No free 7 days!? You just doomed this product.

[BestBuyGuy]

Just had my training on the new Ultra as I'm a Best Buy employee. I can tell you now you just doomed this product. No free 7 day recording any more which is your #1 selling point, then after a year having to pay not only for basic 1080p recording but an additional fee for 4k recording is ludicrous. Initially you were supposed to offer free 7 day recording and then pay for 4k recording quality. I can tell you right now the #1 reason the Arlo brand outsells the Ring and other competitors we sell is because of the free 7 day cloud recording. Ok, so you must be able to access your local recordings from your cellphone then unlike with the Pro series. WRONG! You now have to struggle to remove this microSD card instead of the more convenient standard USB flash drive and put it into your computer like before.

So lets review. You will pay an almost unthinkable amount for the 4k Ultra, after a year have to pay for basic 1080p storage, then pay again if you actually want to record in 4k, and not even have the option to access local recordings in 4k without yanking this inconvenient microSD card out. This is your new premium product?!

I personally own a 6 camera Pro 2 and love it. I have impressed so many customers by pulling out my phone and showing them the system I have and explaining in detail how proudly it works and SAVES you money in the long run. Now I can explain in detail how the new Ultra system will extort you for money every year on top of its industry leading premium costs. Where is the benefit to the consumer? I know the margins are greater with the Ultra for us but this is a very bad long term plan.  Once Wyze comes out with their outdoor camera you will really feel the pain. Dumb Arlo, just dumb.

[mauijer]

You just lost me and my $1200 Arlo. Will be returning my 4 pack Arlo Ultras to Bestbuy.

I SPECIFICALLY asked about the 7 day cloud recording prior to purchasing the Ultras and your representative told me that it would remain in effect for the Ultras. No trust earns no business Think long and hard about how much cutting corners saved you to release a product that is being returned by almost everyone.

[BestBuyGuy]

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@mauijer wrote:

You just lost me and my $1200 Arlo. Will be returning my 4 pack Arlo Ultras to Bestbuy.

I SPECIFICALLY asked about the 7 day cloud recording prior to purchasing the Ultras and your representative told me that it would remain in effect for the Ultras. No trust earns no business Think long and hard about how much cutting corners saved you to release a product that is being returned by almost everyone.

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Originally we were told that the Ultra would have the free 7 day basic cloud plan as all the other cameras that earned Arlo its place in the market. You would have to pay for optional 4k recording to the cloud if you wanted it, but you would at least get 1080p recording. That's why you were first told that by a representative. All that changed with the products official release and now people are being screwed and returning their orders or cancelling at a record pace. As a floor saleman I will not promote or knowingly sell an Ultra to anyone without first warning them of the failure of this product, and the margins for selling the Ultra are larger than the Pro series for me. Watch some of the video reviews popping up now, they all say the same thing. Bad, bad descision to cut the basic 7 day plan and the camera performance is horrible accross the board (battery life, picture quality, staying connected, motion tracking/zoom feature, endless additional fees after a year, etc.). Get the idiot product manager who rushed this to market and make them held accountable and restore the basic plan. This will be a fatal product for Arlo as the anger is tremendous which they completely brought on themselves.

[kduffey]

I have been continually plagued with various laggy wifi video stream issues, and thought that by using a USB flash drive I was remotely accessing my videos on the flash drive NOT cloud. I had no idea my videos were being stored in the cloud. I do NOT want my videos leaving my house. Who knows what they are doing with all that video. It would not shock me that they could use that against you in the court of law without your consent.

So, the answer? Unifi Protect. Anyone that does NOT want to pay monthly fees, does NOT want their videos being sent to a server somewhere (who knows where) and could potentially see your stolen by some hacker (assuming Netgear never deletes them), then look at Ubiquiti Unifi Protect. It is a similar cost in terms of hardware, maybe a little more up front, but you are also getting way more powerful software, the new V2 key (for $200 but includes 1TB HD expandable to 5TB) handles 20 4K streams being recorded, and it is accessbile remotely for free, and is always on your server in your home. Add a USG (about $120) behind your modem to really lock things down, as well as managed switches and dedicated wifi access points, all managed by the same software. Yes, I realize this is a bit more than just security video stuff, but it is a robust all in one setup that is used by the pros in schools, offices, etc, but the cost is the same! In the long run you will end up with ability to have way more cameras, all managed in one place, with much better quality, stored securely in your home, and, within a year it will save you money over the monthly costs. 

[JamesC · Accepted solution]

We've heard your concerns and have an exciting announcement based on your feedback. Take a look here for more information: Local and Remote Access to Local Storage for Arlo Ultra via Arlo App Expected in Second Half of 2019

JamesC

[Uribees]

Wow if this ends up panning out it could be a real game changer. While I am still not happy about getting rid of the 7 days of cloud storage it's nice to know Arlo is trying to remedy it at least.

[Comiotmoto]

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@JamesC wrote:

We've heard your concerns and have an exciting announcement based on your feedback. Take a look here for more information: Local and Remote Access to Local Storage for Arlo Ultra via Arlo App Expected in Second Half of 2019

JamesC

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That is simply not enough. All the models should be able to access locally recorded files. So when this feature is made available the Pro cameras will once again have an edge because they will also have the 7 day plan on top of it. Once again you will be paying much more for the Ultra and getting less value long term with guaranteed fees for the life of the product if you want any cloud storage. Wake up people.

[Ellisstate]

Great points. They mask what the 4K extra fee is. Which in my mind out of principle is really annoying. I bout the four pack online but will return after reading your review.

[Norman619]

You telling me the hub doesn't have USB ports to connect external hard drives for local storage?

[kduffey]

Correct me if I am wrong, but it sounds like the plan is to allow you to record directly to the local storage, bypassing the cloud storage needs, and being able to view recorded video from the local storage remotely. Is that not correct? 

[jguerdat]

That's my understanding.

[LarryQwest]

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@Comiotmoto wrote:

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@JamesC wrote:

We've heard your concerns and have an exciting announcement based on your feedback. Take a look here for more information: Local and Remote Access to Local Storage for Arlo Ultra via Arlo App Expected in Second Half of 2019

JamesC

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That is simply not enough. All the models should be able to access locally recorded files. So when this feature is made available the Pro cameras will once again have an edge because they will also have the 7 day plan on top of it. Once again you will be paying much more for the Ultra and getting less value long term with guaranteed fees for the life of the product if you want any cloud storage. Wake up people.

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I hope the upgraded app works for all cameras, but if it does it means the Ultra is once again taking a step back compared to the Pro cameras with free 7 day cloud access. So the Ultra charges you more and still takes a back seat. Having the ability to record to the base station storage, view remotely, and bypass the cloud completely is an option that should have been offered from the beginning. It would be nice to choose your own cloud storage location as well.

[italoswizz]

Dear Arlo,
I think You Guys have the best cameras on the market today and future to come.
But why the hell would You Risk all this Greatness?!
Every Camera sold must include 1 charging cable with 2 mount options.
That means 4 camera set = 4 charging cables and 8 mounts, 4 fixed ones and 4 magnetic ones.
Of course 1 battery for each camera.
But the most important thing is to keep the cloud recording free and not as a monthly fee.
The 4K cloud service can be as an option for who it wants as a add on for a Low Monthly Fee for all cameras and not for each camera separately.
The sirens should always be included in The Hub and as a add on option to add extra sirens if needed,again only who it wants and not to be mandatory.
Arlo keep it simple and give the People what they deserve and we will always keep buying Your Great Products.
Arlo, please please fix this serious issues.

Thank You Arlo

[BigDaddy3]

Ask Y-Cam users if it's legal for a company to stop offering free 7 day recording after promising it "for life".

[rynoshark]

I agree. I have both Arlo2 (5) and Ring cameras (2) and was going to buy more Arlos until this change.  I am now going to replace all my Arlos with Ring since I can have them all on one plan and I trust Amazon to be more customer focused long term on offering Ring packages/integration/Prime/etc in the future.

[st_shaw]

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@rynoshark wrote:

I agree. I have both Arlo2 (5) and Ring cameras (2) and was going to buy more Arlos until this change.  I am now going to replace all my Arlos with Ring since I can have them all on one plan and I trust Amazon to be more customer focused long term on offering Ring packages/integration/Prime/etc in the future.

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Pro2 and the other Arlo cameras still have the free 7 days, so there's no reason you should get rid of your existing cameras and switch to Ring because of the Ultra's subscription requirement.

[Cwmmmm]

I’m not upset over the no more 7 days free as you will be able to access local storage over the app soon.