Amazon-owned Blink has revealed its latest home security cameras – they’re wire-free units that offer two years of battery life on two AA batteries. There’s one camera for indoor use as well as a weather-resistant outdoor version.
Both Blink Outdoor and Blink Indoor offer Full HD video and join the wired Blink Mini and the dual indoor/outdoor Blink XT2 in the range which also uses AA batteries. Clearly there’s a strategy there to keep Blink using replaceable batteries rather than rechargeable ones, while also-Amazon-owned Ring features rechargeables.
The two new cameras will be released in the US on 16 September but are available to pre-order now. Amazon offers numerous bundle deals if you want more than one camera. Blink Outdoor and Indoor will also be available “in select European countries soon” – this probably includes the UK.
Blink has also announced a battery expansion pack – which doubles the camera battery life to up to four years.
The cameras work alongside the Blink Home Monitor app so you can see a live view, get motion alerts and use two-way audio. Similar to Ring, you can also create custom zones to cut down on erroneous alerts and mark ‘privacy zones’ that aren’t recorded. Naturally, they’re also Alexa compatible and they’ll work with Echo Show and Fire TV.
There are now dual storage options for video clips – you’re able to get cloud storage for $3 a month or use a separately sold Sync Module 2 and USB storage so you can keep things locally.