Arlo pro 4 vs. ultra 2

[Bscheffers8228]

I’m looking to buy either 4 ultra 2s or 4 pro 4s -did they replace the pro 3 with the pro 4? Or should I get 3 pro 4s and one ultra 2? I’m curious on if the picture quality is that much of a difference along with the field of view? Any tips or suggestions would be appreciated thanks!

[StephenB]

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@Bscheffers8228 wrote:
I’m looking to buy either 4 ultra 2s or 4 pro 4s -did they replace the pro 3 with the pro 4? Or should I get 3 pro 4s and one ultra 2? I’m curious on if the picture quality is that much of a difference along with the field of view? Any tips or suggestions would be appreciated thanks!

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I personally don't see much difference between 2K and 4K - I wouldn't expect to see much at the bitrates Arlo uses - and in almost all cases the image is being downsized to fit my screen(s).

The Ultra definitely has a larger field of view, so it's a good option if you need that.  Not sure, but my impression is that the Ultra gives higher quality in low-light color.

The Pro-4 can connect to either a smarthub or your wifi - which is useful if you have a wifi mesh network, since in some spots the mesh can give better signal.

One aspect is that Secure Plus (4k) subscriptions are somewhat more expensive than Secure (2K).

[Bscheffers8228]

Oh ok so what’s the scoop on pro 3? Consumers reports rates it higher than the pro 4 says it has better picture quality and Can do a couple other things

[StephenB]

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@Bscheffers8228 wrote:
Oh ok so what’s the scoop on pro 3? Consumers reports rates it higher than the pro 4 says it has better picture quality and Can do a couple other things

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I don't see any difference in picture quality.  AFAICT the features are the same, as is the performance.

You do lose some features if you connect the Pro 4 to your home wifi though.

[Edinburgh_lad1]

<I wouldn't expect to see much at the bitrates Arlo uses>

Much in terms of 2K and 4K or in general? My Arlo HD had a very good quality picture but since they changed the compression rate, it went downhill. Of course, since it was done without me being aware of it, I thought it was my WiFi. How many thought the same? 

[StephenB]

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@Edinburgh_lad1 wrote:

Much in terms of 2K and 4K or in general? 

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Generally speaking, I think the video quality delivered by all Arlo cameras is limited by the bitrates - not by the camera hardware.

As I've said in other posts, I'd like to have an option to increase the bitrates (giving up retention), or perhaps another subscription tier with higher bitrates. Or course some network connections can't handle higher bitrates, so this would need to be an option.

In any event, I personally don't see a huge dropoff in video quality between the Ultra and the Pro 4.  Though this is tricky to generalize, as it depends a lot on the scene that is being captured (distance to the objects of interest, the amount of motion, lighting, etc), and the detail that is wanted (faces, license plate numbers, etc).  So different folks here will have different views.