- Recession or not,
we are all feeling the effects of inflation these days.
In 2023 grocery prices have skyrocketed,
rent has reached all time highs,
and there doesn't seem to be an end in sight.
Cutting corners anywhere seems worth it,
including protecting your home.
If you have a security camera or have been considering one,
you've likely come across subscription plans
for cloud storage and extra features.
From the brands that I looked at,
support for a single camera lands around $4 to $10 a month,
but is that money better spent elsewhere?
I'm here to find out exactly that.
So I installed an Arlo Essential wire free doorbell,
and skipped the Arlo sub to find out.
This battery powered doorbell works with Alexa and Google,
has an easy app to navigate and a bunch of other cool stuff.
But this isn't a review for that doorbell.
It's science.
Today, I'll show you what one of these cameras
can and can't do without a subscription.
This will be more Arlo specific,
but it's a good peek into what you can get away with
by skipping that extra monthly fee.
First, let's talk about the camera itself for a moment.
The Arlo Essential wire free doorbell works
with a battery or with a traditional doorbell setup.
It's got a super wide field of vision,
smart home compatibility,
and operates in really cold and really warm conditions.
From the app you can watch live feed,
get notifications when someone stops by,
and talk to anyone on your doorstep,
but the quality of this doorbell camera
isn't what I'm here to talk about.
If you want a full review you can check the link
in the description down here.
What I wanna know is how can I get the most
out of this $200 doorbell without paying a cent more?
It turns out that Arlo doesn't block you from every feature
of this camera without a subscription.
You can view live feed from the camera and watch people
or cars go by.
You can talk to anyone on the other side
with the two-way talk function.
It still works with smart home speakers and sends you
motion notifications if you want them too.
But sharing and saving video, that's a no-go.
To get this footage for you, I had to screen record
from my app.
Basically, you have to check in every time the camera
sends you a notification if you want to catch anything
in the moment.
And that can be a problem if someone breaks in
or steals a package from your doorstep
right in front of the camera
Without recording or storage you won't be able to save
or share any of the events that you catch
unless you see it in real time.
So if something happens, you won't have evidence for it
or be able to look back and find out what really went down.
And that's a big problem.
Thankfully, an Arlo Secure subscription for a single camera
isn't outrageous and the price is even dropping
on February 3rd of this year.
And Arlo isn't even the cheapest out there.
If you're looking for a real budget option
without a monthly charge,
I recommend looking at cameras with local storage.
Lorex and Reolink, for example, are a couple of big ones
that offer really great cameras
without a subscription needed.
But as far as Arlo goes,
if you're rocking a single camera system,
that single digit fee is worth it for the basics.
Now, if only eggs and gas were that cheap.
If there's a subscription plan you wanna learn more
about or a camera you want us to review,
drop it in the comments below.
We're always looking for new stuff in the security world
to explore and we wanna hear what you think.
Thanks for watching and stay safe.
(upbeat music)