The Blink Outdoor 4 Security Camera is the next iteration of the company’s very successful line of surveillance cameras.
The predecessor to this camera is the Blink Outdoor. We looked at that in 2022 and liked it a lot. Prior generations to that are the XT2 and XT. Each generation made small improvements over the prior one. This camera made most of the improvements on the hardware end.
The great thing about the Blink line of cameras is they last a long time. Just keep changing the batteries.
So let’s look at the latest and greatest from Blink.
Software
You can access the Blink Outdoor 4 Security Camera with your iPhone or Android smartphone. A web based interface is unavailable.
Staying on the trend of little to no documentation, there is very little paperwork in the box. Download the Blink app, hit the + sign to add a camera, scan the UPC and follow the prompts in the app.
Setup was simple and worked exactly as expected.
So let’s move on.
Motion settings include sensitivity, re-trigger time and clip length. There is also a toggle to end the clip early if motion stops. This helps to save on battery and recording space.
Privacy zones and activity zones are supported on the Blink Outdoor 4 Security Camera. Activity zones will help eliminate false motion alerts. Select the areas where valid motion will likely appear and deselect the places where invalid motion might be encountered. Useful applications of activity zones can exclude things like leaves on a tree from creating motion alerts. This is very useful for preserving battery life.
Privacy zones were rolled out to select cameras awhile back which grays out areas that you never want to record. Not terribly sure when this would be useful, but that option is here.
A clip length of 10 seconds suffices for ordinary monitoring and like to use a 20 second re-trigger time. A sensitivity of 7 is used to capture all motion events although you can probably get away with a 5. Again this will have an effect on battery life. The more that is recorded, the less the batteries will last.
Three video qualities are presented which can be selected called Saver, Best and Enhanced. The top delivering 1080p.
That recording light can be turned off within the app. Handy when you don’t want anyone to know when they are being recorded.
Battery status is shown however it’s not displayed as a percentage. It’s going to say OK or Replace. A percentage would be nice, but this is how all the Blink battery cameras work.
No free cloud storage (although there is a free trial with a newly purchased camera). Video history is either saved to an external thumb drive attached to the sync module 2 or cloud plan subscription. Cameras with free cloud storage are becoming rare.
Photo Capture rolled out with the prior generation and the Blink Outdoor 4 has it too. Enabling Photo Capture will take a photo hourly and will appear in the Clip Roll.
Hardware
That’s a Blink Outdoor Security Camera in the photo that accompanies this article. It’s a square camera just like the older generations. It’s quite small measuring 2.8 x 2.8 x 1.6 inches and weighing in at 5 ounces. That’s .2 inches deeper and an additional ounce. The feel of the cameras is much more substantial than it’s predecessor.
This camera can be used indoors or outside.
No A/C power necessary for the Blink Outdoor Security Camera as they work on a set of AA lithium batteries. Blink includes two Energizer AA lithium batteries with the camera. According to Blink, these will last up to two years with standard use. We always suggest using lithium batteries and have found from experience the best are from Energizer.
You will find the hardest part of battery changes might be climbing the ladder to get to the Blink Outdoor 4. Opening the battery compartment can be easily accomplished using the plastic screwdriver provided or just use a quarter.
Like prior Blink generations, the Blink Outdoor 4 Security Camera attaches via Blink Protocol to a sync module. The Sync Module stays indoors located somewhere between the cameras and wireless router via 2.4 MHz 802.11 b/g/n. We discuss how to best position the Blink Sync Module on our site as it’s a bit of an arts and crafts project to get the best signal.
While you can purchase one of these cameras to attach to an older sync module, these come with the new Blink Sync Module 2. As discussed in the software section, this module has a USB port that will handle up to a 256 GB thumb drive to store video history.
The Blink Outdoor 4 Security Camera features a 143 degree field of vision at 1080p. This is a huge improvement over the past generation which had a 110 degree view.
Night vision is improved on this camera versus older generations. Can’t find anything on the exact infrared specs, but they did something different to step up the quality of images at night.
There’s an integrated microphone and speaker that delivers acceptable sound quality.
The camera works with IFTTT. You can do some basic automation including arming, disarming and alert notifications. The camera also integrates with Alexa so you can watch it on an Echo Show or Echo Spot. Limit use of this option as your viewing activity will directly effect the battery life.
Connectivity
The Blink Outdoor Security Camera sync module connects to the router at 2.4GHz using 802.11 b/g/n. This is connectivity between the sync module and wireless router. Remember that the camera connects to the sync module, not the router. I have used these outdoors 50 feet from the sync module without a problem.
Mounts
A useful ball and socket swivel mount comes with this camera. This bolts onto a wall and attaches to the camera using the rear hole that has the screw for opening the camera up. Nice job here.
Fun and Different
An extended battery pack is available for this camera. This can double the time between battery changes to up to four years. That’s pretty amazing if it’s accurate. So put these as high as you like because you won’t have to climb the ladder to change the batteries for a long time.
Summary
The Blink Outdoor 4 has notable improvements over the past generation. Mostly on the hardware end, we appreciate the sturdier case, new mount and availability of an extended battery pack. We also liked seeing improvements to the field of view and night vision.
It’s a worthy addition to your Blink arsenal or a solid entry level into this line of home security cameras.
Article about Blink Outdoor 4 Mounts
Quick Specs:
| Video Quality | Field of View | Cloud Support | SD Support | Night Vision | Mobile/Web App | Alerts | Outdoor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1080p | 143 Degrees | Yes | Yes (via sync module 2) | Yes | Yes/No | Yes | Yes |
Manufacturer Link: Blink