Potential Wyze Battery Cam Pro Problem

Cameras
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TLDR; I think there may be a bad batch of Wyze Battery Cam Pro’s - specifically from Amazon. Of the four cameras I have used, two are solid, and two have had problems. I have done some experimenting with returns, moving cameras and batteries to support my conclusion.

Been using Wyze cameras since 2018 and have been generally satisfied with them, outside of the somewhat flawed “outdoor cam/base station” implementation. (Had three of those as well) Beginning in November of 24, I gradually replaced the outdoors with Wyze Battery Cam Pro’s. Iam Very experienced with the Wyze “ways”, and in my searches in the forum, the threads on this topic all are “closed” but provide no resolution. I am posting here to avoid the boilerplate responses if possible, I have also documented all of my troubleshooting steps and approach.

[Long Troubleshooting exercise starts here]

I have a total of three Wyze Battery Cam Pros:
Cam1 - Purchased 11/24/24 - Running on original battery charge / Solar Panel [90%]
Cam2 - Purchased 12/5/24 - Running on original battery charge / Solar Panel [78%]
Cam3 - Purchased 12/20/24 - battery drains 100% to 0% in <36 hours.*

-All cams have solar panels attached

-All cams have the same settings:

  • detection zone defined
  • All are on cam plus unlimited
  • All are set to record to SD card / “events only”
  • All are set to HD quality (not 2k)
  • All are on “smart detection” for people only (No pets or vehicles or packages)
  • All have a sensitivity of 2 & detection range of 15 ft
  • Motion tagging is OFF
  • Night vision IR is ON
  • Night vision mode is set to Auto
  • Cam3 only - Spotlight “sunset to sunrise” is set to off.
  • All are running the same firmware (1.4.1.2289)
  • My Wyze app is the latest version from the Apple App store
  • Cam1 is in a higher traffic area than Cam2 or Cam3
  • Cam2 and Cam3 both monitor the same gangway between houses (one faces east, the other faces west)

There are no events detected or recorded for Cam3 (other than video of me installing or moving the cameras)

Here is what I have tried:
1.) Amazon warranty exchanged Cam3 on 1/5. New cam arrived 1/6. This replacement will be referred to as “Cam3a”.

2.) Matched original Cam3 settings and Installed Cam3a w/fresh battery on 1/7 @ 8:00a CT. (I have spare OEM Wyze batteries on an OEM Wyze charger). As of this morning at 8:00a CT cam3a’s battery is 0% & offline.

3.) As part of installing #2 above, I Moved Cam3A to Cam2’s location to eliminate:

  • Something in the original Cam3/Cam3a location that was triggering the camera - (even with no events/recordings.)
  • Possible solar panel charging issues/access to sunlight.

I expected Cam2 to be drained, but Cam2 held its charge overnight (from 78% to 77%), while Cam3a drained to 0%

4.) Pulled Cam1’s Battery, (which was at 90% when I pulled it - and remember above, this is the “high traffic” camera) Topped it off to 100% and put it into Cam3a. (replaced Cam1’s battery with fully charged spare). I will know the results of this experiment as the day goes on. This test is to determine if there is an issue with a recent batch of batteries versus the camera itself. Will post an update after today. As of now, Cam1 and Cam3a are at 100% (Literally replaced a few minutes ago)

In my uneducated opinion, there is something up with a recent batch of Wyze Battery Cam Pro’s. My control group (Cam1 and Cam2) work as intended, even with the switch of locations and batteries. Cam3 and Cam3a (replacement) discharge at a very rapid rate. Leads me to believe that there is some change of hardware in the new batch. All are running the same firmware (1.4.1.2289). Cam3 and Cam3a Both came from Amazon. Cam1 came from Micro Center and Cam2 came from Best Buy.

PS. My previously installed outdoor battery cams never drained this fast in the same locations.

Thank you for any insight and/or help.

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Welcome to the forum.

Have you alerted support of your findings?

Logging the issue may help.

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I started with support, and that is why I went with the Amazon replacement first. Now that I have documented everything, I will try to kick this over to them.

As an update, to my message above, as of 1pm CT the battery in Cam1 Is still at 100% . The “topped off” battery that I put into Cam3A is now at 88%. (12% loss In < 5 hours)

There is definitely something happening with the camera itself.

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Quick update - 1/9/25 @ 10:10aCT

TLDR
As far as the current camera situation. Cam1 is at 100% (due to good sunlight). Cam2 is at 76%, Cam3a is 0% and offline as of this morning. Wyze is replacing Cam3a direct from Wyze. I am convinced that there is a batch of bad cameras out there.

[Support experience update]

Discussed this issue with Wyze support, and they are sending a third replacement camera directly from Wyze. So far the tech support experience has been generally good. Worked with Jake O. and Edzelyn. We will see how this performs once the camera arrives.

I did provide some feedback to Wyze, as the only negative interaction so far was the “handoff” between Wyze’s wizard team and the order processing department. I think the order team just kicked into the standard support script because the historical information either wasn’t passed along, or the order processing team did not bother to read/understand the history before attempting to fulfill the order. Given the amount of information, interaction and troubleshooting, this can be scary for a person seeking support to have to start at square one with the “next rep” - especially via email.

I believe this is back on track after I detected the disconnect escalated.

I will provide an update as this progresses.

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Additional FYI - Cam3a is out of service as it cannot hold a charge for a full day. Cam 1 is still at 100%, and Cam2 is at 75%

Ironically, the Cam3a seems to function as an expensive WyzeCam v4 as it works when connected to continuous power. Kinda defeats the purpose of a battery cam per se, but I digress.

I am still of the theory of a bad batch of Battery Cam pro’s out there. I wonder if battery life testing is part of the QC process.

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TLDR: As part of your troubleshooting, try removing the MicroSD card to see if it reduces/eliminates the rapid battery drain. The only evidence will be the battery draining rapidly - no errors will occur, and the card will appear to format/store recordings as if it is functioning normally, even though the card may have gone bad or is incompatible.

[Detailed Update]
Replacement Battery Cam arrived from Wyze yesterday, (We will call this one Cam3b) and I am happy to report that the camera is sitting solid at 97% since yesterday evening. There is more to the story than a simple camera swap. Here is something else I learned:

  • With any MicroSD card installed, the camera seems to drain a little faster. (Cam2 seems to be ticking down at around 1% per day with the SD card installed. ) - Not a big deal & makes sense - just something to note.

  • With no MicroSD card installed, the camera drains at a very, very low rate (taking multiple days to lose 1%) - This is a really good thing IMO

  • With an MicroSD card that the camera “does not like”, or is bad - the camera may appear to work normally, but the battery will drain at a rapid rate. - This is the root of the issue.

When the camera arrived, I installed/Formatted a fresh 64GB MicroSD in the new Cam3b & mounted (In the Cam2 spot from the saga above), Within an hour, I noticed the battery drain from 100% to 97% - very concerning.

On a hunch, I decided to just eject the MicroSD card, and let the camera run on cloud only to see what would happen. To my surprise, the camera has held the 97% charge since. (that was at 8pm last night, It is now 10am CT the next day)

So, my hypothesis has changed. I do not think there are “bad cameras out there” per se, but there is definitely some sensitivity to the combo of MicroSD card and camera and/or there is an issue with camera’s ability to report a bad card.

After pulling the card, and attempting to read/format the card on my computer, I was unsuccessful - Bad Card. It would be nice if the camera would have given me some indication, but it is my responsibility to eliminate the variables. For those wondering, the card was a MicroCenter house brand 64GB card. I have been using them in my Wyze cam’s since 2018, and have not had a problem until now. (I have a bunch of spare 4-packs lying around that I am now questioning)

Bottom line - if your camera is acting weird, add “remove MicroSD card” to the list of troubleshooting steps.

This issue is now closed for me.

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I use this to format all cards.

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I truly love how detailed everything you posted is! I’m glad the issue was resolved.

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