Both Blink and Arlo cameras will integrate with voice assistants, so you can use the best smart speakers to converse with anyone in the camera’s field of view and see a live feed from the camera through the best smart displays. Like all other Blink devices, the camera works with the Blink Home Monitor app (available for Android and iOS). Once connected, the Blink Outdoor 4 appears on the app’s home screen in a panel that displays the camera's last captured still image. The panel contains a photo button for taking snapshots and a video camera button that launches a live video stream. To view the video in full-screen mode, turn your phone sideways or tap the box in the upper right corner. Resetting the Sync Module this way will put it in “ set-up mode.” All connected cameras will go offline. A Blink Mini can also get a power cycle or be restarted with the entire system from the Sync Module. Where are the Reset Buttons on Blink Devices?

That’s where the Blink Mini lags behind compared to its closest competitor, the Wyze Cam v3. Although priced similarly to the Blink Mini, I’ve found the Wyze Cam v3 much better at ignoring less important motion events thanks to its built-in person detection. On that note, Blink does have other options if you prefer brighter and better night vision. One is the newly released Blink Floodlight Cam Wired, which comes with powerful floodlights, hence the name. It offers much of the same features as the Blink Outdoor, but it needs to be wired to an outdoor junction box to work. These extra features offer plenty of different ways to tweak things to your liking. The most basic thing you can and should do is rename the camera itself to something like ‘garden’, which also makes it easier when asking your Echo Show device to bring up a live feed. You can also play around with the activity zones for motion detection, selecting rectangular segments from a grid overlay where motion will be ignored. This is particularly useful for ignoring notification from, for example, a swaying tree, or the area where your cat prefers to nap out and stretch.The only cameras I can recall that had an easier setup were from Wyze Cams. If you’re into simple wireless tech, you’ll appreciate Blink and Wyze. Not only do they resemble each other somewhat in appearance, the cameras also cost less than much of the competition. You can find much more on Wyze in my hands-on Wyze Cam review. Okay, maybe that’s oversimplifying it, but the setup process doesn’t really require much expertise. All instructions were provided by the app – even my teenager could do it. Overall, it took me less than 10 minutes to get each camera up and running. That’s 30 minutes of my lazy Tuesday afternoon well spent, don’t you think?

The Blink Outdoor provides Full HD colour video which serves up a crisp, clear picture, with more than enough detail to clearly identify individuals. Things automatically switch to infrared vision in low light, which obviously provides a monochrome picture that’s less clear than that found in daylight. The Arlo Ultra and Arlo Ultra 2K both record color footage in 4K during the day and at night, although the Arlo Ultra supports both 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi rather than just 2.4GHz and has an increased range, which should reduce connectivity issues. However, when resetting Blink Cameras, if they are connected to a Sync Module, it is recommended to perform the factory reset.

Resetting your whole Blink Camera system can seem like a daunting task, especially when you have ten cameras set up in your system.