For Information: Arlo Ultra Camera Power Requirements

[HanserT]

I have measured the current used by an Arlo Ultra camera. The results were the same for both an Arlo power supply and a bench supply. The camera was switched on and the lens was pointing at a blank wall to avoid motion during charging. It was close to the Arlo Smart Hub and the temperature was 24 Celsius.

Hardware Version = H6
Firmware Version = 1.070.50.4_223_df6cd69

With no load the Arlo PSU produced 5.2V. When charging the battery from 3% to 79%, the camera uses a steady 2.04 Amps and the PSU voltage is 4.95V. From 80% charge, these are the current measurements:

80% = 1.95 Amps
83 = 1.88
86 = 1.61
87 = 1.50
88 = 1.34
89 = 1.27
90 = 1.18
91 = 1.07
92 = 0.98
93 = 0.88
94 = 0.80
95 = 0.71
96 = 0.62
97 = 0.54
98 = 0.46
99 = 0.37
100 = 0.33

Notes on mains power operation when fully charged:

Spotlight draws an additional 50mA.
Streaming 4K video adds 25mA
Armed and detecting motion adds 40mA
Low light IR illumination adds 120mA

In summary, if the camera is charged before installation, a 5v 500mA supply for ongoing operation seems to be the minimum requirement. I have not measured the effects of temperature and range.

My thanks to DucatiWiz and their helpful posts in this thread: https://community.arlo.com/t5/Arlo-Ultra/Higher-power-solar-charge-project/m-p/1742544