The latest addition to Amazon’s Blink lineup of home security cams is the Blink Mini, a compact indoor camera that supports two-way audio. It’s available for preorder through Amazon now for $35 (two of them cost $65, saving you $5), and it will release in a few weeks. Considering the low cost, it seems to hit all of the fundamentals that you might expect from a home security camera, plus some.
The Mini can record in 1080p resolution, supports motion detection, and has a night vision capability via infrared light. The Blink Mini also allows for two-way audio, so you can chat through the speaker with a family member or friend who’s using the Blink app. It even includes a stand that you can use to angle the camera to your liking.
Unlike Blink’s previous cameras, the Blink Mini is wired so you don’t need to think about changing batteries. You can pair it with an Alexa-enabled device, like an Echo Show smart speaker, to see a live feed of the camera’s field of view and arm or disarm the camera.
For video clip storage, Blink includes a trial to its Blink Plus cloud video storage service that lasts through the end of 2020. It costs $3 per month, or $30 per year, to keep that subscription going. This is a shift for Blink, which historically hasn’t charged for cloud storage of clips. The Blink XT2 product page on Amazon still lists that it can get free cloud storage, letting you keep recorded video for a year. When asked if this charge would extend to other Blink models, an Amazon spokesperson told The Verge, “There is no change for existing Blink XT2 customers. They will continue to have access to their existing free storage.”
Image: Amazon
Additionally, Amazon will launch the Blink Sync Module 2 later this year, which gives you a way to store clips locally. That device will cost $35, just like the camera. Once you insert a USB flash drive into it, it can store video recorded from up to 10 different Blink Mini cameras in the same home and display them on the Blink Home Monitor. Alternatively, you can just yank the flash drive out and plug it into your PC to watch the clips, too.
Update April 2nd, 12:26PM ET: Updated with statement from Amazon regarding cloud storage subscription pricing. When asked whether the cloud storage subscription fee will be charged for just the Mini, or to all Blink cameras, a spokesperson stated that it’s just for the Mini.
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