Arlo Ultra 2 battery and charging cable questions

[DaPadrePedro]

Hi,

I'm planning to buy Arlo Ultra 2 cameras, but I have a few questions though:
1) What's the typical/expected battery lifetime?
2) What's the typical/expected battery lifetime when there is continuous charging? I suppose trickle charging is used here? Is this not a problem?
3) I'm planning to connect outdoor cameras to a wall socket indoor (so camera outdoor; magnetic part of the cable outdoor for max 30 cm; through the wall; part of the cable indoor; charger and wall socket indoor). Do I need an outdoor charging cable for this or an indoor? Or are both okay?
4) Are there variants of the charging cables with support for Belgium (power plugs supported in Belgium)? Do these variants have a specific EAN code?
5) Is there a power button on the camera? Otherwise said: can someone turn on/off the camera in a physical way? If so, can this function be disabled somehow?

Thanks!
Regards,
Pedro

[StephenB]

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@DaPadrePedro wrote:

1) What's the typical/expected battery lifetime?

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If you mean the time between charges: that's hard to say, since it depends a lot on the amount of activity/motion in the field of view.  I don't track it very carefully, but my impression is that my own cameras generally last about 8 weeks between charges.

If you mean the time until the battery needs to be replaced - then I don't know.  I've had Ultra cameras since 2018, and haven't needed to replace a battery yet.

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@DaPadrePedro wrote:

2) What's the typical/expected battery lifetime when there is continuous charging? I suppose trickle charging is used here? Is this not a problem?

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They are trickle charged, and Arlo says there is overcharge protection.  I do have a pro 3 charging continuously (it uses the same battery as the Ultra).  That's been running for a few years with no issue.

Note you can just remove the battery when it is connected to a charger if you wish.  The downside is that a short outage in power would result in the camera rebooting.

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@DaPadrePedro wrote:

3) I'm planning to connect outdoor cameras to a wall socket indoor (so camera outdoor; magnetic part of the cable outdoor for max 30 cm; through the wall; part of the cable indoor; charger and wall socket indoor). Do I need an outdoor charging cable for this or an indoor? 

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The outdoor cable is fully integrated with the charger (they cannot be detached),and the cable is 25 feet (7.6 meters) long.  The cable is round, and fairly heavy.

The indoor cable length is flat 8 feet (2.4 meters) long, and does detach from the charger.  The charging end is USB-A.

Both cables have a proprietary magnetic connector that attaches to the camera.  I don't think they were envisioning pulling the cable through a wall in their design - you will end up with a fair amount of space around the cable that you will need to seal up (no matter which cable you use).

Getting to the heart of your question - while the indoor cable isn't guaranteed to be weather proof, I think you could still use it.  It might need to be replaced more often.   My own Pro 3 powered camera is inside my garage (so it is subject to outdoor temperatures, but doesn't get wet), and I do use the indoor charger for it.

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@DaPadrePedro wrote:

4) Are there variants of the charging cables with support for Belgium (power plugs supported in Belgium)?

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The indoor cable connects to the charger with USB-A, and you could use a different USB charger than the one Arlo supplies if you need to.  

The outdoor charger is VMA5600C-100PES, the Amazon links for Belgium are

• https://www.amazon.nl/VMA5600C-Magnetische-Oplaadkabel-Floodlight-Bewakingscamera/dp/B07TXM4SNK
• https://www.amazon.nl/VMA5600C-Magnetische-Oplaadkabel-Floodlight-Bewakingscamera/dp/B08HSD2XXW

The indoor cable is 

• https://www.amazon.nl/Arlo-Vma5000C-100Eus-Beveiligingscamera-Bevestiging-Behuizing/dp/B07PDSGYQS

[DaPadrePedro]

Hi @StephenB ,

1) battery lifetime: I'm sorry for the confusion, but I meant the time until the battery needs to be replaced. Nonetheless the other value (time between charges) is interesting as well: I know it depends on a few things, but 8 weeks is a lot less than the 6 months Arlo promises (again, I know this depends on a few things, but I'm also aware 6 months is the best case scenario, so not a lot of detections, low resolution, etc.); the same counts for laptop vendors and their battery promises :-).

2) Battery/continuous charging: aha, I wasn't aware the battery could be removed during operation! Good to know! However, if they cut electricity, it's good to know batteries are still present (although I need my network up and running through UPS then; something I still need to implement).

3) Cables: I've noticed ther same properties of both cable types just as you've described. I know there are also other cables out there from 3rd parties (e.g. from Wasserstein there are outdoor cables of 3 different lengths with detachable charger: https://wasserstein-home.com/products/weatherproof-outdoor-magnetic-charging-cable-with-quick-charge...). The reason why I asked if I could use the indoor cable for my particular case is I could use an original Arlo product (no, these are not always the best, but I guess they are statistically, so if I would take a wild guess, I would bet on an Arlo cable/charger first). So in fact I'm doubting between the Arlo indoor cable and the Wasserstein outdoor cable: they are both detachable, which means I can put a USB extender cable (female-male Type-A) between the cable and the charger.

Let me explain my particular case: to minimize the outdoor visibility of cables, I would like to implement them through/in walls (I'm planning a renovation, so I can do that), sometimes leading to a basement, until they reach my electricity corner in the garage. This way I can easily control my chargers (as they will be plugged in in the garage) and I won't have a lot outdoor cable visibility. But this caseis some kind of indoor/outdoor mix, hence my indoor/outdoor cable question 🙂

4) Chargers: I'm not 100% sure if these Amazon.nl links really refer to chargers suited for Belgium/The Netherlands. I would suppose so, but I don't see real proof. The thing is the charger and cable may have specs not unimportant for charging (or fast charging), so just using another charger is perhaps a (very small) risk. On the other hand, it would surprise me if those chargers are special, so a serious modern USB charger would probably suffice indeed. In that case I could also opt for just a supported cable from e.g. BECEMURU (multiple lengths available, including one of 9m; with or without Qualcomm charger with QC 3.0; supported for Arlo Ultra 2; available as 1 cable or pack of 2; e.g. https://www.amazon.nl/oplaadkabel-BECEMURU-weerbestendige-magneetkabel-bewakingscamera/dp/B07V1MDHW8) and use/buy my own USB chargers (or buy the BECEMURU combo of cable with charger). Heck, I could even use a 4 port USB charger with QC 3.0 support this way 🙂 (I guess QC 3.0 is what's needed for fast charging Ultra 2?).

My brain is working and I think I'm getting there! Thanks!

Regards,

Pedro

[StephenB]

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@DaPadrePedro wrote:

4) Chargers: I'm not 100% sure if these Amazon.nl links really refer to chargers suited for Belgium/The Netherlands. I would suppose so, but I don't see real proof.

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Amazon.nl claims to be for both the Netherlands and Belgium, so I went with those links.

All Arlo chargers can handle European mains power, the only issue is whether you need an adapter or not.

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@DaPadrePedro wrote:

(I guess QC 3.0 is what's needed for fast charging Ultra 2?).

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The indoor charger supplies 5 volts, the outdoor charger supplies 9 at a lower amperage.  The reason is the cable length - there is less power loss in the longer cable if you use 9 volts at the lower amperage.

As far as I know, this approach is not compatible with QC 3.0 power negotiation - but I don't know enough of the details of QC to know for sure.

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@DaPadrePedro wrote:

The reason why I asked if I could use the indoor cable for my particular case is I could use an original Arlo product (no, these are not always the best, but I guess they are statistically, so if I would take a wild guess, I would bet on an Arlo cable/charger first). So in fact I'm doubting between the Arlo indoor cable and the Wasserstein outdoor cable: they are both detachable, which means I can put a USB extender cable (female-male Type-A) between the cable and the charger.

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I've only used Arlo cables, and generally have stuck with the Arlo chargers.  So I have no direct experience with Wasserstein or other alternatives.

If you need an extender cable, I think you are likely better off with 9 volts.

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@DaPadrePedro wrote:

but 8 weeks is a lot less than the 6 months Arlo promises (again, I know this depends on a few things, but I'm also aware 6 months is the best case scenario, so not a lot of detections, low resolution, etc.); the same counts for laptop vendors and their battery promises :-).

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I agree it is a lot less. 

Arlo has a specific set of assumptions that they use in developing their battery life estimates.  I believe that is 4000 seconds of streaming per month from the camera, with 30 second recordings, and 1/3 of the recordings made with the spotlight on.  If your situation fits their assumptions, then I suspect you'd get 6 months.