Arlo Go 2 App Experience
The Go 2 uses the same Arlo Secure mobile app (available for Android and iOS) as other Arlo cameras and accessories. The camera sits in a panel on the Device screen; here, you see a still image of the last event capture, a play arrow, and a gear icon that takes you to a Settings screen. This section also shows small icons that indicate Wi-Fi and cellular connectivity, battery level, and the presence of a microSD card.

Four buttons sit at the very bottom of the screen. The Devices button takes you back to the Devices screen. The Library button opens a screen with thumbnails of event recordings. The Mode button lets you toggle the motion and audio detection features. This section also lets you create detection schedules or toggle a geofence that turns detection on or off based on your phone’s location. Finally, the Settings button allows you to enable smart notifications, set emergency response and Call a Friend numbers, enable package detection, and mute notifications.

Tap the play arrow to view a live stream from the camera. Once you do, multiple buttons appear briefly along the bottom of the video panel. They include a Speaker button, a Tap-to-Talk button, a Spotlight button, a Snapshot button, and a Manual Video record button. In the upper right corner next to the full-screen arrows, a red button activates the siren or automatically initiates the Call a Friend function in the event of an emergency.

The above-mentioned gear icon (from the app's side panel) lets you turn the camera on and off, check the battery level, configure Wi-Fi and video settings, set up activity zones, format the microSD card, and locate the camera using GPS coordinates.

Easy to Set Up and Use
Installing the Go 2 camera is fast and easy, but you have to download the mobile app and create an account first. I started by removing the camera assembly from the enclosure, installing the battery pack, and inserting the T-Mobile SIM card Arlo provided.

I reinstalled the assembly and charged the battery for several hours before opening the mobile app and tapping Add New Device. I selected the Go 2 from the Camera menu, selected Setup Wi-Fi, confirmed that the LED was blinking blue, and entered my Wi-Fi login. Next, I held my phone up to the camera to scan the QR code that appeared on my screen and confirmed that I heard a chime. The camera paired within 20 seconds. After I gave it a name and set the time zone, the camera automatically showed up on my Alexa device list and in the Arlo app. I took the camera outside and attached the mounting bracket to a deck post in my backyard. To complete the setup, I attached the camera to the bracket and adjusted the angle.

The Go 2 provided sharp 1080p imagery in testing. Both live video and recordings show good color quality with little distortion. The black-and-white night video appears clear out to around 25 feet with good contrast. As we’ve seen with other cameras that boast color night vision, the Go 2’s color night video was a bit too dark; recordings looked much brighter and sharper once we turned on the spotlight. The siren was loud enough to scare away a family of raccoons that were drinking from my pool without disturbing the entire neighborhood.

Motion alerts arrived immediately and correctly identified people and animals in the frame. I had no trouble viewing video from the Go 2 on an Amazon Echo Show using Alexa voice commands. An Alexa routine I set up to turn on a Wyze Plug Outdoor when the camera detected motion worked without a hitch.