Editors' Note: There is a new version of the Blink Outdoor camera available. See our review of the Blink Outdoor 4 . Overall, the Blink Outdoor 4 is pretty similar to its predecessor. It offers the same 1080p resolution and about the same field of vision. It does differ; however, in three pretty substantial ways: The Blink Outdoor uses infrared night vision and is built to withstand the elements so you can feel confident that it’ll monitor and protect your home even during heavy rain and storms. When the Blink Outdoor detects movement, it’ll alert you on the Blink Home Monitor app. It has two-way audio features so you can see, hear and speak to people outside your home in real time. Like all Blink products, it’s easy to set up and doesn’t require any professional installation or wiring.

The camera itself feels sturdy and well-made, while its weatherproof design promises to fend off downpours (though it’s not rated for underwater submersion). During our few weeks’ worth of testing, the Blink Outdoor comfortably shrugged off some of the biggest British summer downpours we’ve ever seen, filling us with confidence in its outdoor durability. The one thing we will add though is that the plastic can get scratched quite easily, not that you’ll need to worry about that once it’s mounted. I would give it 10 stars if I could! Highly recommend! It’s been working fantastically well so far and, most importantly, it’s REALLY easy to put together… even for someone like me with no experience whatsoever.” 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? It isn’t too difficult to get everything up and running again, but if you don’t have to reset it in the first place, why should you? Below the video panel are three buttons. The Save button saves video from a live viewing session and the Talk button is used for two-way talk. Tap the More button to open the Device Settings screen, which is organized into several menus. The General Settings menu lets you change the device name, configure temperature alerts, and view your network and Sync Module signal strength. The Motion Settings menu lets you adjust motion detection sensitivity, choose a recording type (all motion or person-only), create motion zones, and configure a retrigger time for how long after a motion event the camera will begin detecting motion again (between 10 and 60 seconds).

Our Final Verdict on Blink Cameras

The Arlo Essential Spotlight and Arlo Essential XL Spotlight are battery-powered (the XL version battery lasts up to one year between charges compared to the six months offered by the Essential Spotlight) and can be used indoors or outside. The Blink Outdoor uses the Blink Home Monitor mobile app for Android, Fire OS, and iOS devices. It opens to a home screen with panels for each installed camera. Each panel contains a still image of the camera’s field of view and has a button for taking a snapshot and a button for launching a live stream. You can view the live stream in full-screen mode by turning your phone sideways, and initiate two-way talk by pressing the Talk button. A motion icon appears in the upper right corner when motion detection is enabled, and next to that is a settings button.

Both Blink and Arlo have a number of handy features that can reduce the number of false-positive motion alerts you receive; such as assigning activity zones so you’re not notified unless motion is detected in these areas, and scheduling when the camera should be monitoring for motion and when it shouldn’t. Both systems are very easy for the average homeowner to install and use, but Arlo is potentially much more sophisticated with a range of different devices, software smarts, and greater smart home integration.Blink cameras are affordable and offer 1080p HD resolution, motion alerts, and affordable cloud storage. At the risk of rehashing old grievances, night vision was pretty weak in my hands-on Blink Outdoor camera experience. In an outdoor camera, this is a bit of a letdown. 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. Max Payne 1 & 2 Remake in the “production readiness stage” while fans will have to wait longer for Control 2