Arlo Pro 4 XL , do they need a base station, and are the batteries suppose to last a year?

[fengshuikb]

It states that the battery in any Arlo XL camera will last a year before recharging, either the Essential XL or the Pro 4 XL.  With the spotlight, mic and speaker on etc., the Essential XL that I have it loses 5% to 10% of the charge per day.

Is it a typo or I am not understanding the wording.

Thanks for the help.

[StephenB]

They don't need a base station (though they can be used with one).

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@fengshuikb wrote:

It states that the battery in any Arlo XL camera will last a year before recharging, either the Essential XL or the Pro 4 XL.  With the spotlight, mic and speaker on etc., the Essential XL that I have it loses 5% to 10% of the charge per day.

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FWIW, in my opinion the battery life is greatly overstated (unfortunately this seems to be the general industry practice).  The battery life depends on several factors (the amount of camera recording, how much the spotlight is on, temperature,...)  WiFi signal drops also can drain a lot of power (because the camera is working to try and reconnect).

Do you have an idea of how much recording you are seeing per day (approx minutes)?  If you use activity zones, you need to disable them for a day or so to estimate this.