People ask many questions on Arlo Ultra Smart Home 4 4K UHD and HDR? Can you stream in 4K? Yes, you can stream in 4K content locally if your mobile device is connected to the same local network as your Arlo Ultra SmartHub. Can you record and store in 4K to the cloud? If you want to access 4K recordings from anywhere, you will need to purchase the Arlo Premium Video add-on subscription service. What distance can the cameras be from the base unit? If you’re not happy with the Arlo’s range, you should also look at how close your Arlo base is to your router and or TV, as anything that produces wifi will create an electromagnetic field of about 3 feet, (which is why most ethernet cables are made about 3 feet long) while TVs produce an electromagnetic field of about 12 feet. This will greatly diminish your base’s range by at least 20-30 feet. If you don’t believe me, try it in your home just with your own router, move it away from your TV and you’ll see how much more range you’ll have. Get more of your answers in Arlo Ultra Smart Home 4 4K UHD and HDR review 2020.
Pros & Cons – Arlo Ultra Smart Home 4 4K UHD and HDR
PROS
- Weatherproof.
- Detailed 4K imagery with a wide field of view.
- Color night vision.
- AI-based motion detection.
- Integrated spotlight.
- Auto-zoom and motion tracking.
- Amazon Alexa, Apple Watch, and Google Assistant support.
CONS
- Expensive.
- Requires a hub.
- Some features require a subscription.
Specifications – Arlo Ultra Smart Home 4 4K UHD and HDR
Key Specs
- Camera Power SourceBattery-powered
- Number Of Cameras Included4
- Night VisionYes
- Field Of ViewInfo180 degrees
- Audio CommunicationInfo2-way
- Storage TypeCloud
- Indoor Or Outdoor UseInfoIndoor, Outdoor
- Works WithInfoAmazon Alexa, Arlo, Google Assistant
- Voice Assistant Built-inInfoNo
General
- Product NameUltra 4-Camera Indoor/Outdoor Wire Free 4K HDR Security Camera System
- BrandArlo
- Model NumberVMS5440-100NAS
- ColorWhite
- Color CategoryWhite
Power
- Camera ConnectivityInfoWire-free (Battery-powered)
- Camera Power SourceBattery-powered
Camera
- Number Of Cameras Included4
- Night VisionYes
- Night Vision Distance25 feet
- IP CameraInfoWiFi
- High-DefinitionInfoYes
- Field Of ViewInfo180 degrees
- Camera(s) IncludedYes
- Camera Mount TypeWall mount
- Camera Infrared DistanceInfo25 feet
- Number of Dummy Cameras0
Features
- Audio CommunicationInfo2-way
- Remote Monitoring CapabilitiesInfoYes
- Streaming VideoInfoYes
- Mobile NotificationsYes
- Two-Way TalkInfoYes
Storage
- Storage TypeCloud
Performance
- Indoor Or Outdoor UseInfoIndoor, Outdoor
Compatibility
- Smartphone CompatibleInfoYes
- Camera CompatibilityArlo Ultra 4K UHD cameras
- Operating System CompatibilityAndroid, Apple iOS
- Works WithInfoAmazon Alexa, Arlo, Google Assistant
- Voice Assistant Built-inInfoNo
Included
- Additional Accessories Included4x Rechargeable battery, power adapter, magnetic charging cable, Ethernet cable, 4x wall mount, 4x wall mount screw set, video monitoring decal
- Cable(s) IncludedYes
- Monitor IncludedNo
Does Arlo Ultra Smart Home 4 4K UHD and HDR support local storage or any subscription fee?
The Arlo Ultra comes with a complimentary one-year subscription to Arlo’s Smart Premier cloud-storage plan—otherwise priced at $10 a month—which lets you to store video from up to 10 Arlo cameras for 30 days at a stretch. If you still want cloud storage when that plan expires, you can opt for the basic Arlo Smart plan, which provides 30 days of video history for a single camera for $3 per month, or the Arlo Smart Elite plan, which gives you a 60-day history for up to 20 cameras for $15 per month. The Arlo Ultra can also host a microSD memory card (but you’ll need to provide your own).
Storage – Arlo Ultra Smart Home 4 4K UHD and HDR review 2020
| Arlo Basic | Arlo Smart | Arlo Smart Premier | Arlo Smart Elite | Premium Video Recording Add-on | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amount of Cloud Storage | 0 Days | 30 Days | 30 Days | 60 Days | Continuous recording for 14 days or 30 days |
| 4K Cloud Recording | x | x | x | x | ✓ |
| Advanced A.I. Detection | x | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Max Amout of Cameras | 5 | 1 per add-on subscription | 10 | 20 | 1 per add-on subscription |
| Monthly Price | $0.00 | $2.99 | $9.99 | $14.99 | $1.99 |
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Compare Arlo Ultra Smart Home 4 4K UHD vs Nest Cam IQ Outdoor
| Arlo Ultra | Nest Cam IQ Outdoor | |
| Color finish | White | White |
| Weatherproof | Indoor/outdoor | Outdoor |
| Connection type | Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi |
| Power source | Rechargeable battery | Plug-in adapter |
| Resolution | 4K | 1080p |
| Image sensor | 8-megapixel | 8-megapixel |
| Digital zoom | 12x | 12x |
| Live streaming | Yes | Yes |
| Continuous recording | Yes, with Arlo Smart | Yes, with Nest Aware |
| Cloud storage | No free cloud recording; optional Arlo Smart subscription service starting at $3 per month | Yes, free three-hour image history; optional Nest Aware subscription service starting at $5 per month |
| Local storage | Yes, via the included base station (microSD card not included) | No |
| Mobile app | Yes | Yes |
| Web app | Yes | Yes |
| Night vision | Yes | Yes |
| Alerts | Motion and sound; person, package, vehicle and animal with Arlo Smart | Motion, sound, person; facial recognition with Nest Aware |
| Activity zones | Yes, with Arlo Smart | Yes, with Nest Aware |
| Third-party integrations | Amazon Alexa; Google Assistant | Amazon Alexa; Google Assistant |
As you can see, there’s a lot of overlap between these two products, but some key differentiators:
- The Ultra has 4K resolution and the IQ Outdoor has 1080p resolution
- The Ultra has a battery-powered design and the IQ Outdoor requires a power adapter to operate
- The Ultra doesn’t have free cloud storage and the IQ Outdoor has free three-hour image history (that isn’t much, but it’s better than what Arlo is offering here)
- The Ultra has local storage via the microSD card slot in the base station and the IQ Outdoor is cloud-storage-dependent
- The Ultra has free motion and sound alerts and the IQ Outdoor has free motion, sound and person alerts
- The Ultra has a built-in siren and the IQ Outdoor doesn’t
What are the upgrades in Arlo Ultra Smart Home 4 4K UHD and HDR (review)?
The Ultra has two noise-cancelling microphones, situated on either side of the lens, instead of the usual single microphone. It also has higher maximum resolution (up to 4K) and two motion- detection sensors (as opposed to the one sensor in previous models).
it sports a significant number of improvements and new features. For instance, in addition to the two traditional IR LEDs (for grayscale night vision), the Ultra has two motion-activated 6500K spotlight LEDs above the lens for full-color night videos. You can remotely flash the spotlights to warn intruders away, or turn them off completely, to make the camera less visible.
The required 5 x 6 x 1.5-inch white-and-black SmartHub is included in most Ultra packages, and can support as many cameras and-or other Arlo security devices (such as a smoke alarm) as your network’s bandwidth can handle. This new version of the Arlo SmartHub will also be compatible with the new Arlo Security System devices. Ports on the back include Ethernet (a 77-inch cable is included), power and a slot for a microSD memory card slot (it supports speed class 10, UHS1, V10). The card is not included. The hub also has an 80 dB siren that you can set to be triggered by motion and/or sound, or manually activated remotely.
The Ultra can be used indoors or outdoors. Although the rechargeable battery is still rated for three to six months of “average use,” Arlo says that it has improved the camera’s efficiency to accommodate the greater number of active functions. Unlike the typical mini-USB charger, the Ultra uses a magnetic charging cord that snaps securely to the bottom of the camera, helping to avoid weather-induced shorts.
The indoor charging cable included in the box is a skimpy 3 feet long. Optional accessories available or soon to be released include an 8-foot indoor ($24.99) and a 25-foot outdoor magnetic charging cable ($49.99), an external dual-battery charging station ($49.99) and a solar panel for outdoor power ($79.99).
Arlo Ultra Smart Home 4 4K UHD and HDR review 2020
Design
The Arlo Ultra includes the camera, a base station (SmartHub), a battery pack, a USB charger and charging cable, a magnetic mount, a mounting arm, and mounting hardware. At 3.5 by 2.0 by 3.0 inches (HWD), the Ultra camera is noticeably bigger than the Arlo Pro 2 and just a tad smaller than the cellular-based Arlo Go, but maintains the familiar Arlo shape and white and black color scheme.
Features
The Arlo Ultra offers a host of first-time features for the Arlo camera line: 4K video with HDR is the most notable, but this camera also features a 180-degree field of view, color night vision, automatic zooming and tracking, and an integrated 100-lumen LED spotlight. There’s also a pair of noise-cancelling microphones and a siren built into the camera. On other Arlo cameras (with the exception of the Arlo Go, which connects to an LTE network and does not require a base station) the siren is built into the base station. Finally, the camera’s mount has been redesigned, and there’s a new magnetic charging cable that enables 24/7 continuous recording.
4K recording—with some conditions
The Ultra’s video quality lives up to (and surpasses) the standard set by previous Arlo cameras. In addition, it has a number of new video settings, with varying levels of usefulness.
The Ultra’s 4K video is of a higher resolution than the earlier Arlo cameras’. However, while you can stream live 4K video from up to two cameras simultaneously (if your network bandwidth allows it), there are a few caveats:
The hub’s microSD card can save 4K videos, but to view them, you need to remove the card from the hub and watch them on a computer or other device with a micro-SD card reader. (Arlo plans to implement remote viewing of the microSD card sometime this year, probably for an additional fee.)
Track and zoom
Ultra’s new video mode, Track and Zoom, needs some work before it will be useful. Unlike the Wyze Cam Pan, which rotates 360 degrees to track a subject, the Arlo Ultra takes advantage of its larger resolution to digitally track and zoom in on a subject as it moves across its 180-degree field of view.
While the quality of my Track and Zoom videos were good to excellent, I was unimpressed by the feature. The Ultra’s Tracking in my outdoor daylight videos followed me wherever I walked, but the camera lagged behind my movement in my other videos, and it focused on the wrong areas in portions of indoor videos. In all the videos, the zooming was minimal, and in many cases it did not provide significant additional data to help a viewer recognize a face.https://www.youtube.com/embed/7aPfesxMrCAhttps://www.youtube.com/embed/i4yotdFzMiY
Motion and sound detection
With Ultra, Arlo’s excellent motion and sound detection has increased both in functionality and features. The modes — Armed, Disarmed, Schedule and Geofencing — still provide easy-to-use controls for how the Ultra’s software will respond to specific situations.
Scheduling when the camera will respond to motion or sound is flexible, so you can set several different time periods per day, and easily repeat them for specific days of the week.
Editing the Armed mode or creating a custom mode is a simple step-by-step process, identical to previous Arlo cameras. If you create a custom mode, you can also have motion and-or sound trigger another connected device.
The Ultra’s dual motion detectors are rather sensitive. I could set the sensitivity slider all the way to 10 (out of a maximum of 100), and the camera was still able to detect a moving person without giving false alerts for changes in light and other similar incidents. However, Arlo still doesn’t have a button in the test screen to actually set the camera’s motion sensitivity. I had to go to the video settings screen to adjust the slider there.Advertisement
Motion-detection tools that are available only if you have a cloud plan.
Audio Quality
The Arlo Ultra’s recorded audio is clear, audible and of a good volume, even when the person was more than 20 feet from the camera on a windy day.
The full duplex two-way audio is quite good. However, when speaking from a phone to the camera, it was much louder than when speaking from the camera to a phone. With the latter, I had to have the phone close to my ear to hear it, even when the phone’s volume was cranked up to its highest setting.
How to setup Arlo Ultra Smart Home 4 4K UHD and HDR?
The Arlo Ultra is powered by a battery, which makes it easy to configure and install. I already had the Arlo mobile app installed, but if this is your first Arlo product you’ll have to download the app and create an account. I charged up the camera’s battery ahead of time and plugged in the base station, connected it to my router using the included LAN cable, and waited several seconds for the LED to turn blue.
I tapped Add New Device at the bottom of the Devices screen and selected Base Station from the list. The device was immediately recognized, so I gave it a name and waited several minutes for the app to search for firmware updates (there were none) and was ready to install the Ultra camera. I tapped Start Adding Cameras, selected Arlo Ultra, made sure the battery was inserted, tapped Continue, and the camera was instantly recognized. I gave it a name and used the positioning screen to confirm that my signal strength was adequate at my installation location. I pressed Continue once again and was finished (Arlo Ultra Smart Home 4 4K UHD and HDR review 2020).