Security cameras are a personal preference. Understandably, many people don’t like the idea of potentially being monitored in their home. But these gadgets have useful features like checking on your pets, keeping an eye on your home while you’re away, and catching people wandering in your backyard after dark.
new Blink Mini 2 ($39.99) is a rugged and inexpensive wired security camera that can be used indoors or outdoors and can handle all of these scenarios. There are some wired cameras in this price range with more features, but his latest offering from Blink, which just launched this week, ticks a lot of boxes. It’s especially great if you have an Amazon Alexa smart home or have already invested in Blink’s lineup of affordable battery-powered cameras.
Blink made a name for itself with its inexpensive, battery-powered cameras that last up to two years on just two AA batteries. The company currently offers three mains models. Blink Mini (1 and 2). Blink wired floodlight camera. and the Blink Video Doorbell (can be wired or battery powered).
Blink’s custom built chip It stands out from many other manufacturers. The company has developed ultra-energy-efficient silicon, and recent upgrades added on-device computer vision (CV). This enables people detection, which is featured in the company’s new camera, Floodlight. Mini 2. and the new Blink Outdoor 4 ($120) battery-powered camera. (Person detection requires a Blink subscription.)
Mini 2 is the successor to Blink Mini, which took over Amazon’s indoor Cloud Cam in 2022 after retail giant Amazon acquired Blink in 2017, and brings even more features. Upgrades include indoor/outdoor compatibility, new spotlights, on-device people detection, and USB-C power.
Compared to the original Mini, it has a wider field of view (143 degrees versus 110 degrees), better image quality, better low-light performance, and a sleeker design. Additionally, you still have the option to add local storage. $50 Blink Sync Module 2 and a USB stick (no module is required to use the camera, only if you need local storage).
A very small camera, the Mini 2 fits almost anywhere. I tested it in a chicken coop at the edge of my garden, on my backyard patio, and in my office and kitchen, and it delivered crisp, crisp video everywhere during the day. Infrared night vision was good, but color night vision with spotlights enabled was very poor.
The Mini’s motion and people notifications are super fast, but the lack of rich notifications is disappointing.Blink says this is the cause. Early notification function, designed to alert you as soon as possible so you can stop by for a live view while the action is still happening. Personally, I prefer rich notifications with snapshots of actions.
The two-way audio is still slightly static, but this is an issue with all Blink cameras I’ve tested. But it’s a huge improvement over the original Mini.
Blink has an excellent mounting system, and the Mini 2’s ball and socket base allows you to easily adjust the angle and position of the camera, even after screwing the base to the wall or ceiling. It can also be placed on a flat surface without a base, so you can attach it anywhere you like. This is the smallest camera I’ve ever tested.
The Mini 2 is also one of the cheapest security cameras you can buy right now, and one of the cheapest security cameras you can buy for cloud storage (only $3 a month; Ring is currently $5 a month; Arlo and Google Nest starting at $8). Adding weather resistance (IP65 rating) makes it even more convenient, but you’ll have to pay extra. Blink Weatherproof Power Adapter, it’s quite large at 13 feet long.Sold separately or in sets Bundle with camera is $49.98.
Blink Mini 2 works with the Blink app with features like customizable privacy and activity zones, two-way calling, and more. The app is fairly basic, but has plenty of customization options and schedules that allow you to turn your camera on and off (you have to pay with Ring).
The camera’s motion sensitivity is good, almost too good. If I didn’t enable people detection, I would receive an alert when one of his lights on his smart light strip in the office changed color. Adjusting the sensitivity made things a little easier, but if you don’t want to receive a ton of notifications, you’ll need people detection. It would be helpful to be able to snooze motion alerts.
If you’re like many people and don’t want to spend $3 a month, you can still receive motion alerts that let you know if something is happening in your home. However, you cannot detect people unless you pay the fee.
To avoid these cloud storage charges, you can also record video locally using Sync Module 2, but it costs an additional $50, does not have people detection without a subscription, and does not support live view. The amount of time you can watch is also limited. Up to 90 minutes for subscriptions.
The camera works with Amazon’s Echo smart display to display a live stream, and you can display the view on your Echo Hub in seconds. You can also set your Echo speaker to announce motion and people detection, but other smart home platforms are not supported.
The Mini’s closest competitors are models from Wyze and TP-Link, both of which feature indoor/outdoor cameras with smart alerts and local storage with an onboard microSD card for under $40. Wyze and the $36 Wyze Cam v3 and TP-Link with Tapo’s $40 C120 indoor/outdoor wired camera.
Considering Wyze’s recent security issues, Tapo is the better option of the two. It also has more features than the Mini 2, including 2K video, dual spotlights, and free smart alerts for people, pets, and vehicles. Additionally, it can detect things like a dog barking, a baby crying, or a cat meowing by sound, so he could be more useful than Blink, especially as an indoor camera.
Personally, I’m not a big fan of indoor cameras. As an outdoor wired option, the Blink worked better than the Tapo, and I was able to more reliably stream video from the chicken coop in the back of my garden. The Mini is also the smaller of the two cameras, available in black or white, and comes with a long outdoor power cable with a weatherproof plug (but for an additional fee). However, Tapo works with Google Home and Samsung SmartThings, so we recommend choosing Tapo if you use those platforms.
Overall, the Blink Mini 2 is a great upgrade to popular, inexpensive security cameras. It’s very easy to set up and use, and its mounting system is one of the simplest and most flexible I’ve used.
Being able to use this outdoors and reduce notification noise from human detection, all for less than $50, is a huge improvement over the Mini 1. Video (both daytime and nighttime) and audio quality are clearly better than the Mini 1. However, Zoom is still limited in functionality and I would like to see more smart alerts for things like animals and vehicles. Sound detection would also be better.
My two biggest issues are that the Blink app isn’t intuitive and it has limited integration into my smart home. The app has plenty of customization options, but it feels clunky and outdated, especially when compared to sister company Ring’s excellent app. In the Ring app he wants to be able to use the Blink camera. Blink Mini 2 is also locked into Amazon’s ecosystem, with no support for Google Home or Samsung SmartThings (although Blink Does it support IFTTT?).
However, if you use Alexa or other Blink cameras, or if you’re just looking for a simple security camera for a specific purpose and don’t need ultra-high resolution, this is a versatile and affordable A great option.
Photos and screenshots by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge
