New arlo essential (vmc2030) spot battery charge doesn't last even a week

[oldgranola]

I purchased the arlo essential spot camara on amazon even though it had internal non-replaceable battery because it was advertised to last 6-months. It does not. It barely even lasts one week. Since I have to climb up a ladder to take it down and charge (thereby not having a camera up) it is a major pain to not last as advertised. I am very dissatisfied and wish I had not purchased it. What is the problem with this camera or your advertising? your assertions and the product should match

[dcfox1]

The 6 month life is in a perfect world. It is rated as 5 minutes of recording/live streaming a day, I know that is low. If you have a lot of activity it will drain faster. You can try to reposition it to limit unwanted recordings like a busy street.  I have a 4 Pro3 and get about 2 month out of it. More on the less active cam.

[jguerdat]

OP, how many recordings of what length are you getting per day? Are you using live view a lot? Have you considered using a solar panel to charge the battery to make it last longer?

[oldgranola]

I see. Thanks for the replies which seem consistent between. Yes it is a high activity area which is why I even want the camera in the first place. So it appears then that the camera is no different from the others in that respect other than I have to take it down to charge instead of the more convenient method of removing a battery and replacing with an already charged one, which I was doing once a week with the previous Pro that finally died of water damage. Thus I obviously purchased the wrong camera with this 'essential' version. Anyone want to buy it from me?

[StephenB]

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@oldgranola wrote:

 Thus I obviously purchased the wrong camera with this 'essential' version. 

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It sounds like it.  Part of the puzzle is that Arlo decided to reduce the recording minutes/day assumptions in their battery life specs a while back. 

If you are in a high-activity area, then consider a camera that accepts the extended life battery (Pro 3, Pro 4, Ultra).  It's considerably larger.  Not sure if the standard dual-charging station will charge the XL battery though.

[dcfox1]

@oldgranola  As suggested you can try a solar panel but it is a trickle charger and may not keep up in a high activity area but you can try. AC power would work but I don't think there is an outdoor cord for Essential, someone  correct me if I am wrong. . The cams suggested above would be good with AC power. On Pro3 I have a spare so I just swap the Battery.