Blink Outdoor (3rd Gen) – wireless, weather-resistant HD security camera with two-year battery life and motion detection, set up in minutes – 5 camera system

I researched security camera systems in depth. I was looking for a quality picture & video. The picture quality is pretty good & zooms in quite well. I wished I could read a license plate at 25 yards but this system was under $400 and honestly as good or better than high dollar systems I’ve seen installed professionally so not complaining about the clarity at 25 yards(75 feet) from a moving vehicle. Another thing I had to have was a wireless system that had longevity with battery life. This wireless system works very well and not sure why some reviews complain about it but the cameras don’t submit the signal and maybe if you have a poor signal place some repeaters in your home. I had to do this when I first moved in and needed a repeater on each floor. It allowed me to receive WiFi signal on my outdoor porches. The cameras have no problems at all and have not gone offline once. My final non-negotiables were a system that would work and capture events if I lost power and or decided I didn’t want to keep a subscription or active plan and this one allows you to do that with a Zip drive and the last was a system easy to install. This was one of the easiest techie thing I’ve ever done. Highly recommend this system. As a disclaimer I have not received any merchandise from blink and this is not some paid for advertisement. This system in my humble opinion is the best bang for the buck and so far performs like a high dollar system. You won’t be disappointed with this purchase. Get the 5 outdoor blinks with the add on indoor mini. Comes with everything you need. Use one of the Zip drives you got in a draw and now you can save pictures

Not a bad basic camera. Overpriced for what it does. Works to alert you when there is movement. On medium sensitivity it will pick up a bird and send you an alert. Will alert you when a moth flies by even at night. Picks up people without a problem. Does not provide you the option to Zoom in on a face or license plate so it has its limitations. Would suggest that you use this as basic low level security camera but have a second system other than Blink to provide you with high resolution for person identification. Because Blink will not be able to capture a face or license plate beyond 15 feet. There is a delay of about 5 to 8 seconds before it will start recording a person walking in its field of view. So you will miss capturing that much activity. Update, FIVE STARS on Blink Outdoor, my 5 camera set arrived on 12/11/2020 and installed it on 12/25/2020. But by 2/27/2021, one camera went on the "blink." It refused to operate and the app said "Off Line." I removed it and found the batteries completely dead. Replaced the batteries with fresh ones of Energizers-Ultimate-Lithium but in a few minutes the entire camera was warm to the touch. I opened the rear cover and found the fresh batteries very hot to touch. Then called Blink. The gentleman was very knowledgeable and understood the camera was defective and then informed me that a replacement would be shipped and to expect it to arrive in 3 to 5 days. I am so impressed with this company. No hassles, just great service! I highly recommend this camera and company.

This is an amazing product for the price, when working correctly. It detects motion well, the mounting kit and cameras are easy to set up, the sync module can be a little work to set up the first time, but once it’s set up, the app used to control it it’s easy to use and has lots of settings to adjust to your needs. My only drawback, very frustratingly, is after a day or so, the sync module “stops recording”. The sync module and cameras will all still be connected to WIFI, The cameras detect motion (you can tell if you want the LED to illuminate during motion detection), the cameras are still accessible to live view, can still update photos, but the sync module won’t save any videos. In the Blink forum, I found many others with the exact issue, and had even found a simple solution that actually fixes mine Each time: power cycle the sync module. It appears a firmware update may have introduced the problem. Another major issue, the tech support team speaks broken English, making it very difficult to troubleshoot. I’m still going back and forth, doing repetitive things because they aren’t understanding that the system is working only because I have attached a smart plug to power cycle the sync module every 12 hours to prevent the issue. It works great, but if they can’t resolve this issue, it will have to keep this 2 star and I would recommend looking into reviews of other cameras Update: well spoken support member reached out to me, had a new sync module sent to me. I am now pleased with the results, and thankful the support team worked to get the situation resolved.

This review is for the Outdoor, 5 camera Motion Activated system I bought this based on a friends purchase. I'll consider this camera system a starter set. I am pleased with it for the price range. The setup is super easy, those that complained about that I can not figure out why, it is REALLY easy using the mobile app. I'll go out on a limb and say if you buy an outdoor version like me, your pretty much going to need a WiFi extender. My cameras are spread over 120 ft. In my opinion, the hardest part is getting the cameras spot picked out and mounted (usually requiring a ladder) so it works as intended. A major point of that last statement is that you may have to go back and tweak a cameras position just slightly. You probably won't get it just right the first time out. You will probably spend the first two weeks playing with camera position, walking around in front of it to activate it, Privacy zones to block unwanted constant pick ups (traffic), and other features to get the camera to work well. I had one that was a little flaky picking up the view I wanted, I moved it's position literally a 1/8" and it started working great---little tweaks like this may be needed. I recommend using the advanced setting on the privacy zones to really fine tune it. You may have to tweak the cameras position to better fit the grid layout on the zones. I have one camera that is really high up (16 feet), I am going to wire in a outlet and get a power adapter for the camera so I never have to worry about battery life. All the rest of my cameras can be reached with a smaller 6 foot step ladder. You must use Lithium only batteries (Energizer's included). Battery life will based on your usage. If your going to be outside moving around the yard, disarm the system unless you just have to see yourself. You can do live views anytime and save the clips also...a nice feature...but again, usage and battery life. My friend has these setup at a lakeside camp 150 miles away and over a year and a half so far on the original batteries, his home system is also going on just over 1 year on it's original batteries. I hope for similar results. Delete your clips to keep the storage space clear and clean. Overall, this system is good if you just want to keep an eye on things. If you have issues you need help identifying people, license plates, etc, this may not be for you, you may have to step up and pay for a better 4k system such as a Lorax wired system. The Good: Easy set up (you should buy a WiFi extender--I bought a TP Link unit) Lets you see your cameras any time, any where with the App. Included USB port for a thumb drive (highly recommended) so you don't have to have a cloud subscription Works good as intended, if you follow some key points in the instructions. Cameras activate well if item is going across view (left to right). Day time views are pretty good, you won't see license plates, its standard setting is 720DPI, the high 1080DPI setting is better, but you still wont see license plates---but it consumes more battery life. The Bad: Night vision is just so -so. Black and White, all you'll see is if someone is there, not who it is. Night vision is slightly better if you turn up the IR, but at the cost of battery life. The talk back is not very loud at all. Most people can't hear unless within 8 feet or less. I wish it had a panic alarm to scare off would be people. Object coming straight towards camera will not always activate it. I had to turn the sensitivity to a higher level on all cameras to get them to work what I felt was correct

UPDATE: I'm pissed and I've just summarily cancelled my Blink subscription because of incompetent and atrocious tech support. I got up one morning recently and the phone app (Android) asked me to login. When I do, I get a "System not available" message. Try another device (Apple) with same result. Yes, VPN is off (Blink doesn't work over a VPN- another issue). So I try 5 different networks at two different physical locations to include direct cell 4G. Same result on both devices. Uninstall and reinstall the app, same result. Try to create a new account and can't because it can tell the original exists. Several calls to tech support and all they want to do is blame my house router or mesh network, even when I'm not on them, and my VPN software which is off. The system worked for more than a year. They escalate the ticket and give me a window for a call back. No call. they call the next day with an excuse of being busy. I can't talk at that time, so they give me another call back time the next day and then never call. So, I'm done with Blink. If you want to see my original assessment of them, read below, however you should go someplace else, anyplace else. I'm not paying that kind of subscription money for incompetent support. I've been away from home for a week and have no coverage because of this. I'll sell them cheap when I get them taken down. 5 indoor and 5 outdoor cameras with a hub. I will probably go to Ring. I installed them at my mother's house about 6 mos. ago and the work much better with a much better control app. They are well worth the extra expense. (8.4.2022) These demand binning comments in bullet lists: *Good (great): -Great value -Easy to setup -Excellent video/still quality even on the intermediate setting -Excellent coverage from the sync module. It's not low frequency, just lower frequency. Still in the UHF band, but has more range than WiFi. Blink is not very forthcoming about the architecture and what this does. It sends commands to the cameras. If you are trying to cover a large area, you can add more sync modules. You have to dig round in Blink's knowledge base to figure that out. -Cameras work great and took seconds to setup on a dispersed mesh network. They just have to be in range of a sync module. -Cameras are sturdy-- see also "Ugly" below. *Bad: -Slow to start upon motion detection -Motion detection range is pretty poor- maybe 30' on a good day. These are perfect for a townhouse, or maybe a suburban home, but a lacking for a rural setting. My garage/shop is 30m from the house and the front gate is about 200m away. -I haven't found a way to disable the lights on the sync module. They are bright, especially at night. Probably going to employ some tape to cover them. *Ugly: -The mounts. Total crap. Bad design and bad QC. Some work, some don't. I destroyed 2 of 5 trying to get them to go into the hole in the back of the camera. One went on easy and other 2 more wouldn't go in, so 4 of 5 not usable. Tech support was great about sending me replacements for the two I destroyed, but ended up throwing them all away. I weigh 235# and even with my full weight on the camera and mount on a desk, I couldn't get it to go on. Mount broke, but the camera took it, no problem. There are plenty of 3d party outdoor mounts. I bought the "Amazon Choice" ones and they are great. I posted a review there. Product idea for Blink: An outdoor motion detector than can trigger a specific camera. It would be an easy way to cover driveways and rural open ground.

Several houses & cars had been broken into on our street within a months time so I decided it was time to get security cameras, a home security system and more lighting around the perimeter of our house. Since ADT was booked up & couldn’t come out for 3 weeks, I started doing some homework and reading reviews to help me make an informed decision. I decided to go with Blink outdoor cameras and I’m glad I did. We live on the end of the street and the side of our house opens up to the Bayou that eventually makes it’s way to the lake. At night it’s pitch black, it’s so dark you can’t even see your hand in front of your face, which is perfect for criminals. These security cameras record clear, bright pictures even in the darkness. We’ve seen all types of wildlife going on our deck or in the wooded areas. The cameras are smaller than expected but it makes it easy to install. I love that I’m able to watch what’s going on at the house while I’m at work, we feel safer and I’m noticing less traffic on our street since I’ve got cameras pointing at every angle imaginable. I think the signs help too! One night I got off work late and the cameras started recording me since it noticed my presence. I checked my surroundings before getting out of the car and didn’t see a single thing. While at work the next day, I was looking at some video clips and noticed a deer in the road watching me then darting off in a fast sprint. That’s how good the night vision camera is!! I’m thankful it wasn’t a bear/bobcat or alligator watching me…But yes, I recommend these cameras and they are reasonably priced too!

One of the cameras stopped working after less than 5 months. I initially thought the camera had issues and was consuming too much power. But later I found out that one of the lithium batteries was defective. The multimeter measured a voltage of 0 (zero) while the other battery in the same camera has a normal voltage of 1.7v. Those are the Energizer batteries which came with the camera and Blink was able to send me replacement batteries after contacting them. I ordered a 5-pack camera so it came with 10 Energizer batteries. This is a defective rate of 10% for the batteries which is quite high. But check the batteries first if the camera runs out of batteries too quickly. Perhaps the lithium batteries are not as reliable as the typical alkaline batteries, but they do last longer if they are not defective. Otherwise, the cameras work fine for the most part. Sometimes it takes a few tries to see live view from the Blink app, but we can't compare that with how responsive wired cameras are. After all, it saved me the trouble and cost of running cables to connect all these cameras. What I like the most is that you are able to save all motion videos to the sync module by connecting a hard drive / USB thumb drive to it, without paying any monthly subscription fee. The Blink app allows you to view the saved videos on your hard drive on the go, which is very handy.

I feel comfortable reviewing this now, we have had this system since January, so it’s been active for 6 months. PROS: Easy installation and wireless Web and phone app work well Battery life very good, so far mine have lasted the 6 months Cameras have good viewing and pics You have the option to block certain areas in the camera view, which helps alleviate picking up moving branches and stuff. CONS: Camera has a delay of 4 to 10 seconds before it picks something up. Example: Our walkway is 25 feet long, motion is not picked up until you are 2 feet from the door. Then runs for 45 seconds, stops recording. If the person stands there or moves to door, it usually does not pick that up. Therefore, yes it will alert me that someone is there but they could literally break my window now. Cause the camera has a delay before it activates again. I come home every day and it does not pick me up walking in my front door. Yet it picks up the bushes moving. You can set the camera to continue if it picks something up but again the delay is the issue. Literally someone can be in my house before the camera gets it. Cameras are NOT continuous monitoring OVERVIEW: If you are looking for a basic system, this will probably fit your needs. We bought the system with 5 cameras and paid $400 for it in January. I WANT to know immediately when there’s activity not in a few seconds. Therefore we ended buying another system to replace Blink.