Blink Wired Floodlight HD Security Camera

I really like the floodlight cameras, they have a bright light, decent quality video. The camera worked great for almost a year and then one day it just completely stopped working. The customer service basically said there is nothing they can do to fix it. Would give 5 stars for the camera, but taking 3 stars off for the customer service.

UPDATE: changed to 5 stars as customer service saw the review and is finally sending me a replacement.

Maybe it will be obvious to some, but I definitely overlooked a key component to the overall operation of the wired floodlight camera. It is simple and it makes sense…after the fact…but the fact is, I overlooked it. When you flip the light switch, that presumably used to operate your lights, to the off position it turns the power off to the camera. I don’t know what I thought, maybe the camera had a battery? I guess I wasn’t thinking. I figured it out pretty quickly. I installed the floodlight camera, (SIDE NOTE: The instructions are fantastic with one exception. You have to have the camera fully installed and power back on before you can proceed though the final sync steps. The only problem is the QR code is on the backside of the light fixture which is now installed and inaccessible. But, that’s o.k. they have included a second QR Code on the little blue instruction manual. I just wish they would have made that more obvious. They said, the instructions are great and easy to follow. Setup goes really smooth) I turned the lights on from the Blink app. Then I flipped the lights off from the wall switch. Camera turned off. Uh oh. I am the only person in the house with the app. What now?!?! I conducted a few test to confirm my finding. Yup light switch, power off, bad. Then suddenly I had an epiphany! Alexa!!! In desperation I called out, “Alexa, turn patio light on.” Light turned on (I should note the light switch was in the “on” position). Yes! Problem one resolved. Now for concern #2. How will the light turn on when we let the dog out…again I am the only one with the app. It occurs to me, maybe when the camera is triggered the light comes on. So that night I go out into the darkness to conduct my test. Yes!!! Concern #2 abated. The lights came on, camera was rolling, all is right in the world. EXCEPT!!! I have drilled into my family…turn the lights off when you are done. Now every night after they let the dogs out, and back in for their nightly business…you guessed it they flip the light switch to “off” position, camera off. So if you are going to buy this light / camera (which I do recommend) you might want to buy this… https://a.co/d/12bFB9f or something similar.

1) It’s ridiculous to have to pay for features like extended viewing time when that’s a free feature elsewhere and when it really requires nothing on the part of the manufacturer… after all, it’s my network and my phone’s data use, unless I’m on Wi-Fi, so there’s nothing there for them to be charging people.

2) A simple 5-minute Installation took several hours… BECAUSE, to me, if an item requires anything beyond physical installation to work, then ALL of that is part of the Installation.

The physical installation of the light is or should be, depending on your residence, a straightforward “5-minute” installation.

You might need a step-stool or ladder to reach your light fixture.

You might need a pair of small pliers to remove decorative nuts that hold the old fixture in place, as they might be rusted in place.

You will need a Phillips screwdriver.

You can probably reuse existing electrical wire but connectors.

You can probably reuse the existing screws from the existing fixture bracket that spans the electrical box.

You MUST use the Blink bracket for this product and it must sit flat in the box.

I say that because I discovered two brackets when I removed the light fixture, instead of a single correct bracket… which led to a less than desirable seal arround the base… which led to rusting of the two (instead of the required four) screws that secured the box to the outside wall… which led to someone eventually fixing the electrical issues they surely encountered by trying to encircle the entire base with an indoor silicone sealant… which weathered badly and failure to stay adhered properly to the base of the fixture and the fascia of the residence…. because two screws diagonally opposed is never as correct as four required screws, nor as good at properly holding the weight of the fixture.

End result was the top of the base pulling away from the wall, tearing the weathered indoor sealant and exposing the wiring AND the Wall to unwanted moisture.

You definitely need a silicone sealant… But make sure that you use one that’s made for outdoor use. UV light on indoor sealant is obvious to everyone in a short period of time and that sealant does fail.

3) The “all-day install” came with the Blink Device Setup.

It was as if the Blink Device and Blink Network were learning each step, failing, needing to start over AND THEN managing to successfully move to the next step… At least some of the time.

The process was painfully slow.

I’m not joking when I say that the AOL Dial-up connected faster than the Blink Device.

Blink even tried telling me that my network password was incorrect and could not connect the device… And it showed me my password, which was definitely NOT incorrect.

I found this particularly infuriating since the Blink Device used the password to reconnect my phone to the network in order to access the Blink Servers, but then decided that the problem was the password.

I’ve rarely encountered a similar situation.

I’ve NEVER encountered a situation where the device seemed to fail-learn-start over-proceed at EVERY SINGLE STEP …

And never have I seen a device take so long to Discover or be Discovered.

Oddly enough and thankfully so, the device got faster at Discover with each attempt… but it was never close to instant nor even an acceptable amount of time.

Perhaps it was due to the age of the device, because it did require an update after it was finally connected.

Regardless, it was unacceptable.

4) The camera has a limitation to it’s sideways orientation that did not seem to have a fix, even after fully loosening the nut that secures the camera position.

This meant having to twist the camera, like a clock-hand, in order to achieve the site coverage that I desired…. BUT having the image at an angle and presentation that was undesirable.

I will look at that another day, but after realizing that more than 3 hours had already passed, I was done with Blink!

And the second wired floodlight camera for the front of the house will have to wait.

I am a bit undecided about the quality and the color of the images, even in Live View.

I have honestly seen far better for less on a Name Brand with a longer existence/track record and presence here on Amazon.

Therefore, I am at a loss as to why this system pales badly in comparison since the technology exists and is simple and straightforward.

5) The sound quality is NOT great… and not really even good.

Again, living in a quiet area, I should not have to strain to determine what I’m hearing when the next door neighbor uses a table saw, lawn mower or chain saw.

As for talking to someone through the speaker… that seemed to work sometimes but had a very long delay and was very quiet.

In fact, when the neighbor was running any of the aforementioned tools (500′ or more away), then it was impossible to hear anyone talking (1′-2′ away from speaker).

6) Was it really a good deal???

At 44% off of retail on the Big Prime Deal days, then it’s not a horrible loss.

However, by comparison, the images, audio, etc are no deal, not even compared to the latest NOR the Previous Generation of my Ring Doorbells, which also came via Amazon.

I do not consider Blink to be on par with Ring, based on this overall experience with this first of two Blink products that I’ve opted to try.

Wireless indoor newest generation Blink cameras are on the way… and I’m already thinking they maybe they, too, were a mistake.

Summary Advice: If you need a low-cost solution for peace of mind or casual monitoring, then maybe a Deal on Blink is acceptable.

If you need sharp images in every mode, especially for critical monitoring, then you need something better than Blink…. even if the specifications seem to be the same, the product’s performance, thus far, is nowhere near the same.