Cameras & doorbells

[gerasco]

I charged my camera for a week before installing it. When I went to put it up today, the camera was lost at 2 percent!

Any ideas what that’s about?

[RokuTakashi]

Hey @gerasco,

Welcome to your first post in the Roku Community!

We're sorry to hear about the experience you had with the Roku Smart Home Camera. We definitely want to help, and we'll need information for us to better assist you. Have you charged your device and it went down to 2% or have you charged it and lost 2% in the last week?  The details you provide us will be useful to further look into the issue.

Keep us posted. We'll look forward to your response!

All the best,
Kash

[gerasco]

Apologies for the delay in replying.  I was out of town for about a week and a half.

Clarification.  Originally, I had charged it for a week.  When I went through the set up process, it started with 2 percent battery left.  To give it a fair shake, I charged it for a few more days and then tried again.  This time the camera registered at 100 percent.  It seemed like it was fine. 

HOWEVER...

The camera worked fine during the time I was gone.  When I got back, the camera couldn't sync with the base station.  After trying to sync through the app, I got on a ladder in order to sync it through the camera.  When I check the back of the camera, the power light was off. 

Basically, the camera stayed powered for about two weeks... not even close to the "up to 6 months charge" that was indicated in the literature for the camera.  I charged the camera for a few hours and it's up to 100 percent again.  We'll see if things are any different this time around.

Any idea what's going on here?

[RokuArvyS]

Hi @gerasco,

Thanks for posting in the Roku Community!
We understand that you're having difficulty with your Wireless Outdoor Camera SE's battery percentage. We're sorry to hear about the experience. This is not what we aim for.

Have you tried to check the battery usage? You can find it by going to the camera > Settings (gear icon) > Device Info > Battery Usage within the Roku Smart Home mobile app. This will give a breakdown of what the battery has been used on since the last full charge. Can you please provide us with a screenshot so we can see if it looks expected based on the usage.
Let us know what you find out so that we can further assist.

Best regards,
Arvy

[riff2x]

I have the same problem with 2 different SE cameras.  Support from Roku is the worst.  They have to know there are issues with the batteries and the buggy software.  My Camera will not charge the battery.  It is less than 1 month old.

[RokuJohnB]

Hi @riff2x,

Welcome to the Roku Community!

We understand that you're having a problem with your Roku camera since it will not charge. We're happy to help. Please follow these steps:

1. Check to make sure the user is plugging the Roku Outdoor Camera (Battery) directly into the Roku Base Station.
   • To ensure the camera isn’t draining its battery as fast as it’s charging, make sure it’s turned off for the full 4-hour charging duration.
2. Suggest using a different charging cable if the user has one available. Micro USB plug type
3. If the Roku Outdoor Camera (Battery) does flash red when connected to a charging cable but the battery level still shows 0% in the app, this is likely not a hardware defect. Try re-pairing the Roku Outdoor Camera (Battery) with the Base Station.
4. If already set up successfully, make sure the camera has the latest firmware installed.
5. Manually switch the camera on or off using the power switch on the back of the camera.
6. Request an app log and take note of the app log ID:
   • In the Roku Smart Home app, tap Account > Roku Support > Submit a Log.
   • Choose the Outdoor Camera > Battery Performance.
   • Next, fill out the details and ensure Send log files is checked, then tap Submit.

If the problem still persists, please keep us posted.

Best regards,

John

[gerasco]

How do I provide screenshots?  I'm not quite sure how to do that here?

I can tell you that the camera was charged again 10 days ago and the battery level is currently at 79%.  This was after being in the 90s the last few days.

On a somewhat related note... Although I've been getting notifications from this camera, the images I receive are NOT video recordings.  They are still photos, often with the person who set off the notification already having moved out of range of the camera.

Any ideas?

[renojim]

@gerasco, do you have a subscription?  Without a subscription all you'll get are images.

[gerasco]

I don't have one yet.  I have one more camera to install before I make that decision.  With the battery issues on one camera and me having to periodically reset the other one (more than would seem normal), I'm still on the fence.

Thank you for the quick reply!

[riff2x]

I am charging the camera via the cable and charger that came with the unit and plugging it into a wall outlet.  Should it be charged another way?

Cameras and base is at the latest firmware version. This is my second bad experience with these cameras.