Is the arlo pro 2 night vision really bad?

[chito2800]

So I own 4 arlo pro and they work amazing. Night vision is wonderful. I want to buy a extra camera for seeing the street where the cars park but I'm thinking if I should go with arlo pro 2.. the arlo pros I have now can see pretty far distance in night vision but I want to get the arlo pro 2 just cause it's newer but I hear all these bad reviews about night. Vision being bad but the pics I see of those customers complaining have the cameras position wrong where the ir is bouncing of the wall or a object too close to the camera. Can anybody help me out with some pics showing arlo pro 2 night vision of some far away distance views and normal views too.?Or any advice about the night vision. I also hear the arlo 2 pro looss connection a lot or video is really not that good when watching on biggger screen.

[MichaelRo]

Perhaps I can anticipate the questions and answers which will follow to save some time (every time this gets posted, the same things are rules out to not be the issue):

- no, I took the protective film off the screen
- no, there isn’t a hood on the camera.
- yes, I tried swapping the cameras out and t made no difference
- yes, I tried uninstalling and reinstalling the camera and it made no difference.
- yes, I returned and repurchased new cameras and it made no difference.
- yes, I installed the firmware updates and it made no difference
- yes, the Arlo Pro 1 was in the identical same mounting/lighting situation when hear two comparison images were taken.

Hopefully now we can move beyond these and get someone at Netgear to actually address if this is a defect in the product and how they’ll remedy it.

[MichaelRo]

Pro 2

[MichaelRo]

Pro 1

[MartinHD]

Thank you to all of the posters here.  I was about to fork over $800+ for the 4-cam Pro 2 setup.  Thanks to this forum I didn't waste my money and time on this substandard product.

[wheser]

I have ten Arlo’s, 8 are the original model and I just got two Arlo 2’s, replacing a couple of the older cameras. 

I can see a difference between the quality of the night vision between the two models. Maybe due to the 720 > 1080. But it is definitely dimmer, with the 2’s

But my complaint is that the Arlo 2’s light up when in night vision mode. Kinda of defeats the whole purpose of having hidden cameras. I have silicon skins on them to help them blend in. 

My question is, could this be because I have the two Arlo 2’s mounted facing each other?

One Arlo 2 is mounted next to the front door on top of my front porch light, looking out to the street. The second is mounted up in the eves pointed at the front door covering the entire front porch. 

Could this be due to that the two cameras night vision is reflecting off each other?  The other models didn’t do this. 

Thank you,

wh

[jguerdat]

Define "light up." The IR illuminators on all Arlo (and other) cameras show a dull red glow when activated since it's 850nm light, near IR, so somewhat visible. I've had a crazy neighbor flip the camera off because he could see it. Nature of the beast.

[MichaelRo]

The Arlo Pro 2 is CLEARLY a defective product and Netgear is very well aware of it. They were notified in November 2017, have claimed on several occasions to be “looking into it” but there is no progress. I recently tried to get resolution over the last 5 weeks. They first claimed it was my “perception”. After seeing examples, they claimed my specific camera was defective. After I replaced the cameras and had the same issue, they now claim to be “looking into it” with no timeframe for a response.

This is a joke.

[Somerset3]

I have been away, hence the late response.

Yes, of course I removed the plastic and Indeed I have swapped the camras around. Netgear reached out to me and replaced the second two cameras, but I am sorry to say that the night vision is still nowhere near as good as the initial two that I purchased in November.

I will try to post some videos, to demonstrate the reality, in the next few days

[MichaelRo]

As numerous people have posted over the last few months, this is a design issue with the cameras (firmware or hardware).  If you contact Customer Support, they will insist that you keep replacing/trying new cameras which consistently (and not surprisingly) shows the same poor night vision quality.  This demonstrates that the company is still in denial that they are selling a defective product.

[coolass123]

This Arlo Pro 2 are not good at all waist of money. The company need to sort this out money does not grow on trees....

[michaelkenward]

Do you have a particular problem. Or did you just want to rant about your waste of money?

If you have specific issues, then someone may be able to help. That's what this place is for.

[Johnny290]

I agree if you don't like it return it ,if you want better night vision for 20 bucks on Amazon you can buy in IR illuminator and have great night vision

[MichaelRo]

Guess it depends on whether you’re ok with a company selling a defective product which doesn’t meet the advertised specs. You can just be a pushover and pay extra out of pocket to “make it work” or hold the company to a standard of responsibility. Up to each person.

[Downunda]

I read another thread on this forum suggesting that poor night vision was caused by reflection from the skin (if fitted). The night performance of one of my pro 2 cameras was terrible and guess what? This afternoon I removed the skin and the night performance is now fantastic. The other camera that I was happy with did not have a skin fitted.

[MichaelRo]

Nope. There may be an additional issue with using the skin, but I have never used a skin and the night vision on the Arlo Pro 2 is terrible.. particularly when you compare to Pro 1 or a competitor (Nest, etc)

[chito2800]

the arlo pro are amazing cameras! ive had them for 4 months battery at 50% on all 4. night vision is perfect so is day time recording.

[Johnny290]

Yes Arlo Pro is an amazing camera but the Arlo Pro 2 night vision sucks

[MichaelRo]

Not sure what’s worse.... that folks actually believe the Arlo Pro 2 night vision is acceptable for a modern product at this price point.....or the fact that Netgear customer service knowingly is misleading customers that this isn’t an issue with their product design they hey continue to sell.

I worked extensively with customer service reps on this issue since January. Complied with their requests to prove that it wasn’t a settings issue and to exchange my cameras twice to show it wasn’t an “isolated” event. Now they said they have nothing else to offer and have “escalated it to engineering”. They would get back to me ASAP.

That was in early Feb. it’s my almost April.

You’re a sucker, whether you know it or not.

[mocodi]

Was pretty apprehensive about the Pro 2 after the reported problems with night vision, but haven't run into any issue yet.

Arlo (November 2016)

Arlo Pro (a week ago)

Arlo Pro 2 (a week ago)

Not really intended as a quality comparison - just to give a general idea of night vision at default settings ('optimised' video for the Arlo and Arlo Pro, which is 640x352, and 'best video' for the Arlo Pro 2, which is 1920x1072). The stills were all resized to 1200 width before upload.

[cherry-pie]

I have been using the very first wireless arlo cameras since they first came out (the ones without sound that take the CR123A batteries). Ive used these a few years and they have been great but decided to upgrade to the Arlo pro 2.

Right off the bat, i have noticed that the Night vision is terrible for the Arlo pro 2 compared to the 720p Arlo 1 cams 1st series. I am so dissapointed and cant believe that there has been a huge step backwards in this area. I have the cameras in the same exact spot, no accessories or skins etc. I compared them side by side, and the Arlo pro 2 night vision is almost completley dark and looks like it has a gray screen with a blotchy image. It gets a smidget bright when motion happens but overall it is terrible compared to the first series. Yes, i made sure there is no clear wrap around the camera. Everything was unpacked and installed correctly. I have a lot of familiarity with the arlo cams.

The first series Arlo wireless cams light up the entire area and you can make out faces and objects both close and from a far distance. The fact that the nightvision outshines the arlo pro 2 1080p ones makes the 720p look significantly better in quality. I cannot believe what i am seeing. Ive tested the cams outside, inside, changed settings etc.. and my conclusion is that this is just a bad design or an update is needed to fix the arlo pro 2 night vision. I have also noticed that the 1080p is not existent. It is nowhere near 1080p both in the day and especially at night.

I have also done the research online on different stores and sites and EVERYONE says the same thing; that the nightvision and 1080p are poor quality on the arlo pro 2.

I am not trying to sound negative hear but this is closely related to false advertising as these are the reasons i purchased the arlo pro 2; better image quality including nightvision. Other customer feedback and complaints validate this online. Search these forums and online stores like amazon or best buy reviews.

My question here is,

Is this going to be fixed? Is there an update capable of fixing this or is this a hardware/permanent quality issue? If not, i will return these to get my $800 back.

I hope not to receive a generic response from netgear and i hope there is a level of accountability taken here to fix this. I should have done the research online before buying but the 1st arlo cams were so great i didnt think that later models would be huge step backwards. The sound is good in the arlo pro 2 , but without adequate picture quality, they are pointless.

Please let me know if this is something you are working on netgear or if i need to return these before my window closes to get these back to the store. And please foward my complaint and feedback to anyone that cares .

Thanks

[cherry-pie]

I have been using arlo 720p cams with the batteries for years, installed the Arlo pro 2 today and noticed that the nightvision is 200% WORSE.

I am utterly dissapointed with this and hoping to get a response that this will be updated or fixed soon.

I am not using any skins, have them in the same spot as my previous arlo versions, same settings in pic quality etc....

[MichaelRo]

Don’t hold your breath.
They’ve known about this issue since the product release in late 2017 (look back at how old the night vision complaints are). I opened a ticket in January and finally got it escalated to “engineering”. It’s been 3 month and no reply.
I’m not expecting any reply. They knew they were selling a defective product when there are widespread identical complaints and have continued to sell the product with false advertising (emphasizing the “improved image quality”). I really hope some legal minded customer takes Netgear to task.

[jguerdat]

The basic issue is the size of the pixels in the sensor. Since the sensor is apparently the same size but has ~2x the number of pixels, the amount of photons per pixel is reduced, leading to reduced sensitivity. The IR illuminators apparently aren't stronger (saving the battery?) so the image is darker. It's a physical issue, not a firmware one.

If this is a major concern that overrides the 1080p resolution, swap for the original Pro cameras. 720p but increased night vision capabilities. Or use external lighting.

[cherry-pie]

If the issue is related to pixel size and IR illuminators, that would mean this product is designed with defects and flaws.

The solution should not be to have to return my arlo pro 2 because it has worse nightvision and picture quality than the first series model. That's counterproductive and a stepbackwards for innovation. I shouldnt have to aim my camera away from walls especially if i want the camera to cath part of that area. If the Arlo 1 can handle it, the 2 should too.

In this outlook, it is false advertising to advertise this product as having better quality , IR illuminators etc... than other versions. These advertisements lured me to specifically upgrade my cameras and now ive realized this was a mistake. Not good on your part Netgear.
My feedback here again, is to stop misleading and advertising this product as being better than earlier models. My point here validates that it is not! This is definetly something that could be litigated against if someone spent the effort. I am a little ticked off in wasting my time to buy and intall these. I hope you are going to fix this.

By the way jg, are you just a freuqent user of these forums, or is this response directed by Netgear?

[mocodi]

Follow-up to my previous comparison after moving the Arlo Pro 2 from front porch to driveway. The result here doesn't look as good for the Pro 2.

Arlo - 'Optimised' quality (640x352)


Arlo Pro - 'Best Video' quality (1280x720)


Arlo Pro 2 - 'Best Video' quality (1920x1072)


Caps uploaded in original size, but the forum might resize them.

Also tested the Pro 2 at its 'Optimised' video quality setting (1280x720) but it looked much the same.