Blink Wireless Outdoor Home Security Camera - $89.99 (2 pack $169.99, 3 pack $229.99, 5 pack $349.99)

Not sure how much better the third gen cameras are, but 1st and 2nd gen blink package has a free subscription whereas these ones you have to pay $15/month or go through the process of putting your storage card into a computer for viewing. I think you can still buy 1st/2nd gen on eBay. I bought 2nd gen in Aug 2020 and 3 out of 5 cameras have gone through a set of batteries (high traffic areas), 2 are on original battery. They also have connection issues if camera is too far away from wifi router or module. All in all great cameras for the price (when you don't have to pay for a subscription).

Cokenrumholdtherum wrote: ↑ Not sure how much better the third gen cameras are, but 1st and 2nd gen blink package has a free subscription whereas these ones you have to pay $15/month or go through the process of putting your storage card into a computer for viewing. I think you can still buy 1st/2nd gen on eBay. I bought 2nd gen in Aug 2020 and 3 out of 5 cameras have gone through a set of batteries (high traffic areas), 2 are on original battery. They also have connection issues if camera is too far away from wifi router or module. All in all great cameras for the price (when you don't have to pay for a subscription).

Not entirely correct. If you were already a blink subscriber from when there was no sub fee, then no sub fee is required for the new versions.

These are good cameras for the price, and great as an alternative to doorbell camera as well. The other advantage is that the cameras have temperature sensors, so you can monitor outside temperature around the house. Surprising the different readings depending on where the camera is mounted. So much so, that I went around checking with a thermometer, and sure enough.

Words of caution:

- 2 years battery life is optimistic for ideal conditions with lithium batteries indoors. My experience is more like a year with lithium batteries on the outside of the garage doors. I got away with 1 year using Energizer Maxx on the covered porch, right under the front door. It's not used much in the winter though.

- Motion sensors are very sensitive, they trigger for the slightest things, even some bugs. Good thing to have, but be aware and be ready to tweak the thresholds.

- Do not expect "instant" or real time notifications. In my case, the driveway camera and the porch camera trigger when a delivery driver comes, and I get the notification as the driver is leaving the porch. Not bad, but not real time.

- For those that have the previous generation (with no local storage hub), be aware that the new hub will not give you local storage. And also, for the same audience, it's unclear if adding generation camera on the older hub grandfathers the new cameras to the free cloud storage. Here is the entry in the FAQ:
Which Blink cameras work with Local Storage?
Only Blink Outdoor, Indoor (gen 2), and Mini cameras are compatible with Local Storage. The Blink Mini must be added to a Sync Module 2 system to use Local Storage.

The XT2, XT, and Indoor (gen 1) include cloud storage of their own and their clips are not saved in the Clip Backup.

- Picture quality on the first gen cameras is good for what this is intended for. Night time is definitely not ideal, however it is bright. Face recognition at night is only when staring straight at the camera.

Hope this helps.

Battscrew wrote: ↑ Not entirely correct. If you were already a blink subscriber from when there was no sub fee, then no sub fee is required for the new versions.

Really? Did not know. Thanks! Guess I can get the new cameras lol.

My two cents based on my experience with the XT2, they are pretty terrible outdoor cameras, to rely on for security.
They can maybe used as toys or maybe they are better indoors.

1. Battery Life - If you want anything close to 2 to 3 months of battery life you need Lithium batteries (anything else and good luck getting even a month) and Blink actually recommends the Energizer Lithium Ultimate.

2. Wireless Connectivity - The Blink XT2 requires a dedicated 2.4 GHz wireless network and does not like blended Wi-Fi networks (single SSID for 2.4GHz and 5GHz). When you have a blended Wi-Fi network this thing cannot stay connected and goes offline, even though I have plenty of devices connected to the 2.4 GHz spectrum.
Blink support said the XT2 does not support these Blended Wireless networks. Even when I managed to create a dedicated 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi SSID, it goes offline more than it says online.

3. The motion detection is a joke. A person can walk up to the camera stay there for a few minutes and none of it will be captured, but a squirrel will run across it and it will capture all of it. It's very finicky this way, no matter how I set up the zones and sensitivity.

I have completely abandoned this and gone for the Anker Eufy Camera's and they are miles better than these.

EDIT : This all applies to the previous generation of Blink XT2, don't know if the battery and wireless issues are fixed with these newer generation ones.

I had the XT2s for a while before I swapped all of them out for Wyze 3s. The main advantage of the XT2s is the battery powered cameras, which last about a year when sensitivity is set to high. But everything else about them is abysmal.

If you plan on using them as security cameras, I urge you to look elsewhere. As others mentioned in the thread, they take an eternity to activate, by the time they start recording, the event is already over. And this is when the bridge module is right next to my router, with the camera right on the exterior wall, so definitely not just a wifi connection problem.

I've had mine XT2's installed since November 2019 and haven't replaced any of the batteries. I have sensitivity on high, but changed the area of coverage to reduce the amount of trigger events. While they do take a little bit of time to load up on the phone, I find they work decently well at this price point (though I don't think the monthly subscription fee is good value).

I won't repeat what a lot of others have said. But I wouldn't recommend these cameras either.

My biggest issue is that the cameras do NOT work well in Vancouver in the spring, fall or winter. I've had so many instances where the camera just fogs up overnight and renders any footage useless.

I think you can get cloud storage on those new cams if you have an older set? Gotta be on the site somewhere

Edit: Lifehacker on YouTube said they are not any better than the previous generation

I was literally just looking at some wireless solutions.
Past the days of hard wiring...

These do look nicer than Wyze Cams.

Anyone have experience with this vs the Lorex wifi systems? They seem to have a nice kit and have been around for awhile doing these cameras. No subscription, albeit a bit pricier.

https://www.lorextechnology.com/lorex-h ... tid=153251

Appreciate the discussion and feedback on these cameras. I posted mainly due to the price drop and the ease of install but the more I read and review the more I realize that they may not be the best match to my personal needs.

Hope that either they work better for someone else or that others benefit from the feedback provided as well.

Cheers.

Blink cameras are ok for basic security like seeing when people are coming and going. The batteries make them easy to mount and use anywhere as long as it's in low traffic areas or your motion sensor setting are reasonable, (so you don't drain the batteries in 1 month). However, getting the motion settings to work the way you want all the time is frustrating; with zones you have blocked out still triggering or the motion not triggering the recording fast enough. But the biggest flaw with these camera is a retrigger setting. In an attempt to save battery life, there is a 10 second delay before another motion event will trigger the camera. Meaning, if something important is happening, there could be 10 second delays between recordings. Maybe these issues can be fixed with a software update but for now, I would not recommend Blink for serious security monitoring.

haites wrote: ↑ I won't repeat what a lot of others have said. But I wouldn't recommend these cameras either.

My biggest issue is that the cameras do NOT work well in Vancouver in the spring, fall or winter. I've had so many instances where the camera just fogs up overnight and renders any footage useless.

Odd. I'm in Vancouver too and have not had this happen to any of my cameras (I have 5 of them).

greatwiseone2 wrote: ↑ I've had mine XT2's installed since November 2019 and haven't replaced any of the batteries. I have sensitivity on high, but changed the area of coverage to reduce the amount of trigger events. While they do take a little bit of time to load up on the phone, I find they work decently well at this price point (though I don't think the monthly subscription fee is good value).

Do these have event or activity zones you can configure?

And if they do, do they work after dark?

With the Eufycam's, under their Motion Detection settings they have "Activity Zones" (max of 3) you can set for each camera BUT they do NOT work after dark.

.

I have the cheapie Blink model that's meant for indoor, but I tossed it outside.

From my experience, the app is pretty terrible and hangs here and there. I wish it had more activity zones, I question how the functionality of night vision and how much it works as it feels like the camera doesn't properly recognize when to activate it or not, and the sensitivity somewhere between 7 and 8 is too extreme in both directions. While I wouldn't expect it, I also would have loved a web interface so I could glance at it on my browser. You also can't keep it constantly streaming as it'll just pause and ask if you want to continue, I'm not sure I understand why this is a limitation if it's wired and not recording, but sometimes I'd like to casually have it on for like 10-20 mins or so.

Maybe some of all this is improved with higher end models, but food for thought. Regardless, I think most people should just try their cams of choice from Amazon and return if they need to.

greatwiseone2 wrote: ↑ Odd. I'm in Vancouver too and have not had this happen to any of my cameras (I have 5 of them).

I have 5 cameras in Vancouver too, and had 3 days last fall where fogging was an issue for 2 of them. This is over a 3 year sample size and XT/XT2 cameras. I wouldn't classify it as an issue fro me.

That said, I also haven't had the same experiences as many of the folks here. I think the Blink cameras are great for what they are - an inexpensive system with free notification and could storage. I'm probably responsible for 10-12 friends buying them, and they all seem pleased. But, I explain what they're good for, and where expectations may be too high for a $80 camera. Real-time "doorbell" conversations? No. Identifying license plates from across the street? No. Seeing a package delivered? Yes. Seeing the bear/racoon/squirrel/bat/bee/spider at your front door? Yes. Knowing when it's windy and your hedges are flapping around? Absolutely! Setting up a series of cameras, with no wiring, for a few hundred bucks, in about an hour? Yes. And then you need to spend the next month tweaking settings to make it just right for each camera.

Ditto for me in Vancouver with few if any issues with fogging but I don't use Blink.

.

eliteballer wrote: ↑ Blink cameras are ok for basic security like seeing when people are coming and going. The batteries make them easy to mount and use anywhere as long as it's in low traffic areas or your motion sensor setting are reasonable, (so you don't drain the batteries in 1 month). However, getting the motion settings to work the way you want all the time is frustrating; with zones you have blocked out still triggering or the motion not triggering the recording fast enough. But the biggest flaw with these camera is a retrigger setting. In an attempt to save battery life, there is a 10 second delay before another motion event will trigger the camera. Meaning, if something important is happening, there could be 10 second delays between recordings. Maybe these issues can be fixed with a software update but for now, I would not recommend Blink for serious security monitoring.

What you can do is set your record time for a longer period than you normally would have and select that when the motion stops the recording stops. You're still going to have the 10 seconds between the length of time that the camera is recording but because your record time is longer you capture more action. I've had these cameras for a few years now and no issues. I have free cloud storage, wouldn't want to pay for that and there's a lot of different ideas about how the local storage works but I understand that I'm grandfathered anyhow

gamefacelouie wrote: ↑ What you can do is set your record time for a longer period than you normally would have and select that when the motion stops the recording stops. You're still going to have the 10 seconds between the length of time that the camera is recording but because your record time is longer you capture more action. I've had these cameras for a few years now and no issues. I have free cloud storage, wouldn't want to pay for that and there's a lot of different ideas about how the local storage works but I understand that I'm grandfathered anyhow

I haven't had any real "issues" either with the cameras, however, the functionality of them is frustrating. Why is that 10 second retrigger time there in the first place? Why are you able to increase the retrigger time above 10 seconds but can't reduce it? If the point of this feature is to save battery life, increasing the record time defeats this purpose. Let the user decide how they want the camera to function. New users are going to have to pay for storage and with it running on battery power, I still recommend shopping around if you have real security needs.