Reolink Argus: usb powered mode

I have Reolink Argus cameras, it has usb powered and work constantly.
It will be great if there is an option for batteries powered and usb powered.

It will not go to sleep mode when switched to usb powered mode.
PIR sensor detects a person and start record immediately and no more delay.
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Bob

The micro-USB port in the battery compartment can be used to power the camera (5V 2A) although it was not designed for this exact purpose. It's for debugging in manufacturing process. Reolink Argus is an outdoor camera and powering in that way may incur elements and water getting in and in turn cause irreversible damage to the camera. This kind of damage is not taken as within warranty from Reolink.

DEBBIE

Are you plugging it into a power outlet or a solar panel?...Yes I know the warranty will void, but I have several cams. Was thinking of connecting it to a solar panel since my batteries are only avg 3-5 weeks.

Bob

Hi communities,
The solar panel made officially by Reolink is coming soon, which will be a great pal to Argus and Argus2 (rechargeable version). Please stay tuned for our release news.

papini.l

I think the usb powered option is useful. For example you can connect one of those common power bank for tablets and cells of 10-20.000 mAh and your Argus cam will last for many months. And you have a rechargeable battery.

How about some specs on the Argus 2, like its mAh rating?

Bob

Hi guys,
I know you may be concerned about the coming Argus2. Please subscribe to us to stay updated!

papini.l

oh i was still hoping that the micro usb power will behave the same...if its always powered on, it means that its taking more power right?

In this case if i attach with lets say a 20,000mah power bank, I wonder how long it will last?

Bob

Hi ray0006,
No, there won't be more power taken. Nothing about power is changed.

papini.l

Hi papini,

that is what i'm afraid of as well.
Maybe when its connected through micro usb, its always drawing 5v2amps?

@Bob, does the camera goes into standby mode like in battery even when there is a micro usb connected?

Sasa

So i connected the Argus to a xiaomi Power Bank with 10.000 mAH. But when i close the app and want to connect to the cam to have a Look for live view, the argus is offline. Then i push the on button from the Power Bank and it Works again Till i close the app. After some seconds the cam is then again offline. Why that? Seems the cam doesnt took enough energy and the Power bank shutts off?

Sasa

So the smart energy Savings are the reason for this. Sh..t

Which accu is then best with the a good Duration and a "cheap" Price and that fits to the body. It Really seems that reolink Tooks the expensiviest batteries from the Market ;(

papini.l

I have some news.

I made some measures on the Argus energy consumption. I have posted them here:
https://reolink.com/topic/argus-power-consumption/#post-89998

Regarding the use of an usb power bank I have come to the conclusion that they are not suitable for this purpose. Some power banks auto shut off for the low energy flow of the Argus camera in stand by mode (Orico 20.000 mAh, TeckNet PowerZen P3 16750mAh).
The only one that I find to keep powering the cam is the Anker Powercore 20100 but I noticed the duration of the battery is poor (about 8 days with an average 15 min/day of usage). I can't explain that. I suppose the circuitry of the power bank has a self consumption that is low but not insignificant when you consider a 24/7 usage.

Personally at the end I chose to use the usb powered mode with a mini ups as bakup. If someone is interested I used this mini ups (you can find it also in some china retailers):
https://www.amazon.com/Uninterruptible-Portable-Applications-Protection-%E3%80%90Cetified/dp/B0719GVTNX/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1516796062&sr=8-3&keywords=mini+ups

ndimeck

Thanks for the idea here.
I also have hooked up to the usb input.
I connected the usb power lines to a cheap solar powered light I got from Banggood. I simply opened the solar powered light, disconneced the light and connected the usb power lines directly to the 3.7V lithium battery.

Cylanoid

This aged well... It's 2024 now and I found this by searching for "Is there a way to make my Reolink solar powered camera stay on while I'm looking at it?". Though I have not looked intensely, I cannot find an answer to this. It is currently plugged in using a charging block and usb.
This was a great suggestion and still has not been implemented, it seems. At least I have not found the answer yet.
Something else that would make these versatile cameras even more so? Let them repeat wifi off of each other. Oh that would be awesome!!!! You could daisy chain a bunch together. I would pay extra for that!
Reolink is great, love them! Must be a reason why they don't allow continuous recording or viewing on the battery cams.. idk...