Blink Outdoor 4 XR – two-year battery wireless camera with 4x security coverage, 1000 ft open-air range or 400 ft with typical use — 4 camera system.

Wow 🤩 Loved the cameras already but the new XR sync module is amazing!!
These cameras are incredible! We have had 3 Blink Outdoor 4 cameras for over a year now and they reach about 200 feet from our house with the regular sync module. I decided to purchase two more with the XR Sync Module to see if they would work at the distances advertised. I have to say I’m blown away by their performance on XR+. They are well worth it for us even with XR+ having a saver option as the only selectable video quality and no use of the microphones. I installed one at our gate which is 532’ from our house where the sync module is plugged in and one at our barn which is 295’ away through a lot of trees. They were super easy to install. There is a XR option that allows standard HD video quality but ours had to be on the XR+ option to connect at the distance I placed them but they still show 2 bars of connectivity to the sync module so I could probably go even further with them if I needed to.Both cameras pick up motion well both day and night and the video quality is pretty good for being in saver mode. I still can’t believe they work so far away and it’s nice to have extra security on our acreage. Now I know when I have packages or mail delivered or if something is in our barn that shouldn’t be such as coyotes or bobcats. I’m always checking them and the batteries are still going strong. I wanted to purchase 2 more cameras with the XR module but there was a limit of one purchase because of the Prime Day deal. I will definitely be purchasing them again next year because there are other spots I’d like to put cameras up that are further away than the regular sync module can handle.I’ll attach pictures to show how far they are from our house and some of the night and day image quality. I used the measure tool on Google Earth for measurements. I highly recommend them!

Outstanding Range and Battery Life… Extremely Impressed
The Blink Outdoor 4 XR cameras are seriously impressive. The extended range is a huge upgrade having coverage up to 1000 ft open-air (and strong performance even with typical use) makes placement so much more flexible around the property.The two-year battery life is another big win. I don’t have to constantly worry about changing batteries, and they’ve been very reliable. Video quality is sharp, motion alerts are quick, and the overall performance has been solid.If you need dependable wireless cameras with extended range and long battery life, this 2-camera system is absolutely worth it. Great addition to my setup and highly recommended.

The things Blink doesn’t tell you…….
Subscription or No Subscription, 2K or Outdoor4……I have done some extensive testing with the intent to record to the XM Module’s SD card and not purchase a Subscription. Sync Module Core= No SDcard, Sync Module XR= microSDcard storage + extended range, Sync Module 2= Old version?, USB flashdrive storage. Here’s my findings in hopes it helps someone decide whether to get these cameras and/or Subscription or not……. Or more probable you’re interested in the video quality so skip to the end.–Motion Detection using the Subscription only “Smart Detect” vs no Subscription—I found they detect almost identical with a Subscription (Smart Detect) or without Subscription (pixel change to detect motion?) which was surprising. Also note, for the purpose of seeing what Motion Detection is like without “Smart Detect” you’d think you can just toggle off the “Smart” Person and Vehicle and leave Other Motion selected, nope, I spent a lot of time with customer service without solving this and there appears to be a software glitch here. I literally did jumping jacks in front of multiple cameras and no motion was detected 90% of the time. You have to cancel the Trial Period to see how the cameras will react without Smart Detect. Motion testing was done by having two Blink Accounts, one running on my Ipad (no Subscription) and the other running on my Iphone (Subscription), a camera on each account was co-located in 2 separate locations (4 cameras total), motion sensitivity 9 on all cameras, and see if they detect motion differently. Surprisingly both cameras seemed to detect motion almost identically whether with or without the Smart Detect feature. Unfortunately I haven’t had a chance to see how many false alarms with blowing leaves etc, I’m thinking this will be where the Smart Detect will help, but when driving or walking within range of the cameras they trigger pretty much at the same time. It’s not the best detection I’ve seen in a motion detecting product but I’d def rate it above average for the testing I’ve done.–Notifications-  Motion Detection ON/OFF is for ALL cameras, you can’t have only 1 or 2 cameras notify and the rest set to record only. So if the intent is to get lots of cameras but only have your phone beep if a certain camera triggers, think again. There is a Snooze Notification function for each camera but the max is 24hr and then each will need to be re-Snoozed again the next day. It’s cumbersome because you have to create a “Custom” Snooze for each camera, each time. With no Subscription you can Snooze, but only for up to 4hrs.-Motion Detection Notification is the same with or without a Subscription. Without a Subscription it notifies there is motion and if clicking on the notification it opens the Live View on the camera of the notification selected, recordings are only viewable by pulling the SD card to view on a computer. With a subscription recording is viewable on the app as soon as the recording is done uploading that specific video. Live view is avail with or without subscription, speed to view depends on your cameras upload speed/reception and also your phones download speed/reception. It can be slow to load and there is always a 3-ish second or more delay which if using the Doorbell would make for an awkward conversation.–microSD card-  2400-ish recordings (best quality) with average of 20sec each = only 2% used on a 256GB SD (which is max GB SD-card supported). -Does not overwrite old video when the SD is full and will need to be reformatted, but that should be a lot of recording, more than I was expecting to only be at 2% after a month.-If using a Subscription the recording will download to the SD at a later time but are accessible on the app (backup is done every 24hr to SD if I remember reading correctly?). (And realistically it’s pointless to backup to an SD if planning to get a Subscription, Blink saves it for 60days and you can forward any recordings to yourself) Without a Subscription video is downloaded immediate to the SD but the recordings are not viewable thru the app and can only be viewed by pulling the SD to view in a computer. An internet connection to Blink is required for the cameras to work, PERIOD. (ie- without the Subscription I would have thought the cameras would record straight to the SD card as long as there is a router/Wifi for the camera and Module to talk to one another. This is not the case, it appears to be required that a Blink internet connection is part of the process in order for the cameras to even stay connected to the module and disconnect from the Module if the Internet connection is lost).-If using the XR Module with an SD card the individual files/recordings on the SD card are labeled in UTC time of the recording. The video itself (MP4) will not have a clock on the recording like you’d see in a surveillance video.–Trial Period / Subscription-The Trial is for 30days and the return period is the same. Hmmmm, this doesn’t let you get a look at what you’re in for if you’re planning to use these without a Subscription, but here’s how you can turn the Trial Subscription on and off….. -Each camera comes with a 30day Free Trial Subscription (at the time of this writing anyways). This is camera specific and starts when adding a new camera (not when purchased) even if it was purchased in a multi camera package months prior. If the Trial is cancelled in settings to see how the cameras and app will react with no-Subscription, to turn it back on, delete the camera and then re-add it. Whatever you have left on the Trial Period for that camera will be what you have now reactivated on your app. The Trial is CAMERA SPECIFIC so if you have 2days left from when you added camera1 and you add camera2, you now have reset to another 30day Trial. If cancelling the Trial again, and then you re-add camera1 you have 2days left even though camera2 is still connected, if you were to re-add camera2 you now have 30days. Long story short, use the last new camera added to turn your Trial back On.-If creating more than one Blink account the phone number and email for each will have to be different, and Blink does verify by sending a PIN # to each.–Video Quality- The attached photos are snapshots of video recorded in “Best” (with the video snapshots magnified to better compare)….-The 2K does have a better image quality but the biggest difference I noticed between the 2K and Outdoor4 is if there is any movement. The object/person itself will not be as clear but also the background becomes slightly blurred after an object has passed. Depending on the circumstances and speed of the movement the Outdoor4 can take around 6sec to fully recover to full pixel quality while the 2K recovers in under 2sec. It’s not like it scrambles the picture but as seen below it can make a license plate unreadable.–Videos–Outdoor4- (Dark / Light)– Video Quality is tested in a lit setting and then completely dark (using the camera’s IR light).    Saver vs Standard vs Best of a wine box which is 8′ from the camera.-2K vs Outdoor4- Vehicles are stationary, 1st vehicle license plate is 13′ from cameras, 2nd vehicle is a tad under 23′.  -2K vs Outdoor4 w/Motion-  Neither camera can read a license plate if it’s moving with much speed. This video was taken of a car pulling into my driveway, it’s passing near the cameras and this is the best quality I can get when it’s about 12′ away pulling directly away from the cameras, but still not readable on either camera. Slower movement can be readable.My takeaway……. Only because these cameras are a pretty cheap bang for the buck when purchased at 50% off am I keeping them. Because of Blink not allowing separate notification control for individual cameras I will have 2 accounts. One with a Subscription to notify on my phone if motion is detected for select cameras and/or to have access to those recordings. The other account is No Subscription for cameras which may continually be triggered by the dog or other which I don’t wish to be notified. In a perfect world this 2nd set of recordings will never need to be looked at however they are on an SD card if ever needed. Sorry for the length of this, these were all questions I had when starting this and I hope I can save someone some time and frustration with my wordy dialog.