What you need to know
- Amazon has unveiled two upgraded wire-free Blink cameras along with a battery expansion pack.
- Latest cameras sport a sleeker design, and retains lengthy two-year battery life.
- Both cameras are available for preorders today, and are slated to ship later this month.
Amazon has announced a pair of updates to its Blink Security camera lineup today, giving the popular wire-free cameras a makeover while still retaining extra long battery life. The Blink Indoor and Blink Outdoor Cameras, which are available for preorders today, offer users an easy way to keep an eye on their homes with a simple wireless connection and easily replaceable batteries.
"For Blink, providing peace-of-mind and exciting new products to our customers is everything," said Mike Harris, General Manager of Blink. "While Blink's Outdoor and Indoor cameras include many of the innovative features our customers have come to love and expect – like a powerful two-year battery life – we now offer more options and customizations than ever. From new features like privacy zones to a new battery expansion pack that provides up to two additional years of battery power, we're excited to deliver our new cameras to our customers."
The refreshed Blink Cameras sport all of the smart security staples, including 1080p high definition video with an 110-degree field of view, two-way audio, motion detection, and infrared night vision. Both of the latest wireless cameras are powered by two AA lithium batteries, which last up to two-years, and can be wall-mounted with the included hardware.
The latest cameras connect to an included Sync Module which bridges their connections to home Wi-Fi networks, and enables both cloud storage and local storage options. Amazon's cloud Blink Subscription Plan starts at $3 per month for each camera and for those with multiple cameras in the home, a $10 tier is also available that offers storage for an unlimited amount of cameras. Amazon includes a free trial to its cloud subscription plan with the purchase of the new cameras which runs until December 31st of this year.
Once connected to the Blink Home Monitor app, camera owners can set up motion alerts, privacy zones, and access a live view on-demand. Both cameras are compatible with Amazon's Alexa, which offers a hands-free way to bring up a live view, recorded clips, and even arming the cameras through devices like the Echo Show.
The Blink Indoor and Outdoor Cameras are available for preorders today, with prices starting at $79.99. The cameras are scheduled for release later this month, with Amazon's listings currently showing September 16th as the targeted date.
Alongside the new cameras, Amazon also announced a new battery expansion pack that promises to double battery life. The expansion pack allows owners to install two additional AA batteries, enabling the wireless cameras to go up to four years between swaps with "normal use".
Blink's all-new battery expansion pack allows cameras to run on four AA lithium batteries instead of two – doubling the camera battery life to up to four years in total with normal use. While Blink's cameras already have a powerful two-year battery life due to Blink's proprietary chip technology, the new battery expansion pack is especially compelling to customers with cameras placed in high-traffic or hard-to-reach areas who want the convenience and flexibility of a wireless solution – without the hassle of frequently replacing batteries.
Unlike the updated cameras, the battery expansion pack did not get a specific timeframe for the release other than "later this year". The battery pack is currently listed on Amazon for $29.99, and those interested can sign up to received an email notification when it is released.
