Pros & Cons
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- Affordable
- Sharp 2K video
- Built-in Wi-Fi
- AI-powered descriptions
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- Access to recorded video and several other features require a subscription
- Local storage requires a hub and a USB drive
Blink Mini 2K+ Specs
| Alarm | |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi |
| Field of View | 138 |
| Integrations | Amazon Alexa |
| Integrations | IFTTT |
| Night Vision | |
| Resolution | 2K |
| Storage | Cloud |
| Two-Way Audio |
Primarily meant for indoor use, the Blink Mini 2K+ is a petite wired security camera that captures sharp video. It starts recording when it detects motion, but you'll need a cloud subscription or a Sync Module with local storage (sold separately) to view the footage. With AI-generated video descriptions, Alexa voice control, and built-in Wi-Fi, it’s an excellent value at just $49.99. That said, the Arlo Essential Pan Tilt Indoor offers those same features, plus mechanical pan and tilt, for the same price. As such, it remains our Editors’ Choice winner for affordable indoor cameras.
Design and Specs: Tiny Frame, Serious Hardware
Aptly named, the Mini 2K+ enclosure measures 2 by 2 by 1.5 inches (HWD) and is available in black or white. A round stand with manual tilt-and-swivel maneuverability brings the total height to 3.2 inches. With an IP65 weatherproof rating, the camera can be used indoors or outdoors, but you’ll need to purchase a Blink Weather-Resistant Power Adapter ($9.99) if you’ll be using it outside. Included in the box are the camera and stand, a USB-C power cable, an AC power adapter, and mounting screws.
The front of the camera holds the lens, a spotlight, a microphone, two infrared LEDs, and two status LEDs. The status LED to the left of the lens blinks red during startup, blinks green when the camera is attempting to connect to your network, and shines solid red when it has lost its network connection. When the camera is in pairing mode, the status LED on the right blinks blue, and the left LED glows solid green. A solid blue right LED indicates that the camera is in recording mode.
The camera captures 2K (2,560 by 1,440) video at up to 24fps with a 138-degree diagonal field of view, 16:9 aspect ratio, and 4X digital zoom. For a broader view, the Arlo Essential Pan Tilt Indoor provides 360 degrees of mechanical panning and 180 degrees of mechanical tilt. With the Blink, you'll get color footage in low-light environments or when the spotlight is on; otherwise, the camera will use the infrared LEDs to record in black and white.
The device also comes equipped with a Wi-Fi radio, so you won't need a Sync Module to connect it to your home network, unlike the Blink Outdoor 2K+ ($99.99). It offers a built-in siren and will work as a chime when connected to a Blink Video Doorbell ($69.99). The rear of the camera holds a USB-C power port and a small speaker.
Subscription and Smart Features: Flexible Storage and Useful AI Extras
Motion events are recorded and stored in the cloud, but if you have the camera connected to a Blink Sync Module 2 ($49.99), it can store video locally on a USB drive. Otherwise, a Blink Subscription Plan lets you access recorded video in the cloud and enables several other features. The $3.99 per month/$39.99 per year Basic plan covers one camera and gives you motion-event recording with instant access to videos, 60 days of cloud video storage, person and vehicle detection, Blink Moments (which stitches multiple events into a single video), extended live view (up to 90 minutes), custom notification snoozing, automatic photo capture (to see what happened between event recordings), and automatic thumbnail updates on the app's home screen. The $11.99 per month/$119.99 per year Plus plan gives you everything from the Basic tier, but covers an unlimited number of cameras and offers extended warranty coverage.
The Mini 2K+ also supports Blink Video Descriptions, which are currently in beta and available to select subscribers. Similar to Nest, Ring, and Arlo, Blink Video Descriptions generate AI event descriptions that provide detailed text summaries of each motion event.
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Many competing cameras come with subscription costs, too, and Blink's fees are on the low side compared with competitors. For instance, cloud storage for the $179.99 Aqara Camera Hub G5 Pro, an Editors' Choice winner for outdoor models, costs $4.99 per month or $49.99 per year for a single camera. Of course, you won't necessarily get the same features for your money from every camera. The Aqara, for one, offers compatibility with a wider spread of third-party smart home automation platforms, plus 8GB of built-in flash memory so you can avoid a cloud storage subscription.
(Credit: Blink/PCMag)For its part, the Mini 2K+ supports Alexa voice commands and Alexa+ and IFTTT applets, but it doesn't work with Google Home or Apple HomeKit. If you're committed to the Google platform, the Arlo Essential Pan Tilt Indoor has you covered, while the Eufy E220 Indoor Cam ($54.99), another Editors' Choice winner for indoor models, meshes with Apple.
The Mini 2K+ uses the same Blink mobile app for iOS and Android devices as every other camera from the brand, and appears on the home screen in a panel that displays the camera's name and its most recent captured image. The panel also features a status button that, when pressed, lets you enable or disable motion detection, refresh thumbnails, turn the spotlight on or off, and access the camera settings screen. Press the play arrow to open a screen with a live stream that you can view in full-screen mode by turning your phone sideways or by tapping the square icon in the upper-right corner.
The live view screen includes buttons to turn the spotlight on and off, mute and unmute the sound, and manually record a clip. Use the More button to enable the Extended Live view feature, control the siren, and access the Device Settings screen, where you can update the firmware, configure motion and video preferences, create privacy zones, and change Wi-Fi settings.
Installation and Performance: Crisp Footage Paired With Accurate Detection
(Credit: John R. Delaney)To install the Mini 2K+, simply download the app and create an account. Once the app is installed, tap the plus icon in the upper-right corner of the home screen, then select Mini Cameras on the Add Device screen. When directed, scan the QR code on the back of the camera and plug it in. When one LED is blinking blue, and the other is solid green, tap Discover Device and join the network when prompted. Next, select your Wi-Fi SSID and enter your password to connect the camera to your home network, and give it a name to complete the installation.
The Mini 2K+ delivered highly detailed 2K video in testing. Daytime colors were bright and well saturated, and black-and-white video showed good contrast. Low-light colors were decent but lacked the pop that you get with daylight illumination.
Motion alerts arrived quickly and were correctly identified, and video descriptions were spot-on. For example, I received an alert that said a black-and-white cat was on the sofa, and another that said a person was walking in the hallway. The siren was loud enough to be heard throughout my one-story house, and Alexa voice commands to stream video to an Amazon Echo Show smart display worked faultlessly. I set up an Alexa routine to have a TP-Link Tapo L535E smart bulb turn red when the camera detected motion, and it also worked without issue.