Blink 1 Camera System Smart Home Security Review
Protection is key, especially when systems like the Blink 1 Camera exist. It’s a small budget item that will keep your home and property safe. But because Blink are so new to the smart camera market, how does it compare to other home smart CCTV systems available on the market? Let’s find out.
To start with, the Blink 1 Camera is a very simple offering. It comes in two parts. The first is the camera which is small and lightweight measuring at only 7 x 7 cm. It requires two AA batteries to power which Blink say will last up to two years which is insanely cost effective. The second is the hub, which is required so your camera can communicate with your WiFi router.
As part of Blink’s plug and play offering, setup is relatively simple. Power on the hub with the provided USB plug and give it a name inside the Blink Camera app which is available for iOS and Android. Follow on screen instructions which give you prompts to scan QR codes on each item and connect it to your WiFi network. It was all set up in under 10 minutes. You can also set up a maximum of 10 cameras on the hub and each will have a range of around 100 feet.
Once inside the app, settings are relatively simple as well. You can set whether the camera gives you a temperature reading in fahrenheit or celsius, enable motion detection sensitivities and even control the night vision. On the standard Blink 1 Camera, nightvision basically means a white light on the front of the camera shines, whereas on the Blink 1 XT you get proper infrared night vision. There’s also no ability to pan, tilt or zoom either which is a shame if your camera picks up something further away. You have to aim the camera at the exact place you want it to protect. No in-app adjustments can be made. The Blink 1 Camera also only records at 1280×720 which is passable, but doesn’t give you the sharpest image.
You have the ability to take snapshots of what the camera sees as well as livestream the feed. However, live streaming is capped to 30 second increments. Once your 30 seconds is up, you will have to reconnect to the livestream. If you wanted to save any footage, then you can upload up to two hours of recording on the standard data plan, which is good in a way as other brands like the Arlo for example want subscription fees. There’s no on-demand recording capabilities, but through the Home Monitor app, you can schedule your arming times, which is great if you leave the house on a schedule like for work.
But on a brighter note, the camera system is compatible with Amazon Alexa, so if you’re rocking an Echo or Echo Dot in the home, you can use that to bark instructions at the camera thanks to its IFFT compatibility. The camera itself unfortunately does not have two way audio either. It can only be used for vision.
So, would I recommend the Blink 1 Camera to protect your home? Absolutely. Okay, it’s not the best camera on the market, and the quality of the recordings aren’t as great as something like the Netgear Arlo for example, but the fact that there is no subscription to store your footage on the cloud, has a very easy setup process, and can have up to 10 cameras on one hub, make this a very exciting offering to the home security industry indeed. What more, the Blink 1 XT is waterproof, so it can go outside. For more information on the Blink 1 Camera System, then head over to their website.
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