Blink is known for making affordably priced home security cameras that are powered for a couple of years by nothing more than a couple of AA batteries. Traditionally, the small cameras haven’t exactly been known for high-quality video or any extra smarts, such as smart alerts and detection.
But Blink’s latest outdoor home security camera, the Blink Outdoor 4, is changing that perception with improved video quality, a new person-detection feature and a completely new design.
Blink’s latest wireless outdoor security camera, the Outdoor 4, adds a ton of new smart features along with better design and improved video quality, but the app experience and person recognition need a bit of work.
What we liked about it
A fresh new design
It’s always amazed me how you can own and use a product on a daily basis and never have a single complaint about how it looks or works, but the moment a new version is announced, it suddenly looks old and outdated and doesn’t do everything you want it to do. It happens at least a few times a year when Apple or Samsung announce new phones and tablets.
But that’s also the way I felt after unboxing Blink’s Outdoor 4 camera. There’s a minimal look and feel to the camera’s refreshed design that leaves you with the impression that it’s a clear upgrade over older Blink Outdoor models.
There’s a new matte finish to the exterior of the camera’s housing. The lens is no longer centered on the front of the camera but is instead in the top-left corner. The speaker grille is now found on the side of the camera’s housing instead of below the lens.
The Blink Outdoor 4 just feels more polished and more aesthetically appealing than previous models.
Improved video quality
Admittedly, it’s been a few years since I’ve used one of Blink’s Outdoor cameras, so I can’t make a direct comparison to the third-generation Outdoor camera when it comes to video performance, but I can say that Blink has made great strides in improving video quality from its Outdoor camera lineup.
On paper, the Blink Outdoor 4 camera doesn’t appear to have any major upgrades when it comes to video quality. It’s a camera that records 1080p video and captures 640 x 360 photos, just like the third-generation model before it. However, Blink touts that the Outdoor 4 has the best image quality of any of its battery-powered cameras yet.
Looking at several clips recorded over the last week or so, I’ve found the recorded video and even the photos captured by the camera to look sharp, with lots of vivid color and saturation that pair well with the 1080p resolution to create a clear image.
When watching video clips with motion, you’ll notice some pixelation around the moving object — such as a person. This is a byproduct of recording at a low frame rate and is common across most home security cameras.
There were some lighting conditions, such as a cloudy day, where the camera struggled with overexposing or underexposing various aspects of a recorded clip. It’s an area that definitely needs improvement but not something that ruins any of the captured videos so much that you can’t make out who or what is in the shot.
For the last few years, when people have asked me if they should get a Blink Outdoor camera, I’ve tried to steer them away from them due to low video and picture quality. After using the Blink Outdoor 4, that will no longer be the case.
Local storage is always a plus
Included in the box with the camera itself is Blink’s Sync Module 2 that facilitates a connection between your Wi-Fi and Blink’s servers. It’s part of the reason Blink products are able to squeeze up to two years of battery life out of two AA batteries in the camera itself. The Sync Module 2 needs to be plugged in and connected to your Wi-Fi network at all times.
On the side of the small box that makes up the Sync Module 2 is a full-sized USB port, just like what you’d see on the side of a laptop. That port exists so you can connect an external hard drive or USB thumb drive to the module to save clips locally.
That means you don’t necessarily have to subscribe to any of Blink’s plans for cloud storage, but if you do, you’ll not only have access to your recordings in the cloud but those same clips will be backed up daily to your local storage.
In order to view clips saved on the USB drive, you’ll need to unplug it from the sync module and connect it to a USB port on your computer.
Blink’s storage plans start at $3 per month for the basic plan, which includes a single camera, motion-detection video recording, live-view recording, 60-day video history and the ability to watch videos as soon as they’re recorded. There’s a Blink Plus plan that’s $10 a month for unlimited cameras on your account.
What we didn’t like about it
Notification overload
The Blink Outdoor 4 camera is the first battery-powered camera from Blink to feature person detection. (Blink’s Wired Floodlight is the only other product from the company to have person detection.)
Previous generation Blink Outdoor cameras only had motion detection for recording events, so the addition of being able to record clips and receive alerts only when a person is in view of the camera is a welcomed addition. You will need to sign up for one of Blink’s subscription plans in order for person detection to work.
Alongside gaining person detection, the Blink Outdoor 4 also boasts enhanced motion detection to help eliminate false alerts.
However, I’m not sure that’s the case. I’ve had the Blink Outdoor 4 installed for a little less than a week now, and during that time, I’ve received over 1,500 notifications, some of which are strictly motion triggered, while others are because a person was detected.
Sure, I could fine-tune the camera’s motion sensitivity, how long it should wait between sending alerts, and even restrict alerts to only being sent when a person is detected, but the bigger problem I’ve had is that the vast majority of clips and alerts related to the new person-detection capabilities have been false alerts.
When I view recorded clips in the app and filter by those with a person detected, I see nothing but clip after clip after clip of a hammock blowing in the wind or a towel moving on a chair, each one labeled as a person being detected (both in the recording and in the original alert), but there was no person to be seen.
A few months ago, I was testing a Wyze camera in this same location, and it would often send a false alert stating a person was on my back porch. I eventually figured out that a bike helmet on the patio table was tricking the camera into thinking a person was in the frame; after moving the helmet, the alerts stopped.
With the Blink Outdoor 4, however, I have yet to figure out what’s causing the errant alerts. Hopefully, this is something that Blink can address with a future software update, cutting back the number of false alerts. It’s quite annoying.
Bottom line
The $120 Blink Outdoor 4 camera is a capable home security camera that brings with it high-quality video, a modern design, and the option for local recording, something that’s sure to appeal to many privacy-minded users. The new person-detection feature definitely needs some work, however.
If you’re looking for a home security camera for added peace of mind, especially if you already have Blink products around your home, the Outdoor 4 is worth considering. However, if you’re still not convinced, Ring’s Spotlight Cam has many of the same features and is $20 less expensive.
