REASONS TO BUY
Inexpensive
1080p video
Night vision
REASONS TO AVOID
No local storage
Requires a subscription
Poor video and sound quality
Blink Mini Review
This camera performed poorly across the board and requires a subscription to boot — it's not worth the money
Credit: Blink
RELATED: Best Security Camera of 2024
Our Verdict
Despite the low cost of the Blink Mini, it still does not pencil out as a good deal relative to other top home security cameras because the camera delivers such abysmal video and sound both in live monitoring and recorded video. Specifically, the video is of such low quality that it makes it difficult to identify the person's face approaching your door in low-light scenarios. Moreover, the camera's limited features are hidden behind a paywall, and it has a super narrow field of view at just 110 degrees, making it best for long shots. We can find few redeeming qualities in this product and thus do not recommend it.
Compare to Similar Products
 This Product Blink Mini | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Awards |  Best Overall Camera |  Best Camera On a Budget | |||
| Price | $30 List $29.99 at Amazon | $40 List $29.98 at Amazon | $30 List $29.60 at Amazon | $36 List $35.29 at Amazon | $100 List |
Overall Score  |
|||||
| Star Rating | |||||
| Bottom Line | This camera performed poorly in all of our assessments making it a bad choice regardless of the price | An exceptional and affordable camera that builds on the success of the previous model | This very affordable security camera offers exceptional performance | A top-performing camera at a below-average price that doesn't require a subscription to unlock most of its features | A quality camera, but a bit expensive both in the long and short term |
| Rating Categories | Blink Mini | Wyze Cam Pan v3 | Wyze Cam OG | Wyze Cam v3 | Ring Stick Up Cam B... |
| Recorded Video Quality (35%) | |||||
| Monitoring Performance (35%) | |||||
| Ease of Use (30%) | |||||
| Specs | Blink Mini | Wyze Cam Pan v3 | Wyze Cam OG | Wyze Cam v3 | Ring Stick Up Cam B... |
| Camera Type (Indoor or Outdoor) | Indoor Only | Indoor and Outdoor | Indoor and Outdoor | Indoor Only | Indoor and Outdoor |
| WiFi Type | 2.4 GHz 802.11g/n |
2.4 GHz 802.11b/g/n |
2.4 GHz 802.11b/g/n |
2.4 GHz 802.11b/g/n |
2.4 GHz 802.11b/g/n |
| Encryption Types | AES 128-bit | H.263 | 256-bit encryption and SSL |
AES 128-bit | TKIP, AES, TKIP + AES |
| Resolutions Available | 1080p | 1080p | 1080p | 1080p | 1080p |
| Video FPS | Up to 30 FPS | 20 FPS Day 15 FPS Night |
N/A | 20 FPS Day 15 FPS Night |
15 FPS |
| Wired or Battery | Wired | Wired | Battery | Wired | Battery |
| Smart Device Compatability | Amazon Alexa | Amazon Alexa Google Assistant IFTTT |
Not Supported | Amazon Alexa Google Assistant IFTTT |
Amazon Alexa |
| Siren Volume (dB) | N/A | 67.6 dB | 70.2 dB | 67.8 dB | 66.4 dB |
Show full specification detailsHide full specification details
Our Analysis and Test Results
The Blink Mini is a subpar camera even when considering its low cost. The camera has poor audio and video quality, limited alerts and features, terrible night vision, and you have to have a subscription to record and store data. We recommend looking at the higher-ranking products in our review instead.
Performance Comparison
Although it may look like a better performing camera, the video quality and features do not match up.
Credit: Chris McNamara
Recorded Video Quality
The Blink Mini has extremely poor recorded video quality despite claiming 1080p resolution. The video is easily overexposed in bright light resulting in a whitewash effect. We struggled to make out facial features, too. Additionally, blurring occurred whenever the in-frame subject was moving at a decent rate of speed. Finally, there is a paywall for recording. Given the limitations of the Mini, it's no surprise that its evaluation scored far below average.
The Mini claims to have night vision functionality. However, we found it to be pretty ineffective. The background tends to be blurry, and the subject's facial features are not as clear as we would have liked. The camera also produced an eerie glowing eye effect when subjects looked directly at the camera. Lastly, the camera has a fairly narrow field of view at just 110 degrees.
The Mini has pronounced “eye glow” and fuzzy details in low light.
Credit: Matt Spencer
Monitoring Performance
The Blink Mini did even worse in the monitoring performance assessment, garnering one of the lowest scores in the class. The camera has a latency of ~1.8 seconds between real events and their appearance on screen. While the video isn't too bad, the sound is terrible. Voices were very difficult to discern due to the amount of feedback that rendered speech fuzzy and staticky.
Another issue we encountered with the Mini is its continuous monitoring — or lack thereof. When trying to watch a live feed as you would do with children, pets, or workers in your home, the Blink only allows you to watch for 30 seconds at a time. In order to continue, you have to select “continue” in the app and repeat that action every 30 seconds. As if that wasn't annoying enough, the camera lacks an alarm despite having an onboard speaker.
Limited monitoring time is just one of the restrictions that the Mini imposes on users.
Credit: Matt Spencer
Ease of Use
Most cameras do pretty well in the ease of use analysis because they are pretty simple, to begin with, so you have to go out of your way to make them hard to use. However, the Blink Mini manages this feat by hiding its limited functionality behind a subscription paywall.
While the Mini's app is easy enough to navigate, this is largely the result of it not having much to offer users. There is only one type of alert that can be set up (motion), and aside from that, you can turn the camera on and off. The camera lacks local storage unless you buy a separate base to accomplish this basic task, and you can't record any videos without paying to do so. The camera does come with a stand attachment and hardware if you want to mount it to the wall.
The mini lacks onboard data storage, requiring users to subscribe to the Blink cloud to access video recordings.
Credit: Chris McNamara
Value
Despite this camera's low cost, we do not find it to be a good deal. The camera has minimal functionality as well as a paywall to unlock basic features. As such, we deem this camera to be of poor value.
Conclusion
The Blink Mini is an all-around low-grade camera. Compared to other models in the class at the same price point, its performance is dismal. We struggle to find anything redeeming about this product and strongly suggest looking at the higher-performing products in our review.
—
Nick Miley
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