[DEPRECATED] Blink Camera Device Handler with Motion Sensor, Live Video Streaming, Integration with SmartThings/SHM, Temperature, Signals and Push Notifications

My card was charged for the XT but I haven’t gotten a shipping confirmation - for those of you who have shipping notices or got yours already, how long did it take from the time they charged your card?

1 Like

My card was charged on the 27th. I received the shipping email on the 28th from Blink by Immedia that had a working tracking number. Then I received another shipping email from Blink Home Monitor with a invalid shipping tracking number which I assume was Amazon as it hit the Pittsburgh, PA facility that day. I received them on the 30th.

The camera is slightly larger than the original version. The port on the back is covered by a removable rubber plug. The mounting bracket is the same as the original, just Black. The instruction book included does not cover the XT, it was for the original Blink. The links above to the videos and instructions on the XT helped out (big thank you to @beckwith for posting it). When adding the camera to the Blink Android app, they show a quick video on how to remove the rear cover, nowhere does it show the micro switch to turn off the blue record light (only in the links above). The battery percentage reported by ST is all over the place. This is probably why they recently changed the Blink Android app to say “OK” instead of a percentage. Temperature on the 2 cameras is within 1 degree of AccuWeather and 3 degrees of the ST Weather Tile. At night, there is a slight red light emanating from the IR led when it is recording. Daytime still photos were visually slightly sharper than the original Camera (Photo1.jpg). Photo2 is a still from the same camera at night (I think the IR level was set to High). Daytime video strait from Blink (Clip1 - Front Camera and Clip2 – Rear Camera). Nighttime video strait from Blink (Clip3 - Front Camera and Clip4 – Rear Camera). For Clip3 IR was set to low, the white railings reflected the light source. This setting provided the best picture quality at the steps/porch area. For Clip4 the IR was set to high. I couldn’t load video here, so I put them here:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeBap6s0v_kgSHhROmk-9Qg


5 Likes

Thanks for the info. Any other news to report since receiving the Blink XT? Pros, cons?

No real issues with them so far. The night vision video isn’t like the higher end cameras, not as clear. But you can only expect so much from a battery operated Wi-Fi camera you can stick just about anywhere. I had to move a sync module to get one of them into the green for sync signal strength, just too many walls to go through where it was originally at. If the wind is blowing hard enough and in the right direction I get a little shake in the video sometimes caused by the design of the mount and where I have them installed. They are working great with RBoy’s app and I’m am trying out a webCoRE piston controlling the sensitivity for different times of the day to lower the motion alerts due to the waving flag shadow on sunny days.

3 Likes

On request from users:

###Blink Camera Manager - Version 05.08.00

  • < no change >

###Blink Device Handler - Version 05.04.01

  • Added support for temperature correction for individual cameras (through each camera’s settings page)
  • Updated the color scheme to match ST’s recommendations
  • Capability Alarm has been commented out by default to avoid confusion. It recommended to use the Intruder Alert SmartApp instead of using the Alarm interface to take pictures.
2 Likes

Hi @RBoy,

Do you have the date for the Blink Siran and the new celular module release?

P.S. I find this halarious:

Hey there, i have a dilemma where i cant install a camera outside.
I wanted to put a camera inside my house looking through a insulated windowed door
Do you guys think the blink XT will work? or anyone with a blink XT can verify?
Any other alternatives if this does not work?

Thanks. Great feedback. I’ve been looking at a few outdoors cameras and all have some drawbacks.

  • Nest Outdoor Camera - Nest Aware service is expensive but consensus seems to be the video quality is very good. It does require to be wired and due to 24/7 video takes up a lot of upload bandwidth.

  • Kuna - I have one. Works pretty well but constantly goes off. Trees shaking due to wind, rain, shade, all make the camera go off. Lowering sensitivity makes you miss real events.

  • Arlo Pro - Supports wired and wireless options with free 7 day video on the cloud. However, there are tons of issues reported by end users on their forums. Many folks have returned their units.

  • Blink XT - Haven’t tried yet :slight_smile:

Just got my XT. Unfortunately, range appears worse. Put XT under eaves where I had original blink and module and wifi connections weaker.

Blink doesn’t play well through windows.
Blink XT can be mounted outside any where it can get signal from your wi-fi router and the Sync module.
Regular Blink cameras can also work outside of your house; however they need to be sheltered from the elements.

Just got a push notification of the updated device handler availabe. Never seen that before but it was cool!

2 Likes

I just received it as well, thought my home alarm was going off :).

Have to head to the site and see what changes were made.

1 Like

So far my range seems okay. Installed 1 floor down from the hub and under the garage eave outside. Tet will be the back door.

I agree, Very cool!

1 Like

all 3 XT’s installed, all is working well, and range is not an issue. Happy so far.

2 Likes

I received an XT as well. Within ST if I got to the Blink Camera Manager it shows the camera there but I do not have a new camera under Things. Do I need to manually do something to get this to show?

Did you try pressing done while in the Camera Manager app?

1 Like

No I was pressing back. That did it! :upside_down:

Have you foud a way to add the live stream to Active tile?