you need to hold a conversation with them.
This model has a rechargeable battery, which unfortunately uses a proprietary charging cable. The good news is that each camera should last three or four months on a single charge, depending on how often you record and which features you’re using. Unfortunately you’ll need a subscription to use all of those fancy features, with plans starting at $5 per month for one camera, but we found it was worth it for the cloud storage and excellent app support. If you aren’t looking to sign up for something else, you can always check out our other favorite outdoor security cameras for alternatives.
