When looking for an outdoor security camera, a big issue is how to provide power. TheArlo Essential XL Outdoor Camera (2nd Generation)helps take care of that worry with a large battery to help you go for as long as possible between charges while offering 2K resolution, smart home comparability, and much more. With its reasonable price and up to one year of battery life between charges, it’s a great choice with a few caveats.
Arlo Essential XL Outdoor Camera (2nd Generation)
The Arlo Essential XL Outdoor Camera (2nd Generation) is a great way to keep an eye on the outside of your home without having to constantly worry about recharging the battery. With normal use, the battery provides up to a year of use before needing to be charged. The camera provides up to 2K video quality and works during the day and at night. For an extra layer of security, the camera also features a built-in spotlight. It’s compatible with Amazon Alexa and Google Home.
Price and Availability
The Arlo Essential XL Outdoor Camera (2nd Generation) is $99.99 and available from Amazon and many other retailers. The camera is only available in a white exterior.
Specifications
A Larger Design With a Purpose
The Arlo Essential XL Outdoor Camera is a bit larger than other outdoor cameras available, but for good reason. The XL weighs a little more than a pound and is a little more than three inches long and tall. It’s around 2.25 inches wide.
The exterior is glossy white, except for the black front that houses the camera lens, motion detectors, and spotlight. I’d like to see the camera be offered in a darker color, or black, as I expect the casing will show dirt and grime from being outdoors. The camera is designed to work in outdoor conditions, anywhere from -4 to 113 degrees Fahrenheit.
Because of its larger size, the rechargeable battery inside can provide up to a year of normal use before needing to recharge the battery. That makes the camera perfect for areas with higher traffic or somewhere where you may’t provide full-time power or a solar panel.
After fully charging it, you’ll need to sync it to the Arlo Secure app foriPhoneorAndroid. While some Arlo cameras require you to use a hub, that’s not the case with the Essential XL. It uses a direct Wi-Fi connection, though it’s only 2.4 GHz and not the higher capacity 5 GHz band. So you’ll need to make sure that your selected outdoor location receives a strong Wi-Fi signal.
You’ll name the camera to finish the setup process. The app is also the place to go to customize several settings for the camera. If you want to make the most of the battery life, you choose from the Best Battery Life option that will reduce video quality. There is also an Optimized setting to balance video quality and battery and the Best Video choice that may reduce battery.
Other settings you can tweak include the spotlight behavior, recording length, and how long and loud the built-in siren will operate.
After customizing the settings, it’s time for installation. Once you’ve found the location, Arlo provides both a wall mount, wall plate, and screw kit. Arlo provides nice installation videos to help if you need it. After drilling in the plate to a wall, you can snap on the camera.
I completed the entire process in about 10 minutes and just needed a drill and screwdriver to install the camera near my front door.
Video Quality and Audio Provide Strong Statement
I’ve used the camera for around two weeks near my front door with a heavy amount of traffic. And overall, I’ve been pleased with how the Essential XL Outdoor has performed, with just a few complaints.
The camera features resolution of up to 2K, and I’ve been able to see very fine detail during the day, like the number of stars on my garden flag and the individual blooms of flowers. Video of visitors, like a delivery person, shows a clear picture of the person and the package. I can even see a clear shot of any cars that travel down my very quiet street.
At night, the results are less impressive but acceptable. By default, the camera’s spotlight will automatically turn on when motion is recorded at night. Along with possibly scaring away intruders, the light helps create the color night vision feature.
The light helped provide a bit better look at the face of whoever was near my front door, but depending on how fast the person was walking, the end results were sometimes blurry. When just taking a look at the camera’s view without motion, the IR night vision worked better and helped show some finer detail of what was in the darkness.
In recorded video, and when taking a live look at the camera’s feed, you may also hear audio from the scene. That was surprisingly clear, even on a windy day. You can also talk to anyone in the camera view with the built-in microphone. I could hear audio very clearly from the microphone.
With a 130-degree field of view from the camera, you should be able to see a substantial amount of activity. But depending on how important that is to you, there are other camera models, including from Arlo, that can provide up to a 180-degree field of view.
For smart home fans, the Essential XL Outdoor is compatible with both Amazon Alexa and Google Home. After adding the camera to the Arlo Secure app, I received a notification from the Alexa app to link the Arlo skill to Amazon’s smart home platform. I was able to see a live view from the camera on my Amazon Echo Show 8 with little to no delay using a simple Alexa command.
But if you’re an Apple HomeKit user, you’re out of luck. That’s definitely a disappointment, as many home security cameras tend to shun Apple’s smart home platform. If HomeKit is a must, some Arlo camera’s support the platform, like the much more expensive Ultra 2.
Find What You Need With the Arlo Secure App
Along with the camera, the Arlo Secure app is also another big positive of the overall experience. Everything is well-designed and easy to navigate. The main dashboard allows you to put a widget of the camera so you can view what’s happening immediately after opening the app.
It also provides easy access to one of the three modes for the camera—Arm Away, Arm Home, and Standby. By default, the Essential XL Outdoor will detect motion and record in both the home and away modes by not Standby.
You’ll also need to head to the app to view the recorded video. And unfortunately, you’ll run into one of the issues with some modern home security cameras—an additional monthly subscription.
While you can still see a live view and be notified when motion is detected from the camera for free, a subscription is needed to view recorded video and take advantage of other features of the Essential XL Outdoor. A single camera subscription is $7.99 per month and provides up to 30 days of cloud storage. If you’re dead set against paying a subscription, there are other options on the market like theEufy SoloCam S340that I’ve previously reviewed.
When you need to view recorded video, you can just select the camera from the main dashboard to bring up a live view and all of the recorded clips. The app will catalog each one as a vehicle, person, or even animal. For each clip, you can Favorite for quick access, download to your smartphone, or even delete it.
Should You Buy the Arlo Essential XL Outdoor Camera (2nd Generation)?
If you’re looking for something else besides a doorbell camera to help protect your home’s exterior, theArlo Essential XL Outdoor Camera (2nd Generation).
Along with being reasonably priced and easy to set up and use, the camera’s video quality is strong during the day and night. And being able to install the camera and not worry about recharging the battery for up to a year, makes it a perfect choice for a location that’s not near a power source. Even though I’d like to see it be compatible with Apple’s HomeKit, it’s a flaw I’m willing to overlook that flaw for the other positives.
