my name is step and to I'll be taking a look at the second generation of Arlo Essentials indoor outdoor and indoor smart security cameras going over all the features of each and my personal experiences to see if this versatile generation of cameras has enough utility and ease of use to make it their way into your home here I have both of the Arlo second generation 2K resolution security camera kits starting off we have the four pack of indoor and outdoor kits each of the individual cameras as you can see here comes with a packet of screws and a backing you can use to screw it into a wall of any kind each packet has one of these little backers that slots right into the back of your camera but before doing so you can drill it into the wall using one of the two screws and it even comes with these drywall anchors you can use it both indoors and Outdoors whether you'd like now all four of the cameras do also have a little stand here I have three of them on already as you can see they're kind of angled at the moment but without it it just looks like this it's a simple screw design you can use use with any kind of regular screwdriver and then you get the actual camera itself here and you can see just on the back you can just lay it on its side line up the backing with there and you can just screw it right in ready to go now in terms of the actual camera itself it's fairly lightweight just enough to fit in your hand but the camera itself is fairly large and a pretty high quality spill at the top here you have the actual pairing button you can use it to pair to your smartphone or normal device and then at the very bottom here you can unlock this little compartment it's a bit tricky to hold with one hand but once I've got it open there you can see it actually does have a little charging port they do have internal batteries as they are charge operated so when you are ready to do so you can just plug it in using uh the charging cable that's included into each of the packets there I have the one that's already pre-installed into the indoor security wired camera but this one here is actually a removable security charger unfortunately it does only come with the one Chargers you'll have to charge them all one at a time but usually it's not an issue as you can just keep your devices up the charge especially when these devices can last up to 3 to 6 months depending on which power saving options you have enabled here I actually have the device plugged in while it's already installed and luckily for me I did have a wall outlet nearby so I can just have it plugged in while it's still installed but if you don't uh you're able to easily remove the device by pulling it straight upwards from the base and then once you've done that you can bring it inside charge it put it back outside and you're ready to go continuing to protect your home from any Intruders while I was a bit concerned that you didn't need a specialized tool of some kind to remove the device it was very difficult to remove without knowing how it's actually in place as you have to apply a lot of pressure right from the base going straight upwards in order to actually remove the device and once fully installed the device is extremely sturdy even with just one screw it's very difficult to remove and doesn't shake around whatsoever and the device is actually weather resistant being perfect for storms snow any kind of weather whatsoever making sure the device is always powered and charging to protect your home for as long as possible and while I did go over a bit of how to set up your device the Arlo app actually has a full step-by-step installation process guide with everything you need to know from how to drill in the holes to Sliding the camera onto the mounting plate as well as how to connect the camera to your phone using Wi-Fi and luckily you don't have to insert your password every single time you do a camera as they'll just automatically connect to the app update on their own and it'll be ready to go as long as your phone is still connected to Wi-Fi As Long as You Follow the simple steps the installation will be a breeze and you don't make a mistake like I did where I tried inserting the amount into the camera itself first and without it being connected to a wall was screws as leverage it was extremely difficult to remove with enough trying in patience I was able to get it out and properly install the second time around now when it comes to the best place to install your device I'd choose somewhere higher up and elevated either at or above head height so you can see any details or faces properly especially having an unobstructed view with nothing blocking what your camera can see and while I wasn't really worried about someone stealing it with how difficult the device is to remove from the mount I'd still probably recommend having it somewhere Out Of Reach or a bit more difficult to get to as you don't want someone taking off your camera and making way with it when you're out of the house you might also want to consider having a location close to a power outlet as you might not want to have to uninstall your device every single time you want to charge it as if you're home you can just plug it in and quickly route it to a nearby Outlet instead of having to unplug it and leave your house vulnerable if you don't have an extra camera to replace it with in the meantime now taking a look at the essentials second generation indoor Arlo camera with 2K resolution it is a bit smaller than the regular second generation cameras for the indoor and outdoor uses but it's has a very high quality camera and just the same design it has the actual backings with the screws included and you can actually Mount this either on the bottom as it is pre-installed or you can mount it into the backing if you'd like as well and this one does actually have a physical wir charger there is no battery power usage so once you plug it out of the wall it does lose connection immediately which means you have to have it indoors as someone can just easily disable it if it's accessible but overall it's a nice little small security camera simple for most needs and it is a a bit of a cheaper option as it is more of a specialized device thanks to the Arlo app it has just the same features that the Arlo Essentials indoor and outdoor camera also has with the added benefit of an indoor privacy Shield that automatically slides down when the device is disabled or powered off letting you know that it's not recording so you can still have a sense of privacy when you're in your own home it's also much more lightweight with the same camera being in place allowing you to set it up easily without having to drill whatsoever just by standing it up on a counter or a shelf of any kind and picturing only details when you want to with the same customization with the Arlo app as the indoor outdoor cameras now of course the most important feature of a smart security camera aside from its utility and features is the picture quality now while it's a bit difficult to compare to the newer brands of Arlo smart cameras or even other brands out there at this price point it's hard to complain with 2K resolution and 12 times native Zoom this can also be viewed in a 130° angle so you can picture all the details in the surroundings much better and here you can see the night vision mode that is able to pick up details at a shorter to medium distance away although it has trouble getting out the details on on farther distances and the Shadows there and meanwhile here you can see what it looks like in a fully brightened condition either during the day or with lights where you can pick up plenty of color and details although it isn't as sharp as what it would be with some other models of cameras and again I have my backup cameras here at the back door of my house and it better showcases what the unit vision is capable of and even still the motion activated Spotlight is able to turn on and there you can make out more color details so you can see all the essential details of anything happening around your house and as someone who had someone try to ENT through the back door before it's a great feeling knowing that I can not only turn on a spotlight and talk to them through the cameras from a safe place in my house but I can also use the built-in feature to activate a siren at will which I personally feel is enough to deter most potential Intruders or unwanted guests now the Arlo app is the thing you'll be using the most when interacting with your smart security cameras allowing you to set up different modes of automation different settings for your devices and customizing everything bit by bit as well as accessing your camera feeds and everything else here you can see me I'm activ widgets for certain cameras there as I can customize them onto a front page there where I can activate standby arm away or arm stay that all have their own different settings and here once I go into the actual devices setting itself I can connect to any of my cameras individually as I want to here there's a couple seconds of delay and then I can see a live preview of the camera without even having to full screen it at all just so I can quickly check something but when I want to I can open it up entirely zoom in to see if there's anything happening like a small animal running by or if there any suspicious activity and then again it's a little bit blurry as it is only a 2K resolution camera at a longer distance but still fairly adequate details and then going into my front door camera here I'll show you more of the other settings here you can see it has a full feed of all the recent recordings as with the premium account you do have a bunch of recording feeds SW on the cloud up to 30 days or you can download them as well if you'd like you can have them as a physical storage on your device and then again with a few second delay that kind of increas increase or decrease depending on the strength of your internet speeds once connected I can customize everything from taking screenshots activating the built-in camera or as I'm doing there raising and decreasing the spotlight it's a bit difficult to see during the day but you'll actually see that once it does turn off or on it'll activate the night vision modes there and then once the night vision mode is activated with the spotlight entirely off here I have the video full screen so you can see what it's actually like to look at the camera itself it can be a bit choppy at times especially with the weather being very bad but overall but overall I can make out most details fairly adequately and it's nothing too bad that it's graining to look at for long periods of time now moving over to the routine section this activity allows you to activate automated settings either from certain times of day you can also edit device rules there to have certain notifications whether if you're on a away mode you want to have everything recorded or if you're on standby mode you just want a notification that someone's at your door without actually activating the recording and using a battery space or cloud storage here as well you can customize the different actions that are added whereas for example I'd want to have my back door I have a siren as long as I'm away from the house as no one should be able to be getting into the backyard unless I'm already home still now my favorite part is the actual automations and schedule system you can set up for example every day of the week a few minutes after you leave for work you can have the camera automatically enter away stay mode allowing you to instantly change settings without having to go into the app manually every single day you're also not limited to time settings as you can also choose a dri and leaving settings based on your phone's identity it'll automatically pick up when you disconnect from Wi-Fi from leaving the house and then it will instantly arm itself and you can even customize it up to multiple people you can have everyone in your family to where if there's still one person at home it won't activate the full away security mode but if everyone's out of the house it will activate it making me feel less stressed knowing my house is better protected now it is important to mention the Arlo secure Premium plan as unfortunately you don't have access to the feed and Cloud recordings if you don't don't have the premium service but if you do only have one camera like the individual outdoor or indoor or the individual wired camera you will be able to just have a cheaper plan only a monthly or annual plan in order to access these features and the cloud recordings but if not I don't find that everything else was exactly necessary for the experience but they do offer some very valuable features like package detection the cloud recording that I mentioned and among many other features like pet detection if that's something that would fit better into your lifestyle and security needs here we can take a look at some of the event types you can customize your device with as I always disabled the audio or vehicle cameras for my front-facing camera as it's positioned in a way where you can see the street next to my road meaning that every time a car drives by or a honk a horn goes off it would be activating my camera and wasting battery life as well as blowing up my phone notifications overall I have to say both the indooroutdoor wireless camera and the wired indoor only camera are both fantastic additions from the Arlo brand being the second generation they have upgraded Fe features compared to their older counterparts and it makes it a great budget option for anyone either getting into the world of smart cameras or wanting to upgrade their pre-existing security system with ease the ARs secure app has plenty of features and customization to allow you to get all the same features as some higher-end Brands while still remaining at a lower budget price point at the cost of some picture quality or some other specific features like removable batteries or anti- theft mounts like with the Arlo Pro 5S if you want to learn more about the Arlo brand you can do so by checking out my review on the Best Buy blog where you can find plenty of our those other devices and these ones over at the Best Buy store