Nest Doorbell Battery drains like crazy

[illhvhlda]

Initially, I tested with all possible configuration of battery usage - More recording, balanced, More battery life, and even custom, with zone/events settings on. All drained the battery to 0 in about a week, with 5-10 events / day.

I got a replacement device, and the issue did not go away.  So I assume it is not the device issue.

I've tried a bunch of options to figure out what is causing the battery drain, and came to conclusion that it has to do with either zone setting or notification settings.

My test - everything was maxed out including max event time, max video quality, audio recording, visitor announcements, etc, BUT zone off, and event alerts off.  Since visitor announcements were on, it did alert that someone was at the door, when the doorbell was pressed. This dropped the battery only 2-3% in a week, with about 4~5 doorbell announcements / day. Very normal, and this concluded that those options(video quality, audio recording on, video length, etc) are not the issue.

Now I reasonably tuned the zone to include only my entrance(less than half of the screen) so that it won't trigger bunch of time by passing people, turned on the zone, and events, only for people and packages.  With 0 events, the battery dropped 5% in a few hours. Also, what I found out was that this drop seems to occur only during day, not during night. This needs to be confirmed.

My testing environment is not harsh at all. It's LA, and the temperature gets as hot as 90F, but the doorbell is in a good shadow, which makes it very normal condition. During the night, it should be about 70F.

Is it the configured zone that's causing the battery drain in a way that the doorbell has to work hard to process the zone? or is it the event alerts for people/packages? I am testing now to confirm this.

Does anybody have similar issues?

[janthadeus]

Hi illhvhlda,

Thanks for visiting the Community. My apologies for the late response here. Got it. Thanks for checking this out, I appreciate your efforts. Let's figure this out — a few questions: 

1. When did the issue start?
2. Is your camera fully charged before you install it?
3. Was there any power outage recently

Try the steps here:

• Charge your camera, keep it connected to the charger until its battery is full.
• If possible, adjust the angle of your camera to a more productive area that catches fewer unimportant activities.
• Factory reset your Nest Doorbell if the battery still drains quickly.

Let me know how it goes.

Cheers,

JT

[janthadeus]

Hi there,

It's me again. I want to make sure you're all good — how did the steps go?

Regards,

JT

[illhvhlda]

1. Issue existed since fresh out of the box

2. Yes

3. No

I've tried charging it to full level. Also tried factory reset, as well as getting a new replacement device, which has the exact same issue.

I have not tried changing the angle, as the wedge and the stand is already bolted into the wall. From my tests, I can say with confidence that the event zone is causing the battery drain. As soon as I set any zone, regardless of any other settings, it will start draining the battery.  And as I noted, zone is configured so that it can only capture right in front of my house, and to avoid any cars and people just passing by.

If I don't set any zone, and turn off any events triggering, I assume that the camera does not have to process anything until the doorbell is pressed.  As soon as I set a zone, it will have to start processing all cars/passengers just passing by, and have to again work to process to rule out those out of my zone.  This is something I can only confirm by changing the angle that won't include any cars and passengers, but this would be my last resort.

[janthadeus]

Hi illhvhlda,

Got it, thanks for following up. Sounds like a plan! Let me know once you've changed the angle of your Nest Doorbell (battery) if that helps.

Keep me posted.

Thanks,

JT

[aatienza]

Hey illhvhlda,

I just wanted to follow up to see if you still need our help. Please let us know as we would be happy to answer any questions you may have. 
 

I appreciate the help, JT.

Thanks,

Archie

[aatienza]

Hey illhvhlda,

Just checking in to make sure that you've seen our responses. Please let me know if you have other questions or concerns as I will be locking this in 24 hours if I won't hear back from you again. Feel free to start a new thread and we'll be happy to help.
 

Thanks,

Archie