Blink’s collection of the best security cameras have always been cleverly separated into indoor and outdoor categories, with its original Blink Mini becoming one of the most popular indoor cameras on the market. But Blink’s latest camera and its newer version of the Mini, the Blink Mini 2 can be used both indoors and outdoors, and while it’s kept many of the original’s features, it’s been upgraded in lots of different ways.
The Blink Mini 2 has been available in the US for sometime but it was only recently launched in the UK earlier this year. What struck many people (including myself) when it launched was the features and capabilities it offered with its surprisingly low price tag. But how does it really perform? And could it beat the original at its own game? I put the Blink Mini 2 to the test to find out.
Blink Mini 2 review: price and availability
There are two options when it comes to buying the Blink Mini 2. The first is for indoor use only which will cost you just £34.99. The second is if you want to use it outdoors which will cost £43.98 and comes with the Blink Weather Resistant Power Adaptor. The Blink Mini 2 is available to buy at Amazon and come in black or white.
To use the Blink Mini 2, you’ll need to download the Blink Home Monitor app. It’s free to download and you’ll get a free 30 day trial of the Blink Plus subscription. Once the month is up, you can use the free version of the app, or you can pay £2.50 for the Basic plan and £8 for Plus plan a month.
(Image credit: Beth Girdler-Maslen / T3)
Blink Mini 2 review: unboxing and set-up
The Blink Mini 2 arrived in a teeny tiny box, and came with the camera, indoor power adapter, USB-C 2 metre cable, mounting screws and a stand. As mentioned above, you’ll need to buy the Blink Weather Resistant Power Adaptor to use the Blink Mini 2 outside, but for this review, I used the Blink Mini 2 inside.
The set-up process for the Blink Mini 2 was extremely simple. I plugged in the Blink Mini 2 and placed it in the far corner of my kitchen so it could see a long view of my kitchen, dining room and sitting room. Next, I downloaded the Blink Home Monitor app which detailed all the instructions. I had to scan the code on the box to add the device to the app, connect to the Wi-Fi and then set-up what notifications I wanted to receive. The whole process took about 5 minutes and then the Blink Mini 2 was ready to go.
(Image credit: Beth Girdler-Maslen / T3)
Blink Mini 2 review: design, features and app
The Blink Mini 2 is the second generation of the original Blink Mini. For indoor use, it’s a plug-in smart security camera that connects to Wi-Fi and the accompanying app to send you alerts on what’s happening around your home.
For indoor use, the Blink Mini 2 comes with a stand and screws so you can mount it on the wall if you’d prefer. It has an almost identical design to the Mini, apart from the built-in spotlight that’s located just above the camera lens, and it’s extremely petite so it won’t stick out or take up too much room in your home.
The Blink Mini 2 offers 1080p HD live views, a wide field of view, colour night vision and two-way audio. It has a custom built chip inside to support the camera’s features and to utilise on-device computer vision (CV). CV helps support smart notifications by detecting motion and alerting you when humans are detected rather than animals or objects – it’s worth noting that this is only available with a Blink Subscription Plan.
Speaking of subscriptions, the Blink Mini 2 comes with the Blink Home Monitor app. The layout of the app is extremely simple – I might go as far to say too simple – and the home screen lists all your devices so you can access them quickly. The app is where you can arm and disarm the camera, turn the spotlight on and off, and it will store your video clips for easy viewing before it auto-deletes after 30 days. The app also allows you to stream live video continuously for up to 90 minutes.
(Image credit: Beth Girdler-Maslen / T3)
Blink Mini 2 review: performance
I was excited to try the new Blink Mini 2, mainly because it promised so many features in such a cheap and compact device. I appreciated that the set-up process was quick and easy, and the Blink Mini 2 blended into the background nicely so I hardly noticed it when it was sitting on my shelf. I liked the design of the Blink Mini 2, and preferred to use the stand rather than mount it to the wall as I felt it looked more inconspicuous that way.
The Blink Mini 2 had a wide field of view and it could see my entire kitchen, dining and sitting area. The footage could get a little blurry with images that were further away, and I found that the live view made a consistent whirring noise as you viewed it. Looking back on saved clips, this noise couldn’t be heard so it might be a live view issue – it wasn’t particularly irritating but it was still noticeable.
(Image credit: Beth Girdler-Maslen / T3)
I really enjoyed the built-in spotlight and found it to be extremely bright and powerful which was surprising in such a petite camera. I think the spotlight would be more beneficial for outdoor use, but I liked using it indoors. I noticed that despite the fact that the Blink Mini 2 could see the full room it was in, it took a while to detect that I was moving around. I had to get quite close to it before it sensed anything which was surprising considering other security cameras I’ve tested could detect movement from much further away.
The notifications from the Blink Home Monitor app were pretty quick once the Blink Mini 2 detected movement. While you can customise the type of alerts you want, I found that I would get about 5-10 notifications in the space of a few minutes when I was downstairs which I thought was a bit too much. However, I liked that the app would break up the clips but if you prefer viewing all your footage in one go, Blink recently launched Blink Moments, making it possible to see your clips this way.
(Image credit: Beth Girdler-Maslen / T3)
Blink Mini 2 review: verdict
Overall, I enjoyed using the Blink Mini 2 and it packs a surprising amount of features in one tiny camera. The design is attractive and subtle, and the built-in spotlight really adds more appeal to it. The angle and video quality is strong, although I think it needs to work on its app and motion detection as it struggled at times.
Compared to similar models, I don’t think you can beat the Blink Mini 2 when it comes to price. However, I think it’s worth paying a little extra to get stronger motion detection and app features. I’m not sure how likely I or others would be to use the Blink Mini 2 outside but as an indoor camera, it easily excels its predecessor.
Blink Mini 2 review: alternatives to consider
If you’d prefer an indoor-only camera, the original Blink Mini is the best alternative to consider. It can do most of what the Blink Mini 2 can do and it’s cheaper at just £24.99.
An alternative from a different brand that I’d recommend over the Blink Mini 2 is the Ring Indoor (2nd gen). You’ll have to pay a bit more for the Ring camera which is £49.99 and the app subscription, but the Ring Indoor (2nd gen) has better image quality and motion detection, plus it has a clever privacy cover which turns the camera off when you slide it across, so you don’t have to faff around in the app.
