EufyCam 2 Pro vs. Arlo Pro 3: Which should you buy?

Arlo Pro 3

The Arlo Pro 3 does everything you need (and probably more). The optional Arlo Smart subscription will add even more capabilities to the mix, like human, animal, vehicle, and package detection. It even works with your favorite virtual assistants and IFTTT to further connect your smart home together.

EufyCam 2 Pro

The EufyCam 2 Pro takes everything that was great about the EufyCam 2 and improves the resolution without significantly increasing the price or battery life. Despite the increased resolution, the EufyCam 2 Pro still works with the same Home Base Station as other EufyCams and is totally wireless.

Both Eufy and Arlo are among the best companies to choose for home security cameras. But there's a clear differentiation between the two latest products from each company. The Arlo Pro 3 not only packs in better specs overall, but it provides users with more options and more important features than Eufy. Arlo's ability to provide important security measures like two-factor authentication and its tie-ins with several smart home services further seal the deal. There's no doubt you'll be getting a better experience with Arlo but, as the old adage goes, you get what you pay for.

Arlo Pro 3 Scaling the paywall

There's no doubt that while the Arlo Pro 3 offers a better overall experience and more essential features, you're going to pay for it. At its base price, the Arlo Pro 3's two-camera starter kit is almost 50% more expensive than the EufyCam 2 Pro. That's Eufy's brand-new top-of-the-line security system, too. On top of that, if you want all of the features of the Arlo Pro 3, you'll need to have an Arlo Smart subscription. That is, of course, an additional long-term cost on top of being an expensive product.

While the cost is definitely more than just a bummer, there's at least a bit of a bright side to the subscription cost. At $3 per month, it's not exactly going to break the bank. That subscription also enables a multitude of important features like human, vehicle, animal, and even package detection via the cloud. You'll be able to customize motion zones to help prevent erroneous alerts, and Arlo will store the last 30 days of activity in the cloud so you don't have to deal with local storage running out.

Arlo also outdoes Eufy in the spec game in a significant number of areas. While the EufyCam 2 Pro is marketed at 2K resolution, it's not actually much higher than 1080p resolution. The Arlo Pro 3 has true 2K resolution at 2560x1440 (2560p) and even sports a 20-degree wider angle lens. That means that Arlo Pro 3 captures a wider area and does it in higher resolution, too.

It also has HDR video, which helps get rid of those horrid blown-out areas that occur from having a bright sky contrasting against a dark covered area (where a camera is usually placed). The Arlo Pro 3 even features a floodlight built-in, which enables the camera to see in full-color in the dark.

EufyCam 2 Pro Sometimes, local is best

So while Arlo supports both local and cloud-based storage, only some Arlo base stations properly support what Arlo calls Direct Storage Access. Specifically, the VMB5000 or VMB4540 bases provide official support for local storage, but there are several users on Arlo's official support forum that have reported issues accessing pictures and videos that are stored on local USB drives. You'll also need a subscription for some of these features if you have an older base station.

Meanwhile, Eufy offers easy local storage built right into the HomeBase 2, which comes with any EufyCam 2 Pro starter kit. 16GB of built-in storage holds up to three months of videos with two cameras, and an SD card can be inserted to easily expand this storage. All of the video is available at any time via the Eufy Security app and doesn't require any kind of subscription to access.

Eufy also packs in onboard human detection that'll help cut down on alerts you don't need, because who really cares about the neighbor's cat hanging around your yard, right? The EufyCam 2 Pro also supports custom motion zones out of the box without a subscription.

Connect to others with the Arlo Pro 3

However, Eufy's biggest weakness is in its lack of interconnection to other platforms. While Eufy fully supports connection to Apple HomeKit, Google Assistant, and Amazon Alexa, you're only limited to viewing video and can't control the arming or disarming of the system. That means you'll either have to rely on manual arming/disarming, utilizing geofencing from within the Eufy app (and granting the app access to your location at all times), or creating triggers for other Eufy Security devices to trigger camera recordings.

The Arlo Pro 3 can be armed and disarmed through the Arlo app, via Alexa, or through any number of IFTTT recipes. This IFTTT integration, in particular, means what you can bypass any limitations that Arlo might have in its software by creating your own ways of connecting smart home devices. IFTTT support remains the most important way to connect smart home devices across multiple vendors, and Arlo's integration with Alexa means a whole lot of people can securely arm and disarm their system with their voice and a security PIN.

EufyCam 2 Pro vs. Arlo Pro 3 You get what you pay for

While that statement usually means that the least expensive product is cheap or not worthwhile, that's not the case here. Eufy offers a compelling product with the EufyCam 2 Pro, which offers a low cost of ownership over the long-term, and one-year battery life that outdoes the Arlo Pro 3.

However, the Arlo Pro 3 is just much more capable, despite the higher cost, and it delivers on the promise of getting more bang for your buck. The Arlo Pro 3 features a removable battery, which can be swapped out for a normal or XL sized battery. That XL battery costs $80 but will increase the battery life to one full year before needing a charge up. The Arlo Pro 3 is the clear winner when it comes to capability and essential features, but you'll need to be OK with spending more money over the long-haul. If that's OK with you, Arlo's the one to get.