So I’ve had my camera a couple of days and I don’t know if I’m doing something wrong??
I’ve emailed YI about some issues but as they told me to select a setting I don’t have (human detection under smart settings) I can’t be bothered to ask again.
My indoor camera record’s for as long as there is movement… I like this one, no issues.
Yet my new outdoor one has settings to record from 6 secs to 60secs…
On setting it at 40sec and testing it, the camera watched me walk down the drive and then cut off at 40 secs despite the fact I was still there.
Then with the new ‘cool down’ period it won’t reactivate for either 3,5 or 10 mins (I’ve set mine to 3)…so I raise two points…
One, if I’m a burglar I just have to activate the camera and wait 40 secs and then I won’t be recorded?! In and out in 3 mins and camera is pointless??
And two, they are advertising this long battery life but in reality once set notifications to high, recording time to max 60 secs and cool down to minimum of 3 mins, then it’s not going to be That good??
Am I missing something??
@LAF hi You are probably using a Kami Wire Free Battery camera. Battery cameras cannot do long time recordings as battery will die if you need options for unlimited motion detect video recording for outdoor camera, a wired camera https://store.yitechnology.com/collections/smart-home-security-cameras/products/kami-outdoor-security-camera is better choice. You have two otionps either buy an SD card or subscribe to a cloud and you would get unlimited storage on motion detect
@LAF forgot to add why battery cameras cant record long duration of videos is because of limitation on battery life. Longer storages for motion would require an even bigger battery, not feasible due to limitation on size of camera. Almost all battery cameras in market have this same challenge.
Thanks for your reply.
I didn’t want a wired one because I’d need an electrician etc so I thought this was a good option. I just feel its a pointless invention - I get the battery issues and you say all the others on the market are the same, but it’s just not fit for purpose is it so why bother making it??
@LAF few limitations with battery camera such as no 24X7 video recording, but let me tell you some use cases can be useful
-
Package delivery alerts, I have one Kami battery installed on my main door, and I have cloud subscription I get 60 secs of video stored per event, every-time there is delivery I know a package was left on the front door. Helped me in reducing package thefts
-
I have another one installed near the garage, When I am not at home I can check on live view, and have peace of mind that I didnt leave the garage door open
-
Live view has many advantages along with two way audio I can greet or check who is on the front door without stepping away from my work.
-
All this can be done without AC wire running with just WIFI connection, plug and play.
The purpose of smart cams not just to catch thieves but also solve some basic issues of visual and audio access when needed.
Hope it helps to give you some better use cases. As technology improves longer storage times will be available, these things evolve every 2 years or so, our next step is to give real time AI features such as human detected, Vs general motion detected… higher level intelligence
My battery has lasted 8 days!!! 
Hi,
@LAF I apologize for the battery issue with your camera. To troubleshoot your issue further, please contact our customer support at support@yitechnology.com. Refer with ticket# 425079.
@LAF this certainly should not be the case, please troubleshoot with our customer service team and the battery length issue should be improved largely.
I have emailed this morning :-
I have had my outdoor wireless camera a few weeks and am incredibly unhappy with it.
I have emailed before and put comments on the forum - user name LAF.
It’s the battery power and the limited usage as an actual security camera.
I set it up with high alerts and 60sec recording and it lasted 8 days before I had to charge it.
After charging the batteries I reset it. And when I put it back up I reduced the recording time to 30 secs. It’s now warning me this morning to charge the batteries again - I think that’s 10 days.
I was going to count the alerts I’d had but for some reason it only keeps two days of recordings before wiping them (it’s not the ad card as I have 128gb in).
Is it broken?
Are the batteries no good?
Or is this normal??
Did you not promise months of recording?
I am aware I can set it on low frequency with a longer ‘cooling off’ period and shorten the recording time to 6 secs… But for me that is a pointless security camera… I did not buy it to look at the postman at my front door or to see if a courier had left a delivery, I bought it for evidence if someone broken into my home - therefore 6 secs of footage every 10 minutes is absolutely pointless.
My camera is in a high up place and not easy to get to and I do not want to be changing the batteries weekly… Plus I cannot leave them on all day charging when I am at work as they take Hours.
And I am not interested if other wireless security cameras have the same issues, before you say it.
Hi @LAF, we’re very sorry for your experience. The battery life that you’re describing is not normal. We will make sure this is further investigated.
Hi,
@LAF I just replied back to you in the email that you sent to our customer support. I will continue to correspond with you in that email thread.
Well @Patrick did email me back but addressed previous points I’d raised that I’d already had answered. I therefore asked him to address the battery issue but to date no reply. I’m on one bar again from 29th April… However, to achieve this, I’ve had to move it so I only get about 6 alerts a day and i reduced the recording time to 30 secs.
What I don’t understand is that a guy in a YouTube video claims to get 200 alerts a day at 60 secs and his battery hardly moves. I’m convinced mines faulty.
I have ordered another set of compatible batteries that are higher capacity to see if they last any longer though that’s cost me another £20.
I’m not looking forward to taking the batteries out for the 4th time in a couple of months!
@LAF if it does happen that your new batteries last longer, kindly write back we will refund you $20.
I’ll let you know. They’re charging as we speak. Thanks
I can’t post the link as its via YouTube on the app but it’s by the securitybros posted 13th march…
He says he had over 200 alerts in a few days at a min each and battery didnt change (I misheard originally, thought he said everyday… But still…) … I don’t know how he got that many alerts after it wipes after 24 hrs.
I was getting about 15 a day and it was flat after a week, (approx 7 x 15 = 105 alerts) so I had to reduce the recording time to 30 secs and move it - I only get about 5 alerts a day now.
Ive put new batteries in today so I’ll see how these get on.
Hi. Definitely… Yours have got worse… I didn’t even get a week out of them this time. They must be faulty. The new ones I got a lot longer.
That’s with the IR off. 30 secs recording and only about 6-7/alerts a day.
Hi Lindsay, sorry to hear that. What batteries did you buy to replace the ones that came with the camera?
Panasonic ones… Why is that relevant?