A small white cube sits on its motorized base and quietly sweeps left, right, up, and down at your command. The Blink Mini Pan-Tilt Camera, priced at $23.99 today (was $40), plugs into any wall outlet, connects to 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi in minutes through the Blink app, and gives you control over nearly an entire room from a phone or tablet. Its 110-degree lens sits on a base that pans roughly 350 degrees and tilts about 125 degrees, so you can check the far corner of a living room, glance at a hallway entrance, or look down at the floor without walking over to move the camera yourself.
During the day, the video is 1080p, but when the sun goes down, it switches to black and white infrared mode. When something moves, motion alerts appear on your phone, and you can even communicate with whoever is in the room using two-way audio, which is ideal for conversing with children, dogs, or anybody else in the house. Live view works immediately, with no fuss. Of course, if you want to save footage for more than a few days or keep a large number of clips in the cloud, you’ll need to purchase a Blink subscription, or simply obtain a separate Sync Module to hang off a USB drive for local storage. As an extra plus, with Alexa connectivity, you can just ask your Echo Show to bring up the stream or take a quick check by speaking.
- See what's happening inside any room from corner to corner with 360° coverage from your smartphone, tablet, or compatible Alexa device.
- Pan left and right and tilt up and down from the Blink app to see more of your home with HD day and infrared night view.
- Get real-time motion alerts on your smartphone so you can react and engage from anywhere.
Getting it up and running is as simple as can be. Simply plug in the power adapter, scan the code with your app, and you’re done. It’s tiny enough to fit on a shelf or on your desk, and the base features a standard thread for mounting on a tripod if you choose. Nite vision can easily cover most indoor rooms, and the motors are quiet enough that they do not draw notice when swiveling.
For users who have an open-plan living area or a need to keep an eye on their pets or an aging relative, the ability to change the view on demand eliminates the need to purchase numerous separate cameras. You can glance at the front door one minute and then swivel it around to the kitchen or your favorite sleeping position the next. The fact that it is hard-wired ensures steady power, and the small cable normally simply plugs into a nearby outlet without hassle.
Owners appreciate the smooth pan control when viewing live and the ability to cover a lot of ground with just one device. However, there are some limits to be mindful of, such as the lack of color nite vision and fancy auto-tracking on this model, as well as the fact that cloud functions are expensive. However, the mix of app-controlled movement, decent daylight detail, and some very useful Alexa integration makes for a highly practical indoor camera solution that won’t break the bank, and having one camera no longer means having to stick with only one fixed view.
