The worst doorbell battery ever?

[Stroudy]

Hello,

5 weeks ago on September 13th 2023. I moved a few of my smart things from Amazon to Google (Google TV, Speakers, Doorbell). The TV and Speakers are fantastic and much better than the Amazon equivalent, however the doorbell is a downgrade (At the moment).

I had the 2nd gen of Ring Doorbell Battery previously and moved to the Nest Doorbell Battery and I'm regretting this a lot at the moment simply because the battery of the Nest Doorbell is terrible.

The battery last around 4-6 days, I currently have it on the very lowest of settings and I still can't keep it alive.

I previously had the Ring doorbell on terminal wires (On maximum settings) and it would recharge every time it hit 90% back up to 100%, I never once needed to take the battery out and recharge it. I was using an 24v official Ring wire that plugged straight into a mains plug socket.
So I installed the Nest doorbell and I couldn't think of any reason why the same plug wouldn't work for this doorbell even if it was Ring branded, after all, it's just a bit of wire with some electricity going through it.

After around maybe 6 days, I get an alert to say the doorbell is offline due a flat battery.
How's this possible? It's plugged into a 24v plug.
I read on this community that it'll trickle charge which I expected anyway, but I thought it would have lasted a bit longer than 6 days. At this point I had the settings on the very highest so I thought I'd drop it down to the lowest and recharge the battery via USB-C till max again.

I remount the full charged doorbell in and it didn't last any longer before it was flat again. Strange considering the support documentation for it suggest it should last around 6 months on the lowest settings.

So to rule out that there was compatibility issues with the Ring plug on a Google Nest product. I went onto Amazon and bought another plug, this time a 18v plug socket that claims to be perfectly compatible with Nest doorbells and the reviews looked promising to.

I get this set up, I charge the doorbell to 100% again and remount. Surprise surprise, the battery life is still no better.

Full charged again via USB-C and decided this time to not plug it into the terminals and just leave it on the battery.
Shockingly, the battery lasts 4 days without terminal power.

Now as stated, I've got the doorbell on the very lowest of settings, the only way to get settings any lower is to turn the doorbell off completely.

I've done my research on the internet and some of the suggestions that the community have made do not apply to me in this situation.
I do not live on a busy road.
I live in the middle of the UK, it's rarely freezing cold and rarely ever heatwaves. Temperature should not be an issue.
All events are turned off other than ringing the doorbell.
I've made the zone tiny for testing purposes, it covers just the doorstep which is big enough for 1 person, and ignoring all of the events from anything outside of this tiny box.
I can't see any of my neighbours activity, I can only see my driveway and the most activity we get is me and my partner in and out of the house, and the postman occasionally. I doubt we get anymore than 8 motion events per day.
I've tried restarting the device via the small pin hole, and factory resetting it by holding down the reset button for 20 or so seconds.

I've now run out of ideas, have I just got a bad device or do these doorbells really only last a week at a time max?

Please help me. I'm begging for this product to work, I don't want to go back to the unreliable Ring products that only pick up people walking away from the house despite ringing twice and standing there for 5 minutes.
I don't want to change it for the Nest Doorbell wired either, I hate how they look and they lack the features that I like (Please bring the new wired version to the UK).

As you can see in the screenshot below. I'm on around 60% battery life, lowest settings but only 3 days remaining.

Thank you all in advanced.

[Super_paulie]

It sounds goosed. I'm in the north of England and I use the feed all the time at I have a few zones and we enjoy watching the local animals etc. It lasts maybe a month on full settings of everything maxed out, 3 minute events. I'm going to hardwire it eventually but for now lasting a month is acceptable. It's the battery doorbell, like your own.

[canosoup]

Had my NEW Nest Cam for two years then the battery wouldn't hold a charge and would shut off. After following the recommended factory reset I couldn't reconnect the camera. Called support and they said sorry your camera is out of warranty. I have DROPCAM/NESTCAM cameras that are 10 years old and still work to this day!!!! Be careful paying the monthly/annual service, the new products seem to break.

[ReginaS]

Hey folks,
 

@ Stroudy,  genuinely understand the inconvenience you have faced. Our team would like to take a closer look at your Nest doorbell battery. Please fill out this form so we can help you further. Let us know once you're done.
@Super_paulie, thanks for chiming in. You check this link on how to Save battery for Nest cameras and doorbells
@canosoup, we’re sorry if you feel that way. Since you’ve mentioned that your camera is out of warranty. That said, we won't be able to proceed with its replacement. You can check this link for our replacement policy. We know that this isn't the answer you're looking for and we hope we can make it up to you in the future.

Best regards,
Regina

[Stroudy]

Hello,

I have just submitted the form.

Thank you.

[EdmondB]

Hi Stroudy,

We got your form — thanks for filling it out. Our team will reach out to you via email anytime soon. 

Regards,
Edmond

[Stroudy]

Hello @EdmondB 

When am I likely to hear from Google?

Thank you.

[Jenelyn_O]

Hi there,

Chiming in — we don't have a specific time frame to give, but they will get in touch with you once they're done reviewing your case.

I appreciate the input, Regina and Edmond.

Cheers,

Jenelyn

[Stroudy]

Hello,

I really need an update.

My doorbell has just gone flat for the 3rd time since I've submitted the form.

This isn't acceptable.

Thank you.

[canosoup]

It’s crazy, after Google took over Nest the whole thing went to 💩. Nest would replace cameras because we are good paying annual members. 

[canosoup]

Did you fill out the form? I did,  🤡

[Stroudy]

Hello,

On Sunday 12th November at 10:35 I put my 0% battery doorbell on charge.

The same day at 15:43 the doorbell was fully charged at 100%. I mounted the doorbell moments later.

Today (Tuesday 14th November) at 17:28, my camera has now switched off to save battery.

It still has 50% left but only showing 1 day of life.

How long will I need to wait for a response from Google?

If I've not heard anything by end of this week, I'll raise a warranty claim and refund it.

Thanks.

 

[Super_paulie]

No way it should be 1 day on 50%. Something is really up with that, I'd return it if it was me.

[EdmondB · Accepted solution]

Hey Stroudy, 

I see that one of our support representatives already contacted you via email and processed a replacement for your Nest doorbell battery. Please let us know if you need help or have additional questions. 

Best,
Edmond