Arlo Video Doorbell HD review: An affordable but imperfect porch camera

Do you need a video doorbell? Only if you have a door. There's no better way to see what's happening in front of it, whether it's a kid getting home from school, a delivery person leaving a package or, worse, a thief making off with that package. (Curse you, porch pirates!) I recently tested the Arlo Video Doorbell HD (2nd generation), a full-featured but surprisingly inexpensive model that can run on battery power or existing doorbell wiring. It's not perfect, but overall I like it better than the Ring Battery Doorbell Pro, which costs nearly three times as much. Should you add one to your home? Here's my Arlo Video Doorbell HD review.

I tested the HD version of the camera, which captures a square, 1,536-by-1,536-pixel image (same as the aforementioned Ring). For $50 more, there's a 2K version (1,944 by 1,944). If you're interested only in what happens in relatively close proximity to the camera, HD is fine. If you want to be able to zoom out to, say, the end of your driveway or the street and still get a clear image, consider the 2K model.

Either way, it's a square, slightly fish-eyed view. I was initially confused by Arlo's claim of a 180-degree field of vision, because it most definitely is not. Turns out that refers to the diagonal, meaning the spec is misleading at best.

Arlo Video Doorbell HD: Let's talk price

Although the doorbell itself is surprisingly affordable at just $80, you should also plan on spending at least $8 monthly for an Arlo Secure subscription, without which you lose out on cloud recording, activity zones, custom motion detection and other features. By the way, that base plan is on the high side; Ring's plans start at $5, meaning you'd pay $36 less over the course of a year. And Arlo offers only a tiny price break if you prepay annually: $90, a total savings of just $6.

You should also note that the doorbell lacks any kind of local storage, so if you want it to actually record and preserve video, the cloud-based subscription is your only option. I suspect most users will want that capability, but not everyone needs it: If you work from home, for example, perhaps you only want to keep an eye on the front porch and get notified when there's motion detected (like a delivery).

Arlo Video Doorbell HD: Is it hard to set up?

Arlo's printed quick-start guide is brief but informative, explaining how to fully charge the battery, install the Arlo Secure app and add the doorbell to it. It didn't explain the charging LED, however, which lit up blue, flashed a bunch of times, then went dark. I wasn't sure if it was still actively charging, not until it eventually turned a solid blue.

Although I have existing doorbell wiring, I opted to test this with battery power, which allows for quicker, easier installation. After making that selection in the app, I was greeted with a friendly tutorial covering creating an Arlo account, pairing the doorbell via Bluetooth (and then Wi-Fi), installing a firmware update and mounting the unit. It's a lot of steps, but that's fairly standard with video doorbells, and Arlo's app does a good job of handholding.

I especially liked the "welcome" email I received after setup; it included a screenshot of the app with callouts explaining the various tools and icons. Granted, I'd prefer if Arlo included a printed app guide in the box, something I could more easily refer to later, but this was better than nothing.

From there it's just a matter of configuring various doorbell settings, which in my experience is always the most confusing part. Sure enough, the Arlo app contains nearly a dozen different settings pages, everything from audio to activity zones to power management. You should be fine with most of the defaults, but you'll probably want to test and adjust the sensitivity for motion detection. You may also want to define activity zones, which can help if you want alerts only when there's motion in a designated area, like the sidewalk or porch.

All these options are fairly easy to understand, but I struggled with the Dashboard and Routines sections of the app. See, Arlo leans heavily into the security aspects of the doorbell, positioning it as one piece of a broader home-security system. Consequently, a lot of the terminology refers to "arming" and such, which can be confusing. My brain doesn't equate a video doorbell with an alarm system, so there's a learning curve for things like "Arm Away" and "Arm Home," two buttons featured prominently on the Dashboard page.

These modes can be automatically triggered by setting up automations. For example, you can enable "Arm Away" when you leave the house and "Standby" when you return, or do likewise based on a schedule instead of a geofence. But I'm still not sure what I'm "arming." I certainly don't want the doorbell to activate its siren when motion is detected, for example.

Bottom line: Arlo serves up a lot of modes, rules and automations that could prove useful as part of a larger home-security setup. For a doorbell alone, it seems like overkill, and I suspect the average user will be confused by it — or just not bother with most of it.

Arlo Video Doorbell HD: What it's like to use

Indeed, I typically use a video doorbell for two key things: Motion-detection notifications (did someone deliver a package?) and a live feed of the front porch (so I can see what the dog is barking at). On rare occasion I might review a recorded video, like if I want to identify the ring-and-run kids annoying the neighborhood.

When someone actually pushes the doorbell button, my phone rings, complete with "swipe to answer," just like getting a regular call. The Arlo app also lets you choose from five prerecorded messages to play (such as "Sorry, I'm not interested"), though you do have to accept the "call" before you can choose one. I'd prefer if you could play one of these messages right from the notification screen.

That's a minor nitpick, but this is a much bigger one: Suppose I step outside to let the dog out, then collect a package from the front porch at the same time. That immediately generates three separate notifications: person, pet and package. And if I stand out there for a few minutes while the dog piddles, I continue to get notifications.

Another example: Recently my wife spent some time gardening in front of the house, within camera view. The motion-detection notifications were non-stop the entire time. This despite my having created an activity zone limited to just the front walk; every time a hand or foot or shovel entered that zone, I received another notification.

I've pored over every setting in the app; from what I can tell there's no way to stop this, no way to make motion detection take a "time out" after the first alert. I don't want the doorbell to stop recording video, mind you, I just want it to stop notifying me of every successive motion. Among other things, this would help preserve battery life, too. For the record, I have the same problem with the Wyze Video Doorbell. This is one area where Ring doorbells are smarter; they have a Motion Frequency setting that lets them "take a break" after each alert. Arlo really needs to implement something similar here.

The company's FAQ pages suggest things like reducing motion sensitivity and setting up schedules, but those are workarounds that don't really address the issue. You can also mute notifications for 30 minutes, one hour, three hours or 24 hours, but that option is buried in the main Profile/Settings menu; it's not readily accessibly from the Dashboard, the live feed or the doorbell's own settings menu. You might think the Standby option, which is present in the Dashboard, would accomplish something similar, but it merely disables ring alerts and any chimes that might be connected.

Also, I don't want to have to manually mute repetitive notifications; it shouldn't be necessary. The doorbell should be smarter than that.

In most other respects, though, the Video Doorbell HD works quite well. There's very little delay between when it first detects motion and starts recording video, and it will record for up to five minutes, which is impressive. I also found both video and audio quality to be quite good; I could hear live and recorded sounds very clearly via my phone, and visitors could hear me very well via the doorbell's speaker. Recorded videos can easily be shared, downloaded, deleted or marked as a favorite

I did notice that it took a bit longer than expected to connect to the live feed from my phone — usually anywhere from 6-8 seconds. In comparison, the feed from my Wyze doorbell loads almost instantly. Also, while the camera did a fine job detecting people, it occasionally failed to notice a package.

To recharge the battery (which Arlo estimates is good for up to four months depending on usage), you must once again use the release pin to free the doorbell from its back panel, then bring it inside to charge. Because the battery itself isn't removable, you can't replace it a few years down the road if it starts to lose capacity.

Arlo Video Doorbell HD: Should you buy it?

On the whole this is a very good video doorbell, but one with a couple mid-size strikes against it. The first is the price of an Arlo Secure subscription, which is higher than most — but, in the grand scheme of things, not a lot. The second: repetitive notifications. Arlo could easily address that with a software update, or you can just mute them as needed if you don't mind that hassle.

I like that it works with either existing wiring or its built-in battery, that it's quite easy to install and set up and that it captures reasonably detailed video. Plus, the $80 price tag is easy to digest. This may not be the best video doorbell out there, but it's definitely one worth considering.