From PC World: Amazon’s Blink division—the budget-oriented sibling of Ring in the smart home space—has announced an all-new version of its affordable battery-powered Blink Video Doorbell, which is available now for $69.99.
While the price has gone up by $10 compared to the previous model, the new version’s higher-resolution camera (1440×1440 pixels), 150-degree field of view, and 1:1 aspect ratio will provide a head-to-toe view of visitors.
Blink is bundling the new doorbell with its new AC-powered Blink Sync Module Core, which acts as a bridge to the home’s Wi-Fi network (it does not have a chime that sounds off when a visitor rings the doorbell). Blink says having the doorbell connect to the Core, instead of directly to a home’s router, is what enables the doorbell’s remarkable 2-year battery life.
Since the Sync Module Core does not offer any means for local storage—unlike the Sync Module 2 (with a USB-A socket) and the Sync Module XR (with a microSD card slot)—buyers of the latest Blink Video Doorbell will need to either sign up for a subscription to store video recordings in the cloud, or they’ll need to replace the Core with either of Blink’s other two Sync Modules. You’ll also need a subscription if you want to unlock person detection (the camera does not offer pet or package detection at all).
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