#1:Blink Mini – Compact indoor plug-in smart security camera, 1080p HD video, night vision, motion detection, two-way audio, easy set up, Works with Alexa – 1 camera (Black)
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5.0 out of 5 stars Easy set up but app is lacking
Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
I’m a Blink XT user with three cameras on the exterior of my home. The set up of the mini was FAR EASIER than the outside cams. I had this thing set up in less than 5 minutes. Picture is good. Sound is LOUD which is what I was looking for.
The app however needs some work to support this style of camera. The app works decently for the BlinkXT cameras and functionality, which is motion for most users. As in you get a notification that there is motion, it records, and you watch the recording or live as you please. but it is clunky to get into the Blink Mini for the purpose of continuous viewing which is my intention for this camera, like a baby monitor. Like many other Americans now working from home with a full house of kids, I wanted to use this to assist with keeping an eye on the kids as I worked and record those cute moments. I wanted to use this to visualize a blind spot that I can’t see from the office. I tried mounting it from the ceiling and realized you can’t rotate the video. Mounting on the wall was a little problematic, I couldn’t quite get the right angle needed.
Another quirk to the app is if you switch to another app and then come back to the Blink app, you have to hit the play button to resume viewing.
All in all, these are minor issues specific to my use of the camera which is why I have it five stars anyway.
Hey amazon/Blink, it would be an awesome feature if you’d allow the integration of this camera with Alexa so we can “drop in” and talk through the Echo Dot. Just saying.
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ChicagoGamerGuy
5.0 out of 5 stars Easy to install only took 5 min!
Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
I love this lil camera!! Easy to install! Only took 5 min and it works great!! Highly recommend this!!
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Schlitze
5.0 out of 5 stars Crime caught on camera
Reviewed in the United States on December 13, 2021
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
You can't beat this camera for the price. That said, here's my story. I kept finding poo under my bed. I have two chihuahuas and neither one would admit to the act. So I brought in technology! I set up my camera and during the night the guilty party was exposed.
As I lay sound asleep my phone chimed and woke me - the trap had been sprung. I now have video evidence of his crimes, yet he still denies it was him.
Having the camera under the bed has stopped both dogs from going under there, so well worth the price.
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Tiny Pieces LLC
5.0 out of 5 stars Nice product
Reviewed in the United States on June 19, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
Great price and product. Connected very easily to my existing Blink system. I am not happy with having to pay for storage after trial ends.
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MISHMANKA
5.0 out of 5 stars Easy set up and great image quality
Reviewed in the United States on June 5, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
This is a great little camera monitor. Pros: easy set up, easily managed with your smart phone, clear image quality with motion detection. Can be set up to arm and record at any time. I bought this to use in my master bedroom by my desk where I keep sensitive information.
Cons: if you are using it with another Blink product and you arm 24/7 then the other Blink unit also needs to be armed which is an issue because my other unit uses 2 AA batteries. There is no timer on the app to set up a time to arm which would by useful because I sometimes forget to arm at night. It has good night vision quality. It needs to be plugged in so is a problem if you put it in a place (i.e. bedroom closet) if there is no outlet. Because of this, it is difficult to make the camera more hidden (if you are looking for a nanny camera for example).
Overall it is easy to use and I would recommend it for a basic home security camera.
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Tech Guru
5.0 out of 5 stars A diamond in the rough
Reviewed in the United States on June 2, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
SO...I rarely write reviews but was so amazed by this camera I wanted to let others know. I bought the camera after using the Ring indoor camera for twice the price and it made a constant clicking noise with the filter adjustment to light in the room that was a known issue Ring told me and not a defect. I've tried all the other brands out there WYZE, etc and disappointed with all. Then I tried the Blink Mini which I thought was a good price. The setup was a breeze, up and running in 30 seconds. The app is responsive and user friendly. My wifi is sloooow but it still loaded a 1080p HD quality view w hen I accessed it from my mobile app. My favorite feature is the night vision. All my previous cameras just showed a dark room or shadows but this camera shows a clear and crisp picture in pitch black darkness. Very pleased with this and you can't go wrong here. My 2 year indoor camera journey has come to an end here.
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Cece
5.0 out of 5 stars Simple, fun, works well
Reviewed in the United States on October 26, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
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Happy with my purchase. I feel like if you just want a simple motion detector Wi-Fi camera, this is perfect… No fuss, easy to install, works well with Alexa. Here is a short clip of my big basset acting like more of a baby (howling because of separation anxiety) than my puppy. How I can wash my babies when I go away and not worry about them. By the way, the video quality is pretty good on this, but I just magnified and cropped an area because I didn’t want to show how messy the rest of the room is lol. I mounted mine to the ceiling and it actually shows a pretty good panoramic view of the whole room.
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Maryann T. Miller
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Cat Monitor
Reviewed in the United States on July 27, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
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I love my new Blink Mini. For $30, I think you get a lot for your money. The Blink Mini is doing the same thing my Amazon Cloud Cams do but for a lot less. I am using the camera to monitor one of my garage cats. I can tell she's "tucked in" for the night and when she goes out in the morning. Gives me piece of mind. I have not mounted the camera because in the winter there may be more of my cats in the location seeking warmth, and I may need to adjust the viewing area. This camera will make that easy. Quality is good when there is a light on nearby and in the dark. One night I talked to her through the app, and she looked up. That was also reassuring.
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John A. Hergenroder
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Product. Well Worth the Money.
Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 2 CamerasVerified Purchase
Great little Camera. Probablt took longer to Unpackage it, than it did to Hook it up and have it Recording. But I do have an existing Blink System.
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Jeily
5.0 out of 5 stars Tremenda ayuda para nosotros
Reviewed in the United States on October 21, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
Me encanto, tengo un joven con diagnóstico de autismo y necesitaba una cámara para poder mirarlo especialmente en las noches (necesito estar pendiente que no se me escape o no se agreda) Para mi sorpresa la cámara a sido tremenda ayuda para mi, lo más que me gusta es que tiene el sensor de movimiento, lo activo y la cámara me avisa cuando se levanta de la cama o cuando se comienza a autoagredir y yo puedo correr a ayudarlo. Y de noche se ve perfecto.
Tremenda ayuda
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5.0 out of 5 stars Great baby monitor camera
Reviewed in the United States on April 21, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
I have been using 3 Blink XT2 camera for outdoor security cameras for about 18 months. I bought 2 of the Blink Mini Cameras to use as baby monitors. These were super easy to setup and the the picture quality is great. I love that I now have all of my cameras on a single app. These do everything that I need them to. They have a great wide field of view and when positioned right, they pick up nearly all of an average sized bedroom. The night vision is good. The audio is great and I was surprised how good the speaker is on the camera itself! I can talk from my phone to the camera and it actually sounds good and intelligible from the camera. The previous camera I was using as a baby monitor was 10x harder to set up, didn't work 25% of the time, and the audio from the camera's speaker made me sound like an unholy demon. I am very happy with the Blink Mini cameras so far!
At first I was a bit upset of the lack of free cloud video storage whereas my Blink XT2 cameras have free cloud storage. But, for what I'm using them for, I don't need the cloud storage at all. I need the storage for the Blink XT2 cameras that I use for security, but I don't see any need for cloud storage for a baby monitor. I can peek in on my kids when I'm at work without any problem as well.
The Blink Mini for me is the perfect solution for my situation. It may not be great for everyone, but I think that the simplicity of this camera makes it a great fit for most people.
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Konahead
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing tiny camera
Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
I just got the new blink mini x 2. I have been using for a few days now. I currently own 10 indoor and outdoor cameras from nest that i love and have never had issues with for several years. I also had a few blink wireless cameras for areas where electric was and issue. These blink mini camera work just like my Nest camera as far as quality of pic, night vision, alerts ect. Why I say the blink mini is amazing ? The camera gives a wider angle display , super small and $35 compared to $200. Mini is a winner.
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Seairra Leann
5.0 out of 5 stars Great little security camera
Reviewed in the United States on March 26, 2021
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
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I use this in my window (even though it doesn't recommend) I took off the night view and because I have light poles and buisness that leave lights on I can still view outside perfectly at night. If I have it set to enabled activity and even take a picture to set the boundaries when it detects. It will still detect every car or person who will walk by. I have also used it in my kitchen and the night vision was amazing! I love that I can view it on my newest Alexa smart device (newest 2021 release) and my echo show 5. This was very easy to set up and very easy to unplug and move to fit your needs. However you can only view one screen so if someone is viewing you can not. On my Alexa Devices it will stream for a good two minutes then buffer and close out. On my mobile devices every 30 seconds you have to click continue. Very pleased with this product
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L.Johnson
5.0 out of 5 stars Small, affordable, utilitarian.
Reviewed in the United States on June 4, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
I've only had this product for a day and purchased it to use as a baby monitor of sorts. It has relieved a lot of my anxiety, as we try to work around the house while my baby is asleep and I've always been concerned that she will wake and I wont hear or if she's napped longer than usual I'm concerned something is wrong. I can zoom with this camera and watch closely and even see her breathe! I have motion areas to the edge of the crib where she stands when she wakes up and it works perfectly to alert me when she's gotten up. I can check on her from work while I'm working the night shift, or when I first get home. It's the best middle of the road for me short of spending 100s to get a fancy baby video monitor.
Pros:
-Excellent video resolution.
-Easy to use app.
-Ability to pinch zoom in app.
-Push to talk 2way audio is clear.
-Lag appears to be minimal (and I do not have "reccomended" upload speeds).
Cons:
-Live view is not continuous, it will time out after 5 minutes or so and you have to keep clicking "continue" about every minute.
-There is no web viewer (official) it's app only, which is frustrating.
-There is no way to locally view (when app and camera are on same network) so it has to process to the internet (I've not tested load because I want it and don't really care at this point, I have not noticed increased problems but I rarely upload and it is only one camera - without great upload speeds I think I would consider a different option for full house cameras unless they added the local viewing feature which may come somewhat with the sync²).
Neutral:
-Motion sensing seems to be a bit hit or miss. Need more time to tweak however.
-When I have it disarmed it randomly records some of my live views (even though I have it ticked to discard).
-I wish I could take a still shot and save it easily.
-I wish while in live view I could start and stop a recording instead of just saving the whole live view session.
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Carly Cook
5.0 out of 5 stars Lifesaver
Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2022
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
Y'all... I bought this during a flash sale on cyber Monday... I didn't even know what I would use it for. I used it to see which dogs were being naughty while I was at work. But then this week happened. This guy showed up 3 nights in a row banging on my door looking for his girlfriend. The last night we got into a verbal altercation. So I called the police and let them know that I'd be having him trespassed from the property if he came back. I Set this camera up outside (I know it's an inside camera, but it's what I had). And caught him banging on my door, sitting on my porch, and waving at the camera. He left when he saw the police drive down the road. They came, I showed them the videos, and boom.. trespassed. I'll never not have cameras guarding my property. Best investment ever.
Daylight cam is fairly crisp, audio pics up everything, night vision is spot on, and the motion detection is perfect for it's use in this situation. Love love love it. Ordered another one to keep an eye on my cars in case he decides to vandalize them.
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KUJayhawk
5.0 out of 5 stars Take it from a owner of two different camera systems
Reviewed in the United States on August 4, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
So i now have had the pleasure with working with Amazon's Blink system (both XT2 and Mini) and the Zosi camera system.
Motion detection range: I found the Mini camera to be about 15ft, in daytime in the house, which is not bad for a typical size room in a house. Some, may desire more distance to cover a length including a hallway, but this camera is not really intended for that. Furthermore, an issue with DVR system's motion detection, I found, is that it won't start recording until about 1-4 seconds AFTER the motion came into camera view. This reason, I speculate, is for the HDD to spin up. Possible SSD to remedy? Then it gets expensive for a high cap SSD. Whereas the Mini will begin recording about 1-2 sec BEFORE the motion comes into view. That's awesome. (Of course I can turn Zosi to record 24/7.)
Quality of video: It's comparative, really, depending on setting. Both cameras are up to 1080p. Some other camera system may let you adjust based on FPS (10-30); Blink lets you simply choose from Best, Standard, and Saver. So video quality is dependant.
Sound: Mini has great sound recording. And it speaks out! The speaking out part is not common with 24/7 DVR camera systems. I have dogs. This is a feature I never utilized but I quickly miss--I gave this system to my tenant in my rental property to install and use.
For me, I needed longer range--compared to Blink XT2 outdoor camera--outside to cover my property, and 24/7 recording works for that.
Value: I think this single Mini camera is a great value. I got two of them, for $34.99 and later $29.99 on sale. This camera does not include the actual Blink hub unit for it to work.
Ease of install: Very easy. The app has straightforward instructions. All you do is plug it in and scan the QR code to install. I would recommend this for many, mostly due to ease of install. It is full wireless; therefore, battery operation (lithium only) and wifi.
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KJBishop
5.0 out of 5 stars Peace of mind
Reviewed in the United States on December 12, 2021
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
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I bought these cameras because I temporarily lived in the city. I move to the country and now I enjoy peace of mind for security and for the animals that past through my yard. I had never seen a Bear ??in real life and I had one on my front porch. Thank goodness the storm door was locked and not by chance propped open. I have caught him or her and a young one on my camera several times now. I've seen Fox we have lots and lots of deer in our yard everyday. ??????????????????????Neighbors cats dogs you name it. It's just fun just waiting to see what the cameras will pick up next. Even had a delivery person throw a package on my front porch which was dealt with later. So you never know what you will get. My son bought a condo and he now has cameras and enjoys the wildlife in his little back area. The picture of the deer laying down is from his back area. She comes regularly and lays out his back door.We both bought the blink doorbell and I'm very pleased with that especially where he lives he can see all of the delivery persons come to his door. It's nice you can even talk to who is ever at the door or scare animal off if need be. These cameras would be great Christmas or birthday presents especially if you have an elderly parent family member or just live in a questionable neighborhood. With people stealing your packages off your porch nowadays you just never know. As the potato chip commercial says you can't have just one, I have eight. Merry Christmas. Not sure my video is going to play of my bear on the porch??.
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Msmojo
5.0 out of 5 stars Blink Replaced my faulty set!
Reviewed in the United States on March 18, 2021
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 2 CamerasVerified Purchase
**UPDATE** ***Blink contacted me after my review (they do read them!) After reviewing the non existing crash logs & trying to remotely figure out what was wrong they immediately sent out a new set of cameras. So far they are working great. I hope it was just a bad set & moving forward these work as intended. The picture & sound quality is great as I previously stated. If these continue to work properly then I plan to purchase the outdoor camera soon. Thank you Blink team for the fast response & resolution to the matter. I honestly expected to just be S.O.L bc the return period had expired. ***
I wanted to love this...I don't. It constantly goes offline (no there is NOT an issue w/ my wifi) & getting it back online is ridiculous. I have to reset the camera several times before it finally goes back online. A week maybe 2 if Im lucky it goes back offline. The motion detection is iffy at best. I may get alerts constantly 1 day only to get zero the next day despite standing right in range of it w/ movement. When it does work the video & sound is great.
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R. S. G.
5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome Video Camera; But Set-Up?
Reviewed in the United States on April 12, 2021
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
The Blink Mini video camera is awesome for what it does, once you set it up. The common issue is that it takes slightly more effort to establish an account with Blink and activate the camera. However, once set-up, the camera can be used with either available light or with night vision.
Either way, the Blink Mini can detect motion within the scope of the camera's range. The Blink Mini is useful for monitoring home interiors, or areas which might require protection against unauthorized access.
The Blink Mini can capture about 10 seconds of video, enough to identify intruders. The Blink Mini will also send push notifications to your mobile device to alert you to unauthorized access.
Not only will this save your cherished goods, money, and insurance replacement costs, it will help law enforcement do its job against thieves.
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The Real Ms. Jane Doe
5.0 out of 5 stars So Important for a Home Hospice Loved One
Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2021
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
I've been caring for mom w/dementia for over 4 years. The last year has been rough as only family of this awful disease know. Most especially heartbreaking were the last 2 weeks. Mom had stopped drinking first and then a few days later, stopped eating. This little $20 camera was literally a God-send. It allowed me to constantly have access to her from my phone when I was somewhere else in the house - helping my dad, making him dinner, out with the dog etc. I set the motion detector so at night I would receive notification of her movements. It was so easy to 1)plug the cord into the camera and 2)download the app and then follow the directions to have a constant stream of my mom. Sadly mom passed yesterday, but I'm relieved she's at peace after watching her stop taking liquids and foods - so worried she was suffering and such an upsetting end of life to watch. This little, inexpensive camera gave me a little peace and rest during an awful period of our lives and as my dad is nearly 85 and wheelchair-ridden I know we will continue to use it. Anyone can follow the simple directions to set this up (I'm 60 and non-technology trained). Can't recommend it enough.
4.0 out of 5 stars UPDATED: Confusing cloud storage policy on these smaller cameras, but great product once clarified
Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 2 CamerasVerified Purchase
UPDATED: When I saw these smaller cameras announced I was excited and looked forward to adding them to my existing 5 camera Blink system. I figured these would be a great replacement for the XT/XT2 cameras that I had inside my house so I could then re-purpose those for additional outdoor locations. I thought this was a brilliant addition to the Blink camera ecosystem, adding a lower cost camera for indoor applications like mine where the benefits of the battery power and weather-proofness would be overkill. Soon as they were released I ordered up a two-pack to add to my system. I installed one of the them and found that the picture quality right out of the box wasn’t the best but once you change the video quality setting to “Enhanced” it’s right up there with the XT2 quality. The motion detection is a little spotty, as they use a new digital method of detecting motion (AI compares one frame to the next to check for changes). Some very subtle movement will show up, like a shadow moving across the viewing area, but then actually walking across it won’t (sometimes). A rep I spoke with said that they are working on an update to improve the consistency of that feature, which will be available as an over-the-air update since it is a digital-based feature, which I think is pretty cool. So originally my poor review was based around the cloud storage feature on these cameras. After I purchased these cameras I looked into the cloud storage feature as all of the literature I found on them stated that a subscription would be required. Since this is different than the previous XT & XT2 systems I was not pleased about this. After I posted my original review a rep from Blink reached out to clarify the cloud storage situation. So here is what I learned: If you already have an XT or XT2 system, then you can add these cameras to it without having to get a paid subscription. If you do not have a Blink system at all, and these cameras are the first ones you get, then you get a free subscription until December 31st, 2020; then you will pay $3/month per camera after that. By then though, they plan to have released a new sync module with an SD card slot so that you can locally store video clips without having to pay for a subscription at all. Personally I don’t think they intend to have too many people on the subscription plan, I think they see the SD card functionality being more of a selling point but they had to piggy-back the first adopters of these Mini cameras onto the cloud storage until the new sync module gets released. Maybe they had delays in getting the new sync module released at the same time as the Mini due to factory closings around the world right now. I am much happier after this getting cleared up, but hope that they update the cloud storage & subscription info on the product pages to make it much clearer how this all works. Had I looked at all of the available info before buying these, then I probably would not have purchased them based on the unclear info that’s out there. In the end, the savior of the situation was the rep that contacted me from Blink. He clarified all of my concerns, gave me a great amount of info on the product, and answered all of my questions (I had lot of them). To be clear, the rep did not once ask me to change my review, take it down, or in any way artificially influence me to do any of those things. The great job he did led to me to change this of my own accord, as they really took care of my concerns. One star deducted for the confusion but three added back in for the great CS experience. Good product can get you a buyer, but good service gets you a customer for life. Blink has done a fantastic job turning a disappointed (and misinformed) buyer into a satisfied customer. So to recap, if you have an existing Blink system, buy these and use ‘em where you don’t need the wireless ones. If you are looking to get these as your first Blink setup, get them knowing you will have the option of paying for a subscription starting in 2021 or a one-time purchase of a sync module with SD card slot to store your video clips.
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Chris Shaw
4.0 out of 5 stars Open the box and FAIL
Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 2 CamerasVerified Purchase
Update: The QR does not work and the URL listed in the box does not work. However, I was able to download the app, scan the QR on the device and it was up and on my WIFI network in just a minute or two. I will upload an image comparing it's view compared to the Amazon cloud cam shortly The controls are different and I don't like that the live view isn't displayed until you press the Video icon. The other control settings are a bit more expansive than Ring or CloudCam so I am looking forward to it. I will add give it 4 stars total now but getting the Setup URL wrong on a brand new product is a lack of attention to detail. I bought this to replace old Dlink cams and to extend my Amazon Cloudcam setup since they are no longer available. Lets see how this goes over the next 60 days.
The very first thing I did is scan the QR in the lid of the box for the setup. I get a 404! This is a BRAND NEW released product and you can't even get the Setup QR right? I don't know how the rest of this installation process goes but this does not bode well.
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Santokki
4.0 out of 5 stars Useless if you plan to use as baby cam or continuously streamed security cam - avoid
Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 2 CamerasVerified Purchase
UPDATE: I found the perfect baby cam in another inexpensive Wyze camera here on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076H3SRXG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1
I guess since the Blink Mini is marketed as a security camera, I shouldn't judge it so harshly based on its babycam abilities. As a security camera I think it works well and does what it's supposed to do. I still think having an extended Live View would help even in security scenarios, for example if you wanted to watch an area for an extended time. In any case, I will be using the Wyze as a baby cam and the Blink as a security cam so I bumped up to 4 stars.
Original Review:
If you're buying these as a baby cam or continuously streamed security cam, don't! I bought a 2 set of these cameras to use as baby cameras, planning on adding a bunch of them to put in every room, and it's unfortunate because even though everything else is great, they have a fatal flaw - there isn't any live view option to keep the camera running for more than 30 seconds at a time. You have to hit a manual "continue" button to keep the live view going, which there is no reason for, as these are not battery powered. I have other outlet-powered security-type cameras and none of them have a manual live view continue button - they just stay on as long as you want to keep watching.
There was no mention of this "you must press a continue button every 30 seconds to keep live view going" in the product description until a couple days ago I believe. Maybe people have been complaining. If I had known in advance I would not have bought the cameras.
Other than that the picture quality is very good and setup is easy. I will be checking out the cheaper priced Wyze cameras next, although that company has issues of its own, regarding security it seems. Unfortunate about this product's live view fail, because otherwise seems like a great camera for the price.
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Our Tiny Feet
4.0 out of 5 stars Almost perfect for my use... almost
Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 2 CamerasVerified Purchase
I purchased the Blink Mini to use in our house to help us monitor our toddler. I bought the two pack because I wanted one in my son's room and one in the living room. Prior to this, we were using an old webcam in my son's room. My parents have the outdoor Blink cameras and they spoke highly of them, so I thought the indoor one would work great for my need. It's like a webcam, but with bonus features, right?
Pros:
• Easy to setup
• Clean and small design
• Picture quality night and day seems good - especially compared to our old webcam
• Range you can see in the room is good
• I like that you can select certain areas of the room to tell you if there's motion. So I have the area around my son's bed set to notify me when there's movement. That way when he moves around ON his bed it doesn't notify me but when he gets off his bed it does.
Cons:
• My biggest con is that the Live Feed only lasts for 30 seconds before you have to hit a button to "continue". I understand why this setting was created for the battery powered units, but this unit is always connected to power. Ideally, there would be setting letting you choose your preferred length. Even 5 minutes at a time before having to hit the refresh would be great. I like to be able to monitor my son when he goes down for his nap which can last anywhere from 5-30 minutes. I'm usually working during this time and having to hit the "continue" button every 30 seconds, or restart the camera every couple of minutes gets frustrating.
• There's an echo when you talk through the microphone. Makes it harder to use and hear. For me, this isn't a big deal as I don't plan to use this feature.
Overall, I like it and it's worth the money. If they fix the Live View feed length, this would make a great baby monitor too. And I'm REALLY hoping they do fix it.
-- Why didn't I buy a baby monitor? I never found one that seemed worth the cost. Each one I researched always seemed to have a BIG flaw about it even at all price points. So I gave up until I saw the Blink Mini. If I had known there was the Live View restriction, I probably wouldn't have bought it in all honesty since it hinders the use of it. Here's to hoping it's a feature they fix in the future. --
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BryGuyMcFly
4.0 out of 5 stars Updated Review: Problem with Motion Detect Remedied (From 2 Stars to 4 Stars)
Reviewed in the United States on November 5, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
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Updated (4 Star) Review (Original Review Below):
After posting my dissatisfaction with the motion detection regarding these cameras, a Blink tech support representative reached out to me to help me resolve the issues. First off, part of the problem was user error, in that I set these Blink Minis up right after I setup the Ring doorbell camera and spotlight camera. The UI within the Blink app is designed in a way, in terms of motion detect zones, is opposite to Ring's app in that the shaded portions in Blink are inactive zones (not to trigger an alert & record), whereas in Ring, anything you draw as shaded is to be detected as a zone. I made the mistake in not reading the instructions carefully within the Blink app as the text just blends right in to everything else. I partially blame the developers for not making that piece of information standout or for making it the opposite to their sister company, Ring's app. I feel that this should be updated to be the same as Ring or make the instructions pop out and highlighted so it's easy to see! I attached a screenshot of the Blink motion zones versus the Ring's motion zone screen. Quite the opposite if you're like me and speed through the setup thinking they're the same. Anyways, I removed the shaded squares and the motion triggers started working again!
As for the other issue. These Blink mini cams are not made to be placed behind a window, the IR light which renders these useless as the glare reflection on the glass window makes these useless. Fortunately there's some workarounds that make it work to an acceptable degree in my opinion. Besides, I use the Ring cams as my main security cams, and these Blink minis are supplemental to them. Anyways, there's an option in the app to turn off the IR. It's important to note that they are somewhat capable of motion detection through glass, since they use pixel difference analysis instead of IR heat signature. This can only work under very limited conditions such as when daylight is present, with the camera positioned as close as possible to a window, and with the recording LED and IR LED disabled to reduce reflection. I did all of those things and I added a Mr. Beams motion activated spotlight over the top. So during the day no problems, but at night it's complete pitch black until the spotlight is activated which in turns triggers the alert and subsequent recording on Blink. I uploaded a video demonstrating that. It was completely dark and the only illumination on the night recording footage is from the Mr. Beams. The solution and workaround worked in my case.
With all that said, for the price point, these Blink Mini Cams are a good value with decent picture quality. I still find my Ring cameras to be superior in every way, but they are also significantly more expensive. I wish that these Blink mini cams would just record to the Ring Protect Plus subscription, which includes unlimited cameras and cloud storage. But since they don't, the best solution instead of spending per device with Blink's cloud storage (which should be one flat rate like Ring) is to get the Sync Module 2, which will allow you to record on a flash storage device for the footage to be reviewed within the app. Overall, after fixing my motion detection issues with the Blink, I'm now happy with them and would recommend them for the price. If you have the extra money, go for something more refined and advance such as the Ring cameras.
Original (2 Star) Review:
Both my blink minis are hit or miss (mostly miss) when it comes to motion alerts and recordings. Just got them a month ago and if they weren't so cheap bundled with the echo shows I bought, I'd send them back. My ring cameras are on point, but these blink cams are disappointing to say the least. And yes, I've armed and disarmed them several times, and still the same. I could be jumping right in front of them, day or night, and they still don't detect motion. They need a firmware update or something because they're not that good. The video is not bad for the price of these, but not stellar by any means. The app looks like it can use an update in the UI department, it looks and operates significantly interior to the ring app I use, can't believe Amazon owns both companies and can't allocate a little more resources to polish up the app and the firmware to get this system functioning somewhat on par to their ring products.
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Vince
4.0 out of 5 stars Product is better than the app. What happened Amazon?! - Revised
Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 2 CamerasVerified Purchase
Update:
I currently have 6 mini's in use and Blink contacted me after reading my review and have been very responsive to my questions so I am updating. The flip image was corrected by using different mounting holes on the Mini. While not as easy I do believe the mounting is more versatile than Wyze and in my situations they worked. They can't turn of the IR Filters b/c those are used for motion and they understand that consumers want the live feeds. They also gave me a tip on how to fix scheduling. There are still some shortcomings but if you have patience you can work around it but I think that is where the app still falls short of its main competitor Wyze. Blink has more choices and options in their lineup which I do prefer at this time. And the camera itself I feel is higher quality than Wyze. If they can fix the live feeds and keep their products affordable to their competition this will go up to 5 stars.
As others have written here I have used other security cameras with a much more versatile app. The camera itself appears to be higher quality (i can see from the live feeds and audio quality) than the application can utilize and Blink definitely rushed this into production. Its unforgivable that you would have a product launched and you are not able to view multiple live feeds from your cameras simultaneously. I'm also disappointed you can't control the IR filters (turn off if shooting through an interior window facing outside), or rotate the images 180 if your mounting the camera upside down. Also the scheduling for arming the cameras should allow you to select them individually rather than applying to your entire grouped system. I have a competitor camera that is lowered priced with magnetic mounts that I find more versatile in certain applications as well. I would also hope they add google home controls in the future. Which comes down to my last point. I have bought these with the faith that its Amazon owned and supported and expect these features to appear as they update and refine the app. At that point I will revise the review. Currently its difficult to give a higher review with competitors offering more for less. Come on Amazon!!
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Mark P Dahmer
4.0 out of 5 stars Great price, easy to use, amazing customer service...
Reviewed in the United States on July 17, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 2 CamerasVerified Purchase
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I bought the two camera pack of the Blink Mini cameras without the sync module as I already had other blink cameras in my house. I was able to add the new cameras easily and program them with the available settings. I was rushing the setup and changed a couple settings causing the one camera to appear black and white. I sent a message to customer service and they responded with the correct answer immediately. They even followed up on their response the next day to make sure everything was all good.
Pros: Price, Ease of setup & use, size, no additional storage fees (only if you have an existing account/sync module), Customer Service.
Cons: Can be glitchy, Cannot save photos (only video), cloud storage fees if you don't have an existing account/sync module.
Overal I am happy with the cameras and system for my use. If you need a serious security camera system this may not be for you.
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Jay Pea
4.0 out of 5 stars Almost perfect
Reviewed in the United States on April 25, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 2 CamerasVerified Purchase
Step in the right direction with the wired cameras! Love how small they are and how they blend in easily. However, it seems like the app could use some updating. Now that battery life is no longer an issue, there's no reason there's no multi view live feeds! Or at lease have the image update every several seconds on the main camera screen instead of that one snapshot you can set? Get it together Blink! These are easy to implement now there's no battery life concern.
And finally, why no 24/7 recording? I realize there are 'workarounds' for this, but now that again, there's no battery to worry about I would like a continuous recording option. I will easily have 10 of these around the house once they update both 24/7 recording, and multi feed live view. For now, it's a great test with just the 2 cameras I have.
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Stephanie O
4.0 out of 5 stars Decent Camera
Reviewed in the United States on September 28, 2021
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 2 CamerasVerified Purchase
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After having many packages stolen off our porch, I decided I needed to get some cameras. The blink cameras are pretty small and very simple to set up using the app. I did have trouble setting one up because the app wasn’t able to sync with it. I ended up having to reset it several times. FYI, the reset button is on the bottom of the camera and you’ll have to use a pin needle to reset it.
The quality of the cameras are decent. If pointing to a window you’ll have to adjust the night vision because you’ll see the glare of your window and you won’t be able to see what’s outside. The picture quality is decent, it’s no HD, but it’s really good.
I’m able to check in on the cameras from my phone, iPad and even Echo. You can name your cameras so you can ask Alexa to show you a particular camera. You do have to pay for storage videos once your free month trial is over with. I don’t think $10 for the subscription is too bad.
Overall, for the price & if you’re on a budget, I’d recommended these cameras.
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Sharon S.
4.0 out of 5 stars Cute, but it has its flaws
Reviewed in the United States on February 11, 2022
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
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I know it says indoor, but I use it outdoor for my bird feeder because I wanted something cheap to watch birds while I wait for my Bird Buddy to arrive. It works well for what I need it to do! It definitely has false alarms with cars and stuff and the app is not super intuitive, but it has decent quality. However the night vision stopped working about 6 months in. Might be because I had it outside, but I have it in a spot where it doesn't get touched by rain or direct sunlight.
Anyway, it works for what I need it to so I'm happy!
4.0 out of 5 stars It works well for my needs.
Reviewed in the United States on August 20, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
First, I did not need the security camera for anything other than being an inside device that would motion trigger if a burglar gained access to the inside of the house while I was away. It seems to serve that purpose well. I especially like the ease of Arming and Disarming thru the app. Basically, the first page that pops up. The set-up is pretty much plug and play with the exception that it took a bit longer to recognize my Wi-Fi than I would have thought. I needed to do that step a couple of times. I found the motion sensing sensitivity to be good. Out of the box, and set out on my deck as a test, it alerted to wind moved trees at about 50 ft. The sensitivity and field of vision is adjustable with the app. Despite some negative review comments about the picture quality, I have to say I was impressed with mine. I did not expect that quality for a $35 camera.
In deciding to buy or not, I would suggest reading the 3 star reviews and get all of the info, pro and con, that is needed to make a decision as to this being the right camera for your particular need.
There was one absurdly frustrating negative. The instructions say to scan the QR Code. Guess what? The flap of the box it came in has a QR code, but that is not the one that works. The one that works is on the back of the camera and is about the size of a pencil eraser which lead to a couple attempts to steady my cell long enough for it to register the code. Ultimately not a big deal, but I do not like to be told to go left when I should go right. That cost Blink one star.
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Ed Moore
4.0 out of 5 stars Good alternative to the battery powered Blink cameras for indoor use.
Reviewed in the United States on April 29, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 2 CamerasVerified Purchase
Blink...I got in on the ground floor and have been running Blink cameras for years now. I have 3 systems and 18 cameras! They are a mix of the original Blink, the Blink XT, XT2 and now 3 Minis. I've been grandfathered into the "no subscription" plan and do not have to pay for cloud storage. I've been swapping out the original white Blink cameras for Minis. Mainly to eliminate the blinding LED and to clean up wiring.
How do they work?
Much the same as the Blink XT2. Setup is very easy due to the improvements to the Blink app. They have excellent PQ, good night vision and 2-way audio. I'm pleased.
A plug for Blink support. Since the Amazon acquisition, it's been very good. They are responsive and have replaced numerous faulty cameras over the last 2 years. Some were out of warranty, one was even eaten by a squirrel (!). They usually ship replacements within a week.
Pros:
Easy setup
No batteries
Small size
Versatile mounting system.
2-way audio
Excellent PQ and night vision
Cons:
IR light from one camera will wash out the other.
Shorter clip length: 30 sec.
Indoor only
No batteries (requires a nearby power outlet)
Only white available
Subscription-based model for new customers.
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Jeff Gardner
4.0 out of 5 stars Updated: Quick Response from Support Team!
Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
Original message:
The camera has a major flaw where you get a motion detection event and try to view live, it will say camera busy, and frustratingly you will be unable to access the camera until it’s done “doing its thing”. It is enough to where I CANNOT use this as a reliable security product. I was hopeful, but disappointed. RING Stick Up Cams I have been using and can attest that they are much much better. I think I am going to try the $60 RING plug in Indoor Camera next.
Update:
Support Team reached out and fixed the main issue! Second item that I brought up was regarding notifications and how there is no “Mark all as Seen” button to get rid of notifications. He sent it over to developers right away. Happy with support so far, now let’s see if they fix it!
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Camilo Navarro
4.0 out of 5 stars Buen producto
Reviewed in the United States on September 11, 2021
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 2 CamerasVerified Purchase
La cámara funciona bastante bien, para el precio que tiene ofrece una excelente imagen y visión nocturna en lo único que falla es en la detección de movimiento o Motion ya que esta función deja de trabajar constantemente, para que trabaje esta función y te notifique debes abrir el app todos los días y luego cerrarla, si un día olvidas abrir el app ten por seguro que el motion no funcionará o no te notificara, adicional a esto es importante mencionar que para que te grabe los movimientos debes adquirir un plan con Blink y esto no te lo cuentan antes de comprar, otra opción es comprar el local storage que ellos mismos venden.
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John W.
4.0 out of 5 stars No Image Rotation, but Decent Camera.
Reviewed in the United States on April 30, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 2 CamerasVerified Purchase
I bought these to replace a Yi brand indoor camera. What I liked about the Yi was that I could mount it upside down on my ceiling and then rotate the image in the app. No such luck with Blink. How could they have not thought of that?
When I asked their service team they said that it wasn’t something they considered but the camera was designed to swivel to get more angles. That doesn’t help me.
Since my problem wasn’t going to be resolved anytime soon I just designed and 3D printed a ceiling mount. I posted the design for free on Thingiverse. Problem solved.
Hopefully with an update in the app that allows for image rotation, I can give this camera a 5 star review.
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Kindle Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Blink knowingly shipping cameras that don't work.
Reviewed in the United States on September 26, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
Extremely disappointed in the Blink Mini. The motion sensor doesn't work correctly right out of the box. After searching Blink's website for answers I found they are aware of a firmware issue and are working on a fix. However, the issue has been known for months and no expected repair date was given. I think it's terrible that Blink an Amazon company would sell customers a product they know isn't going to work as advertised. The Blink Mini should be pulled from the market until it has been fixed.
Update I am changing my reviews to 4 stars. The camera still doesn't work as intended and I do think Blink should stop selling these until there is a fix. However Blink's costumer support has been excellent in responding to the issue. They did acknowledge there is an issue they are working and offered to send us a different model at no charges to make up for our problems. So customer support earned Blink 3 more stars from me. I would now recommend buying from Blink.
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B. Williams, Software Engineer
4.0 out of 5 stars High quality video and audio, good mount, no batteries to change, but the "Talk" feature is useless
Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2021
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
I have several of both the Minis and the outdoor models, and this Mini is almost identical to the outdoor and indoor models in terms of quality and features. The only real difference between them is the Mini isn't weather-proof, cannot handle the extreme temperatures of the outdoor models (-4 to 113 F), has a better mount, can be image-flipped, and runs solely on a power adapter instead of batteries.
* Not Weather-proof: DO NOT use this mini camera outdoors or in an uninsulated building. It is not water-proof and will likely be damaged by humidity and high or low temperatures.
* Mount & Image Flipping: this mount is great and allows easier installation locations than the indoor and outdoor cameras, because it's mounted from the bottom/top instead of the back. Since this Mini can be mounted from the bottom or top, this means it can be turned at many more angles on all 3 axes than the Indoor/Outdoor. If you have to mount it upside-down, such as from a ceiling, the app simply allows you to flip the image vertically. The problem with the indoor/outdoor models is the mounting is on the back, which means you can't "hang" it from a ceiling and point it in any direction. Instead, if you want to mount the Indoor/Outdoor on a ceiling or near the ceiling, you have a very small angle to point it. This makes the Indoor/Outdoor cameras inconvenient to install from above in most situations because you'll end up having to point the camera directly outward from your mounting surface. If from a ceiling, it'll face down. If from the top of a wall, it'll face outward along the ceiling. The Mini's mount is much better.
CONS:
* The "Talk" feature is totally useless. Regardless of bandwidth or proximity to the router or a sync module (purchased separately), the Talk feature produces broken sound that is impossible to understand. Plus there's a long delay of 3-6 seconds, making this feature useless for conversations, even if the other person understood anything you were saying. Over several tests with all of our different Blink cameras, none of them produce clear enough speech that someone can understand you, no matter where the cameras are located.
* No wired Ethernet option. This camera can only be used with a wireless router and Internet connection. There are no other options.
* Cannot be used as a USB web cam
* Cannot be used for continuous live feeds. The live feed only allows up to 30 seconds of viewing, and you must hit a Continue button every 30 seconds to keep it going. So if need a camera to leave running for frequent live video, Blink isn't what you're looking for.
* Cloud Storage Subscription semi-requirement: the Blink Home Monitor App's features become limited if you don't purchase a cloud storage subscription. If you stick with the Sync Module for local storage and do not purchase any of the cloud storage plans, VIDEO CLIPS CANNOT BE VIEWED THROUGH THE APP. The app will only allow you to view the live feed, adjust camera settings, and use the Talk feature. Without a cloud storage subscription, the only way to view your camera's video clips is by physically taking your USB storage device (purchased separately) out of the Sync Module (purchased separately) and placed in a USB port on a computer (purchased separately).
To be very clear here, if you do not purchase a cloud storage subscription, you will not be able to view any of the stored video clips (including motion-activated clips) from your phone. Period. This point has not been made clearly anywhere in the advertisements, support screens, Amazon product pages, or Blink Web site, but it's a crucial piece of information that the company is being very ambiguous about.
To repeat, IF YOU DON'T PURCHASE A CLOUD STORAGE SUBSCRIPTION, YOU CANNOT VIEW YOUR VIDEO CLIPS THROUGH YOUR PHONE. I have seen some reviewers assert that this isn't technically possible, but as a software engineer I know this isn't true. The Blink developers clearly focused on developing the cloud storage and subscriptions, using the mobile app as the user's "portal" app to access and view the cloud-stored video clips, and have simply decided not to develop a mechanism for the mobile app to access the video clips stored in your Sync Module. I want to be very clear here....this IS POSSIBLE and would require a lot of development to accomplish, but Blink just doesn't provide this functionality (yet). Whether they are working on this feature and plan to add it in the future is unknown. But the lack of direct integration between the mobile app and the Sync Module's local storage (over the local network, especially) is a significant shortcoming in the entire Blink system. This also means that if your camera loses its internet connection, it will not capture video, you can't view the live feed, the Talk feature won't work, and you can't change the camera's settings.. The Blink system simply does not allow the mobile app to connect directly to a camera or Sync Module on your local network. It is designed to use the Internet only. This is a very important point that customers must understand. Both the camera and the Sync Module require an active Internet connection to function. They will not work independently or with just a wifi router. Internet is required.
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ILikeReading
4.0 out of 5 stars Good for basic live feed
Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2021
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
I bought this primarily to check in on my pets when I'm gone and for that it serves its purpose. The live feed works as advertised and the night vision is surprisingly good for the price. The one area I'd say this camera falls short is the motion detection. It picks up on human movement well enough, but doesn't always recognize cats. For that reason I don't even bother to arm the camera when I leave home and instead just do manual check ins. If you're looking for something very basic at a great price then I'd recommend this camera, but if you want more features or intend to use it for security purposes this model probably isn't for you.
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Taylor Miller
4.0 out of 5 stars Great... except for the subscription...
Reviewed in the United States on May 24, 2022
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 2 CamerasVerified Purchase
I bought this camera for my dog when she is left home alone and I can keep an eye on her. It has wonderful camera qualities, motion detection, sounds, and quality. The only two things I did not like was how loud it was when it was recording, it scared my dog and me multiple times. Also, the subscription that you HAVE to get to enjoy the camera to its full capacity. I ordered Kasa Indoor Tilt Security Camera, this one will move with the movement, has a better app, and NO SUBSCRIPTION IS REQUIRED.
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Cookies6299
4.0 out of 5 stars This device is a pain in the rear to hook up to Amazon cloud
Reviewed in the United States on June 5, 2021
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
We purchased this blink to put in our garage, at first we were real happy with the device until about a week ago when we were trying to hook up to Amazon cloud. We went through all the steps and then thought we had it until we received an e-mail telling us not to forget to connect it. SEVERAL e-mails later and we still haven't gotten it hook up. In doing a google search it seems to be a constant complaint. Until Blink's customer service gets this issue taken care I am giving this blink camera a 1 star.
Update. I am going to increase the stars only because the issue we were having has been taken care of. We purchased these back in November of 2020 somewhat knowing that they were fazing out the "free" cloud storage. We started receiving the e-mails and started getting everything taken care of to move to the Amazon cloud, well we thought we did. Fast forward to the end of May when my first e-mail was sent with a response few days later telling me how connect the account. This went on for over 2 weeks until finally someone was able to help me. We ended up having to unlink the blink to our Amazon account then reconnect and problem fixed. We will now give it a 4 star and not a 5 because of having to pay extra for the cloud service since the blink is now owned by Amazon
3.0 out of 5 stars Great cameras - Rushed app that is missing key features and was clearly designed for other cameras.
Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 2 CamerasVerified Purchase
I pre-ordered 4 cameras without any reviews having been posted, so I hope that this helps someone. First off, the cameras are pretty nice, very easy to setup and get connected and the price is just about perfect. The app is where things start to fall apart. It clearly was created for the other Blink cameras that are battery dependent, so most of the quirks/problems I found are probably necessary for battery savings on the other Blink cameras. I have had cameras for well over ten years and have gone through several different apps/programs to access and store the video but I have never had an app that did NOT allow me to view all of my cameras at the same time. This one requires you to select a single camera and activate it individually to view real time video. I assume that this was designed for battery savings, but since these cameras are always on, it now serves no purpose. Additionally, not having the ability to view all of my cameras, while activated in a single 4 pane window seems a step in the wrong direction. For years I have been able to see live feeds in a multi-pane format and select the camera I want to zoom in on that one, not with this app.
Second, tech support is, at best, not good. I contacted them regarding the IR light that apparently can NOT be turned off (although you can turn it off via the app for the other Blink cameras?!) and the support tech actually stated that he did not know anything about these cameras and had to ask someone else. That was a first for me. The IR light is probably not a big deal for most, but I have for years had an indoor camera pointed out a window since my front yard is pretty well lit at night and the IR light stuck in the ON position make that impossible.
I never review anything, but I wanted to get the word out on this. I suspect that these cameras were kind of rushed and the app just re-purposed, so it my sincere hope that they will address the live view concerns in future app updates specific to Blink Mini owners. Soon I hope!!!! Here's to hoping!
Update: I was contacted by Blink following regarding my review. They indicated that multiple people had voiced similar concerns about the apps real-time capabilities and they made it sound like they were developing an update to the app to address this. They also offered to send me an additional camera (an older model) that does allow you to turn off the IR at no charge. I asked directly if this would be in exchange for changing my review and they specifically did NOT ask me to amend this review. If nothing else, that is GREAT customer service.
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Jay R.
3.0 out of 5 stars Blink Mini has NO local storage (without spending more $), Wyze is still better
Reviewed in the United States on April 19, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
Build-wise the camera is high quality, very nicely built and doesn't feel cheap. Picture quality is good too, but what makes this $35 camera not as good as its main competitor (Wyze) is the app features and not-so-clear-and-slightly-confusing video recording functions.
The main complaint is there is no live view when you open the app. In other words, you can have multiple Blink video cameras but all you get when you open the app is a screenshot. To see actual live footage you have to tap on each camera individually. It might seem like a small complaint but when you can open up the Wyze app and see all cameras live-view at the same time without extra steps, you can see which is more convenient.
The next thing is the premium subscription recording options. Cloud storage has a fee, local storage DOES NOT EVEN EXIST without an optional hub you have to purchase later - yes, the local recording feature that is included in every Wyze camera (be it the $19 v2 or the $35 Pan) is only available with the Blink camera when you buy the hub... which isn't even available to purchase as of this writing.
When I pre-ordered this camera I was hoping that considering it was coming from the Blink brand, that it would have been at minimum equal to (if not better than) its lower cost competition. But I feel like this was targeted towards already established Blink customers who might already be familiar with how the Blink camera ecosystem works, and they did not take into consideration what features their competition already offers..
So in the end I decided I was returning the Blink camera for another Wyzecam instead. I really wished it was an upgrade to the Wyze camera I'm using now, but after trying it out I can say that it is not. Also, the fact that they amended their product description with "live view is not continuous" after all of the reviews complaining about this on day 1 tells you something.
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Ms Tony T
VINE VOICE
3.0 out of 5 stars Worst camera I have
Reviewed in the United States on June 19, 2021
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
Of all of the cameras I have inside and outside my house this has got to be one of the worst. It's ridiculous what it chooses to record and what it chooses to just ignore. After checking the recordings from about a week ago I found it's insane how much it ignores actual motion but then picks up the trees blowing in the wind.
I have it aiming out my front window since my doorbell camera is on the fritz. We were out on the deck for about 35 miniutes waiting for my friends vehicle to be dropped off so they could get to work. 2 people moving back and forth in front of it constantly. This was about 5:35-5:45 am until around 6:20-6:30 am. I look back at the recordings so we could see what time exactly it was finally dropped off and there's nothing picked up from 5am until after 10am. This is one of the busiest times on the street I live on. It should have been constantly being set off and recording. Since other times it picks up most of he cars that pass on the street.
Bad enough it typically records then shuts off missing the things it should pick up. Or starts too late to pick up the important parts it should be recording. Part of the reason I can't use it for indoors when I'm selling items. It didn't pick up anything useful and only got useless parts of any interaction. It wasn't useful for watching for shoplifting when my back is turned or anything else. Now this.
Then there's the lousy 20 to 30 second recording times. Will never understand how this is useful for any security cameras. What good is 30 seconds. So why bother.
These don't have any type of decent live record or live watch on them unless you keep hitting continue. Half the time it takes about 2 miniutes to get the live view to even open. So that's no good for security at all.
The only redeeming quality is the picture isn't horrible as long as the light is just right.
I'm just hoping the wifi recieved on it is really good cuz only places left for it are upstairs where no one is much these days or the garage to keep an eye out for squirrels getting in there. After that it can go in the trash if it doesn't work there cuz I'll have no use for it at all.
Unimpressed and rather unhappy with the blink cameras and won't buy another ever again. Would not recommend to anyone for anything.
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Wayne
3.0 out of 5 stars Night Vision Switching Problem - new firmware please
Reviewed in the United States on May 13, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
I am certain the auto night vision switching problem can be fixed with a firmware update to fix the light sensitivity threshold for turning on/off the night vision feature.
Currently, it is not turning on/off at the right time for a given light condition. For example, in the early morning, the it doesn't turn night vision off until 8 AM, when there is plenty of ambient light. So for the 2 hours before 8 AM, it fails to detect any motion (even if a person is walking 5 feet in front of it). I think it's because the night vision IR lamp, combined with an 8 AM ambient lighting condition, is over exposing the scene to the point where the whole scene is completely white - this prevents the camera from identifying movement and triggering a recording. I have 2 of these cameras, and both have the same problem. Perhaps the firmware and app should be updated to give you the option to enter a specific time for turning the night vision on/off. Or it should turn off the night vision much sooner or at a darker condition.
Everything else seems to work as advertised. The video quality is great. I installed one of them outdoors in a protected/shaded area and it seems to weather just fine. I think as long as you protect it from rain, it should be OK for outdoor use as well in mild weathered areas.
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S. J. Jensen
3.0 out of 5 stars Not the Camera for you if you want quality Motion Detection feature.
Reviewed in the United States on July 29, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
I have three brands of surveillance systems in my homes. Arlo Pro, Lorez and now this Mini-Blink.
Here is my ranking of them:
Set-Up: Hands down it is the Mini Blink in 1st, Arlo Pro in 2nd and Lorex in 3rd.
Picture clarity: Lorex 1st, Arlo Pro 2nd and Blink Mini in 3rd.
(Not much difference between Arlo Pro and Blink Mini)
Motion Detection: Arlo Pro 1st, Lorex 2nd, Blink Mini... Nothing! Does not function well at all.
Smart Intergation: Arlo 1st, Blink Mini 2nd and Lorex 3rd.
(Lorex constantly falls short here!)
Cost: Blink Mini @ $35 per camera... Hands Down!
When home, I prefer the quality of the Lorex system. When remote or on Smart devises, Lorex falls short.
Blink Mini is fabulous on your Smart Device with the exception of your PC.
Arlo is also great... but Blink is much faster/quicker.
I purchased this Blink Mini to monitor my mother who lives with me and has Dementia.
The cost of this device coupled with the ease of use is Fantastic. Still, I wish it would detect motion reasonably and this camera falls way short of that. That being said, I may purchase one more Blink Mini to use to monitor my mother is one additional room. I could purchase an additional Arlo Pro camera to do both rooms, but the expense is just too much.
Update: 8/3/2020
Blink reached out to me several times via email. After providing them with more details they reached back out and conveyed that the product should be working and that I likely have it positioned wrong. I had to politely ask them to stop bullying me on this subject. Setting up these cameras is not rocket science. The Motion Detection is un-usable and there are additional reviews out there that point this out. Just accept it Blink, your camera falls short of the motion detection feature you want it to deliver.
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Kim Hill
3.0 out of 5 stars Subscription Based
Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
You DO need a subscription for this camera. I specifically purchased it as a preorder because I was under the impression that it didnt required a subscription.
I spoke with Amazon who told me its non subscription based but then, I spoke with Blink who said the opposite.
After December 2020, you will need one.
The quality is only slightly better than the Wyze camera which is a non subscription option.
The camera quality is decent but not fantastic. The closer the object, the better the view ( of course)
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steveeb
3.0 out of 5 stars Echo compatible? Not 100% true. UPDATED: No Notifications & Blink now charging $$$
Reviewed in the United States on April 14, 2021
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
****** UPDATE PLEASE READ: After having the Echo Show 5 and Blink Mini camera working perfectly as a puppy monitor, it basically quit working. Let me explain. I used the Show/Blink setup to notify me when my puppy would wake up at night so we could let her out to do her business. It worked well (almost too well) by sending Alexa notifications to both my iPhone and the Echo Show. I eventually turned the notifications off on my phone because I didn't need two things waking me up at 3am. Again it worked for a while, then just out of the blue, it stopped notifying me through Echo Show. I tried everything to get it working again, but I was forced to start using my iPhone notifications instead. Echo Show would still let me view the camera "Echo show me Bella", but no notifications when she would move. Echo Show became almost useless since I can also view the camera from my phone (and also speak to my pup which Show never could do). Mind you, it has been taking 30 second video clips and storing them on my phone. I got a couple that were YT worthy for their entertainment value (search Bella the Corgi).
I put up with the notification issue until BLINK PULLED A FAST ONE ON ME!!! A little over a month ago, I got a notification on my phone that my "30 Day Premium Blink Trial" had begun. I did not sign up for the trial, so I thought nothing of it. The other day my trial expired. I went into my phone to look at the stored videos and now they all are LOCKED!!! When I click on them Blink app tells me I need to subscribe to their service!!!! WHAT??!!!!??
Now the Echo Show and Blink Mini are all but USELESS to me except to notify me on my phone when my puppy moves at night. Echo Show's notifications are gone, and NOW Blink will not record. The whole point of the security camera is to record!! If I were to point my camera at my mail box to catch mail thieves, it would be absolutely WORTHLESS now since I'd have to be at the ready to view it live. Anything not live is locked up and held for ransom by Blink.
Amazon (who also owns Blink) is getting greedier by the day. Shame on you for taking away the basic functionalities that I bought it for in the first place!
******************
Using the blink app on iOS you can use the "Talk" button to talk through the camera, however, this is NOT possible when using Echo show (5" latest version) that is bundled together with this camera.
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Ted
3.0 out of 5 stars Great deal, not as good as cloud cam
Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
This camera feels like cloud camera V2.0 (but a slight downgrade). Both camera are made by amazon (Blink is an amazon company). Hardware wise, they are almost the exact same size, and have about the same capabilities. Unfortunately, the blink software is not as nice as the cloud camera software. With the discontinued cloud camera you could set the camera to turn on automatically when your were away from home (sensed by your phone location) and turn off when you got home. With blink it looks like you can only use a predefined schedule. Hopefully they will add this feature in the future. Both systems can only be accessed with a phone app (no way to connect via a computer). I'm confused why they have this limitation.
With the mini, like other Blink Cameras, you are limited to short clips, with mandatory breaks between consecutive clips. This can be extremely frustrating, but apparently is par the course in low end security camera systems.
With this camera so cheap, I feel it is hard to complain too much (it is an amazing bang for the buck), but it still feels like a bit of a downgrade after using the similarly priced cloud camera system.
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BrewCityRider
VINE VOICE
3.0 out of 5 stars Not ready for Prime Time
Reviewed in the United States on October 18, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
Really cool little security camera with outstanding images in both lighted and dark conditions. Great customizable features such as motion sensitivity, scheduling, IR levels, indicator lights on/off etc. Very easy to set up and sync with your WIFI. Nice looking with a great small form factor. No need for batteries because it plugs into power. Some complain that you can't just monitor the image 24/7...well that is not what this camera is for people. This is a system that is used for motion detection and to check in on a room/location on occasion when you want to see it.
Now for the bad! #1 is major, and the main reason I cannot recommend this system. When going from dark to light, as in going from a dark garage at night time to turning the lights on, the infrared system cannot adapt and remains on thereby preventing the motion detector from activating. Major, major flaw - Blink is aware of the problem and is supposedly working on a fix. #2 is that there is no internal SD card storage, and the free cloud storage goes away starting in 2021. We will be forced to either buy a stand-alone Sync module with a SD card, or purchase a cloud subscription...no bueno! #3 This is minor, but a pain in the butt none-the-less. The base looks to be magnetic, but is not. The nickel-sized metal object in the base is either not magnetic, or just doesn't stick because it is raised up a bit too high inside the base. I have mine sitting on a metal cabinet in my garage, and a magnetic base would have been perfect. I will eventually pickup a small round magnet to stick on my cabinet that the Blink will adhere too just for some extra security/stabilization. So in conclusion...look elsewhere, at least until #1 and #2 are addressed.
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SIOTHA
3.0 out of 5 stars Hope you dont need the evidence... the files are mia
Reviewed in the United States on September 25, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 2 CamerasVerified Purchase
Well well well. This little camera system tells some unique stories.
One day i get alerts every 30 seconds due to bugs or rain...
Adjust... then construction work on the house and crews so kindly unplug them. After im notified of the problem... a fight... unwelcome guests, and soooo many trespassing. Im horrified and relieved. But as we were testing this system for animal montioring, chicken coops, to car monitoring... well, i thought i saved the video from the system and nope the files are mia. Cant find em.
I cant decide if i want to pursue using these cheap things or just give up and use as nothing more than a doorbell system. We live a mile into the woods. I simply cannot beleive the stuff having cameras has recorded... but the delays, the sensitivity the short cords... i did replace with a blink xt2 waterproof cable and that has helped me keep them out of the way of the crews but for me, the end user saving and over writing of files is just not ideal.
Basically keeping them on is constantly using my phone for alerts, the storage is always full and theres no easy way to delete 500 30 second clips and save 1 or 2... its all or nothing in the end.
3.0 out of 5 stars Do yourself a favor look for a different camera!
Reviewed in the United States on July 5, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
Pros:
* Good Picture Quality
* Easy to setup
Cons:
* Needs new app
* Only View one device at a time
* Only View about a minute before video cuts out
* Unstable Connection
I got this for $5 with my Echo Show 8, and if I knew the overall poor experience with it I honestly wouldn't of even bothered. Don't get me wrong it has good picture quality, but that isn't everything. I also have a victure camera I use these in Concurrently with my baby monitor. That victure is almost as good quality with way more features, and a way better app. On the victure you can share and I can watch the feed on my device and my gf can see on her device at the same time. This Blink you can not do this. Victure you can watch the feed for a while before it goes to camera selection screen, this it cuts out roughly in a minute, maybe 2 minutes. Victure can pan and rotate, not this (Mention this for price points). See in my image uploads on the night vision quality of this over my victure camera, victure so much clearer. Granted this has the edge over normal daytime usage. This constantly dropping connection to camera, or get unauthorized access errors. So much where the Echo Show 8 can't even connect to it 90% of the time, and as I mentioned Amazon offered the bundle deal with this camera. It was very easy to setup. All you have to do is scan the QR Code on the camera, then connect to your Wi-Fi. Do yourself a favor and look into another camera, at least until amazon developers do a TOTALLY REWRITE of the software at least. Even for the price you can find a better camera with more features. I gave it 3 stars because of the picture quality and the ease of setup. I hope this is useful information in the weighing of your decision to purchase this or another.
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NattyK
3.0 out of 5 stars Great camera; missing key features.
Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 2 CamerasVerified Purchase
No continuous live view which is what I purchased the cameras for. Add that and it would be perfect. Returning.
Previous review below.
Set-Up:
Took me a total of 15 minutes to mount and set up both mini cameras. A quick 1 minute YouTube video also showed me how to setup my camera through my echo show which was great. Simplicity gives this an overall 5/5 in my opinion.
Camera Video/Audio Quality:
For the money these cameras look great. Although not as wide as my previous security camera they do catch the entirety of a bedroom when placed in a corner (using these for my infant and toddler as nighttime cams). They have around a two second delay to the live feed on the app which isn’t horrible and I haven’t noticed any buffering as of yet. 1080p looks great on my phone and echo show 5. No issues with video quality or clarity with night time view either. The sound coming from the camera is great as well with no noticeable feedback. 5/5 in my opinion again.
Blink App:
I was skeptical of the app after seeing the reviews but I have to say I am pleasantly surprised. Setting up through my phone was easy through the app. My only gripe would be that I wish they would come out with an application for computers. The application only works with mobile devices and amazon devices which I was not aware of at my time of purchase. However, they work seamlessly with my phone, tablet, and echo show and I have read that computer support is a feature that is in the works. 4.5/5 in my opinion for not having pc/Mac support.
App Security:
This is something that I will update frequently as I want my cameras to have some form of security. First impressions are great though, every login from a device sends a verification email to me with whether or not I want that device to have access to my cameras. As I am sure there has to be some vulnerability with these, I have not seen it yet or read about it yet. They do update the application frequently though with security updates as the most recent one was the day I got my devices. My first impression is a tentative 5/5, which is sure to change.
Overall TLDR: 5/5. Setup great, Video/Audio great, Application good, security great first impression but time will tell. If you want a cheap camera with great features buy this. My only complaint being no support for pc/Mac yet.
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Em
3.0 out of 5 stars NO CONTINUOUS STREAM ON ECHO SHOW!
Reviewed in the United States on June 27, 2021
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
Unbelievably annoying to have to restart the stream EVERY FIVE MINUTES on echo show 5.
Even MORE annoying: two way is NOT available on echo show. It ONLY works on the APP. So if you are monitoring your blink on echo show 5 (THAT YOU HAVE TO RESTART EVERY 5 MINUTES) and you wanna use the audio (like to say something to your kids) you have to:
1) turn off the feed on the show
2) then open the app on your phone
3) then turn on the feed there
4) and ONLY THEN can you use the 2 way......
By then its way past the point you needed to say something and faster to just get up and physically walk to the other room and say what you needed to say.
I dont know WHY Amazon sells the blink with the echo when its MISSING THESE TWO IMPORTANT FUNCTIONS.
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Ghost Leader
3.0 out of 5 stars Good but with limitations
Reviewed in the United States on December 13, 2021
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 3 CamerasVerified Purchase
So I've been using this in my home for a couple of months now. It is good for what I need it to do. (notifications and general checking up in certain indoor areas). BUT if you want it to function more like a 2-way radio, or need immediate motion detection, this is not it. There is a bit of a lag (like 3-5 sec) when activating the cameras from my phone and talking 2 way on it (1-2 sec lag). This is very annoying. But my biggest complaint is the background noise. When using the live view, there is constant and pretty loud background static/buzzing noise (sounds like running water). We also use the Ring doorbell. That one does not have the static. When it is time to replace these Blink ones, I will try Ring next.
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BreAnne
3.0 out of 5 stars So-so if you're not willing to pay...
Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2022
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
Let me start off by saying this was a really good camera, at first. During the 30 day free trial, I loved getting pictures and video clips once the motion sensor went off. The picture was clear and it I was happy with my buy. The longer I had it there were a few things I didn't like. One thing is all the lights that are on the camera. I'm sure they serve a purpose but I didn't try to figure it out, I just covered them with black electrical tape. Still worked great. The other thing I didn't like was that you hear a small clicking noise sometimes when the camera kicks on to record. I wish it was silent. Then, the last thing I didn't like was after the 30 day trial. If you don't pay for a subscription, all you have access to is a notification of movement, no picture and no video. Then you can manually go check out the live feed but if you don't see the notification right away, you miss everything.
You can't save the live feed either. I bought a Merkury camera at Walmart and I like it much better. The picture quality isnt as good as the Blink but it serves its purpose. Without paying for a subscription it still takes a picture that you can view so you can see what set the camera off and you can record your live feed. It also is silent, no wierd clicking noises. It also had lights but that seems to be common with these types of cameras. Overall, if I got to choose to buy the Blink Mini again, I wouldn't.
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Duh_Mexican
3.0 out of 5 stars Cheap camera what did you expect?
Reviewed in the United States on March 27, 2022
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 2 CamerasVerified Purchase
So first off the picture will be completely pitch black sometimes when I’m re-watching a video and then all of a sudden its like the light turns on and you can see everything even in the well lit area the picture will be completely black when you’re watching a recording(not live view) and then boom everything gets lit up and you can see whatever motion is being detected takes a second though. other times it’s not recording even if you have it armed, sometimes it’s just not recording at all for example I’ll see someone like my neighbor go down the stairs and usually I’ll see him come back up but sometimes I don’t see him come back up meaning it’s not recording even though it’s armed?! if you buy the window mounts they are amazing however if your trying to watch the Front door for example you can’t angle it on the very top to look down to your floor mat it has to be facing directly straight giving you a limited point of view i like to angle it so i can see from top to bottom of my entire front door but without the window mount if there are lights on in your home there’s a glare.
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Aaron
3.0 out of 5 stars Don't pay more than $5 for this
Reviewed in the United States on December 11, 2021
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
I have a bunch of IP cameras of different brands. You get what you pay for. Foscam seems to be the most consistent, and other off brands work well for about 6-9 months before the wireless chips or the motor on PTZ cameras start having problems. This camera is no exception.
It's pretty well known that this camera will not let you view it continuously in the app or with an echo show. Beyond that, they lost me a while ago when they forced an app update and required my phone number. Forced app updates are fine, but there is absolutely no reason they need my phone number. Ok fine, you can have my google number.
That doesn't change the fact that when I try to view the camera on the echo show (as a baby monitor) the wifi gets more inconsistent as time goes on. Often you can unplug the camera and plug it back in to rectify the problem, but there's no reason you should have to do that. What's more, since it's being used as a baby monitor, the outlet is protected by a baby proof, and me-proof, contraption, so it's a pain to unplug and plug in again. There is constant buffering, which I'm not sure is due to the echo show or the camera itself. Both have excellent wifi signal. Either way, it does not work as intended/advertised for more than a few months.
If you can get with a bundle for $5 like I did, go for it. I would have a problem paying the normal $20 asking price.
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Sarah
3.0 out of 5 stars Good (not great) cameras, bad app
Reviewed in the United States on August 13, 2021
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 2 CamerasVerified Purchase
I’ve had a few brands of cameras. Blink is one of the better for picture quality. A lot of resolution is lost when zoomed in, but that’s not unexpected. The audio isn’t very good (sounds tinny and muffled). It only records ANYTHING if you pay for the monthly service which isn’t true with all brands. The motion sensor is very sensitive which is a good thing at least (I’ll literally have thousands of clips a day when my dogs are home).
The biggest problem is the app. It’s constantly freezing and having issues. The fact that you cannot constantly watch the live stream and have to hit play every minute or so is annoying. I sometimes like to have the stream up while I’m working and can’t always touch my phone to continue the stream.
Overall, the Teckin cameras were cheaper, the picture quality was just as good, the audio was better, and the app was MUCH better. If I’m not past the return window, I’ll likely just send these back and get more Teckin cameras instead.
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Sammy Swartz
3.0 out of 5 stars Hampered by One Flaw--No Local Saving
Reviewed in the United States on June 5, 2021
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
Edit 6/22/2021: Blink Customer Service contacted me and proved extremely helpful in resolving my issue with the lack of local storage. Although I still believe a local option should be built into the Blink software, I'm raising my review from 2 to 3 stars. In short: just be sure you know what you're buying here before plunking down the cash!
At first, I thought this little camera was a true jewel--cheap, easy-to-use, and of (relatively) high quality. But like most things, there's a catch. All video recording is sent to the cloud via a subscription service that, although free at first, will eventually require a monthly payment. I didn't mind initially, as I naturally assumed I'd be able to save my videos to the phone itself.
Well....you can't! People who want to record video for later viewing are out of luck unless they fork out the monthly bill. Of course, there's ABSOLUTELY no reason why local recording can't be offered; this is just the company forcing every user into becoming a monthly money dispenser. Obviously, the camera is almost useless without the ability to save what it records, and demanding everyone use the Cloud for such a crucial function is both shady and shameless.
So, yeah...if you don't mind the essentially required subscription, this is a neat device. Otherwise, invest your money elsewhere.
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R. Startzman
3.0 out of 5 stars Good competitor to Wyze
Reviewed in the United States on June 19, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
I have three of these. Set up is quick and I can view the cameras on my tablet and phone within a. couple of minutes.
The only real problem I have with the Blink mini is the integration with the SHOW. Alexa, on the SHOW, couldn't display the camera view. Every time I asked Alexa to show me "camera name" she responded that she couldn't. The reasons varied. She even tried to sell me more minis!
I called Amazon Blink support and spent an hour on a wild goose chase. You know the drill; delete the camera, try a different name, reset the camera, unplug and replug, etc.,etc.. Nothing worked. The next day (yesterday) I called BLINK support and got a better trained technician who opined that it might take some time to sync. So I waited another day.
Now (today) it all seems to work. So the lesson I learned is to wait a couple of days before trying to get Alexa and SHOW to recognize the mini and to work the way it is advertised.
When it is working the Mini is a good competitor to the Wize cam at 25 bucks. Daylight video quality is fair to good. Nighttime video is poor to fair. Response time, while a bit slow, is comparable to the Wyze. Controls are good and intuitional. The no Hub feature is welcome.
2.0 out of 5 stars One major flaw.
Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
I bought this to use as a baby monitor, thinking if the quality was good I would end up purchasing an outdoor set as well. I got it in this afternoon, and set up was super easy. The picture quality is excellent for the price point.
The main issue for me is that there is no option for continuous viewing. The live view from the app will automatically shut off after 30 seconds if you don't tap the "continue?" prompt. If I had known this ahead of time, I would have never purchased a Blink camera. I watch my daughter on a Fire tablet while I work at night, and it's really not feasible to stop typing every 30 seconds to press a button.
Maybe it's my fault for not realizing it, but I don't remember reading any information about the length of viewing time, so I assumed it would be like the Foscam I had sought to replace. If Blink ever adds an update for continuous viewing, I would repurchase in a heartbeat, but for now, I'm sending it back.
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Grant
2.0 out of 5 stars Still missing key features!
Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
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May 2021 Update: unfortunately I have had to downgrade my original review. After a year, Blink should have added the missing features listed below in my original review especially individual camera notification control. If you have more than one camera; this missing feature is a huge annoyance. The Blink forums have been asking for this simple feature for 3 years and Blink has been unresponsive. If these features are ever added, I will update my review and can recommend the Blink system again.
I am very happy Blink is expanding their offerings and this little camera surprised me! We own a Blink XT2 system as well as Yi Cameras.
This Camera makes a much better baby camera than the Blink XT2 and works perfectly with our existing XT2 system. I did not have to sign up for the cloud subscription and because Mini Recordings are free as part of our XT2 system (XT2 cameras do not require a subscription). This is a huge benefit and reason why people would purchase both the Mini and XT2. Hopefully, the free cloud storage stays for the Mini recordings, especially for people who own a XT2 system. The daily experience is good, the app works well for the features it does have, but the cons listed below are a big issue that Blink should easily resolve for all their cameras. I am still very happy overall.
Pros:
-Great build quality and design
-Great picture quality
-Very responsive when connecting to Echo Show (seems better than the XT2)
-Small size
-Mountable base
-Weighted base (weight can be removed)
-Long USB/power cord
-Two way audio with App
-Local storage option if you buy the new Sync 2
Reliable App
Cons:
-No Two Way Audio with Echo Shows; both are Amazon companies, and I am not sure why this is not a feature already.
-No individual camera arm/disarm scheduling (you are forced to schedule your entire system)
-No individual camera notification control; Blink please also add this feature! This is extremely annoying especially as you add more cameras. I really only want notifications for our front door but want recordings without notifications for the rest of the House. I imagine most people would want the same thing.
-Can’t continuously view on the App. This can be annoying especially for this camera in our case (we are using it as a baby monitor). You can continuously view with an Echo Show but it does cut out eventually.
-Paid subscription for Cloud recordings; all other Blink cameras have free cloud recordings and it would have been better if this camera followed the same strategy.
Overall, this camera would be perfect and get 5 stars once Blink fixes the few App features missing listed above. I have contacted Blink in various forms to inform them of the above missing simple features but the responses have been unimpressive. I plan to modify this review if the features are added, but unfortunately people have been begging Blink for these features for years.
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Matt Smith
2.0 out of 5 stars NOT FOR HOME SECURITY!!!!!!!!! (Updated 5/12/20)
Reviewed in the United States on April 28, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
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UPDATE - 5/12/20: 3 stars to 2. The camera cuts out for hours at a time. Essentially half the day there are no activities that trigger the camera. Not sure why the camera is inactive but essentially half the day it is not recording.
For instance, Sunday night, the last recorded motion is 11:27 PM. Monday, the first recorded motion is 8:15 PM. Today there’s a lapse between 4:39 AM and 12:17 PM. Someone usually walks by my apartment at least every 10 minutes throughout the day. Very UNRELIABLE for home security. Should be 1 star, but it could be useful to someone as a live view for a 3D printer or something, but no time lapse feature.
***** Look elsewhere for home security. I purchased the Yi Dome Cam + and I am extremely happy with that. Plus it has internal MicroSD storage for continuous recording and 360* capability.
Note: I have it set to trigger on motion at all times, no scheduled breaks or turn off when I’m home.
UPDATE - 4/30/20: 2 stars to 3. The development team has now added an option to turn off the night vision infrared lights. Thank you for being responsive. I still have an issue with the Retrigger time leading to a lapse in event recording, hopefully continuous recording could be an option in the future. Maybe with the combination of the Sync Module 2? Until this feature is added I would not recommend for home security.
Original Review - 2 Star:
I repeat, DO NOT use for home security. Look elsewhere for a home security solution.
This camera is exclusively triggered by motion. While that sounds perfect for a security camera, it is a major downfall of the Blink platform. The camera searches for motion and records at the time it senses motion, and a little before. This is great, however it will only record up to 30 seconds. At this point, the recording stops and the camera has a grace period where it will not trigger due to motion again for a period of time. Blink has a setting for this break period and it can be adjusted, but can go no less than 10 seconds. So if you have an event that is 45 seconds long, you will record the first 30 seconds and the last 5 seconds, leaving you with a 10 second gap in your footage that could be key to solving a break in or similar event.
Another issue I have is that the night vision can not be turned off. You can select “on” or “auto”. So if your camera is looking out a glass window at night you will not see anything, even if there is a light outside. The infrared LEDs can not go through the glass so you end up getting a terrible glare in the window and an almost completely black screen. Where if you could turn it off, it would see through the window to the street which is lit by an exterior light.
In addition, the live view is ridiculous. You must tap a continue button every 15-30 seconds to keep watching the feed. If you do not tap the button when prompted, it backs out of the live view.
As for the picture quality, it’s okay. You can’t read a license plate from 15 feet away though. And if you zoom in on someone’s face it would be hard to tell who they are from any more than 10 feet away. For the price though, it’s not terrible.
I don’t care to go into detail, but the app is lacking in so many ways.
I have returned this camera in search of a better solution. Next attempt is the Yi Dome Camera X.
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nebraska
2.0 out of 5 stars Junk
Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
Omg where to even begin with this camera. This was the first security camera I purchased for the house, BIG MISTAKE. The camera pretty much just works when it wants, catches what it wants. And the worse part is that after a certain time period at night it doesn’t catch movement at all until I go into the app and sort of “wake” the camera up by opening up the live feed. It’s like something happens at night to make it “fall asleep” and then it stops recording any movement until I open the camera app up and open up the live feed. It’s pretty ridiculous that I have to do that every morning in order for the camera to technically “wake back up” and start recording again. I like that you have 2 way talk and the audible is pretty good, but it could use A LOT more work. Ughh I wish I could take it back, but due to COVID I threw the box away right away and now I’m stuck with this junk.
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Steven
2.0 out of 5 stars "Continue?" - I'm sorry for Amazon...
Reviewed in the United States on June 12, 2021
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
I was looking for a camera to monitor my 3D printer and naturally, because I enjoy my Echo devices, I was drawn to Blink as it is part of that ecosystem and so far I have really enjoyed Amazon products such as Alexa devices and AmazonBasics. The Blink camera is a massive disappointment, and I think I know exactly why it is the way that it is. The camera's feed can only be viewed for 30 seconds at a time, after which a popup button appears and asks you "Continue?" and in order to keep viewing the feed, you must press that otherwise the camera feed disconnects until you press the play button again. Amazon claims that it's to "conserve bandwidth" and I don't buy it. Right off the bat the app sets you up with a "free" 30 day trial. I say free in quotes because it's just another trial that must be canceled before it ends otherwise it just continues and charges you. Now, the app does tell you in very clear and easy to understand menus that you are going to be charged unless you cancel, but it is also a subscription that ends the moment you cancel it, as opposed to simply disabling automatic renewal but still letting you use the remainder of the trial. Here's the nail in the coffin, Amazon also states that "Alexa enabled screen devices do not provide the Continue button and remain in Live View until the limit is reached." The Blink camera isn't trying to be an affordable wifi camera. It's primary purpose is to sell you a subscription and convince you to buy an Alexa-enabled Echo Show, as that device doesn't "provide the Continue button."
So, I'm writing this review as I am just now setting up my Wyze camera. I'm sending my Blink camera back to Amazon and I doubt they'll look at these reviews that expose their ulterior motives, but all I can say is that I'm sorry for them. They just lost another customer for their anti-consumer approach. You can't convince me that Amazon needs to save money by conserving bandwidth. Amazon is the 3rd richest company in the world. Amazon, you tell me why you have to save bandwidth by making an annoying popup that you can't disable, while Wyze, a company significantly smaller than you, is offering 14 DAY FREE cloud storage for both events and continuous recording, with the option to use an SD card for storage. That's the reality of this camera. One last time, Amazon, I am wholeheartedly disappointed in and sorry for you. Do better.
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Dave BTop Contributor: Photography
2.0 out of 5 stars So close with a major flaw
Reviewed in the United States on September 23, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
Compared to our current Amcrest the standard image quality of this camera was good. Not as good as the Amcrest and it blows out the sunlight coming in windows but it’s definitely acceptable.
As for the night mode it was garbage compared to the Amcrest. As you can see in the picture it has some sort of haze in the middle of the image (no, the protective label wasn’t still on it) and even ignoring the haze the image quality is poor. You definitely couldn’t use the picture to identify someone.
But the biggest disappointment that they don’t mention is that you can’t unlimited live view these cameras. You can view it for 5-30 second increments but you need to keep selecting the camera to view again, and you can only view for five minutes per session. That’s worthless. I understand with the battery ones that you’d drain the batteries quickly live viewing but one should have the choice. With this flaw we’ll be sticking with the Amcrest where I can have it pulled up on a screen all day long without needing to refresh every 30 seconds.
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Les Martin
2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed For Sure and I Really Don't Need Another Subscription
Reviewed in the United States on June 19, 2021
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
I am a long time Amazon Cloud Cam user. Cloud cams allow you to watch the feed live and keep it on as long as you want. I wanted a cheap camera to point toward my driveway so when I am in my windowless basement working I could keep delivery drivers safe from my dogs. This indoor Blink camera popped as a deal and I thought it would be a great replacement for a cheap no name brand camera I was using. I was wrong, there is no way to keep the live feed up for longer than 30 seconds. The cheap Teckin camera as well as my Amazon cloud cams allow this.
I am also very disappointed that Blink does not provide some basic clip retention without a subscription. I canceled the basic subscription because I do not need want another bill. Now I receive alerts basically taunting me telling me something happened but there is no way to view the clips. Again, Amazon Cloud Cam retains at least 24 hours worth of clips for free. I'm not interested in yet another subscription. So now I have this camera which is essentially useless unless I want to point it at maybe my kids play area and when I hear screaming I can check the live feed... for only 30 seconds at a time. Thanks Blink.
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Jax
2.0 out of 5 stars Nice cameras, not as security cameras though
Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 2 CamerasVerified Purchase
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These are the first "security cameras" I've had that does not have long recording. Actually you have to sit there in live feed and record and hit continue every 10-20 seconds if you want to capture something. Otherwise you have to hope whoever breaks into your house shows their face on your camera in the first 10 seconds of movement, if the camera catches the movement at all. The programming is weird. It will pick up tiny bugs flying around ornmoving shadows more often then it picks up my cats and I have 3 and a large tortoise. The picture quality is nice, but without continuous recording it's worthless for me. Looks like I have to go back to Yi cameras or something
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joshua
2.0 out of 5 stars Bummer
Reviewed in the United States on May 16, 2021
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 2 CamerasVerified Purchase
The picture quality its really good and it can clearly pick up sounds and conversations.
Biggest upset is it does not do continuous recording. When it detects motion it will record 10-30 seconds (you can choose length) and then it has a "retrigger" time of 10 seconds where it will start recording again if it detects movement again.
Live view is similar. After 30 seconds of live view, the app will ask if you want to "continue". You have a short response time and if you miss it, it will exit live view.
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J. Quick
2.0 out of 5 stars Pretty Disappointing
Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
I bought one Blink camera to try out before replacing all of my Zmodo/Meshare cameras. I'm glad I didn't replace all of them right off the bat. The hardware is elegantly designed and seems well built but the user experience is terrible.
For starters the Live View, where you can watch and/or record a real time feed from your camera is really hit or miss. I find it works better when I'm away from home but even then I often get one of an assortment of error messages instead of a feed.
Worse, it seems that "Live View" is unavailable when the camera is recording based on a motion event. So, you get a motion alert on your phone, open the app to quickly see what's going on but instead it just tells you "Live View in Progress" and refuses to give you a live feed. The one moment you really want a live feed you're not *allowed* to have it? There's also a delay before the recordings become available in the app so it's really a frustrating experience.
When the Live View does work you have to constantly reply to a "Continue?" prompt or the feed will stop after about 30 seconds, so if you wanted to use this to keep an eye on something it's totally useless. Even if you keep pressing the Continue button it will eventually stop the feed after a few minutes at most.
Recording of motion events is strictly time-based. You can set the time up to 30 seconds and it will re-trigger afterwards but I much prefer the way most other motion-activated cameras work where they record continuously as long as there's motion. With the Blink you get gaps in the footage that you don't get with other cameras.
The picture quality is at best adequate but I was surprised that it's not better. In particular it does poorly if there's a bright light source in the room. It tends to focus on the center of the viewing area so if there's something like a lamp on the edge of the field of view that area is a total, unviewable white out. There's zero adjustment for the video settings other than resolution so there's nothing you can do about this.
On the whole based on it being a newer product, a major brand and associated with Amazon I was expecting something far superior to my aging, Chinese brand Zmodo/MeShare cameras but in the end what this product did was make me realize how much I was taking for granted.
2.0 out of 5 stars Not the best value of available choices.
Reviewed in the United States on June 1, 2021
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
I have (or have had) Arlo, Blink, EZViz and Wyze cameras, and I have settled on Wyze for my indoor and outdoor system. The addition of the v3 Wyze Cams tipped the scale finally in their favor for all indoor and outdoor purposes. The Blink Mini is a decent camera, but the unacceptable flaw for me is the inability to watch SD card video (from the Sync Module2) through the app. Incredibly, it seems you have to remove the SD card from the sync module to view video stored on it from a device. Each of my Wyze v3 Cams has its own SD card, and I am able to see alert footage stored in the Wyze cloud and/or extended continuous footage from each camera's SD card through the Wyze app. If I see a Wyze alert video clip that ends before I want it to, or if I need to see events immediately preceding the alert clip, I can switch to PLAYBACK view and watch what is recorded continuously on the SD card for whatever length of time I want through the app. Also, the Blink Minis randomly stop recording events, and require power cycling before they will restart. The Arlo cameras had this same issue, and I junked them as a result. If you're away from home, as on vacation, and one of the cameras stops recording, you're out of luck until someone can power cycle the individual camera that has stopped recording motion. Not acceptable. The 7 Wyze v3 Cams have been extremely stable over a period of five months. The Wyze v3 Cams are priced about the same as the Blink Minis at this writing. I see no reason to accept the deficiencies of the Blink Minis when the Wyze V3 Cams are so much better. So I am replacing my 3 Blinks with additional Wyze v3s.
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JD
2.0 out of 5 stars Can't handle transition from daytime to nighttime and back again
Reviewed in the United States on February 5, 2021
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 2 CamerasVerified Purchase
I have run into an extremely annoying technical issue with this camera that severely limits it's usefulness. It's a little hard to describe but I'll try to explain:
First off, I use this camera in a front window next to my front door overlooking my porch. I've noticed over time that I've missed some notifications of movement for actions that should have been caught (for example, a very large package being delivered to my front door which should have caught movement). Some times I can go an entire day w/o notifications even though there is activity that should have triggered it.
I have tested my theory and the issue is as follows: The camera doesn't do a good job of transitioning from daytime to night time and sometimes gets "stuck" in one mode or the other. If I notice I haven't received notifications in awhile I will go into "LIVE" mode to view a current stream and one of two things will happen:
1) The screen will either be super bright and washed out (think almost completely white) and 'adjust down' into a normal picture. If in this state the camera won't pick up movement because it is seeing almost all white until it adjusts
2) The screen will be all black and 'adjust up' to a normal picture. If in this state it won't pick up movement at all as it is seeing almost all black screen. SOMETIMES something very bright will make the system see it and adjust at that point. For instance. If it is seeing all black something like very bright car lights will be seen and make it adjust. Something like someone walking right up to the camera and waving will not be seen as the camera hasn't adjusted.
It's a very unusual problem where the only fix that I can find is to manually pull up a live view in the morning and at night and making the camera adjust automatically. I can tell this works bc the screen is either all black or white depending on whatever mode it got stuck in. I don't have confidence in the system as I have to manually intervene up to twice a day to make sure the camera can see things properly. If I were to leave my home for a few days and forget to pull up a live view a few times a day I could potentially have someone force entry into my front door and or vandalize something and the system would be completely blind to that.
My attached photo shows what the camera sees before it adjusts back down to normal levels during a live view. In this instance it is using night time sensitivity during the daytime causing it to see hardly anything at all. It can't see movement in the state and will not trigger motion notifications nor will it record anything.
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J. L. Wilkerson
2.0 out of 5 stars I expected better
Reviewed in the United States on December 2, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
I've had an Amazon Cloud cam for a long time and love it, for whatever reason Amazon decided not to make them anymore. I had hoped I would like the Blink since it is an Amazon company. The camera quality is good and for the price it is a decent little camera. It is easily better than the Wyze system which half of the time won't even turn on or connect to your WiFi. My biggest complaint is that there is no home and away feature. The Cloud cam had it, but these do not. If you are fine with your cameras being on all the time, then you won't care about this feature. I would prefer they not be on, which means you have to get on your app and turn them off when you get home. Your other option is to try to use IFTTT, which only works half of the time, or set up a voice command to Alexa to turn the cameras off. This is where I'm the most disappointed. Setting these things up with Alexa should be a breeze, however, it is not. You have very little control of the cameras from an Echo device, which is very disappointing.
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B Rich
2.0 out of 5 stars Something Scary Happened with this, so I stopped using it.
Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2021
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
We used this for a few weeks as a baby monitor, but then it appeared to get hacked so we stopped using it completely. While it worked, we really liked it. It was really nice to be able to use the app and Alexa to check in on our little one while he was napping. But then one day it started clicking on and off by itself (the lens was opening and closing and brief recordings were listed in the blink app).
None of us were using the camera at the time.
This was very suspicions, and having someone else looking at our child in bed is terrifying.
I am quite tech savvy, and take security seriously. We have at-the-network security to help with all of the internet-of-things devices that tend to be less secure than a PC with a firewall. Or just a router that has all kinds of holes and exceptions that many products automatically create..
The device was up-to-date with the latest software and firmware.
I normally don't write negative reviews, but thought people would want to know about the risk.
I normally stay away from negative reviews, but given that people use these cameras for their homes...
Ultimately, if you don't care about what the camera is viewing being secure, it is a great little device.
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Big Al MD
2.0 out of 5 stars False advertising, waste of money
Reviewed in the United States on October 29, 2021
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 2 CamerasVerified Purchase
I bought two cameras and the Sync module 2. They advertise "Store events conveniently and securely in the cloud with a 30-day free trial of the Blink Subscription Plan or locally with the Sync Module 2 and a USB flash drive (USB sold separately)." I cannot get the unit to store video clip, much less a camera snapshot. I've tried all kind of setting trying to get it to store clip via motion sensing to no avail.
They try to get you to pay for "a cloud storage ;blink plan'" which is higher priced than their competitors
Live view of camera only works if you sign up for one of their plans. Camera snap shots are NOT recorded/saved to the flash drive in the Sync 2 module. to Sync 2 module for viewing or downloading.
Waste of money.
All rating above 2 star now seem contrived after my first hand experience with this product.. I should have bought Nest or Kasa, much more bang for your buck.
Update 10/29/21
I have managed to get units to record to the USB flash drive on the Sync 2. I have also found that occasionally the cameras switch to a black and white mode, which I have seen this in their camera snapshot and in some recordings - not sure how/why this happens. Also, the camera, on a few occasions, said that it detected motion when there was none. I'll have to play with sensitivity to see if maybe just a dust particle triggered it.
I have not found out what happens when USB flash drive is full - does recording fail or does it start writing over oldest clips.
Saying it has Alexa compatible interface is quite a stretch. The only thing you get is audible notification of motion detected by a given camera. There is no way to turn video recording on remotely via their App. Hence one cannot do so via Alexa either.
I have noticed that "Live View Streaming seems delayed by about 2.5 seconds as compared to its less than 1 second when I had the 30 day trial of their basic plan.
As to reliability, I wonder about the longevity of the cameras. Of my initial order of 2 cameras, one was defective. I had no trouble with replacement as Amazon interceded and shipped me new ones without waiting to receive defective ones. This brings up an issue for all customers that purchase a combined multiple item shipment. If one or more items is defective (less than total number of items in bundle) there is no way of just getting the defective item replaced. I've read reviews where others have had this situation and have to return all items before replacement is sent out. This is a shortcoming of online purchasing.
I am upping rating to 2 stars (I give it a 2.5 which you cannot pick). If it wasn't for the inconsistency with motion detection and cameras switching to black and white for no reason, I'd give product 3 stars.
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Merci L
2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed
Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2022
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
Bought this in a bundle with the Echo Show 5. It was a whole fiasco with shipping.
But as far as the Blink's performance, it was great during the entire month long free trial. But the moment I signed up for the monthly subscription, things immediately went downhill. The camera stopped detecting motion less than an hour of the payment processing. It catches and records movement whenever it wants to now. Sometimes it goes 1 or more full days without detecting anything. I've tried several times to sync it with my Echo device or other devices it claims to be compatible with but it never worked. It always gives a connection error message.
Also, the app is always force closing at the most inconvenient times.
I really wanted to love this product but its just not living up to its self proclaimed hype. I have proof these companies bribe people to give good reviews or change bad ones and it's annoying that Amazon does nothing about it.
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Andre Hopkins
2.0 out of 5 stars I would not purchase this for home security purposes
Reviewed in the United States on April 1, 2021
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
I received this product for $10 when purchasing an echo show 8. I set it up in my living room to test it picture quality is mediocre in the light 2 second delay for live feed if you turn off the lights it goes to night vision if you turn it back on you have to turn the camera off and turn it back on to see and color again. The night vision is horrible even at 5 ft away. If you're getting this to see a sleeping kid in a room VTech has better quality if it wasn't $10 I would send it back. I figured for 10 bucks it couldn't be that bad was going to put it in my son's room to watch him during the day when I'm home instead of speaking to him through the VTech owl.. I would not buy one again for any purpose. Motion detection is okay in a small space in the light when lights off extremely delayed.
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anamazonuser23
2.0 out of 5 stars Careful - this may not be "it"
Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2021
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 2 CamerasVerified Purchase
Not what I wanted but using it anyways due to price.
Pros:
-can swivel the camera in so many directions; unlike their Blink cameras which are fixed and fisheyed.
-tiny, very portable
-is a camera that hooks up to your phone app
-multiple ways to plug in, cord is long.
-easy set-up
Cons (way more than pros, trust me):
-Nightmode means theres a giant light that comes on... How discreet is that? If you have it near a window, you can't see crap from the glare.
-There is no way to continously view your feed - yup, you heard me. Even if you pull it up, it always times out 20-60 in. What the actual hell right? Read the next one for even more bad news...
-After you get timed out, you have to re-load the camera, which takes at least 10 seconds but usually 20 to 30 seconds. 8 times out of 10 this actually results in a "system is busy" error that makes the process take up to 60 seconds. I don't know about you, but if anything serious was happening, both of these features are unacceptable.
-It gets worse. You can only record the footage you see for those few seconds! That means you CANNOT record anything you can't see for yourself. You can also have it "armed" but this just results in constant warnings of movement for things like dust.
-You can't have it sent to be recorded for any set length of time or day.
Now, why do I even use this?
I'm not using it for home defense.
I use this currently to check in on my puppies: is there poop in the room yet? are they sleeping now? has one escaped? what was that loud noise? etc. It's great because I can lower the camera so it faces down or angle it sideways so I can see the floor.
I would recommend this for: nurseries, pets, but absolutely no for home defense.
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Dr. Candy
2.0 out of 5 stars Sooo not amazon cloudcam
Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
This is a very inferior product to the amazon cloudcam. I have always LOVED my cloudcams. This does not record as long or pick up as many movements. The software is equally flawed. The cloudcam app shows my feed on the main screen where as you have to flip through a few screens to get to your live feed with this. I bought this because i want more cloudcams and this was what amazon recommended. I dont understand why this is offered in its place. I also thought it might work with the cloudcam app but it does not, it has its own app that is not as user friendly. so now i have cameras on one app and on the other. I will probably buy another because i have this one and dont want to have to have 3 different apps at this point but I will have to put my less important feeds on the blink cameras since they are not as reliable. I use cameras to monitor my home and pets. ??
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David
2.0 out of 5 stars Doesn't pick up motion all the time
Reviewed in the United States on February 11, 2022
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 2 CamerasVerified Purchase
Returning these because Ive walked in front of the camera several times several days and it does not detect motion. And yes, it is “armed”. It will pick up motion sometimes, then wont.
Also, a little annoyed that the return window closes before the free trial ends. I didn't get to use it without the free trial but it says it will only work for Live views and Motion alerts if you don't sign up. I guess this means it wont record the motion? Not sure.
Cannot use as a baby monitor - it will pause often and ask if you're still watching.
I couldn't figure out how to get rid of the red notification bubble other than deleting all the saved motion videos or watching them.
The picture quality is good. But definitely wouldn't rely on the motion detection.
1.0 out of 5 stars Useless toy nothing else.
Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
This camera has zero features as far as ”security camera.” what you needed to know before your purchase this toy:
1) no memory card capability, meaning you have to have a subscription to the cloud service otherwise you won't able to record anything
2) without cloud service deception, you can use only in ”live view.” which requires you to tap the screen every 30 seconds. It has no constant view option. So it is useless if you want to use it to monitor anything.
3) you basically have an option to mute or have the volume on when live view. There is a volume adjust button with very little sensibility. So, you either have it very loud where your whole environment can hear what is going on, or you have to set it mute.
4) not user friendly at all. The app that you have to use in order to access the camera is not user friendly at all. It has very small letters, hard to read. Even if you are able to read it, the Icons doesn't make any sense and has no explanation.
5) The night vision is a joke. Through the camera view, you won't able to see a difference between a cat and a raccoon from 4 feet distance
6) the software and the operating system is not ready to use. Most of the time when you are trying to access the camera view, it says "system is busy please wait." What does it mean, I have no idea.
7) considering all of the major issues that comes with this camera, I would never trust to purchase a cloud service from a company who poorly designed and taught through the whole idea of a "security camera".
8) price! For almost 40 bugs plus a cloud plan, You will end up paying $100 for the first year. For this price, you can purchase a decent system that truly serves your needs.
I have watched many videos on Youtube about this camera. But none of them are telling these. Most reviews are done by ” Say something nice about this item and get it, free reviewers”
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Jeff Leroux
1.0 out of 5 stars Vendor changes terms and FORCES monthly storage fee more than a year later - DO NOT BUY BLINK
Reviewed in the United States on May 23, 2021
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
When I originally bought my EIGHT Blink cameras I liked how easy they were to set up. I was annoyed with intermittent problems connecting to WiFi and the less than competent support. I was at least satisfied for something this cheap to provide the level of security I needed. More than a year later - I can no longer have it record and store the video on my phone. They now REQUIRE you pay a monthly fee for storage - even though I have only used my phone up until now.
Blatantly sleazy. While I could care less about the money I spent buying the system, the fact that they would strip away basic functionality and force me to now pay more in one year than what I did for one of the cameras just to store what I have been storing on my phone is shocking. Amazon - this is the customer experience you want?
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Sharlie
1.0 out of 5 stars “LIVE VIEW FAILED” error constantly
Reviewed in the United States on May 29, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 2 CamerasVerified Purchase
I wanted to love these. I ordered 2, the price for both was great and the other BLINK products had good reviews. Initial setup was very easy, user friendly and quick. The app itself, as many state is lacking with the live preview not being displayed like most all other home monitoring systems. I’m sure that can be fixed with an update in the future, so not really a huge deal. My biggest problem is that DAILY I get an error saying “LIVE VIEW FAILED” when I try to click into either camera. The only thing that resolves it is unplugging my cameras and plugging them back in. Which on the daily, kinda defeats the purpose of home monitoring, especially if I’m not home to do it, then I’m out of luck. My internet connection is not the issue, I have tested that numerous times thinking maybe that was it, but every time it does not display any issues. I also have a very fast connection speed. It’s frustrating to spend any amount of money and not get a properly functioning product.
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AmazonCustNewnan
1.0 out of 5 stars Known issue with Motion Detection. Cameras are essentially defective
Reviewed in the United States on August 23, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 2 CamerasVerified Purchase
I purchased several Blink XT2 cameras for the outside perimeter of our home and they work reasonable well so I ordered a pair Blink Mini Cams for the inside.
There seems to be some issue with the motion detection feature with these cameras. There are times where it essentially doesn’t work meaning I can walk across the room, get within inches of the camera, and no motion alerts are generated.
This is extremely disappointing as these cameras are designed to only record when motion is detected. They are essentially defective as the motion detection feature does not work consistently.
This appears to be a known issue with the current firmware but they continue to sell the camera despite the fact they are defective. I plan on returning these cameras.
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Model Cars Magazine
1.0 out of 5 stars Does not live up to the hype. Nice try, but, NOT
Reviewed in the United States on May 12, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
I have had BLINK cameras since it seems Day One. We have had them for quite a while now. Started with the white ones, then the black, (Haven't tried the X2 yet), and now these new "MINI" cameras. The picture quality is great, love that they plug in (our main BLINK cameras are wired for a/c power), but the supposed two-way talk on the new MINI justs, well, SUCKS.
Big time!
So much feedback, distortion, and the person I'm talking to can't be heard after I stop talking, if they respond right away.
This was released way too soon.
Don't know if I'll send it back or not, may wait for the 29th day, and decide then.
Curious what others have to say, I didn't look or read any reviews, I bought them right when the MINI was released.
UPDATE, May 12, 2020
It’s going back. This is terrible. The old camera will ding way before this one, pointed at same area, same settings, etc.
I can’t rely on this one.
Also, it names the video clip “your”. We named this camera “Papa” so when we got a ding, the alert says: alert from your Papa. Other cameras will say alert from, and the camera name, not “your” And the camera name.
Makes no sense.
It’s too dangerous to try and rely on this mini.
I wonder if the X2 is the same?
Okay, I pau...
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J. Cofer
1.0 out of 5 stars Junk
Reviewed in the United States on August 5, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 2 CamerasVerified Purchase
App doesn't explain what "sensitivity" means - is 1 "most sensitive" or "least sensitive"? You'll have to Google it to find out! But it doesn't really matter what setting you use - I have one camera pointed right up my front walkway, and every bug in a five mile radius will set it off at night, but I've had multiple FedEx, UPS and USPS deliveries during the day and Blink didn't capture anything at all. In fact, the reason I'm finally writing this I just went out a walk a half hour ago, and Blink didn't capture my coming or going at all. GREAT!
Also - and this is inexcusable - the app doesn't allow for multiple users. If you want your spouse or child to have access to the cameras\app, you have to give them your login info. Or maybe you want someone like a babysitter or housesitter to have "read-only" access to the app? Nope. It's give someone total administrator rights, or nothing at all. To make matters worse, I've read several cases of couples sharing logins but only one person getting notifications.
This was my first foray into "home security" type stuff, and honestly it was a waste of $100.
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Riz
1.0 out of 5 stars The WORST and even worse than that, BLINK's Customer Support !!!
Reviewed in the United States on June 1, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
I like the looks of the mini, it's just the size I needed, however, despite already having a Blink account, and several different models of Blink cameras, my Mini would not connect. I contacted Blink customer support. They answer in the middle of the night (midnight) so there is a day delay from when you send a request until you can try their solution. The give a one sentance reply. Each email I send I go over all pertinent info. (I have a blink system already, I have a 2.4 ghz compatible router, I have reset the device repeatedly, I have created new accounts, and tried connecting to the existing, blah blah blah) So after a week of frustration with their suggested "solutions" I get an email saying "I'm glad it worked and will be closing your case" !!!! Nothing worked! I'm a former IT guy, I know how to hook up a camera. And then after they say my case is being closed they go on to say to go to some weird website and download this suspicious software and give them all my info! uhhh... I don't think so. This piece of junk is going back.
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Fran
1.0 out of 5 stars I'm having problems with mini blink speaker
Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
Okay I just received my little camera about an hour ago. I have unpact the camera have it up on the shelf and I've downloaded the blink camera app from the Play Store. I've only been playing with it for about 30 minutes. I'm sure there is a learning curve to this camera. The one thing that I don't like at this moment is when clicking on the talk button, theres way too much feedback from the camera speaker. Also when holding down the talk button, my phones speaker picks up on any noise that comes from the movement of my thumb while on the talk button. So at this point I'm not happy with the camera there is too much feedback static interference and Echo from blink camera, I pray for you right now but I want to just start over for that reason that's why I have given it a 1-star. I will play with it for a while and do One update at a later day see if we can improve on the sounds are interference while trying to speak to someone in their room through the blink camera.
UP DATE 4/21/20
I called tech support and together we did some troubleshooting on the to Blink cameras. After I was done with tech support I was still having issues with my camera's not able to speak through my cameras without interference feedback Echoes and stop. Tech support sent me two more cameras and I'm still having the same issues with the 2nd set cameras. The two cameras that I received today are still giving me the same issue of static Echo feedback a loud squealing sound and again feedback while tapping and holding down the talk button. It's safe to say I'm not happy with the speakers on this camera. Looks like I'll be standing back all four cameras and looking for a better system
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Lisolet
1.0 out of 5 stars Hope You Never Move & That Their Cloud Service Works Indefinitely
Reviewed in the United States on April 25, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
The Blink Mini worked really great out-of-the-box when I first bought it. The moment I changed the SSID of the camera and the SSID of the network it became completely confused about what to do. Deleting the save camera settings and adding it again via the QR code added the camera but it then continued to add itself automatically to a neighbor's wireless network somehow. Even by overriding this with my own network, which it said it was connected to, it continued to search for the camera even though it had found it during the process off asking for the QR code. It appears that if I had not changed any settings ever after initial installation camera would have been great. If you never plan to move or change network settings this camera may be great for you. Otherwise be cautious and look into alternatives. This was my first foray into motion cameras and I am pretty disappointed as a simple change of settings has rendered it useless.
EDIT: Customer Support had very helpful to troubleshoot the problems I had and now there's another problem about it saving to a cloud service. If that service happens to be down, which it has been down several times, it does not save the clip that is picked up from motion nor can any other clips be view in the app. Is there an option to store everything locally that I am missing? It really needs to have this feature.
EDIT: It took two days for the cloud service to respond and suddenly 40 videos show up in the video section of the app. That is not helpful at all if that sort of delay is going to be consistent.
EDIT: Moved the camera again and resetting everything has proven fruitless. No blinking light and it is connected to the new wireless network. After the first incident I was given another camera but it is still sealed in the box as there is no point in opening it unless there is actually something wrong with the one I have. This camera seems to work well for others judging from the reviews so maybe I got a lemon. I do not know but I am tired of bothering with something that was supposed to be a breeze to set-up. I am ignoring the Blink line of products from now on.
Edit: As stated before the cloud service stops working and asks for a subscription. This is very silly as being able to save videos locally is not a new feature to cameras on a network. Now the camera is useless without purchasing additional hardware such as the sync module. Very disappointed I chose to go with Blink and wish I had known how this was going to go down the road. Do not buy this camera unless you are willing to pay for a subscription or if you are buying the sync module too. I am not touching anything with the Blink name on it going forward as I feel quite foolish.
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Chris M.
1.0 out of 5 stars Bait and Switch - Existing Customer Subscription Scam
Reviewed in the United States on December 19, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
I originally purchased the blink system because of the “no subscription” and “free cloud storage for life” promises. I needed to add a few cameras inside, and before purchasing these I called both Amazon and Blink directly to confirm that adding the new Blink Mini cameras would not trigger a subscription (I’m not interested in paying for a subscription). When I called before purchasing, both the Blink rep and the Amazon rep confirmed the same thing: “since you are an existing Blink customer, you are ‘grandfathered’ in for free lifetime cloud storage, just call back after installing the cameras and we will add them to your grandfathered cloud storage account.” So that’s what I did. But when I called back after spending an entire afternoon on ladders installing the new cameras, I was told that I would need to purchase a subscription! It’s a simple bait-and-switch” scam. Apparently the first reps gave me “bad information” according to the Blink reps and supervisor that I spoke with today.
Honestly, the entire customer experience has been so bad that I wish I could send it all back for a refund; the original cameras and the new ones. I feel ripped off and the entire customer service experience was horrible (I spoke with three people, on the phone and hold for over an hour; three calls, was hung up on, and the answers and service were both bad.
1.0 out of 5 stars Not impressed - many false alarms AND just stops detecting motion
Reviewed in the United States on August 5, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
So far, I am not at all impressed.
The camera's motion detection is going off very frequently just from blowing tree limbs & shadows, but is missing cars going in and out of the driveway, the front door opening, people moving around, etc. (The camera is aimed right at the front door and driveway, and picks up motion in these places SOME of the time--maybe 30%.)
I cannot find a "user guide" for the app and the online "support" is configured as a series of "how to" blurbs using jargon you'd only know once you've been using the system, so it's very difficult to find info as a new user. (I graduated magna cum laude with a BS degree in computer science & have been a professional software engineer--writing software and supporting documentation for everything from hardware controllers to radar systems to 3-D modeling--for decades, so I'm not a technology idiot--this is a poorly designed, executed, and supported system.) There should be an easy to find & use Getting Started Guide that provides app and system overviews. Just a 1-page Quick Start Guide in the box would make a big difference. Right now, I simply want to know what all the icons and buttons on the app mean, and cannot find an explanation of them.
Based on what I read on the user forums, the app gets changed with no explanation to users, so even if you do figure it all out, it can change and suddenly there are new or changed icons & you have no idea what they do. Although I've figured out enough to get the whole thing set up, it's not intuitive, and I've used other similar security cameras and apps. I still have not figured out some of this app. Plus, the online/app info tries to cover all the Blink camera models, even though they don't all work the same, so that could be confusing to some users.
If there's a way to access your camera's live feed or the recordings from a desktop/laptop PC/Mac (vs. app on phone/tablet), I haven't found it yet.
The camera quality is OK and the 2-way talk seems to work in testing, but I don't know what it'll be like in a real world scenario. You cannot record more than a 30 second clip. It's difficult to tell when you are in "live" viewing mode. The app interface is just not well designed. I haven't had time to experiment with everything--have wasted too much time just trying (and mostly failing) to find basic information.
No idea what the "local" (non-Cloud) storage Blink talks about will be like--I can't find much info about that, either. It seems like it'll be in a device that's on your WiFi network so the camera can communicate with it, and would therefore be exposed to the world. A closed system would be more secure. The storage will obviously NOT be in the camera itself--there's no place for even a microSD card. An SD (or micro) card in the camera would be a good idea (at least as an option).
And one more thing--Blink is "an amazon company." So why is the app not available for Kindle devices?
UPDATE: I've been using this camera for a couple of months now and it is such a mixed bag. I like the "activity zones" that (theoretically) allow you to define the areas to detect motion. And the image is pretty good. The audio is so-so. But the motion detection is terrible--and I've tried all the setting options. I have mine mounted in an outdoor mounting kit, under a protective roof. The thing goes off constantly--every 30 seconds, for rain, wind, shadows, bugs (bugs seem to be drawn to the camera's blue light at night), a slight change in lighting due to a distant car headlight, any little thing--it will sometimes get literally hundreds of constant triggers over a few hours over nothing, but EVERY SINGLE DAY (including overnight), it just sometimes just stops detecting anything, even cars and people being very active all over the entire viewing area. If I "go live" for a moment, it seems to start detecting motion again! For a while, anyway. This is maddening. It completely defeats the purpose of the camera. The frequent "false alarms" made me turn off notifications because it was dinging constantly, and the inability to detect REAL motion makes no sense. Having to "reset" the camera daily, sometimes multiple times in 24 hours, is crazy.
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Blonde Blooper
1.0 out of 5 stars Paid Subscription Required
Reviewed in the United States on May 26, 2021
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 2 CamerasVerified Purchase
Had I known I’d need to pay a monthly subscription fee I never would have gotten this. I bought in November 2020 and now in May 2021 I’m getting emails that I need to purchase a subscription. Now I can only view the videos live which is fine for the one in my house for checking on my dog but doesn’t work for the one watching my front door incase of break ins or stolen packages. Nest is better, no subscription required.
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Sasquatchish
1.0 out of 5 stars Nearly useless for real-time observation. 2-way comm doesn't work with Amazon Show sold with it.
Reviewed in the United States on June 20, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
This is my original review.
-5 star picture quality for $30! What is up with these cords?-
Just set them all up with the Show 5 that I ordered them with. Awesome quality. The 3 meter Micro USB cords with the bulky, generic Amazon 5v power brick is a big "Huh?" though. Already ordered much longer ones. No 2-Way communication through the Amazon Show 5 I ordered with it as a combo. That seems odd. I can make video calls with the Show 5 but not communicate with someone in the room that I am viewing and listening to on the Blink Mini.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is my experience that I relayed to a representative who personally emailed me about my initial 3 star rating then told me "It is what it is." in short.
On Thu, Jun 25, 2020 at 5:22 PM <iancmikell@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi. Nice to get a personal response. I summed it up in my review. A slim
,offset power supply that fits close to the socket would be ideal. Where it
can be plugged in discretely. The cords barely reach a camera mounted near
my 8 ft ceiling directly above an outlet. It also needs about 4 inches of
clearance to plug it in behind something. I ordered some 25ft cables so I
can move the plugs. I sent pictures of the "joke" setup I made ,to test
them, before I got my 25ft cables. Not very safe for a kids room.
It also should be made very clear to customers that you can only monitor
the cameras through the Blink mobile app, a Show or similar Amazon
device. Slowly and one at a time. Having to flip through all
cameras, especially if you have many is very tedious. Turning a quick
glance while you are out of the house into needing to set aside time to
check the cameras over a 5 minute period. You also can't monitor a constant
feed on your home network. Or of all cameras at once. I had intended to use a feed in my office, on
one of my monitors, to be able to watch my kids while in there. It is quite
inconvenient to have to check the app every time to see what is going on.
It takes almost as long as getting up. So I have found myself just getting
up more than checking the cameras. I need to check out what is happening in
real time not what hit the servers, authenticated, bounced around and came back
to me. When I check while in the house there is at least a 20 second delay.
20 seconds can make a world of difference with a 6 and 2 year old in each
other's company.
After writing this and analyzing my experience so far I think that I will
just return them. I basically just wanted some WI-FI cameras to make sure
my kids were ok while I worked at my desk. Set up motion sense to record onto a
drive while we were out.
It is sad because the camera quality itself is great. They feel nice and
solid. The speakers and mics are good quality and clear on both ends. The
pictures are crisp and need no focusing. The price point may be too low.
$10 or $15 more for longer cords with slim, wall-hugging plugs, and
development of an app that works the same across all devices, PC included.
Also the ability to watch cameras in real-time, WI-FI mode while connected
to your home network. And 2 way communication work through the Show devices.
To boot after and initial "Free trial period" you have to pay a monthly sub fee of up
$20 just to use them.
Customer imageCustomer imageCustomer imageCustomer image
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Jeff Ketcham
1.0 out of 5 stars These cameras are junk if you don't pay the cloud extortion.
Reviewed in the United States on June 13, 2021
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 2 CamerasVerified Purchase
I really liked these cameras. They worked perfectly until the free cloud storage ran out. From the beginning, I planned to use a blink sync module 2 to record once the free cloud storage ended. From everything I read on amazon, this should have been a seamless process. It was the exact opposite.
It took 2 weeks to get all the cameras to record. The blink minis only record when they feel like it. Amazon has removed most of the features in the app that worked with the cloud to try to force you to buy cloud storage. All thumbnail images have been removed. Sorting events by camera has been removed. Etc. Etc. It's now a dumbed down version of the app, making it the worst and most basic of any home security app that I've ever seen. I would pay for a working app, if one existed. I would write my own, if an api existed. Amazon claims blink works with IFTTT but there are no functions for recording or accessing the files on the sync module.
I can only access files for around 40 hours. After that they disappear from the app. I cannot save live views. I cannot just click record when I want to record with something. And they have purposely made this thing slow to try to get you to buy cloud storage. They say it's slower because it's usb. I call BS. If I'm in my house, on the same wifi network as the sync module, it should be way faster to access a local usb drive(I bought the fastest one made), than leaving the network, accessing amazons cloud, returning to my network and then having my network serve the file to my phone. I'm not stupid. I have shared usb drives connected to my router and other devices on my network. When I access them it's almost instant. I don't get a message that says "please wait: USB drives are slow". That is a timer that was put in by the coders to make it slow.
I could go on and on but I have other things to do.
DON'T buy these cameras unless you want to pay cloud storage for the life of the camera.
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Mack’s momma
1.0 out of 5 stars Only works 1/2 the time
Reviewed in the United States on May 21, 2021
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
I had very high hopes for this product. However half the time I would get alerts that the camera was off-line. I did everything listed on the blink website to get it to reconnect and it would never work. It had nothing to do with my Internet and it sounded like thousands of other people on the website also had the same issue. When it did stay online it wouldn’t always connect for a live view. alerts/video recording when motion was detected was sporadic. The night vision was grainy and not always easy to make out. The final straw for me to write this review was when it stopped recording and told me I had to buy either a $3 a month membership or a $10 a month membership to save videos just to watch when any motion is detected. Apparently you only get a free trial for a few months. Just long enough to see how poorly the product works. I can’t even get a live view on the camera anymore without paying the monthly fee. It’s literally worthless now. I’m not going to pay a monthly fee to record when the camera was unreliable to begin with.
I’m not one to write poor product reviews. But I felt the need to hear to prevent others from wasting their money. Please, don’t buy this product.
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willfe
1.0 out of 5 stars Only records in 30 second bursts, no local storage option, won't stay connected to wifi
Reviewed in the United States on July 10, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
This camera shows a lot of promise, but there are just too many showstoppers to make it worth buying right now. Technical issues forced me to return the camera; the technical support was useless. 1 star, can't recommend.
PROS
- Great picture quality.
- Two-way voice communication worked well.
- Motion detection was accurate and alerts were sent in a timely fashion.
- Easy to set up
CONS
- Only records up to 30 seconds per "motion event" or manual trigger, and forces a 10-second cooldown before recording again.
- No local storage option; network goes down? So does the camera. There's a new device "coming soon" according to Blink to handle local storage, but it isn't available as of this writing and there's no software options available to store or download videos with a PC.
- Unreliable connectivity; the camera would work for 5-10 minutes at a time, then drop off the network. It'd reconnect eventually, but then drop off again a few minutes later. The reported signal strength was 85-90%. Tech support couldn't resolve this.
- Ridiculously bad tech support; it's obviously outsourced (if I was really talking to "Cherry," then I'm a Chinese jet pilot), there's a major language barrier, they don't pay attention to what you actually say, won't share diagnostic information with you (even when they record it with an app they ask you to download), and make useless suggestions (like "contact your ISP and have them reconfigure your network" with no details about *what* needs to be reconfigured). They also repeat steps that have already been tried and didn't help. Clearly they're following a (bad) script and aren't able to help beyond that. That script seems to include instructions to the effect of "it's the customer's network or router that's broken, never the camera."
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Ted
1.0 out of 5 stars Misleading about storage
Reviewed in the United States on June 12, 2021
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
Amazon really dropped the ball on this -- if you buy this, it is essentially worthless unless you pony up for the cloud subscription. Without the subscription, the functionality of this camera is ridiculously limited. Do not buy this product - there are far better options out there.
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locksmith21
1.0 out of 5 stars Blink will change policy without telling you and take things away from you!
Reviewed in the United States on May 19, 2021
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
If I could leave 0 stars I would! I bought my Blink Mini camera in January 2021 and it had free recording storage, they then changed the policy in April 2021 to where you have to buy a subscription or buy another item and separate usb drive to have any recordings saved and took away my free storage! I bought this camera only because it had free storage and now I can’t use the camera the way I need to! It is not fair to require something months after I bought the item when the information provided did not say that it would be required! I tried calling Blink customer support and they were absolutely no help and basically told me I have to spend more money on their products to have any kind of storage! They are money greedy and just want to take your money from you! There is a grandfather provision for the subscription policy that if you created an account before April 2020 you qualify but I do not qualify for it because I created my account in January 2021. The grandfather provision should include anyone who bought and created an account before the change of policy! This is not fair and they only care about money!
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pepijef
1.0 out of 5 stars Not ready for release DO NOT BUY wait for next version.
Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
Could not get the device to stay/connect on WiFi. Device would recognize and connect but never stay connected and show video. Tried numerous times, trouble shot multiple times. No Luck.
I have a couple of Blinks...work great...no problems...this is junk. Get your stuff together before making a release.
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The de Omenas
1.0 out of 5 stars It only streams on Echo Show for 6 minutes
Reviewed in the United States on October 11, 2020
Color: WhiteConfiguration: 1 CameraVerified Purchase
Very disappointed. Bought this with the Echo Show 5 to use as a nursery camera. But the Echo Show will only stream for 6 minutes and then go back to the Home Screen. I call Blink and they claim it is Alexa’s team fault and that an update from Alexa’s team will be coming soon. So I call Amazon and they told me that there is no update coming soon and that this is by design because “this is not a CCTV”. If I try to stream it on my phone, it asks to click “Continue?” after 1 minute or it turns off. And after I click “Continue?” it will ask again after another minute. Well, that’s useless for me. This should have been stated on the listing!
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