New Blink Cameras 4 years of autonomy

New Blink Cameras 4 years of autonomy

The smart security camera market is crowded, so a special feature is needed to stand out. How about 4 years of battery life?

That's the biggest strength of the new Blink security camera system, which builds on the first generation by introducing a wireless indoor camera and local storage.

With an indoor model and an outdoor option, these cameras Completely wireless devices have the same (still impressive) two-year battery life as their predecessor, the Blink XT2.

While they are not a replacement for the Blink XT2 cameras as far as we know (they will work with these cameras), sadly the free cloud storage that was offered is no longer there. Instead, the new sync module required for these battery-powered cameras to work accommodates a USB stick for local storage. You can also opt for a cloud storage plan to play videos.

These are low cost cameras, cheaper than Ring, but not Wyze low. This means there aren't many high-end features, but you do get 1080p video quality, 110-degree field of view, infrared night vision, motion detection, and two-way audio.

These specs are the same as the Blink XT2, and while there are some minor modifications to the outdoor camera hardware, the main difference here is the new battery pack (which is not compatible with the .

However, the interior camera is completely new (Blink's previous interior offering, the Blink Mini, is wired only). It has the same specs and shape, but with a more interior-friendly white finish and no waterproofing to reduce the price.

All Blink cameras integrate very well with Alexa (Blink is owned by Amazon), you can watch the feed on any Alexa-enabled display and use the camera's motion sensors as triggers for Alexa routines, plus IFTTT support .

We've been living with the new Blink camera system for a month now. Read on for our review.

Blink security cameras: design and configuration

Blink cameras are small, slim, and easy to mount, and because of their long-lasting battery and flat, square design, they can go almost anywhere (as long as you have WiFi there).

The new Blink outdoor camera looks a lot like the Blink XT2, just a little sleeker, with a more matte finish and cleaner lines. The inner chamber is identical to the outer chamber, only white.

Both are square with a flat base and have a plastic back cover that screws off (using part of the stand as a screwdriver) to reveal a place for two AA lithium batteries, plus a USB port. When closed, the screw opening acts as an attachment for the bracket, which can be used as a stand or screwed into a wall or ceiling.

Once mounted, you can easily adjust the camera to the angle you need and removing it is as easy as giving it a gentle tug.

The entire setup is very well thought out with minimal effort or need for extra tools or plastic parts that you may or may not use.

The cameras require a small hub to connect wirelessly, the Blink Sync Module 2, which supports up to 10 cameras.

The module acts as the brain of the system and must be connected indoors. It has a USB port that can accommodate a USB flash drive (up to 256GB) for local storage of your videos.

This replaces the free cloud storage option that the Bink XT2 had, and cloud storage now costs £3 a month for one camera and £10 a month for unlimited time. (If you signed up before April 15, 2020, you'll keep free cloud storage.)

The app is configured as a security camera system and there are two options for the system status, Armed and Disarmed. When disarmed there is no recording or notifications, when armed the camera records 5 second clips when motion is detected (you can adjust this duration in the app up to 1 minute).

You can arm and disarm in the app, by voice, or on a schedule. There is no geofencing option and you cannot arm one camera but not the other.

For voice control, you can pair the cameras with Alexa using the Blink Smart Home skill to view a broadcast on display-enabled Echo devices, as well as have Alexa announce motion alerts from the cameras and activate Routines. There's no Google Home or HomeKit support, but Blink works with IFTTT.

Blink security cameras: performance

This is a basic camera system, not many bells and whistles (no person detection or audio detection), but as a simple and smart security system to keep an eye on things while you're away or by incorporating it into your Alexa-enabled smart home. Food is a versatile option and at a good price.

What we liked most is how compact and easy to install the cameras are. With no need for cables or solar panels or easy access to change batteries frequently, you can place them anywhere you want, and the low profile means they don't stick out.

We tested the camera outdoors inside our hutch, in the nest box of our chicken coop, and placed it between two tree branches in our front yard, all places we hadn't been able to place any other battery-powered cameras. tried.

The indoor camera ended up mounted on the wall in a spot in our hallway that captures the entrance perfectly, but where we could never mount a wired camera without drilling into the walls.

Not having to constantly recharge them is really the biggest selling point. While we've only had them a month, we've also been testing the Blink XT2 and the batteries are still working well after 3 months of use, where the Arlo Essential Spotlight we're testing has been recharged several times.

Not having to worry about charging is a pretty key security feature, considering that although Arlo has much better video quality (especially at night), there were many periods over the last three months where it didn't work due to to a dead battery, while the Blink continues to work.

A big caveat about battery life is that it will last 2 years with “normal use.” Blink has settings it recommends to get the most out of your camera, but if you're going to mount this next to your front door, you probably won't get the full two years. Blink will warn you about this: it will send notifications if your camera receives “a large number of activity alerts” and give you the option to modify the settings.

What we weren't as excited about was the video quality, 1080p is generally good enough to see what's happening, but without advanced features like HDR or quality night vision sensors, the footage is often blown out or a bit blurry. granulated. Night vision, in particular, was very limited and produced mainly blurry and diffuse images.

This was especially true if we extended the camera's Wi-Fi connection. We were able to install the cameras at an impressive distance (about 20 feet into our yard), but the video quality dropped noticeably and we often had trouble connecting.

Closer to home, things were much more reliable, and the camera we placed in the trees in our front yard captures nice sharp images, although the field of view is quite limited for an outdoor camera.

Two-way talk works well and is easy to access - as soon as you enter a live view, you'll get a big blue talk button that you need to hold down to communicate.

 

The listener could hear us clearly through the camera and vice versa, and there was surprisingly little lag time. However, the audio in the live view and recordings had some notable artifacts on both the indoor and outdoor cameras.

The motion activation was pretty spot on, capturing the action a few seconds after the event started (as with all battery-powered cameras, you have to wake up first, so you'll usually miss the first few moments of action). However, the downside here is that the minimum reactivation time is 10 seconds, so you could miss an event that occurs too close to another.

Video recordings are very short, 5 seconds by default. You can increase that to a minute and set the camera to end the clip early if the motion stops, but that will still eat up battery life.

Using the app is a mixed bag. It's quick to open and has plenty of settings to dig into, but it's not intuitive and getting live streams or recorded videos can take a while and sometimes times out.

It also opens to a static camera image that you have to set up and which doesn't update, and while you can tap on it to see a live feed, if you want to see the most recent recorded motion event, you have to click on the activity. feed where the clips from all your cameras are grouped together.

There are quick switches to turn each camera on and off from the screen and to access camera settings, and an Arm/Disarm switch at the bottom lets you set all cameras to record on the move or turn off.

This feature, while useful for privacy, is not very customizable. It's all on or off, and while you can set schedules so you don't need to remember to do it manually, you can't schedule your indoor cameras separately from your outdoor ones.

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