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

Adding the Blink Video Doorbell to my home security arsenal was one of the best decisions I've made. From the moment I installed it (which was incredibly straightforward, by the way), I've felt a significant increase in my sense of security. The HD video provides a crisp, wide view of my doorstep, allowing me to clearly see who's there, day or night. The two-way audio is a standout feature, enabling clear communication with visitors whether I'm home or out. I've been particularly impressed with its reliability and how well it integrates with the Blink app. For anyone wanting an effective and affordable way to keep an eye on their property, the Blink Video Doorbell is an excellent choice that truly

Great camera and easy to set up. I have bad WiFi coverage but it works ok. Need a booster but I can use it unlike my cheap one I had previously

The bell itself is brilliant but, unlike competitors, it doesn’t work with standard door bell chimes with less than 16v output (UK standard is 8v). This means having to install a separate transformer to boost the power so that you can have an audible chime or you just have to rely on phone notifications.It does have its own built in chime but it’s not loud enough to be heard in the house.

tldr: Doorbell worked until trial ended. Doorbell stopped recording button presses. By the time the shoddy app actually opens, the person at the door has long gone. Blink support is poor.It’s as though the camera and the apps were designed and built by someone who doesn’t really know what a doorbell is and how it’s used. Technical support seems to be run by bots.The app on ios is glitchy. The notifications on Alexa are glitchy and often come too late.It doesn’t really work on a FireTV stick nor on an Echo Show 5 (both returned due to Blink’s flaky performance with these). The Blink app is unintuitive and poorly designed.It seems to be not coded very well to interface with other Amazon hardware. The cloud sync to a local device (only available with a subscription) makes no sense at all and doesn’t work very well.As a step up from a ‘dumb’ doorbell it’s ok, but it’s hard work trying to keep it operating smoothly.Hugely annoying too is the fact that most of the advertised features are blocked but still visible without a paid subscription. The features are still visible in the app, but not available without a subscription.The reams of ‘help’ documents are poorly written and confusing. I have a usb flash drive attached which is supposed to record clips. It records motion clips but stopped recording clips of bell presses as soon as the trial subscription ended. To repeat, the doorbell camera worked as expected until the trial subscription ended.Blink support now blames my network connection for the issues, but the camera worked entirely as expected until the trial subscription ended.Blink support seems to be located in a timezone far from the UK, so if you’re troubleshooting from the UK it’s a lengthy process as support only respond during UK nighttime.Another issue with Blink is that the trial subscription lasts a month. If the trial subscription is not cancelled before the month is up, then customers have no opportunity to discover how the features work before the return period has ended. This is, to be charitable, very sneaky.Blink support seems to be solely operated by a.i. Their responses are repetitive. They ignore questions and will simply paste links to their own site’s ‘help’ section. The ‘help’ articles are not relevant to the issue at hand and are poorly written.Poor quality implementation of technology. They should give the hardware away for nothing and make subscriptions compulsory. This halfway house (you may or may not use it without a subscription) is pointless. It doesn’t work properly without a subscription and the free trial subscription just seems to create technical issues that are apparently impossible to resolve and which appear as soon as the trial ends, when it’s too late to return the device under Amazon’s return policy. This is poor customer service.A replacement is on the way but I think this product is poorly designed and poorly supported.The replacement is just as unreliable as the original. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. No improvement on a good old fashioned door knocker - sometimes I hear it, sometimes I don’t.

The Blink wireless doorbell camera is a great addition to an established Blink home setup, whether that's just a camera and Sync Module or a full security system.The camera comes in a small nifty box that opens out to reveal a guide, the doorbell, rechargeable AA batteries, backing plate and screws. I wish it has come with some 3M backing tape as an option too but they really want your to screw the backing plate to the wall for safety.The plate is really easy to install, you just mark the two holes where you want it to go, drill, and then stick the raw plugs in and screw in. The doorbell goes on the top and clips in place. You'll need the included tool to prise it off, so keep that safe for when you need to recharge the doorbell.The Doorbell can take the wires of your existing doorbell for the chime or just work with an Echo device or mini blink indoor camera. The actual chime on the device is fairly loud to start with but it's easy enough to set one up on an Alexa with the advantage of seasonal sounds such as playing Christmas music or, my daughter's favourite, Halloween sounds, when someone rings.The Blink app is the same one that controls the other devices so everything is in one place. It can show the current scene for a few minutes though you'll need to keep pressing to keep it on, or a list of the videos and photos it has taken when it senses motion or someone presses the bell. The motion option can be set to be as sensitive as you want but it's fairly sensitive even on low and does still catch the odd person walking by on the pavement. You can turn off the motion sensing altogether and just have the doorbell press if you want.I must stress that you really do need the Sync Module to get the most out of this. You get a trial of the cloud service that saves videos to the cloud but if you don't want to carry on paying, the module along with a USB stick will save them locally and stream to any device with the app, which I think works out better. It also allows you to control all your Blink devices together.The picture quality is pretty clear, it's a fisheye style lens but not as harsh as some other doorbells so you still get a good picture. Night time isn't as clear but you can still make out features of people.If you have an Echo Show then it becomes even better as you can ask the Echo to show you the doorbell (or whatever you called it) and it will show the live video. This has the advantage of allowing you to keep it on, unlike in the app, without it stopping. It's also handy if you're in another room and want to see who is at the door.Overall, I'm really happy with the doorbell, as are the birds outside our house by the look of the camera feed (see the photo).