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 (White)

Comments on blink mini recently purchased. I tried blink and am greatly pleased. They are reliable, fast and have a really good picture for their size and easy to use. Best part offsite storage is priced right. I have been fighting with wireless cameras and nvr’s for years. They all have good pictures but with improvements in internet security it is getting harder to communicate with the cameras and get them to email alerts or turn them on and off reliably. I want to know who is in my house, and if i forget to set the motion detect when leaving, i want to do it remotely and reliably. I purchased another brand of smart home cameras but storage was expensive and were not reliable remotely. So far blink is a winner; i can eliminate my video recorder and headaches of the past. I did not need full time recording, just for intruders and checking on pets. Compared to other brands they are priced right perform great: if i want they can store alarm clips locally in the sync 2 module, it is a no brainer.

I got this to check on my cats when i’m not home. It has great night vision and is simple to arm or disarm the motion sensor. I have two kittens (an orange girl and a black tortie girl) and a senior cat (maine coon mix) and i worry about them getting along or getting into things they shouldn’t. To my surprise, i caught my older boy grooming the orange girl which he never does when i’m in the room! You can also use a mic on the camera and it’s pretty loud (i can hear it very clearly from the next room). On the night vision, the contrast can be affected if a lighter object is really close, such as an orange cat putting their face right in front of the camera – everything else will appear very dark. My black tortie can be hard to spot with night vision so i really love the glowing eye effect on the cats and i can usually find her after speaking into the mic and she looks up, plus the glow makes them look like they have big googly eyes.

If i need to spy on my cats in more spots, i will definitely order another set!

All i can say is wow. I mean for the price you almost have to give it a try right?! I was a little skeptical at first, but this little thing has surpassed my expectations tenfold. It was super easy to get going. Take it out the box, download the app, connect to wifi, and done. Well you have to position it where you want to record…but you get the idea. I bought this to have surveillance in a salon suite i rent. I have a lot of products and tools in the room that i need to make sure are secure. I love the option of disarming it as well. That way when i am working in the room i am not receiving a ton of notifications. Really impressed with the video quality as well. You guys did a great job here! Now i just need to figure out this cloud storage and i am good to go.

My review is for the customer service. Yes- the cameras are a great deal and quality for the price. I have indoor cameras, but i have them facing out towards the outdoors. A few weeks ago, there was a murder. Trying to help the police, i knew my cameras caught it all so i went to review and could not log onto my account. I realized that my old phone was connected, not my new phone number. Long story short, it was a mess to get my number updated. Having said that, the blink team members dane and dominic came through for me and are heros. They got me logged in, i was then able to locate the sickening event, all of it. I sent the evidence to the police this evening and will have to play the waiting game to see if there’s anything else i can do. What happens was truly tragic, but the images were clear, the night vision was crisp and the cameras detected every move. Please extend my gratitude to these two team members.

Let me start off by saying that these blink indoor mini cameras do not prompt you to continue live view after 30 seconds, or whatnot, as other reviewers try to say. Maybe they did at one time before i ever got mine, but with the current software there is no interruption to live view. However, the doorbell and the outdoor cameras will prompt you to continue. And the only reason i can think that the company sets the cameras up this way is due to the fact that the indoor cameras are plugged in to an electricity source and the outdoor cameras and the doorbell run off battery and maybe it’s a battery saving tactic. Then again, as far as the outdoor cameras having interrupted live feed. Is it really that big of a deal? Who is just steadily watching outdoor feed unless something suspicious is going on? So why complain? It’s really not a hassle to tap a button if you’re seriously need to watch something live.

Honestly, for the price, i’m pleased with these cameras. My main reason for buying them was just to home some type of home security incase someone was to break into my house. And to also check in with my kids as i please to make sure they arent up to no good after school until im able to get home from work. I have no problems with the motion detection working as it should. The image is great for a 30 some dollar camera and the night vision is also good.
I have pretty good wifi so i’ve had no issues with these cameras nor any of my outdoor cameras.
You really can’t complain about these cameras. If you do, invest in a $1000 security system.
If you’re here reading my review then obviously that’s not in your budget. So go ahead and purchase some. Unless you have crap wifi service which will cause problems with the cameras working properly….they should satisfy basic needs.

I have a street light outside in front of my house, with the indoor mini i turn the night vision off and and the record light, put a mini inside in both front windows. Picture quality is excellent day and night and i can record all i want without having to replace batteries !! I moved the blink outdoor camera from the front to the backyard where i don’t have outdoor lights and it is perfect using it’s night vision!!

I decided to get the blink cameras because i live in a apartment and i also work 2 jobs, so sometimes the maintance go into our apts and check on the furnance or water heaters making sure everything is ok, but i also wanted to know what else is he doing i was just curious, is her walking into other rooms or in my drawers so now i have cameras around the apt and can monitor everything. The motiion detect every moved and alert me….love you blink!!!

We purchased our first blink home security camera july of 2018. We were going out of the country and wanted to make sure our 18 year old son closed the garage door and locked the house. It did the job and we felt better knowing while on the other side of the world we could monitor our home.
The following summer we were so happy with our indoor system, we decided to purchase 2 outdoor cameras with the 2 way audio, and were so happy with the video and audio quality, we bought another add on outdoor camera, the next month.
A year later we found the mini indoor cameras. We have one for a child’s bedroom and one for the playroom. The video and audio quality is great.
A year after that we bought another 3 outdoor cameras, again video and audio quality is great.
Just before christmas 2021 blink came out with the doorbell camera, and we purchased it. One, because it was blink and 1/2 the price of a ring doorbell camera. Two, because the doorbell that came with our new build home was so quiet, we couldn’t ever hear the bell ring.
In total we now have…
3 indoor battery powered
2 indoor mini corded power
6 outdoor battery powered
1 doorbell wired to exciting doorbell.

Cameras purchased…
July 17th, 2018
blink indoor home security camera system with motion detection, hd video, 2-year battery life and cloud storage included – 3 camera kit
https://www.amazon.com/dp/b018hc6pva/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_i_e4n35ajjxm4qayyn1s03?_encoding=utf8&psc=1

july 15th, 2019
blink xt2 outdoor/indoor smart security camera with cloud storage included, 2-way audio, 2-year battery life – 2 camera kit
https://www.amazon.com/dp/b07mn67bcr/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_i_2vzv3yz7f3x4f5wsf9sf?_encoding=utf8&psc=1

august 20th, 2019
blink xt2 outdoor/indoor smart security camera with cloud storage included, 2-way audio, 2-year battery life – add-on camera for existing blink customers
https://www.amazon.com/dp/b07m8dthgl/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_i_7xgz93g8ptggnhtnbgek?_encoding=utf8&psc=1

november 22nd, 2020
blink mini – compact indoor plug-in smart security camera, 1080 hd video, night vision, motion detection, two-way audio, works with alexa – 2 cameras
https://www.amazon.com/dp/b07x27vk3d/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_i_dl_0cvs1gzcpqpje577m0jv?_encoding=utf8&psc=1

august 3, 2021
blink outdoor – wireless, weather-resistant hd security camera, two-year battery life, motion detection, set up in minutes – 3 camera kit
https://www.amazon.com/dp/b086dkshq4/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_i_dl_9f09k8m142matnjy1c7p?_encoding=utf8&psc=1

november 29th, 2021
introducing blink video doorbell | two-way audio, hd video, motion and chime app alerts and alexa enabled — wired or wire-free (black)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/b08sg2ms3v/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_i_dl_jth38j37n7st707fmw4p?_encoding=utf8&psc=1

blink offers two subscription plans.

1 blink device
$3 per month or $30 annually

unlimited blink devices
$10 per month or $100 annually

you do not have to have a blink subscription if you do not choose to, but you won’t be able to store videos.

With the subscription you are even able to share your videos by text, or email. To neighbors, friends, family, and even the police department.

Cons/irritations
when an outdoor camera faces the sun at any point of the day, the motion detection will go off, until you adjust the motion activity spots in the camera settings. This can take a few days to work out the kinks.
Indoor mini cameras the motion activity spots don’t always work. Sometimes it will go off when there is motion in the grayed out zones, and sometimes not go off in the non-greyed out zones. This maybe human error on our part. We are looking for a longer cord for the mini’s to mount on the wall or ceiling. The are options to rotate the camera view, so that you are able to mount the camera wherever you need.

Overall we are happy with our blink system and hope the company continues to grow and come out with new products.

Compared to my parents very very expensive arlo system, blink is more reliable, and is more cost-effective. So much so, my parents have ditched the arlo camera system and have purchased a new blink system.

We highly recommend blink to anyone who would like to have a home video camera system that works, and won’t break the bank.
We love that you can start out small and work your way in to as much as you want/need.

This was super cheap and did not require a monthy plan. I only need to monitor a puppy and make sure he isn’t getting in too much trouble while i’m at work. The only thing paying for the monthly plan gets you is the ability to save video. If you want this for security purposes get the plan. If you just have to watch a puppy destroy your house you don’t need the plan.

Love this little camera. Discreet size and fits most anywhere. I use it to monitor my home and check in on my pets when at work or running errands. Love the ability to speak to visitors or pets or, hopefully not, intruders. I added these cameras to my already existent blink 3 camera outdoor system seamlessly with the sync module 2 and have been pleased with how well they work. Will be perusing more options to upgrade my blink camera system.

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.

I picked this camera up for my bedroom just to keep an eye on things when i’m not home. I have roommates that are constantly in and out of my room to do laundry and i like to have peace of mind knowing that is all they are doing in there.

Pros:
– extremely affordable camera
– affordable subscription
– 2 way intercom capabilities

cons:
– must have subscription to record motion detection video notifications
– motion detection can sometimes be set off when there is nothing moving in the room.
– app could offer more capabilities such as “saving videos to folders,” or “constant recording while the point of focus that sets off the motion detector is in the camera frame.”

overall i’m satisfied with my camera, but i do think i may make a switch when i move and decide to utilize more cameras along with a doorbell. That is unless there are some major changes to blink camera capabilities along with the app functionality.

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.

This product is a great product overall for its function however the miss leading information that a lot of buyers are not aware of is issue with the app. I have contacted customer service regarding my issue about the app and none of them were able to help resolve the problem. If you already have the app for another camera for another house house or institution and you want to add additional cameras to other facilities or homes the original app will not allow you axis to any new cameras at different houses without logging off one to get to another. I contacted the manufacture representative about the issue they saying that they are working on fixing this problem because many other people have this issue. Should when they design the app that has multi function to allow customers to have access to more camera one app camera it will be an excellent product.( my dilemma since my sibling set up a blink camera in my mom‘s home she gave me access to have to that camera to check up on mom; so now i have i already have the app and it being use already now i have my blink camera ; the app won’t work for my camera with me losing access to mom blink camera. ) i really like the product i like the size but it didn’t work as a attended to perform .

Bought these to replace my canary cameras due to them moving everything under a subscription. So im using these with the sync 2. Quality is pretty good but grainy when zoomed in and they don’t seem to connect to the 5 network. Only the 2.4. App is pretty basic and the login gets stuck sometimes making it so i have to close the pap out and reopen. This is for android. What really stinks is the app doesnt have a gps feature to auto arm and disarm when you leave/com home but you can work something out using ifttt but it really should be built in. Yes you can schedule times to arm and disarm but that isnt too convenient when you don’t have set times that you leave and if they are armed when you are home the notifications just pile in.

So this happened to me in two different houses with two different sets of blink mini cameras. When i was setting up the camera, it would not connect to wifi. It would blink blue and green and then the light would go to a steady red and after a couple mins the app would tell me it couldn’t connect to wifi and that it’s usually poor signal or incorrect password. Sometimes the lights on the camera would just turn off and it would be unresponsive. I retried so many times with same outcome. I reset my wifi countless times and changed the password and reset the cameras and even got right next to my router for maximum connectivity, because according to the internet that’s what i’m supposed to do. Well it’s actually the complete opposite. After some research, these cameras connect to 2.4 ghz band. Some wifi routers give off both 2.4 and 5.0ghz, some have two separate routers for each band. I have spectrum wifi so my one router has both bands. Anyways the point is the 2.4 covers larger, further out areas but with lower signals. 5.0 covers less area with better signals. So in order for the camera to connect you have to go the furthest away from your router to be able to connect to the 2.4 ghz band. So if you have a similar sounding issue try connecting furthest from the router. Also i did contact blink support but no response and i went to best buy to ask and they didn’t know what to do. Maybe blink should include this info in the instructions

We bought a set of these on sale to help keep an eye on our dogs while we are away/ to keep an eye on the baby cribs when the children go to nap.

They work great for the dogs but it took a little adjustment for the babies. The reason is because at night the cameras have to switch to night mode when activated. This causes the camera to make a slight ticking noise. Of course babies being babies, picked up on this right away and were originally weary of the camera.
However, they got used to it quickly and now have no problems with the camera.

I can say that the night vision works well and i like the alerts provided when movement is picked up.

Another slight hiccup i’ve experienced a few times is that if the motion alert is activated, you can’t turn the alerts off until the camera is done with its 10 second recording.
Not the biggest deal but it makes it challenging to time it correctly to deactivate the alert.

Overall, i think its a good budget camera and it works well with the rest of our blink system.

I have 11 of these cameras total with five of them pointed at my front yard. Had someone make it all the way to my porch today and only one camera picked him up as he walked away. Sometimes they work, but most of the time they don’t. Their customer support is great and they will try to help, but there is only so much you can do for a trash product.

Update: customer service continues to impress, and they are so persistent about trying to fix the issue that i feel obligated to increase my rating. We haven’t fully resolved the issues yet but they aren’t giving up.

I have noticed a few times the cameras don’t capture every movement. There was one time my package was delivered and wasn’t notified there was motion detected. Also a maintenance guy entered my apartment and i did not get notified that he entered. I was home at the time on both occasions. I always have my front door camera armed. But most of the time the cameras do capture movement of people and definitely cars driving by in the parking lot. Lol like everytime ‍ i bought these cameras bc my amazon packages were being stolen on my front porch and also to keep an eye out on my furbabies when i’m not home.

So far i think the 3-pack i got of the mini cameras work fine. I got them as a replacement for amazon cloud cameras that will stop working later this year. Not sure why amazon has so many options and just discontinued cameras that were working fine. But, these new ones work fine as replacements. Capabilities are similar and motion detection seems to work fine and night vision is ok but looks a little washed out depending on the light in the room. Key disappointment: it’s difficult to ‘arm’ motion detection and clip recording in response to motion on an individual camera basis. It is ‘armed’ on a ‘system’ basis. While this is a possible solution it doesn’t seem to work well when you also have a ‘sync module 2’. The sync module appears to only associate with one ‘system’.