Wireless products are great for many reasons, especially wireless security cameras and video doorbells. They are easy to use, do not require cables or wires, and you can move them around without tripping over wires.
But wireless cameras have one major drawback: battery life. If your camera runs out of power frequently, it’s no fun, especially if it’s mounted outdoors.
It’s not uncommon for manufacturers to overstate the actual battery life of their products. Of course, they want you to buy their products, so the advertised battery life is always optimistic.
The number is based on tests performed under certain conditions (e.g. temperature, humidity) and may differ from what you experience when using your device.
Let us compare some battery runtimes of the most popular brands:
| Product | Battery life (stated by manufacturer) |
| EufyCam 2 Pro 2022 | 1 year |
| Ring Video Doorbell 2 | 6-12 months |
| Arlo Go | 2-3 months |
| Arlo wire-free | 3-6 months |
There are about 100 methods how to extend the battery life on your wireless cam, but here are the 5 best and most effective ones:
1. Make sure your camera has a strong Wi-Fi connection
One of the most common causes of dwindling battery life is unreliable WiFi.
Installing your home security cameras near the router will help solve this problem.
Do not place your cameras too far from a router and make sure you have adequate Wi-Fi coverage. The further away from your router, the more your camera has to look for a Wi-Fi signal, and the faster the battery will drain.
Wireless extenders are your friend, and we wholeheartedly recommend everyone to get a TP-Link Deco MeshΒ wifi router.
They are super affordable, easy to set up and extend, and guaranteed top coverage for anywhere inside and outside your home.
2. Add a solar panel to your outdoor security camera setup
This is undoubtedly the best tip for your outdoor cameras: a solar panel charges your camera’s batteries 24/7, requiring only a few hours of direct sunlight per day.
And you’ll never have to worry about your battery running out again, you can forget about that. Does not that sound great?
Most well-known brands produce their own branded solar panels.
Ring, for example, has its own Ring Solar PanelΒ stating “exclusively for charging Ring Spotlight Cam Battery and Stick Up Cam battery,” but in reality, it works just as well with your Eufycam or your Arlo.
Eufy also has its own “eufy Certified Solar Panel“, but it too works just fine with your Ring or Arlo.
Since they are all compatible, some other manufacturers give their solar panels the name “Certified” to state that they are. in fact, compatible. For example, the Wasserstein 2W/6V Solar Panel is an excellent brand product that is compatible with most wireless cameras: Arlo, Eufy, Ring, A-Zone, Heimvision, etc and is in some ways superior to the “original” brand named products.
Pay attention primarily to the wattage and voltage of the solar panels, not so much to the brand name. Even if it reassures some people to have everything from the same manufacturer.
The home security brand may be slow to bring current solar panels to market, while other brands (like Wasserstein) are constantly updating their product line.
The amount of energy generated by solar modules depends on their wattage and voltage. The wattage of the module determines the theoretical power generation under ideal sunlight and temperature conditions.
Voltage is a term that refers to the amount of electrical potential stored in a battery.
| Watt | Volts | |
| Ring Solar Panel | 2 Watts | 6 Volts |
| eufyCam Solar Panel | 2.6 Watts | 5 Volts |
| Wasserstein | 2 Watts | 6 Volts |
| Shyueda Solar Panel | 4 Watts | 6 Volts |
| Arlo Solar Panel | 2.2 Watts | 6 Volts |
3. Apple’s HomeKit will drain your wireless battery
Apple’s HomeKit is not suitable for wireless devices because it is constantly active, drains the battery quickly, and should generally be avoided for wireless security devices.
If you use the Eufy app, the Ring app, or the Arlo app, for example, you will not have these problems. Also, very specific features are only available in the manufacturer’s app.
4. Reduce motion detection with good Motion Zones configuration
Every time your camera records something, the battery is working. That’s why it’s important to configure the Activity Zones or Motion Detection Zones efficiently (also for your own peace of mind, so you don’t get too many notifications!) and to generally avoid placing a wireless camera in high-traffic areas.
The more frequent your video camera or video doorbell has to notify you and capture things, the faster it’s the battery will drain.
5. Optimize your video camera settings in detail
Sensitivity
Besides configuring good Activity and Motion Zones, all brands have settings like “motion sensitivity”, or “people only”, “human only”, which will impact the frequency of how many times the camera is triggered.
Spotlight
You can also set the camera to use the default night vision mode instead of the Spotlight feature.
Timing
Wireless battery-powered security cameras operate in standby mode, meaning they do not consume battery power until they are activated.
To maximize the use of WiFi security cameras, you can schedule the motion detection period to conserve battery power.
If all else fails…
If all of the above doesn’t cut it, there are some last resorts or extreme measures to take, these will be effective, but compromise on your security and comfort:
- If possible, set the security camera to record in a lower resolution, this will consume less battery.
- Use a shorter recording time of the video clips.
- Switch off the flash or light
- Double-check your battery-operated security cameras have the last firmware running