Blink Mini – Compact indoor plug-in smart security camera, 1080 HD video, motion detection, Works with Alexa
[{'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2020', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': '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.\n\nThe 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.\n\nAnother 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.\n\nAll in all, these are minor issues specific to my use of the camera which is why I have it five stars anyway.\n\nHey 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.'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2020', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': 'I love this lil camera!! Easy to install! Only took 5 min and it works great!! Highly recommend this!!'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2020', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-4 review-rating', 'review_body': '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.'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2020', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-2 review-rating', 'review_body': '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.\n\nThe 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.\n\nMaybe 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.'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2020', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-3 review-rating', 'review_body': "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.\n\nSecond, 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.\n\nI 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!\n\nUpdate: 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."}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2020', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-2 review-rating', 'review_body': ' 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.\n\nI 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.\n\nThis 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.\n\nPros:\n-Great build quality and design\n-Great picture quality\n-Very responsive when connecting to Echo Show (seems better than the XT2)\n-Small size\n-Mountable base\n-Weighted base (weight can be removed)\n-Long USB/power cord\n-Two way audio with App\n-Local storage option if you buy the new Sync 2\nReliable App\n\nCons:\n-No Two Way Audio with Echo Shows; both are Amazon companies, and I am not sure why this is not a feature already.\n-No individual camera arm/disarm scheduling (you are forced to schedule your entire system)\n-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.\n-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.\n-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.\n\nOverall, 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.'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on April 28, 2020', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-2 review-rating', 'review_body': ' 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.\nFor 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.\n\n***** 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.\n\nNote: I have it set to trigger on motion at all times, no scheduled breaks or turn off when I’m home.\n\nUPDATE - 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.\n\nOriginal Review - 2 Star:\n\nI repeat, DO NOT use for home security. Look elsewhere for a home security solution.\n\nThis 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.\n\nAnother 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.\n\nIn 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.\n\nAs 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.\n\nI don’t care to go into detail, but the app is lacking in so many ways.\n\nI have returned this camera in search of a better solution. Next attempt is the Yi Dome Camera X.'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2020', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-1 review-rating', 'review_body': 'This camera has zero features as far as ”security camera.” what you needed to know before your purchase this toy:\n\n1) no memory card capability, meaning you have to have a subscription to the cloud service otherwise you won\'t able to record anything\n2) 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.\n3) 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.\n4) 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.\n5) 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\n6) 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.\n7) 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".\n8) 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.\n\nI 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”'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on June 19, 2020', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': '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.'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on May 23, 2021', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-1 review-rating', 'review_body': '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.\n\nBlatantly 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?'}]