Blink Home Security Camera Review

Unboxing and Setup

Blink Packaging

Home security equipment can be complex, from its construction to the software that runs it. That’s especially true for cameras. So, we’re always impressed when a company makes its cameras easy to set up and install.

Right away, we knew the Blink installation would be simple and straightforward. We ordered three cameras. We got exactly three boxes, each one containing one device. In addition, each box included one sync module, two mounting screws, one plastic mount, and a battery replacement tool. Everything we needed to install these cameras and nothing we didn’t.

Quick note here: Both the Blink Indoor and Outdoor require a Sync Module. The cameras use Wi-Fi, but they connect to the Sync Module hub rather than directly to the outside. The hub then sends the signal out. This can affect how quickly alerts get to you. In addition, the Sync Module isn’t battery-powered, so I had to set it up near an outlet while keeping in mind its distance from each of the cameras. It has a range of up to 100 feet, but in my experience, it needs to be a little bit closer than that to the outdoor camera to account for possible signal interventions caused by walls.

Blink Indoor Equipment

If you can believe it, the installation actually got easier from there. Once we scanned the QR codes on the boxes, complete instructions popped up on our app. We had to give each device a name – we went with Groucho, Chico, and Harpo – and the app synced everything up for us from there.

And OK, we did have to put a couple of screws into the wall. That’s pretty basic, though, and if you prefer, your cameras can sit comfortably on furniture, in which case you can leave the screwdriver in the toolbox. The whole thing took around ten minutes.

The only cameras I can recall that had an easier setup were from Wyze Cams. In fact, there’s a lot of commonality between these two brands. As a starting point, if you’re into simple wireless tech, you’ll appreciate both Blink and Wyze. Not only do they resemble each other somewhat in appearance, the cameras also cost less than much of the competition. We’re going back to talking about Blink now, but if you’re interested, you can find more on Wyze in our hands-on Wyze Cam review.

What was I saying? Oh, right – you almost have to be trying to make a mistake setting up Blink cameras. These are simple pieces of equipment to set up. You just pull up the Blink app and it makes all the connections for you.

Making Adjustments

Keep in mind, though – as we said in the beginning, these are complex pieces of equipment. They offer tons of features, and they afford you tons of control over your security. That means that, while setup was easy, fine-tuning these cameras can take a bit more time and patience. You’ve got Wi-Fi passwords to enter, for instance. You have to pair your cameras with your phone and other mobile devices. And that’s just for starters.

Blink App – Video History

We had the power to adjust the sensitivity of the cameras’ motion detectors so we didn’t get alerts every time the neighbors’ cat happened by; we set the night vision to suit our front porch lighting setup; we made decisions about where to store footage. You can’t zip through any of this, but by the time we were finished, we had a much deeper understanding of our camera and its capabilities. We felt like we were really getting our money’s worth because we knew how to use absolutely every feature.

Blink Mini – No Stand

Blink Mini Camera: The Full Experience

Blink Mini on Table

Sometimes, big things come in small packages. The Blink Mini is a good example. Yes, it’s small, but it includes all the basics you need to monitor your home, and it’s just $30. That puts home security in anyone’s grasp. Plus, the Mini’s size works in its favor in another way – this camera can be put in discrete locations, the better to catch thieves unaware.

My tests of Blink Mini centered around home entryways. Like all Blink cams, Blink Mini runs on fluid video, meaning it regularly fluctuates from higher (1080p) to lower video resolutions to allow it to run more smoothly and without gaps in your timeline. So the first thing to note: You won’t find much to gripe about in terms of video quality. This camera won’t let you down there.

Motion Sensitivity

If this is your first camera, you’re just excited to be able to see what’s happening in and around your home. It won’t take you long, though, to learn that cameras can be a lot of trouble if you don’t have the option to adjust their motion sensitivity. You don’t want alerts every time a leaf falls in October. Of course, by the same token, you want to make sure that your camera actually is detecting important, relevant motion. Otherwise, there’s not much point in having the cameras in the first place. Put simply, a camera’s sensitivity slider can be one of its most important selling points.

Blink Mini and Stand

Blink does have a slider. That’s a good thing. As you’ll learn in our in-depth Blink Mini camera review, though, that slider doesn’t allow for much fine-tuning. You can set them to ignore leaves and dust, but they’re probably going to pick up your pets running in front of them. Ignore the pets, and you’re going to feel like you’re not entirely protected. There’s just not much in between.

Still, for cameras that cost as little as $50, you do get a motion sensor, and that’s what is most important. Certainly there are cameras out there with more sensitivity – some with a lot more sensitivity. The question is whether a few extra clips of your pet barking when the mailman comes are worth saving a few dollars.

Just for comparison, let’s take a look at how the Blink Mini stacks up against its closest competitor, the Wyze Cam v.3. In past reviews, we’ve ranked Wyze a bit higher, but the Blink Mini v.2 has reversed the field.

Self-Monitoring With Mini

Blink doesn’t offer a professionally monitored security solution – at least not anymore1 – so the task of monitoring your Blink cameras falls to you. That’s a big responsibility. It means that you have to respond to every single alert. You have to pull video footage and check it out. You have to decide what to do. You have to contact emergency personnel if that’s what’s needed.

The good news is, Blink’s intuitive app helps with self-monitoring. For instance, it let me switch easily between checking the live view and looking back at footage history. This came in handy that time when my smoke sensors detected smoke coming from my kitchen. I was able to see, thanks to the Blink Mini, that I left my oven on while baking lasagna, and I was able to rush home to turn it off before it turned into a disaster. Well, dinner was ruined, but at least my house didn’t burn down.

Wired Installation

The only gripe I had about Blink Mini, for the most part, is that it’s wired. But that’s also why it’s a cheaper camera than its siblings. To avoid a hassle, just plan on displaying it close to a wall outlet. You know, instead of standing on a ladder yelling, “Anyone got an extension cord?” for 10 minutes until someone answers. (We’ve all been there, right?)

Blink Mini with Stand

Here’s the bottom line on Blink Mini: While it might be small and it doesn’t include all the features, it still packs the power and convenience of Blink’s other two devices thanks to a strong and intuitive app. That makes it a pretty worthwhile addition to the system.

That said, if you’re looking for slick features like activity zones, person detection, and facial recognition, Google Nest Cam review is another great place to look. Sure, the cheapest Nest Cam costs $99, more than twice as much as the Blink Mini, but you’ll get AI-powered features such as those mentioned above. Just something to consider in case the Blink Mini leaves you wanting for more.

Blink Indoor Camera

At less than 3 inches tall, Blink Indoor is as modest as it is discreet. But with the convenience of wire-free setup, you’re also getting more flexibility than you’d get from Ring Indoor, another Amazon-branded camera. Read my full Ring Indoor camera review for more.

Video Settings and Motion Detection

This security camera also made a great hallway monitor when I tested the Blink Indoor camera. The HD video quality and motion detection were top-notch. Unfortunately, Blink night vision isn’t up to par with competitors like the Arlo camera system. Arlo actually features full-color night vision which allows you to see what’s going on in greater detail. I should point out that night vision quality is important in outdoor cameras, but it shouldn’t be a deal-breaker in indoor cameras.

Field of View

Blink Indoor’s viewing angle is somewhat narrower than other cameras- just 110 degrees. These days, it’s more common to see cameras that stretch out up to 160 degrees, as noted in my full unpacking of the Arlo Pro 3 cameras.

Blink Indoor Camera

I should point out, though, that a wider field of view isn’t always better. The truth is there are pros and cons to different size fields. Blink’s narrow-angle lenses in their cameras are best suited for monitoring specific targets, such as doorways and entrances, because objects appear larger detailed within the image. In cameras with wide-angle lenses,2 objects appear smaller, and you might see some occasional distortions along the edges of the frame during recording.

Even taking all of this information into account, I found the Blink Indoor field of view a bit lacking. If you want full coverage of a decent-sized room, you’ll need more than one camera. You’ll see what I mean if you scroll down a little further and watch the sample clip from my Blink Indoor. Despite my best effort at placing the camera strategically, it only managed to capture about three quarters of my living room, leaving pretty huge blind spots.

That said, if a wide-angle lens camera sounds appealing to you, take a peek at my Amcrest camera review, where you’ll learn about a pair of solid devices with wider viewing angles, and better night vision, too.

Managing Recordings With Blink Indoor

Blink’s video history produces a highlight reel of each day’s activity. With this history organized into individual frames, you can review everything with a glance. Because who wants to come home after a hard day of work and pour over video footage?

This clip above is an example of Blink’s highlight reel. I see this is another effort on Blink’s part to make their cameras as convenient as possible – and an impressive addition, considering the low price.

And in another nod to Blink’s energy efficiency, the Blink Indoor has a low-power mode to conserve battery life. The only difference in using this mode, in my tests, was about 3-5 seconds of delay from the time motion began to the time the camera began recording. By and large, that’s a negligible delay.

At $79, Blink Indoor is priced competitively, especially when you consider all that’s included in a kit: One Blink Indoor camera, one Blink Sync Module 2, durable mounting hardware, and four long-lasting AA batteries.

Blink Indoor Equipment

It’s a generous package, and with everything Blink has to offer, the camera still handles exceptionally well.

Blink Outdoor Camera

Blink Outdoor – Installed

Turning to Blink’s dedicated outdoor camera, it’s evident immediately that this one was built to be discreet. It only comes in all-black, as opposed to the black-and-white indoor cam. As far as aesthetics, it’s got a sleek finish and takes the same minimalistic cues as Indoor. In fact, you’re talking about the same camera, essentially, as Indoor, only with a tougher (IP65) weather rating.

I should point out that I tested the third generation of the Blink Outdoor. Blink has actually released a fourth generation. However, the differences between the two are largely cosmetic. The newer version features a matte black finish with a slightly more rounded face. It does promise to offer a wider viewing angle than the third generation and person detection, and we’d say those upgrades, though minor, are absolutely worth the $20 extra cost. Keep an eye out for our upcoming review to see why, but we have the Cliffs Notes version a few sections down:

Night Vision With Blink

At the risk of rehashing old grievances, night vision was pretty weak in my hands-on Blink Outdoor camera experience. In an outdoor camera, this is a bit of a letdown.

We wouldn’t say that the Blink Outdoor can’t see anything at night; it’s a matter of perspective. In night vision mode, for instance, we had no trouble seeing the cat walking on our front lawn. Identifying which one of our many neighborhood cats it was proved a bit more difficult. The question to ask yourself is whether or not you need the fine details.

You’ll find better night vision in one of the Ezviz cameras I reviewed recently, but generally, a camera with exceptional night vision needs some integrated lighting feature to do its best work. (Visit my Reolink Argus 3 Pro review for a really stellar night vision experience.)

On that note, Blink does have other options if you prefer brighter and better night vision. One of these is the Blink Floodlight Cam Wired. As the name implies, it comes equipped with powerful floodlights. Otherwise, it offers most of the same features as the Blink Outdoor. You should know, though, that it needs to be wired to an outdoor junction box in order to work.

If you prefer a floodlight with a wireless configuration, you might check out the Blink Outdoor floodlight mount. It allows you to use the Blink Outdoor as the camera, but the mount itself provides two bright battery-powered floodlights.

Blink also recently introduced a solar panel mount that works with all of its outdoor models. For the most part, you can set up solar power and get worry-free video monitoring. No need to locate an outdoor outlet and no need to change batteries. Just more evidence of how forward-thinking Blink is.

Smart Home Limitations

Since it’s an Amazon brand, Blink doesn’t integrate quite as seamlessly with Google Home devices, so you won’t be able to say, “OK Google, show me my patio” and similar voice commands to control the cameras.

Blink Mini on Alexa

Amazon Alexa users, on the other hand, should be pretty delighted. If you’re taking an impromptu trip out of state in the near future, you can use the Alexa app to check the temperature in your home (via a Nest thermostat) and, at the same time, peek into the Blink Indoor camera to make sure the dog sitter has shown up. Actions like this are a quick, efficient way to get peace of mind when you can’t be home.

Of course, you’ve got plenty of other choices if you’re looking for cameras that do integrate with multiple platforms in addition to Alexa, like Google Home, IFTTT, and Samsung SmartThings. In my latest review of Reolink’s cameras, integrations were a bit easier thanks to a smart home tab in their mobile app. This way, almost every camera Reolink makes (and there are many) can be fed into a smart home ecosystem with little fuss, with plenty of cross-platform functionality to boot.

Smart home challenges aside, Blink Outdoor redeems itself in other areas, exhibiting the same strengths that made me a fan of the brand in the first place: Fluid video resolution at up to 1080p; seamless two-way talk; customizable motion detection; and that easy installation Blink is famous for.

A Note on Blink and Pet Monitoring

Before pivoting into pricing and storage options on Blink, I think it’s worth pointing out that these cameras are not ideal as pet monitors. While they’re pretty sensitive to most types of motion out of the box, in my tests, none of the Blink cameras were triggered by the family dog, as wiggly and rambunctious as he is. It could be that more fine-tuning in the app is needed to remedy this, but it could also be that this $80 camera just isn’t strong in this way, and that’s totally okay.

Blink Sync Module

Fortunately, there’s a camera or two out there that handles this much better. As noted when I tested and reviewed YI’s Home 3 camera, the camera seemed to enjoy sending entertaining recordings of said pup in all sorts of precarious positions – no app tinkering needed. Keep in mind, too, this camera costs $20, so there isn’t much tinkering to be done, anyway.

Who knows, maybe the dog ate jumping beans that day. But it’s just something you might pick up from time to time when comparing home security companies. Motion sensors sometimes work in mysterious ways.

Blink Day Vision

Now that you have a pretty good understanding of the Blink outdoor 3, let me give you a brief preview of their newest iteration, the Blink Outdoor 4.

Blink Outdoor 4

The Blink Outdoor 4

Overall, the Blink Outdoor 4 is pretty similar to its predecessor. It offers the same 1080p resolution and about the same field of vision. It does differ; however, in three pretty substantial ways:

• Better video quality
• Better motion detection
• Addition of person detection

The differences aren’t night and day, but they are enough that you’re going to notice an enhancement from the 3 to the 4. I certainly did.

One note on that last piece, though. To take advantage of the Blink Outdoor 4’s motion detection capabilities, you’re going to need to sign up for a subscription. It only costs $3 per month though, and we have more details below.

Snapshot of Blink’s Pricing

When comparing pricing in security cameras, I always like to start with a disclaimer: You do get what you pay for, so choose wisely. Blink is far from the cheapest camera brand you’ll find out there, as the industry is brimming with low-cost cameras these days. Some folks might bristle at paying $100 for a Blink camera, but keep in mind that this is a solid battery-powered camera, the likes of which usually isn’t available for under $100.

Of course, you could always go with the Blink Mini if you’d rather save on equipment costs – for $35, Mini is an all-around good camera.

Below is a snapshot of pricing for Blink cameras, keeping in mind that the cameras also come in 2-, 3-, and 5-pack systems, if you choose. Feel free to check out my Blink Camera pricing page for more info, and while you’re at it, head over to the latest rundown of Blink Prime Day deals and discounts.

Blink’s Latest Pricing Overview:

Video Storage Options

Blink Sync Module

Since Blink has discontinued their free cloud storage option, you’re now left with two options to store video history with Blink: A basic plan, for $3 per month, and a premium option for $10 per month.

These costs are pretty well aligned with Blink’s close competitors. Swann’s $5-per-month plan, for example, offers basic storage but not too many of the extras Blink includes in their subscriptions. With everything you’ll get in an affordable Blink system, I don’t think paying $3 per month to store videos (or $30 for the whole year) is stretching it.

Here’s a breakdown of Blink’s storage costs, keeping in mind that you also have the option to attach a hard drive to your Blink sync module to store video on your own:

Blink Cloud Storage Plans

Our Final Verdict on Blink Cameras

Blink Mini (left) and Blink Indoor (right) Cameras

With Blink, you’re promised a hassle-free experience, and you’ll get one. Indeed, these cameras are nothing if not consistent. For folks who don’t feel comfortable around security equipment or just don’t have the time to learn and interact with technology, Blink is a consistent leader. It certainly belongs in our roundup of the best cheap security cameras.

To summarize, here’s what I think Blink’s strengths and weaknesses are.

Strengths:

• Hassle-free setup
• Long-lasting battery life
• Fluid video quality that adjusts automatically to provide smooth live view
• Affordable cloud options
• Affordable equipment
• Intuitive app

Weaknesses:

• Basic features (no smart detection for most models)
• Only decent video quality
• Poor night vision
• The need for a Sync Module (except the Blink Mini)

Now it’s your turn to decide. Do the pros outweigh the cons? Will Blink work in your home setup?

FAQs about Blink Cameras