Although you will have to cough up extra for the new feature
The latest smart security camera from the Amazon stable has gone live: the Blink Outdoor 4, like its predecessor, offers you two years’ worth of life from a pair of AA batteries.
That lifespan of the new $120 smart security camera comes with the caveat of only very light motion detection but, even in busy spots in your house, a yearly change of AAs isn’t going to break the bank.
It’s still a 1080p camera – which is a shame given the likes of the Wyze Battery Cam Pro offers 2K recording at a slightly cheaper price, but we’re told the visuals are better than the previous-gen model thanks to enhanced low light sensitivity and a wider 143-degree field-of-view.
What’s new is the people detection feature that is powered on the device itself by by Blink’s custom-designed 3rd generation silicon.
However, this comes at a cost; you’ll need a Blink Premium plan to tap into this new skill – plans are $3 a month or $30 yearly but do also get you 60 days of cloud-stored video.
Like previous Blink Cams though, you can also opt to use the Sync Module 2 (which ships with the Blink Outdoor 4), to store clips locally. Simply attach a USB drive and you can store clips for free, and avoid sending potentially private videos to the cloud.
The Sync Module acts as the brains of the system and needs to be plugged in indoors. It can connect to up to 10 Blink cameras, including the likes of Blink Indoor, Blink Outdoor (all-gens), XT2, XT, Video Doorbell and Blink Mini.
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What’s also new on the 4th-gen Blink Outdoor is dual-zone, enhanced motion detection.
All the Blink cameras integrate nicely with Alexa (obviously, given Blink is part of Amazon), and you can view the feed on Alexa-enabled screens and use the camera’s motion sensors as triggers in Alexa Routines.
On sale now in the US, the Blink Cam Outdoor 4 costs $119.99 for a single camera with the Sync Module 2 and it’s $109.99 if you don’t need the Module or want an additional one. There are also discounts on multi-system camera bundles.
The Outdoor 4 comes hot on the heels of the Blink Mini Pan-Tilt and the Wired Floodlight Camera which went on sale at the end of last year.
Announced as part of Amazon’s annual hardware event, the wired, outdoor-ready model costs $99.99, while the indoor device comes with just a $29.99 asking price.
