3 Disadvantages Of Using A Blink Camera

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If you're diving into the world of smart home security, Blink cameras are likely among the first options you'll encounter in your research. These devices are popular and aggressively priced, and Amazon owns them, so they're integrated into the Alexa ecosystem. Whether you're grabbing a Blink Mini for your living room or the Outdoor 4 model to keep an eye on your front yard and driveway, the initial appeal of these security cameras is hard to deny. However, as with any budget-friendly consumer tech, there are a few disadvantages to consider before you hand over your credit card, such as fees, battery-life woes, and sensor delays.

To be clear, Blink makes solid hardware for the price, and the brand offers up some of the best outdoor security cameras, according to Consumer Reports. But as you'd find with any entry-level smart home devices, a low upfront cost can often come with a few hidden issues, like usability quirks or additional costs. The good news, however, is that you don't have to live with these annoyances forever. By understanding the limitations of Blink camera hardware and tweaking a few settings, you can easily bypass the biggest hurdles. Let's break down the most common disadvantages of using a Blink camera, what you can do to avoid them, and even consider a few similar alternatives.

One big annoyance with Blink cameras is that the full usefulness of the hardware is tethered to a recurring monthly subscription. It's worth noting that Amazon offers basic functionality if you opt out, including live view, motion-activated alerts, and the ability to update your camera's thumbnail image manually. 

But if you want more from your home security cameras than that, you'll need to select one of Blink's four plan options: Basic ($3.99 per month), Plus ($11.99 per month), Basic AI ($6.99 per month), or Plus AI ($19.99 per month). That's just a hair more than other budget-friendly options like Wyze, but just a hair less than Ring (Amazon's more premium home security camera brand) and Arlo. Taking on bulky subscriptions is among the most common mistakes homeowners make with smart appliances, though.

Since these cameras are meant to be dedicated security devices, being unable to save or review any of your footage without paying for a subscription is frustrating. Fortunately, there is a way to avoid this monthly ransom and keep your footage, too: buy the Blink Sync Module 2. You're still giving Amazon money, but it's a one-time purchase. The device is a hub for up to 10 of your Blink devices, and you can plug a USB drive into it to save your motion-triggered clips locally rather than on Amazon's servers. Do note, though, that loading clips over Wi-Fi from a USB drive is likely slower than loading from the cloud, but it might be worthwhile if you're looking to ditch yet another monthly fee.

Blink's "up to two-year battery life" claim for its wireless cameras is one of the camera series' biggest selling points. Heck, it's printed front and center on the packaging. This huge selling point sounds great, but for many real-world users, it ends up being one of the biggest downsides of their Blink camera experience. Multiple customers have complained that their cameras' batteries are dying within months, not years.

Also, Amazon officially recommends using only Energizer Lithium 1.5-volt non-rechargeable batteries for its Blink cameras and states that "performance may vary with other battery types." Lithium batteries are certainly the better pick for things like outdoor cameras, compared to their alkaline counterparts; they hold up better in extreme weather and can keep a steady voltage. They're also much more expensive than alkaline options. And if your camera is constantly getting motion-triggered and sending you alerts, that cost will add up fast.

There are things you can do to help reduce this drain, though, and they involve being more strategic with settings and where you place your cameras. First, try to avoid pointing battery-powered cameras at high-traffic areas like streets; instead, angle yours down more so it only covers your yard and driveway. Next, open the Blink companion app and do these three things: reduce the clip length, decrease motion sensitivity, and try not to use Live View as much. Together, these should be enough to help keep your camera juiced for much longer.

Because wireless Blink cameras are fundamentally designed to conserve power above all else, they rely on a passive infrared sensor to "wake up" the device if it detects motion. This leads to a slight delay in recording. By the time the camera accurately senses movement, wakes itself up, and starts recording, the subject might already be walking entirely out of frame. 

Blink cameras also strictly enforce a mandatory "retrigger time," meaning that once a recorded clip finishes, the camera sleeps for at least 10 seconds before it can trigger again. This makes it really tough to get continuous recording, and you might miss some crucial moments during that sleep window. Going forward, you can mitigate this by lowering the retrigger time in the settings menu from the default 30 seconds.

However, if continuous recording or zero-delay capture is a must-have for your peace of mind, you may want to consider other cameras that don't have these issues. The Tapo ColorPro C325WB is a solid wired alternative with built-in local storage via a microSD slot, with no subscription required. Alternatively, the wired Eufy SoloCam series offers instant recording capabilities and constant power, also sans subscriptions. Blink or not, however, there are plenty of cheap home security cameras that punch above their price bracket; it just comes down to what features you think are worth paying for.