Can the Arlo Pro be used as a baby monitor? Will it drain battery for this function?

[Surfer949]

I need the following functions for a camera system.

- Indoor only

- Ability to live monitor when people are home

- Record on demand

- Nightvision

Will having constant motion quickly drain battery life?

[TomMac]

The Arlo Pro can be left plugged into the ac if wanted ( will not damage the battery ) indoor/outdoor with 720 rez camera

But if you haven't bought, the Q ( indoor rated ) has a better rez camera( 1080) and there is Arlo Baby now ( also 1080 ) both run on ac ( the Arlo baby has a backup battery that allows moving for a couple of hours or so )

Any of the above will do what you want ( battery not an issue on ac , but if PRO is only on battery ,yes...heavy usage will drain quickly )

If more questions ask...IMO, for a Baby, the Arlo Baby is better , for general usage inside to do your list the Q camera

my question is HOW LONG do you want to live view at times 24/7, 30 mins ,5 mins...makes a big difference ( any camera can be started in a manual record mode at any time )

[Surfer949]

Thx for the reply.  The cameras will be used part baby monitor, part house monitor when people are home.  Basically I would like to have coverage when we hire a nanny and be able to monitor activities in the house.  I actually did purchase the Arlo Pro package from Costco but have not opened it yet.

Is the Arlo pro 1080p?  When you say Alro Pro heavy usage meaning it's detecting motion and is "turned on" while running on battery?

Recording time would be mininal at first 5mn or less but as we get a in house nanny I would need 8 hours which needs to be stored for 2 to 3 days top.

[TomMac]

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The Arlo Pro is not 1080...it is 720.

As to recording... this are "motion detect then record" type of systems.... Meaning that you arm the cameras an they only record if motion is detected for the amount of time set ( up to 2 mins max and then the cams reset ( 5-10 secs) and it repeats if still motion )

You can manually start a record session if viewing for longer time but this is in manual mode.

Heavy usage would be recording or live viewing more than 5 mins a day on batteries...If plugged into ac not an issue.

So, 5 min of recording will do fine... 8 hours of recording is almost impossible.( esp if on the PRO as it will record in 2 mins clips max and then during reset time is null record )

You can use a Q camera that is AC powered so no batteries issues, and arm the camera for detection...but to get continous recording you would have to buy the CVR option for the Q camera.  The CVR will always record all day/night... but the playback to review would be real time. You could jump to the areas where motion was detected ( highlighted on the time time ) to make review faster tho.

IMO, the PRO cams while good aren't really suited for what you want to do ( long hours of record ) and you prob be disappointed

The Q camera would be better suited, but only at a cost of buying the CVR option with it

[Techlore]

I don't recommend using the Arlo Pro as a baby monitor. It will work somewhat, but nothing like what you would want.

The better option(as mentioned already) would be the Arlo Q, but there is a better option than that.

The best option(also mentioned) would be the Arlo Baby - which of course is designed for baby monitoring specifically.