The Arlo Essential Pan Tilt Indoor is an affordable 2K camera that delivers a sweeping view of any room and uses AI for precise insights into what’s happening inside your home.
When we reviewed the $29.99 Arlo Essential Indoor Camera last year, it earned high marks for its affordability, sharp video quality, and strong third-party device compatibility. With the Essential Pan Tilt Indoor, you get all that, plus a handful of new features, including mechanical pan and tilt (a first for Arlo), a 2K camera, and AI-powered event captions, fire detection, and face recognition. As with all Arlo cameras, you’ll need a subscription to view recorded video and access certain features. However, at $49.99, the Essential Pan Tilt Indoor’s price, performance, and features easily earn it our Editors’ Choice award for indoor home security cameras.Design: Stand It on a Shelf or Mount It on a Wall
The Essential Pan Tilt Indoor camera consists of a white and black pill-shaped camera enclosure that is mounted to a stand, which provides 360 degrees of mechanical panning maneuverability and 180 degrees of mechanical tilt. It measures 5.0 by 2.7 by 2.7 inches (HWD) and can be used on a flat surface or mounted on a wall or ceiling using the included bracket and hardware. Also included is a quick start guide, a 78-inch USB-A to USB-C cable, and a USB-A plug-in AC adapter.
The front of the camera holds the lens, a status LED, a PIR motion sensor, and a microphone. The camera captures 2K (2,304 by 1,296) video and features a 130-degree field of view, along with a 12x digital zoom. For comparison, the third-generation Nest Cam Indoor ($99.99) also offers 2K (2,560 by 1,440) resolution, with a 152-degree field of view and 6x digital zoom, but does not support mechanical pan and tilt.
The status LED on the Essential Pan Tilt Indoor glows blue when the camera is properly connected and alternates between blue and amber during a firmware update. A speaker is located on the back of the base, along with a USB-C power port, and there’s a pairing button on the top of the camera enclosure.
In addition to features such as motion tracking, dual-band Wi-Fi, color night vision, and two-way talk, the Pan Tilt Indoor offers AI-powered Arlo Intelligence for face and vehicle recognition, as well as event descriptions (captions). It also allows you to create custom detections to alert you of events, such as when a light is on or when your dog is on the couch.
