Blink XT2 cameras
Discussion
Been considering simply camera solutions: don't really want an on-going subscription service, & the Blink XT2 looks to be a reasonable option for us.
Can see prices already lowering on Amazon, maybe even less by "Black Friday" (where would the Black Friday thread be!?)
I like that it is fully wireless: plan would be to pop it higher up than anyone could easily grab, although I guess there could perhaps be a chance of theft - can the fittings be locked in any way (I don't think so!)
Anyone got an XT2, and in particular, any comments on how well it works at night, and how well the motion activation alerts work (eg, restricting the area checked)?
thx
Can see prices already lowering on Amazon, maybe even less by "Black Friday" (where would the Black Friday thread be!?)
I like that it is fully wireless: plan would be to pop it higher up than anyone could easily grab, although I guess there could perhaps be a chance of theft - can the fittings be locked in any way (I don't think so!)
Anyone got an XT2, and in particular, any comments on how well it works at night, and how well the motion activation alerts work (eg, restricting the area checked)?
thx
Phil Dicky said:
I looked at Blink but they are an Amazon owned company and I worried about after sales support.
I've got Spro Cameras and very impressed, hard wired but to be fair not an expensive additional cost.
Not sure I would worry about after sales support with Amazon: do you mean the possibility they may kill the product?!I've got Spro Cameras and very impressed, hard wired but to be fair not an expensive additional cost.
Never heard of SPro - their web site doesn't give much detail, & I can't find any reviews or even documentation (even on Amazon). Welcome any more detail you have as to why you chose them (eg over Swann or Lorex, which appear more widely available!)
mikeiow said:
Been considering simply camera solutions: don't really want an on-going subscription service, & the Blink XT2 looks to be a reasonable option for us.
Can see prices already lowering on Amazon, maybe even less by "Black Friday" (where would the Black Friday thread be!?)
I like that it is fully wireless: plan would be to pop it higher up than anyone could easily grab, although I guess there could perhaps be a chance of theft - can the fittings be locked in any way (I don't think so!)
Anyone got an XT2, and in particular, any comments on how well it works at night, and how well the motion activation alerts work (eg, restricting the area checked)?
thx
I've got 3 XT2s. One at front of the house, one at rear and one inside. The inside one only gets armed when we go on holiday.Can see prices already lowering on Amazon, maybe even less by "Black Friday" (where would the Black Friday thread be!?)
I like that it is fully wireless: plan would be to pop it higher up than anyone could easily grab, although I guess there could perhaps be a chance of theft - can the fittings be locked in any way (I don't think so!)
Anyone got an XT2, and in particular, any comments on how well it works at night, and how well the motion activation alerts work (eg, restricting the area checked)?
thx
Blink say the batteries last two years and I think this is realistic for rear and inside cameras. The front was triggering a half dozen times a day, postman, visitors etc so I now have the system on a schedule so its enables 8pm till 10am.
Picture quality is pretty decent even at night. The app is OK also. Sound quality both ways works fine,
I doh' really have any issues except it would be nice to set a schedule per camera rather than per system.
I extended the trigger recording time to 10 seconds from the default of 5.
It is possible to zone the camera area to customise the trigger area but I haven't needed to make use of that.
Given the simplicity of install and the price, I've been pretty impressed. Quality of the camera seems good.
I'm nowhere using the max allotted storage space as I tend to delete recordings after a day or two so I run at about 3% usage.
i4got said:
I've got 3 XT2s. One at front of the house, one at rear and one inside. The inside one only gets armed when we go on holiday.
Blink say the batteries last two years and I think this is realistic for rear and inside cameras. The front was triggering a half dozen times a day, postman, visitors etc so I now have the system on a schedule so its enables 8pm till 10am.
Picture quality is pretty decent even at night. The app is OK also. Sound quality both ways works fine,
I doh' really have any issues except it would be nice to set a schedule per camera rather than per system.
I extended the trigger recording time to 10 seconds from the default of 5.
It is possible to zone the camera area to customise the trigger area but I haven't needed to make use of that.
Given the simplicity of install and the price, I've been pretty impressed. Quality of the camera seems good.
I'm nowhere using the max allotted storage space as I tend to delete recordings after a day or two so I run at about 3% usage.
Nice summary, thanks!Blink say the batteries last two years and I think this is realistic for rear and inside cameras. The front was triggering a half dozen times a day, postman, visitors etc so I now have the system on a schedule so its enables 8pm till 10am.
Picture quality is pretty decent even at night. The app is OK also. Sound quality both ways works fine,
I doh' really have any issues except it would be nice to set a schedule per camera rather than per system.
I extended the trigger recording time to 10 seconds from the default of 5.
It is possible to zone the camera area to customise the trigger area but I haven't needed to make use of that.
Given the simplicity of install and the price, I've been pretty impressed. Quality of the camera seems good.
I'm nowhere using the max allotted storage space as I tend to delete recordings after a day or two so I run at about 3% usage.
Do you think the fixings are solid enough to remove the fear of them just being ripped off, or do you have them so high they are not within reach (external ones)?
I've got a 2 camera setup. The functionality is great. App works well, cameras work really well. It's not 24/7 recording obviously but then at least you don't need to sit and review loads of footage.
No downsides to it really, other than the two times it has dropped off the network it's been at 2am and really freaked my missus out!!
The standard brackets, plus the amazon recommended upgraded brackets, are in no way high security. You could just pull the cameras off easily. But, you'd at least get a clip of whoever did it as it would keep saving them until it was out of range of your wifi!!
One downside I guess is that the one above my garage door makes me look really bald as I walk under it and I'm sure I'm not that bad yet.
No downsides to it really, other than the two times it has dropped off the network it's been at 2am and really freaked my missus out!!
The standard brackets, plus the amazon recommended upgraded brackets, are in no way high security. You could just pull the cameras off easily. But, you'd at least get a clip of whoever did it as it would keep saving them until it was out of range of your wifi!!
One downside I guess is that the one above my garage door makes me look really bald as I walk under it and I'm sure I'm not that bad yet.
SHutchinson said:
I've got a 2 camera setup. The functionality is great. App works well, cameras work really well. It's not 24/7 recording obviously but then at least you don't need to sit and review loads of footage.
No downsides to it really, other than the two times it has dropped off the network it's been at 2am and really freaked my missus out!!
The standard brackets, plus the amazon recommended upgraded brackets, are in no way high security. You could just pull the cameras off easily. But, you'd at least get a clip of whoever did it as it would keep saving them until it was out of range of your wifi!!
One downside I guess is that the one above my garage door makes me look really bald as I walk under it and I'm sure I'm not that bad yet.
LOL! I'd have that problem!No downsides to it really, other than the two times it has dropped off the network it's been at 2am and really freaked my missus out!!
The standard brackets, plus the amazon recommended upgraded brackets, are in no way high security. You could just pull the cameras off easily. But, you'd at least get a clip of whoever did it as it would keep saving them until it was out of range of your wifi!!
One downside I guess is that the one above my garage door makes me look really bald as I walk under it and I'm sure I'm not that bad yet.
Already on a decent deal on a well known Bezos site....(25% off, interest free for 5 months) - wonder if that will get better actually ON Black Friday?!
How high have you positioned them? High enough to avoid easy interference?
mikeiow said:
SHutchinson said:
I've got a 2 camera setup. The functionality is great. App works well, cameras work really well. It's not 24/7 recording obviously but then at least you don't need to sit and review loads of footage.
No downsides to it really, other than the two times it has dropped off the network it's been at 2am and really freaked my missus out!!
The standard brackets, plus the amazon recommended upgraded brackets, are in no way high security. You could just pull the cameras off easily. But, you'd at least get a clip of whoever did it as it would keep saving them until it was out of range of your wifi!!
One downside I guess is that the one above my garage door makes me look really bald as I walk under it and I'm sure I'm not that bad yet.
LOL! I'd have that problem!No downsides to it really, other than the two times it has dropped off the network it's been at 2am and really freaked my missus out!!
The standard brackets, plus the amazon recommended upgraded brackets, are in no way high security. You could just pull the cameras off easily. But, you'd at least get a clip of whoever did it as it would keep saving them until it was out of range of your wifi!!
One downside I guess is that the one above my garage door makes me look really bald as I walk under it and I'm sure I'm not that bad yet.
Already on a decent deal on a well known Bezos site....(25% off, interest free for 5 months) - wonder if that will get better actually ON Black Friday?!
How high have you positioned them? High enough to avoid easy interference?
I have the 5 camera package, you made need to change some of the mounts to 'Ball joint' type, and it is worth the expense of decent batteries , great zoom in capability and frame by frame step on recordings, overall really pleased , when you first get it you bound to get through batteries quite quick due to playing with it ! I would say battery life with average use 6 months ?
mikeiow said:
Nice summary, thanks!
Do you think the fixings are solid enough to remove the fear of them just being ripped off, or do you have them so high they are not within reach (external ones)?
I just used the standard fixings. I've got them up high but if someone could reach then I'm sure it would be easy enough to pry them off. I'm not sure any other fixing would prevent anyone with a mind to ripping them away.Do you think the fixings are solid enough to remove the fear of them just being ripped off, or do you have them so high they are not within reach (external ones)?
I'm working on the basis that they are at a price point that its not a massive loss if I had to replace one every couple of years.
Got my 5 camera system yesterday and set up on the bench (sofa) for commissioning - dead simple. Seem well put together and not just something worthy of the Tat From The Far East thread. One left on motion sensor testing in the cats' kennel overnight - no notification overnight (our cats sleep indoors) but several this morning with nice clear pictures of surprised cats when it clicks into action.
Most of them will be mounted reasonably high up but to get a nice close up of faces near the front door and cars, I'm musing about drilling a couple of holes in one of the garage doors and fixing one to the inside. They're fairly basic Hormann doors, not double skinned so if the holes are grommetted, it shouldn't look too bad and will mean the unit isn't swiped.
Most of them will be mounted reasonably high up but to get a nice close up of faces near the front door and cars, I'm musing about drilling a couple of holes in one of the garage doors and fixing one to the inside. They're fairly basic Hormann doors, not double skinned so if the holes are grommetted, it shouldn't look too bad and will mean the unit isn't swiped.
Yeah I must admit, I'm struggling to see why it's so cheap. I guess it is Amazon though who are the same company that produced the top quality Fire Kids tablet for less than £100 with a 2 year guarantee that if the little one dropped it in the bath or out of a window, they'd replace it free of charge! Cornering the market is what these big boys do well and once in a while it seems to benefit me.
ETA One possibility is that once they've sold 100,000 of them they'll end the free cloud and start charging for it. Must admit, I was looking through the settings to see if I could make it back up to my MyCloud instead but found nothing.
ETA One possibility is that once they've sold 100,000 of them they'll end the free cloud and start charging for it. Must admit, I was looking through the settings to see if I could make it back up to my MyCloud instead but found nothing.
Edited by 57Ford on Wednesday 20th November 10:57
Hope my experience with these help. I do like the Blink cameras.
I have 3 XTs (previous version) up for the last year and still on same batteries.
Picture is good and the sound is great but there are limitations.
I have a fairly large garden. The wifi signal and signal to the hub needs to be good so don't permanently fix them until you iron out placement and signal coverage.
You only get the notification until after the event has been recorded and uploaded and no footage prior to activation. I have mine set to 30secs and I won't get a notification until after that. Also the PIR detection whilst solid and the camera records quickly, it has a short range IMO and insects mostly spiders set it off. I've problems with bees in the Summer. They might be attracted to the IR sensor. Setting the Blink on a flat surface will also cause glare from the IR light at night from the surface infront of the camera. Raise it up a bit.
To get around the notification issue, I also have EZviz cameras for extra coverage and the motion detection on those is light activated as opposed to the PIR detection of the Blink.
I have a blink xt in the front garden and an ezviz in a window. The XT is 50meters away but in direct view.
At night when the infra red light on the blink is triggered it triggers my ezviz and I get a notification instantly. EZVIZ also has an onboard SD card and you get the bonus of a few seconds of recording before the acivation. Works very well but the light activation is very sensitive. Even shadows from clouds passing over the Sun triggers it.
Still work in progress but its fairly solid setup for now.
I have 3 XTs (previous version) up for the last year and still on same batteries.
Picture is good and the sound is great but there are limitations.
I have a fairly large garden. The wifi signal and signal to the hub needs to be good so don't permanently fix them until you iron out placement and signal coverage.
You only get the notification until after the event has been recorded and uploaded and no footage prior to activation. I have mine set to 30secs and I won't get a notification until after that. Also the PIR detection whilst solid and the camera records quickly, it has a short range IMO and insects mostly spiders set it off. I've problems with bees in the Summer. They might be attracted to the IR sensor. Setting the Blink on a flat surface will also cause glare from the IR light at night from the surface infront of the camera. Raise it up a bit.
To get around the notification issue, I also have EZviz cameras for extra coverage and the motion detection on those is light activated as opposed to the PIR detection of the Blink.
I have a blink xt in the front garden and an ezviz in a window. The XT is 50meters away but in direct view.
At night when the infra red light on the blink is triggered it triggers my ezviz and I get a notification instantly. EZVIZ also has an onboard SD card and you get the bonus of a few seconds of recording before the acivation. Works very well but the light activation is very sensitive. Even shadows from clouds passing over the Sun triggers it.
Still work in progress but its fairly solid setup for now.
Edited by OnaRoll on Wednesday 20th November 12:58
mikeiow said:
How do people find the night camera quality? A few bad reviews (& clips) on Amazon....of course the answer is to have lighting, but nonetheless....
I had issues with my XTs at first, however, I've worked out what the problem was.The on board IR light can blow out the sensor on the camera. For instance I had a camera in a tree and the image was terrible but it was the light bouncing off a nearby branch back at the camera causing the problem.
One camera had lines in the night picture too but a software update fixed that.
It's all a bit hit or miss but If for example someone was standing right infront of the camera and the IR light was on max then their face would be totally washed out. It takes a bit of placement and settings tweaking to get something acceptable.
I'd be interested to hear how well the XT2s speaker works. The EZVIZ takes a fair while to work. It's not at all instant.
I purchased 2 a month ago for £140, see they are £135 now!
Easy to set up, needs good wifi signal & same from controller.
I had one in back garden, but was hopeless as facing sun, coupled with moisture on lens rendered it useless. It’s fine now on the other side with sun behind!
I purchased 2 brackets, which have a mini hood to keep lens drier.
You can flick a switch under the battery cover, which disables the blue light which comes on when in use, more discreet..
No problems now set up & works well.
Me/Wife/Daughter have the app to get alerts etc
I do switch off when about (1 swipe in app) to save phone buzzing whenever I go to dustbin or the dogs go out..
Easy to set up, needs good wifi signal & same from controller.
I had one in back garden, but was hopeless as facing sun, coupled with moisture on lens rendered it useless. It’s fine now on the other side with sun behind!
I purchased 2 brackets, which have a mini hood to keep lens drier.
You can flick a switch under the battery cover, which disables the blue light which comes on when in use, more discreet..
No problems now set up & works well.
Me/Wife/Daughter have the app to get alerts etc
I do switch off when about (1 swipe in app) to save phone buzzing whenever I go to dustbin or the dogs go out..
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