How To Set The Resolution On Your Arlo Cameras

Arlo is among the most prominent brands in smart homes, particularly where security devices are concerned. And its cameras are some of the best in that regard. But while most come with a similar array of impressive features, there’s at least one feature most users may not be aware of. Namely, you can actually set the resolution of your Arlo cameras to better suit your networking environment or needs.

For instance, if your camera is lagging or responding slowly, that may be because of the network quality and its placement. Simply turning down the resolution can offset that. Resulting in a cleaner, more consistent experience overall.

Similarly, lowering the resolution can help in other situations. But what if you need to raise the resolution again? For instance, if you set up a mesh network and/ or gain a better connection rate. That can also be accomplished. And, in fact, the process for doing either is the same. Albeit, not one that’s necessarily easy to find if you don’t know where to look to change the resolution for your Arlo cameras.

This walk-through can help you accomplish just that.

Here’s how to set the resolution on supported Arlo cameras

Now, before getting started, it’s worth noting that this guide — like many others posted here — makes a couple of assumptions. First, you’ve already installed and performed an initial setup for your Arlo cameras. And second, that you have an Arlo account ready to sign into.

It’s also worth noting that the UI that you see could differ significantly from what’s shown in the guide. There are always differences in UI between Apple and Android handsets, for instance. And the UI for tablets is slightly different as well. What’s more, there are undoubtedly options you’ll see with your Arlo cameras that don’t exist in our test device. Namely, because we’re using a budget-friendly Arlo Essential Indoor Security Camera.

The process itself, however, should be identical in terms of the options you’ll choose and their approximate location.

To begin with, you’ll need to open up the Arlo app and then sign in. With Arlo cameras, you can sign in with your fingerprint or with your password. As we have in the sample image below.

Next, scroll — if needed — to find the camera or cameras you’d like to set the resolution for. We only have one Arlo camera installed, as of this writing, so we didn’t need to scroll for our image below. On the card for the appropriate camera, select the three-dot or gear-shaped Settings icon at the bottom left-hand side of the UI.

Then select the “Device Settings” option that appears at the bottom of the UI. Specifically, over the top of the bottom bar tab UI, as shown below.

Arlo will load up the full suite of available options for the selected camera. Complete with a title or name for the camera and an image of the camera. The options here are fairly extensive. So the one we want doesn’t appear on the initial screen. Instead, you’ll need to scroll down to the “Video” sub-section.

There, select the “Video Settings” option from the list.

Under Video Settings, you’ll see a preview of your camera footage as well as video-specific options. For instance, this is where you can adjust camera brightness and Night Vision. But the final option on the page reads “Video Resolution.” Select that option.

Depending on the camera or cameras you have in your location, Arlo presents a different number of options. For Arlo Essential Indoor Security Cameras, as we’re using in our sample, the maximum available resolution to set is 1080p. So we’ve selected that option.

For slower connections or weaker connections, a lower resolution can help you get more consistent footage. This camera also offers 720p and DVD-quality 480p footage options. Regardless of your reason, you can try out various options by simply selecting one from the resulting page. Then you can test that using the provided preview footage.

So the final step is to select and set an appropriate resolution for your Arlo cameras. The change will be made immediately and automatically saved.

Now you can use the chevron-shaped back arrow icon to return to the camera selection page and apply resolution changes to any other Arlo cameras you have remaining.