Battery life on PRO

[TomMac]

For those that were wondering....

Been running the PRO camera ,on an Arlo base, for a while now but only a short time on battery.

I installed a fully charge battery in the PRO on the morning of the 14th of Nov.

As of this morning (13 days ) of just about spec usage (  also running ARMED for every other night ) the battery is sitting at 77%

So battery seems to be holding up... if discharge rate continues, it should make the normal 16340 cell rate of about 50 days.

In honesty, i didn't think it would make the lenght of usage like the OEM cells...for me the OEM cells at high quality video run 4 months +/-.

But, they are for me running just like the li-ion cells ( nitecore ) I was running which make 50-60 days.

In the end, no surprise... the Pro pack is only 2440maHr and the Nitecore total at 2600maHr.  ( in real world no diff , as it a few days max )

Any comments ?

[BadDay4u]

I just bought the Arlo Pro, and really wished they would have stayed with the 16340 battery format. You can buy a bunch of quality 16340 recharable batteries and a nice 4 bay charger, much cheaper than buying the properitary battery packs and charger, for the Arlo Pro. As a bonus if you are a flashlight junkie like myself, you can use them in your flashlights as well.  As current pricing is now, and provided that you only need, or intend to use 5 camers in your system, its within reason to buy two of the systems VMS4430 @ 649.99 and VMS4130 @ 249.99 = 899.99. This way you get 2 chargers, and an extra base station for roughly the same price as buying VMS4430 @ 649.99 and add-on camera VMC 4030 @ 189.99 and battery charger VMA4400C @ 59.99 = 899.97. I think for the .02 cents I will take an extra base station. 

[Streak2]

Tom I'm not sure I am following the math.

Confirm that you were able get 4 months (or was it 50 days) using Arlo with 16340's and expect to get the same usage using the Arlo Pro? And that you are only arming every second night?

I have done my first charge of the pros. Duty cycle in my installation is much more than 5 minutes recording a day so as expected battery life will be lower. I have reduced video quality to see how much this can be extended by.

[TomMac · Accepted solution]

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Streak2 wrote:

Confirm that you were able get 4 months...

I have done my first charge of the pros. Duty cycle in my installation is much more than 5 minutes recording a day so as expected battery life will be lower. I have reduced video quality to see how much this can be extended by.

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I get 4 months using the OEM primary non-rechargeable cells in the Arlo at high quality video

I get about 50-60 days using the Nitecore 16340 cells, same

I estimate I will get 50 days from the PRO pack ,same

What we have shown in the past is that heavy usage the rechargeables tend to do a bit better then OEM primary

In lower usage the OEM primary cells do better.

[Streak2]

OK go it.

Netgear equate the battery life on the Arlo and Arlo Pro as follows:-

"Your Arlo Wire-Free cameras are battery-powered and are not intended for continuous recording. The batteries in your Arlo Pro Wire-Free or Arlo Wire-Free camera last for about four to six months with normal usage, which is about five minutes of recordings a day."

So according to them the primaries in the Arlo should give you the same life as the rechargeables in the Arlo Pro?

[TomMac]

So according to them the primaries in the Arlo should give you the same life as the rechargeables in the Arlo Pro?

Yes... also note that the spec use is using OPTIMIZED video setting.

What I've been seeing tho, is the PRO pack will last as long as the 164340 li-ion cells we've been running in the Arlo cameras. I'll call it at 2 months +/- for the Pro pack at this time, I'll know for sure when it runs out  🙂

I have seen the primary OEM cells go 7 months+ on my very low use cameras but the best life I ever got out of rechargeables is 70 days ( IIRR ).

(would guess the self-discharge has a bit to do with it also )

Someone else here did manage to get better life in days , but still not like the OEMs in low use.

(( just checked, I have two VERY low use cams running that are only armed when out ( never viewed ) OEM batteries were put in  April and they are sitting at 64% and 68%  )) 

(( two normal use Arlo cams running 16340 li-ion cells sitting at 68% and 71% , batteries installed start of Nov , about 25 days ))

[jguerdat]

My Pro camera batteries are depleting more rapidly than expected but I have an RMA on them for other issues (low mic).  They'll be delivered tomorrow so I'll charge them back up and try again.

[NETthisGEAR]

@streak The Arlo batteries and Arlo Pro batteries as far as I know will give you around the same battery life. I'm asking around to see if anyone has experience with both and can give a definitive answer. At this point, I am finding that most people are still unaware that you can get rechargeable batteries for the Arlo. Originally the Arlo didn't have rechargeable batteries, well not approved anyway. Now you can get the Tenergy 3.7V RCR123A Li-ion Battery Charger  with it's batteries. They can be bought separately as well. 

The Arlo Pro also has a siren. Warning to all - do not test the siren without reading the instructions, it's loud!

[MarkWilliams]

Battery life on wireless camera showed 50+/-% early Monday a.m., today it showed 10% - any suggestions?

[Streak2]

How many recordings during that period and for what length of time?

How often were you viewing live?

What is the signal strength at that camera?

Has this suddenly started happening or is this a new installation?