Welcome to the Arlo versus Blink face-off challenge. The Arlo Smart Home Security Camera System and Blink Home Security Camera System are two leading completely wireless home security cameras. Both offer motion detection, cloud storage and notification services. Both are powered by internal batteries. No A/C cables here. Let’s look at how these cameras compare.
We previously wrote detailed reviews on these cameras if you would like to read all about them first:
Arlo Smart Home Security Camera
Blink Home Security Camera System Review
Let’s move on with our head to head analysis.
Software
This category is all about the smartphone app, web app and camera firmware.
Both application start up quickly on Apple iPhone 6s Plus. The Canary app shows the room temperature, humidity and air quality at startup. The Blink will show an old saved photo of the room. You click on the photo to see live video.
The Blink Home Security Camera System does not have a browser app. While there are plans to offer one in the future, I find it takes them a while to comes out with intended features and if you need a web app now, Arlo is the only one of these two to offer one.
The Arlo and Blink both offer motion detection and notifications which is a necessity if calling yourself a home security device.
Blink provides the ability to adjust the sensitivity to the motion detection to help minimize false alerts. The Arlo Smart Home Security Camera has a 1 – 100% sensitivity setting to minimize false motion. Neither camera offers motion zones which is what I like to use for minimizing false motion.
Neither of these cameras support motion zones to minimize false alerts from areas like trees and bushes which tend to move with the wind. It’s too bad, as I have found this to be the most effective method to eliminate false motion alerts. I’m unaware of plans for either to provide this important capability in the future.
Both cameras offer scheduling for event detection. Use this feature to only .
I was initially excited to see that the Blink Camera offered temperature readings. The Blink Security Camera offers this in their marketing but it doesn’t work. The temperature was consistently ten degrees higher than actuality. Emails to the company were returned and they explained they are aware it’s not working but don’t have a fix for it.
Both cameras have the ability to see the battery strength which is important in a wireless battery operated camera.
In short, neither of the apps are overly impressive, but I’ll give the nod to Arlo because they have a web interface and I didn’t notice any features that weren’t working as advertised.
Arlo versus Blink Winner: Arlo
Connectivity
All done through their respective apps. Both of these cameras connect to a wireless hub or what they call a sync module. So the connectivity to your home router isn’t from the cameras, it’s from the sync hub. Both connect to 2.4GhZ and neither support the 5.0GhZ band.
Arlo versus Blink Winner: Tie
Video Storage
Blink video from motion alerts are written to the cloud and you’re limited to 7,200 total seconds of storage. It’s then overwritten. Might not sound like a lot but if you’re storing 5 second clips per motion event, that amounts to enough to hold 1,440 events.
Arlo provides 7 days worth of cloud storage at no charge. There are enhanced paid plans if more than this amount is necessary.
Different concepts on the storage and neither provides an on-board SD card.
Arlo versus Blink Winner: Tie
Hardware
These are both 720p cameras. Both feature a 110 degree wide angle lens.
The Arlo and Blink cameras handle night vision very differently.
The Blink night vision isn’t typical IR but instead uses a very bright LED light. This takes away the ability to be stealth and is actually kind of annoying to people sitting in the room. To me, this is a big negative for the Blink camera.
There are 850 nm LEDs on the Arlo which illuminate up to 25 feet for night use. Typical IR performance which gives a good quality video in the dark. No LED lights here.
Both of these cameras are wireless meaning no DC cables. The batteries in the Blink camera are claimed to last a year which is twice that of the Arlo entry. The DC power comes into play on the sync modules for both cameras. The syn module (or camera router) needs to be plugged into the wall.
Blink provides a microphone to hear sound but no speaker for 2-way communication. The Arlo camera provides neither a microphone nor speaker.
Lastly, the Arlo camera is waterproof and you can use it outdoors. The Blink camera out of the box cannot be used outdoors although there are ways to do it with third party mounts as outlined in our article Using a Blink Camera Outdoors.
While the battery life is better on the Blink camera, the ability to use the camera outdoors plus a vastly superior night vision capability tilt the hardware advantage to Arlo.
Arlo versus Blink Winner: Arlo
Mounts
The Arlo Smart Home Security Camera incorporates a magnetic dome design with their cameras and offer a variety of mounts for a variety of locations. The Blink camera is made to rest on a flat surface only.
Arlo versus Blink Winner: Arlo
Fun and Different
These cameras are waterproof. Put them outside to monitor your environment. Remember these come with a temporary magnetic mount so hide them well.
The Blink will eventually provide the ability to attach a thumb drive to a USB port on the camera so that you can get on-board storage. However, this isn’t available yet.
Arlo versus Blink Winner: Arlo
The Winner
The Arlo Smart Home Security Camera System wins it over the Blink Home Security Camera System in practically all categories. However, and this is important, the Blink camera will cost a lot less. I don’t publish prices in our articles because they are always changing but as of this publication date, the Blink costs less than Arlo. So for those that are working with a budget, the Blink offers good value but with a limited set of hardware features. However, if you are looking for the best camera, it’s the Arlo Smart Home Camera System.
Arlo versus Blink Overall Winner: Arlo
Quick Specs:
Blink Home Security Camera System
| Video Quality | Field of View | Cloud Support | SD Support | Night Vision | Mobile/Web App | Alerts | Outdoor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1280x720 | 110 Degrees | Yes | No | Yes | Yes/No | Yes | No |
Arlo Smart Home Camera System
| Video Quality | Field of View | Cloud Support | SD Support | Night Vision | Mobile/Web App | Alerts | Outdoor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1280 x 720 | 110 Degrees | Yes, 7 Days Free | No | Yes | Yes/Yes | Yes | Yes |