Arlo Essential Outdoor Pet Camera, X-Large, 2nd Generation, White

I thought this would be good to use to keep an eye on my backyard as it’s a oversize lot. Set up of the camera not difficult but took longer than I expected. First of all I had to find a plug to charge it. It came with the cord but it took a couple of days for me to find a charging plug with the correct receptacle. Kind of disappointing that it didn’t come with one but I know that’s what manufacturers are doing now. After charging overnight I did the set up which was very straightforward basically you are pressing a button to pair the unit and following directions on your phone. There was lots of security features setting up getting text, getting emails, entering information etc. so it was a little more time-consuming but nothing difficult at all. I did not realize that the unit came with one type of mounting bracket and you need to have an area that can you can drill into. That’s probably fairly standard however it wasn’t something I was thinking about when I was planning where to put it. For now I have the camera sitting on top of a short post that is near a back door. Once I got it outside and it started capturing video I could see that the video quality was good although the app was not intuitive to use I had to sit and fiddle with things for a while to figure out the settings I wanted and how to get to the live view etc. it really isn’t that hard once you move around in the app but it’s not just really obvious at the beginning. Now I’m not sure if this is the way it is supposed to work but when my dog goes out into the yard for example it will start filming and it seems that every single clip is about 14 seconds long now this can be with my dog walking out into the yard and then out of the frame it continues to film and then when he comes back in the frame it will pick up filming after a few seconds so I’m guessing my Internet is maybe not as fast as ideal because he can be walking around in the yard and it not being filmed. If you were using this as a security camera that would not be ideal because you don’t want a lapse in what you are seeing if something is going on. It will give me a notification on my phone when the camera has been triggered but again it’s a little slow and I am fairly certain it is due to the fact that my Internet is not keeping up. The videos themselves are clear and coloring is good nighttime video is adequate as well. It does have Emergency settings and arming and disarming settings. It also will indicate what type of movement it’s seeing such as animal or person etc. I think for the right homeowner with a strong Internet and someone who is able to mount the camera this is probably going to work out nicely for you. I’m giving it a little more time because the video quality is good and I do like seeing what’s happening in my yard. But right now I have mixed feelings about this as far as how I had wanted to use it.