Two questions about the Arlo Q Plus

[jaksaendo]

I'm a potential buyer. My first question is concerning activity zones. The arlo website says with no subscription, cloud activity zones are not included. A separate article on their website says activity zones ARE included with no subscription, as long as the camera is plugged into power. Which one is it?

Secondly, I own a couple of Wyze cameras, but their 5 minute cooldown and 12 second recording limit for their free cloud plan is very limiting. Can someone explain to me how the free cloud plan works with this camera? Is there any cooldown period whatsoever? And, when it does record a cloud clip, is it limited to a specific time, or will it record the entire time motion is detected? All of these questions is concerning this camera with NO subscription. Any help is appreciated- thank you.

[StephenB]

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@jaksaendo wrote:

I'm a potential buyer. 

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Arlo stopped manufacturing the Q+ back four years ago (Sept 2019) and hasn't sold them for some time.  You'd have to purchase a used camera (or somehow find very old inventory).

The camera is on the end-of-life list (EOL is scheduled for 1 Jan 2025).  Arlo says that the cameras will still function after the EOL date, but that over time some features might stop working (and Arlo will stop providing security updates for the cameras 12 months after the EOL date).

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@jaksaendo wrote:

The arlo website says with no subscription, cloud activity zones are not included. A separate article on their website says activity zones ARE included with no subscription, as long as the camera is plugged into power.

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This is confusing.

When cameras are operating on battery, the activity zones are processed in the Arlo Cloud.  That is needed to keep power drain in the cameras at an acceptable level.  Cloud activity zones require a subscription.

Some Arlo cameras (not all) do have hardware support for activity zone processing, and activity zones for those particular cameras will work w/o a subscription when the camera is plugged in.  The Q+ has no battery, so is always plugged in.  

[TomMac]

Side note...

IMO, the Q and Q+ were the best cameras that Arlo produced.

They use pixel detection ( change of cam view ) to trigger a recording. Due to this they also will function thru glass ( which the PIR detection cameras will not ).

They also have a "lookback" feature where the triggered recording will get a 3 sec addition from the cameras buffer added to the file beginning. ( allows you to see what triggered the recording ) This is due to the camera actually recording all the time.

As to what you call a 'cool down" period... the camera will record for a set time or until motion stops ( max of 5 mins ). The time from one recording to the next is aprox 15-20 sec for the camera to reset.

With the legacy cameras , which the Q is, the cloud recording is free... for 7 days storage.