Prime Members: All-New Blink XT2 Outdoor/Indoor Smart Security Camera Kit Expired

Review from actual user of the original XT cameras, 8 of them (me)

Been using ~8 cameras for more than a year on a large chunk of property butted up to the side of a national forest with LA metropolis on the other side of the property. Mostly for bears, and snoopy utility workers and firefighter inspections.

You can use NiZn batteries, they run about .1v higher than the company recommended energizer lithiums and they are rechargeable (not a durable as lithium rechargeable, and they need a specific charger, your current one will not work). These tend to offer significantly better performance (less connectivity hiccups, cut-off recordings). As an added bonus, they don't tend to explode with faults/overheating like lithium. I would still recommend lithium batteries as the manufacturer suggests, except perhaps for your longest-range devices. The lithium energizers will have the longest life. Alkaline batteries will work VERY briefly but due to fast voltage sag they stop working far before the batteries are empty.

XT2 was removed from being available for sale very shortly after release due to software bugs and a flurry of poor feedback, which have mostly been resolved and led to it recently being made available for purchase again. App gets regular updates which is nice.

10 cameras per base station. For those doing the math, with this discount buy multiple 2 camera kits for the best deal. In addition to granting you more free cloud recording (saved for up to a year) it will cost 50$ per cam, as opposed to add-on cams, or the kits with more than 2 cameras which end up costing more per cam. And you get extra base stations.

Uncheck the box that ties the devices to your account by default prior to shipment. More options = more better. Cams you don't use and the extra base stations from buying the best value cams (2 camera kits) means you can give them to other amazon users.

Free cloud service from a massive company with maaaassive investment in very nearly cost free cloud storage (amazon) is unlikely to be ever stripped away. Amazon/Blink has used this as a primary selling point since it's inception, it is the main and glaring reason they (subjectively) have an advantage over all the other stick-up battery cams.

My only gripe is that range should be improved, and the option of external antennae/wired connectivity should be available is a user desires it.

The way these things connect is your camera MUST get it's commands (including your wifi network/password) from the little brain hub. So it needs decent connectivity to that (no external antenna, this is the weak link) AND decent connectivity to your access point.

That little brain hub also needs decent connectivity to your router. Due to this setup you cannot simply put the hub halfway between your router and the camera, as the camera still needs a good connection to your router to avoid videos being cut short, or not functioning at all.

That all said, I've bought 3 different packages of the XT models + basestations. 2 base stations in use. The driveway to my property is a far reach from my home, so I have an extender out at the gate, which I have another blink hub connect directly to that, and the 2 cameras out there attached to that hub (and therefor that extender). Has the added bonus of extending my total storage capacity.

Connectivity/reception issues can be resolved by pairing a ~14$ netgear/dlink/whatever you tiny outlet extender in the same location as your most distant cameras/hub.

Do NOT leave the IR sensor of these things in an area that directly exposed to southern california sun. I've had 2 camera's lose motion detecting capability due to poor placement that fried/burned the IR motion sensor. They can still be used to check parking lots to see who's home, check for packages, monitor the dog via live-view, but motion detection will never work on these cameras again due to direct sunlight on the front of the camera. (Also they likely overheated far beyond what they were rated for)

Your mileage may vary. I've thought long and hard and often about trying arlo and various other devices and none of them are without a long list is complaints from their users, and all of them require subscriptions.

How quickly you fill your storage is based on what resolution and mic on/off you set for your recordings. Anything but the maximum "enhanced" res will take a long time to fill up, even with constant triggering events. You can select days/months/year for your clips as far as when you want old videos purged if for some ungodly reason you put them in areas that get set off dozens of times a day.

Overall I've been very satisfied with my purchase, other than massively overpaying for my first kit although my city had a partial rebate program for purchasing security cameras. Look in to that and they could end up being free.

These are the latest updated ones from Blink (main upgrade is now its 1080p unlike the previous version which was 720). The few negatives that I've seen:

The 2-yr battery life promise is a bit of a misnomer. It can run on the batteries for the equivalent to 2 yrs worth of time but if you have multiple false positives for motion, that will eat up the battery quickly (they define it as "4,000 five-second events per year").
The mounts for the old XT model were super cheap and you need to get a better one or wind blowing will trigger the camera to record but I dont know about what comes with the XT2.
This unit doesnt pan/tilt as well so the mounting and angles do matter (if you use the stock mounts, there can be some glare if not angled properly.
Live viewing is only available via app, not on a PC/Mac (easy workaround for this is to install an Android emulator and install the app)


For the positives:

Integrates well with Amazon's devices (its an Amazon subsidiary)
Online community support is really good for these (learned how to convert mine to run on solar panels from a forum post)
Zero monthly fees for the cloud storage (all other security cameras are going to charge for that)
Frequently updates of the software as its adding new functionality all the time
Easy to setup and configure

I have 3 of these. At first it was bad, real bad. After the "big" update everything is working as expected.

The mounts - I have two of mine screwed into a tree, we've had several windy Thunderstorms, no issues at all.

Battery - I've had since release date, 5/22, no issues yet in a moderately traveled area.

Quality - Its standard 1080P, when you zoom in though it's not the best but overall things that are within 15-20 feet are great

Night time - works similar to any other night time camera, not the highest definition but good

Recording - choose from 15 seconds to a minute or two

Motion - After the update, works great

App- Very easy to use

Set Up - Very easy

Overall it's great to have the wireless, they are reliable and work as expected. (I have other wired cameras at 1080P at these have the same quality.)