The brand didn’t even have a paid cloud service, which was very surprising considering it’s a US company. Next: This solar panel is a game changer for security cameras like the Blink Outdoor camera.About four years ago, Blink was the best security camera without a subscription. If you’re looking for one of the best home security cameras that's weatherproof, wireless, and costs less than $100, the Blink Outdoor camera is the one to get. While it is true that new customers won’t get the free cloud storage that came with the Blink XT2, it’s less of an issue now that you can store video files locally, so you don’t have to pay for a subscription if you don’t want to. It’s small and inconspicuous, and records good-quality audio and video. Blink Outdoor Camera review: Verdictīlink made only modest improvements with the Blink Outdoor camera, but they’re enough to have it maintain its title as one of the best outdoor home security cameras you can get for less than $100. If you're looking for a fully wireless outdoor security camera that is compatible with more smart home platforms, check out our Euf圜am 2 review. However, you can’t save video locally on the Blink Outdoor base station.īlink's cameras work with Alexa, but not Google Home or HomeKit. If you have an older Blink XT2, you get free cloud storage in perpetuity, no matter when you purchased the camera. Of course, if you don’t want to pay for a subscription, you can plug a USB drive (not included) into the Sync Module 2 and use that as local storage. Also, if you created a Blink account before April 15, 2020, you’ll continue to receive free cloud storage for any new Blink camera you purchase. If you purchase a new camera, Blink is waiving its subscription fees through the end of 2020. The Plus plan, which is $10/month or $100/year, gets you the same amount of storage for an unlimited number of cameras at a single location. The Basic plan, which costs $3/month or $30/year, gets you 60 days of rolling cloud storage for a single camera, though it’s limited to 120 minutes total. Blink Outdoor Camera review: Subscription costsīlink’s cloud-storage plan is similar to that of Ring’s, which is not surprising considering both companies are owned by Amazon. You can only create one schedule for all of the cameras connected to that module, which is a pain. There is one weird quirk to Blink's cameras if you have multiple cameras connected to one sync module, you can't set custom schedules for each. Also, Blink’s cameras can’t detect people as many other security cameras can. However, there are a few caveats: There’s no way to record a motion event for its duration - you’re limited to a max of 60 seconds. You can create both motion and privacy zones and adjust the length of clips (from 5 to 60 seconds), the sensitivity of the camera, how long the camera should wait before starting a new recording and more.īecause the camera has a thermometer in it, you can even get temperature readings as well as notifications if the temperature goes above or below a certain threshold. Blink Outdoor Camera review: AppĪmong budget home security cameras, Blink’s app offers plenty of customization options. The Blink Outdoor’s microphones were very sensitive, too, picking up all the cricket noises at night. The raccoon sniffed it once, but went back to munching on scraps. Only once did an animal take an interest in the camera.
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