Quick review
The good
The not-so-good
Security cameras at home are typically for one place, but what if they’re not? The Arlo Go 2 4G makes the case that your security camera can travel with you, as well.
What is the Arlo Go 2 4G?
Security cameras for the home are by and large becoming a fairly normal thing, but they’re often fixed in position. You buy them, mount them to the side of the your home or inside it, and they stay there, tracking movement and sound, and recording what happens while sending an alert to your phone. That’s the idea, and that is how most of today’s home security cameras work.
Arlo’s Go 2 4G is a little bit different.
While it can work in much the same capacity, it doesn’t have to. It can work at home, connected to your home WiFi network and capturing movement and sounds, recording it, and uploading it to the cloud, but it can also be taken to go, thanks to a built in nanoSIM slot on the inside. It’s all in the name, because the Arlo Go 2 4G can be taken to-go, thanks to that SIM slot.
There’s also a microSD slot if you plan on using the Arlo Go 2 to store images and videos to a local memory card, as opposed to its default configuration of uploading to the cloud, but you basically have the option of either here, all in a little water resistant body that’s charged using a microUSB port at the bottom. And there’s a spotlight and night vision, because those features are handy in security camera, as well.
What does it do?
Like other models in the Arlo range, the main point of this gadget is to act as a camera and watch over the scene that is your life. That’ll be primarily at home, of course, and you might even fix the camera to a side of your home just like a regular Arlo might.
Interestingly, that ability to jump onto a 4G network opens up a world of opportunities we don’t normally associate with the home WiFi security camera.
While you’ll still need to bring your own SIM card and data plan (and you might want to consider a year’s 365 plan in a prepaid fashion to make it worthwhile), having the Arlo Go 2 4G work on an LTE network means the camera doesn’t have to be stuck at home.
You won’t be limited by the wall or doors or windows or roof, and can take the camera really anywhere.
Thanks to that 4G connection, you can take the camera to go on a camping trip, setting up in a tree or next to your tent and having it watch over you. If you live on a farm, you could set the camera up in a tree or on a post — there’s a tripod screw mount in the box! — and have it aim at the paddock you want watched, setting up a tracked area to fire the camera’s recording at.
You have options with this model, and that makes it very interesting.
And even if you don’t take it anywhere, using the 4G connection means you could also keep the Arlo capturing and uploading to the cloud (or at the very least alerting you) in parts of your home where the WiFi doesn’t reach, or alternatively using it on the off chance that your broadband goes down. There’s even a GPS tracking feature, so you can find roughly where you left it if need be.
What does it need?
One omission surprised us from the Arlo Go 2 4G feature set, and that was the ability to listen out for things and trigger the camera based on sound.
It’s a feature you can find on the Floodlight variation of Arlo’s cameras, but seems to be missing in action here in the Go 2, even though it would be very welcome, because outside of this, the camera is full-featured.
Is the Arlo Go 2 4G LTE worth your money?
There are a lot of good things to say about the Arlo Go 2 4G, from the ease of use it offers whether you’re securing a home with WiFi or taking the camera to go on a trip.
You can use it on WiFi or 4G, and if you’re not a fan of uploading to the cloud, you can even save the videos and pictures to a microSD card, with a slot found on the inside. That’s something we’ve not seen on an Arlo before, and given competitors offer this, it’s a welcome addition.
Our testing seemed to show you could only do one at a time — microSD or cloud uploads, not both simultaneously — but it’s just that little bit extra in capability, which is most welcome.
We’re also big fans of the massive battery, which will make it handy for folks who plan on setting up the camera in the middle of a paddock they mightn’t come back to in a while.
Technically rated at 13,000mAh, the battery will run at different amounts depending on what you use it for and how often an alert is flagged, but should be enough for a good around eight months on WiFi and at least a month (and possibly more) on 4G. In our own tests on WiFi, we’re around the 50 percent mark with four months under our belt. That’s not bad at all, and it can be paired with something like a solar charger if you don’t mind an extra spend.
In fact, the Arlo Go 2 4G is a solid choice overall, but it can also quite pricey, fetching a little over $400 in Australia for what basically amounts to a Full HD security camera. That’s without the aforementioned extra solar charger, which adds a little more than $100 to the whole thing.
As far as value goes, what works well in Arlo’s favour is there aren’t many cameras like the Arlo Go 2 4G. Most security cameras are based on WiFi, and so need WiFi around to work. That might be a proper wireless network like the one you have at work or home, or it might also be a hotspot you bring with you.
Arlo’s Go 2 4G can work without, and so if you have the need to watch over something that’s remote, the $400 cost isn’t a bad one to swallow, provided you also bring with a 365 SIM, because you’ll want that, too. About the only dilemma is how much you’re paying for what’s ostensibly just a Full HD camera, but we think the feature set makes the whole thing worth it.
Yay or nay?
The thing that makes the Arlo Go 2 4G worth it may well be that versatility: with the mere addition of a SIM slot, the Arlo Go is made to be in more places than just at home. You can use it there and then take it with you camping or on a trip, or really anywhere you think you might need some security to watch over your stuff. It’s a useful addition.
Granted, the Arlo Go 2 4G can feel like the $279 Arlo Essential XL and around $150 more, basically charging you that extra amount for the promise of mobile uploads and a microSD slot.
For many, that might be enough of an arm twist, because it’s just that much more versatile than your standard stay-at-home security camera. The Arlo Go 2 4G is for home and to-go, and that may make it all the more worth it. Recommended.
