Blink Video Doorbell + Sync Module 2 | Two-way audio, HD video, long-lasting battery life, motion detection, chime app alerts, Works with Alexa (Black)

A great piece of kit. No subscription needed. Installed easily and the fields of vision can be altered to exclude tree branches etc. clip length and other motion detection parameters can also be managed very easily through the user-friendly app. The Sync Module takes the doorbell data and feeds into the app on my iPad, and the module will take a memory stick for greater and longer term storage. Much better than my previous doorbell camera. The app sticks a bit, and has to be rebooted occasionally but the picture is very clear, and loads within 5 seconds. Bought a camera also which shows images on the app equally quickly and clearly.

The Blink video doorbell has the same or better features compared to other more expensive video doorbells with a fraction of the cost. Here are some of the pros and cons I found with it.Pros:No Monthly Subscription: You just need a sync module and USB pen drive (minimum 1Gb) for local storage. 1 GB can store hundreds of video clips of 30 seconds each. The sync module 2 can take up to 256Gb USB storage space which can store 1000s of video clips.Slim Design: The size of the blink doorbell is perfect for the side panel on the upvc doors or any other doors and the camera covers a very wide range of viewing.Detection Zone: The customization of inactive/active zones on this doorbell is much better than the ring doorbell. It has the advance option which shows tiny boxes to select the inactive zones individually compared to Ring Doorbell which gives you the option of a large square, rectangle or trapezium. To avoid false alerts/triggers from the reflection from inactive zone (car headlights) into the active zone, just reduce the sensitivity to 4 or less and it works like a charm.Battery: The battery life is so much better if you are saving the video clips on the sync module (locally). The battery will drain faster if the video clips are saved on the cloud (subscription). Blink gives out free trial subscription for the first 30 days and saves the video clips on the cloud by default. I cancelled my trial subscription on the first day and have been saving the clips on the sync module (locally) which uses less battery power. Any doorbell including Ring doorbell that syncs video clips to the cloud will drain their battery faster and will need recharging every couple of weeks or so, also depending on the active zone selection if it has a busier “motion trigger” traffic.Wi-Fi: The Wi-Fi connection from the doorbell works great unless you have placed the doorbell near a Wi-Fi dead zone or near something that depletes the Wi-Fi signal. In my case, my no-drill mount (Wasserstein No Drill Mount) was depleting/killing the Wi-Fi signal/connection on the doorbell for some strange reason (maybe due to some elements on the mount). Decided to Isolate it and used the side wedge mount that came in the blink doorbell package and used a double-sided tape to affix it on the same spot and the Wi-Fi connection was back to normal. The live video now shows up on the echo show and the mobile app within 5 seconds of requesting it. It used to take a lot more time or mostly fail completely to show the live feed of the doorbell.Cons:Blink Chime: It is very difficult to find a compatible battery-operated wireless Chime for the blink doorbell. I decided to use my echo show and echo dot as the Chimes instead.Clip Duration: The maximum duration of the video clips is only 30 seconds. Hope that Blink increases the video clip duration to 60 seconds or more like the blink outdoor cameras in one of their firmware upgrades. Users can then choose to reduce the duration manually or select the “End Clip early if motion stops” option on the app.Bulk Delete: There is no option to bulk delete the saved video clips saved on the sync module unless done through a PC after attaching the USB to the PC. It would be good to have that option in the Blink app in the future firmware/app upgrades.

Installed this after shopping around for a simple doorbell camera when my work shifts suddenly increased and I was concerned about missing deliveries. Pleased to say it was an excellent choice for the most part.Installation: very straightforward, just follow the instructions. I needed to drill a couple of holes in the wall to mount it. A template is provided for this. The screws and rawlplugs provided were quite rubbishy, so if you're not using the provided sticky pad, get some better replacements. Connected straight to the plug-in receiver, which instantly connected to our wi-fi. It's only ever dropped out once since installing over two months ago. I would very much recommend the slot-in 64Gb data stick for easy retrieval of doorbell recordings.Operation: I recommend setting your zones of detection carefully to reduce constant activation. I would guess many of the negative reviews about battery life are connected to not designating zones close to the door or driveways, as we have had no issues at all with functionality in nearly three months.The one real weakness of this system is the doorbell ringer. It rings loudly at the push button unit itself (outside) but unless you have your phone volume turned up, there's no other ring audio unless you have been able to connect it to an existing doorbell ring unit (we had no hardwired doorbell before). We got an Amazon Echo bundle with this Blink bell and it doesn't make a ringing noise either, it just announces "Somebody is at [unit name of your doorbell] - (and there's something else you need to do during setup if you're connecting to a speaker: rename your Blink bell to "Front Door" or something, otherwise Alexa will say "Somebody is at GXU-14726744533” which gets annoying fast!)I've found video access through the app happens within a few seconds, even when I've been using my phone on data in the USA four thousand miles away. I've been able to answer the door in America, Ireland and Portugal in the past few months. It's a great system.The daylight camera is very clear with a good wide angle (ours is slightly reduced due to the house structure) but the night camera is not great, picks up a lot of glare and is very short range, only clearly picking up people right outside the door (see pics above). But it's acceptable for everyday use.Unfortunately the audio is less reliable. I can generally speak to the person at the door, but I've often found the audio receiver constantly cuts out and I can barely hear their half of the conversation. They end up resorting to sign language half the time. But that's better than not being able to see them at all!Overall this is a very reasonable priced item which does the job required to a reasonable level. I'd definitely recommend it as a quick fix for a modern problem, but if you're looking for something more robust and with a better ring and audio system, maybe you need to spend a bit more on a different system.