Why does the nest outdoor camera with floodlight have a battery if it is hardwired?

[DenLab]

The unit will be installed in a remote area with hardwired power. Will the unit not work if the battery dies? 

[MplsCustomer]

@DenLab 

My guess, as just another Google Nest customer, is that Google Nest simply used its new battery camera as part of the floodlight fixture because they no longer make a wired outdoor camera.  We have a battery camera that we bought in Sept. 2021, because that month Google Nest quit selling the (wired) Google Nest Outdoor Camera and did not offer a wired replacement.  We've had it plugged in with the optional power cable and it is "live" all the time and the battery remains charged.

However, judging from MANY other posts in this forum, if the battery in the battery camera (which is part of the floodlight fixture) fails, the camera will simply not work, even though when plugged in or wired, it runs off of household current.

I can't explain the design decisions behind this approach.  I don't like the fact that our battery camera is dependent upon its battery when we never use the battery (unless we unplug it to try to check the battery level).

[EmersonB]

Hi everyone,

@DenLab, the Nest Cam with floodlight is designed to replace an existing floodlight and requires a connection to the home’s power that provides 100-240V AC, 50/60Hz. The Nest Camera will get power from the floodlights power connector. In case there's a power outage, your Nest Camera will still work like the usual Nest Camera (battery type). The lifespan of its charge would depend on the events that it would record or when the power in your area comes back. Also, If your Wi-Fi goes down or there’s a power outage, Nest Cam will automatically store up to one hour of recorded events in its local memory. When things are up and running again, you’ll be able to see exactly what happened.

I appreciate the help, MplsCustomer. 

Regards,

Emerson