I have two Outdoor Cams and wish that I never bought.
I have SD cards in the base and both cameras.
One works but does not stay charged. The battery drains within a week- and it is connected to a freaking solar panel. The app shows that it is charging during the day with the lightning bolt icon next to the percentage. I did install the latest firmware update for the “battery drain issue” which did absolutely nothing. After a week I still had to charge it inside. The day before Thanksgiving it had a full charge, having charged inside overnight. I put it back out at 7 am this past Wednesday. I barely accessed it but when I did I noticed 98-100% and charging during the day. on Thanksgiving day. We had a snowstorm Saturday and, granted, it was a gray and gloomy weekend. Since then- even though it is bright, clear, and sunny today, it has been dropping steadily. This morning it was at 85% Two hours later it is at 81%! It is getting full sunshine right now.
What is the damn point if I have to take it down in this weather every week to keep it charged?!?!
The other issue is with the second camera.
It is too far away to reach the signal from the base station, so I put it in travel mode. That camera is powered by an outdoor plug at the location. Everything looks good on the app and I have a clear image with sound. Since it is in travel mode, I set a schedule to record continuously for 14 days (which the app estimates is well within the capacity of the card) and set to record on motion triggers only. Every time I go back to the camera and access it- NO DATA. No photos. No video. The card is empty! I reset the schedule and, again, nothing when I go back.
What the hell is the point of Travel Mode if it does not record anything?
I just bought an outdoor cam the other day. The battery doesn’t last even 1 day. Am I missing some setting to cause it to drain so fast? If so, please explain, the instructions are vague and hard to find.
Make sure you have the IR light off… My outdoor camera lasts a month. One day life of battery is NOT normal behaviour. Given you just bought the camera, it should be covered by warranty. Contact Wyze.
If you leave the IR on then you will drain the battery faster… If you view live through the camera more, you will drain the battery faster…
I ignore my wireless camera, and don’t view live through it very often, but I always check the alerts in the app if I get an alert.
I believe the camera sits in a quiescent state, looking only at the PIR sensor most of the time-- I also believe that when the PIR sensor triggers, the camera leaves the quiescent state and goes to full function, and hence more battery draw. This sort of behaviour minimizes battery usage.
It all boils down to power budget, if you use the camera live you reduce the battery charge state. If you only view via the app alerts, then the camera is not out of the quiescent state as often, so it takes less power, and hence longer life per charge.
I believe that if your intent is to leave the camera on 7X24, you will need to arrange for power and get a different camera if you expect days long battery life. I don’t think it was designed to stay used continuously for long periods of time. The camera appears to be designed to sit in the quiescent state, until the PIR sensor detects something, then the camera starts up… That maximizes the battery life…
You mentioned getting alerts through the app. Does that only happen through your cell phone? I have been using the app on my PC with Android emulator. Do I need to be running the app on my PC in order to get alerts?
I stay away from emulators, as they are not always perfect, which makes for all sorts of interesting times…
All alerts I get, I get via my cell, as intended by the designers of the app. I do not run emulators, unless I have no other way, and I am willing to accept “surprises”, as I use the emulator.
Yeah, I have noticed, the issues with the emulators, the first one suggested by Wyze in their instructions wouldn’t even work on my older PC. That first one does work OK on my other not as old PC. My old PC , this one, seems to be a bit short on memory. It is an all-in-one and I can’t add any more RAM to it. No space for it. But with it not being compatible with Win 11, I am going to have to get a new one anyway.
My problem is, right now, my also older cell phone will not work with the the Wyze app, can’t even load it. I found out the hard way that I can’t get into the app on my PC unless it is downloaded to a cell first. So I had to use the wife’s. Once I did that, then I could load up the app on the PCs. So, now I must also get a new cell phone.
I don’t really use a cell that much, so that’s why I haven’t bothered to upgrade. I didn’t know the Wyze cam is so reliant on cell phones., and am forced to use the PC until I upgrade my cell.
WCO? What is that? I guess what I want to know now, is the wife’s cell the only way to get event notices. Or is there a way to get them through the PC? Short of loading up the app every time.
Yes with the Wyze ecosystem the Only way to get notifications is to have the Wyze App which runs on an Android device or Apple device such as smartphones and tablets.
So, even though I can use the app with an emulator on my PC, and see the events there, I will not be given notices through the PC app? Even if I leave the app up? So I will have to physically check the app to see any new events?
Hi bryonhu,
I have almost no issues with my WCO, it works for around a month between recharges, and always alerts me when something triggers it. Why do you agree it is junk? We have established that the initial person calling it junk was not running it as designed, hence unexpected results.
