The Blink Mini camera is a versatile tool that can be used inside your house to keep an eye on what’s going on. It can be a great addition to your Blink home security system, whether you are home or away.
The Blink Mini has an assortment of features, most of which can be used without a Blink subscription. With that in mind, you probably ended up reading this because you want to know if your Blink Mini can still be used with a Blink subscription.
The Blink Mini camera can be used without a subscription, but video clips cannot be stored to the cloud. Live view can be viewed but cannot be recorded at all, even if you have local storage set up. Motion alerts can be recorded to local storage and viewed at any time in the Blink app.
Let’s go over those features that are available with and without a Blink subscription.
Can I Use Blink Mini Without A Subscription?
Blink does not require a subscription to use any of their cameras but does limit their functionality without a paid subscription.
For the Blink Mini, there are two key things that a paid subscription plan enables:
- Save Live View sessions so you can view them later
- Use cloud storage to save and access previous recordings
Those rules apply to the other current Blink cameras as well; the Blink Indoor and Blink Outdoor. The difference between the Blink Mini and the Blink Indoor or Blink Outdoor is that the Blink Mini does not require a Sync Module in order to control the camera or to stream the Live View.
The Blink Mini is capable of connecting directly to the internet and sending video to the Blink cloud. In contrast, the Blink Indoor and the Blink Outdoor must be connected to the Sync Module, which relays the video to the cloud.
Hopefully, I’ve cleared up the main advantages of what a subscription plan will get you, but what do you get when you don’t have a subscription?
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What Can The Blink Mini Do Without A Subscription?
The Blink Indoor and Outdoor both require a Sync Module to be used. The Blink Mini is the only Blink camera that can stream directly to the Blink app without any additional hardware.
Without a subscription, the Blink MIni will send motion alerts and stream the Live View to the Blink app. If connected to a Sync Module, the Blink Camera can save motion detection clips to an attached USB flash drive. The Blink Mini is also capable of two-way audio using the Blink app.
If you don’t buy the additional SYnc Module, you will have no way of saving clips without a subscription plan.
How to Save Motion Clips Without a Blink Subscription
I’ve mentioned the Sync Module several times now, so let’s review what that does. More specifically, you will need the Blink Sync Module 2 to save clips. The newer sync module has a USB port that is used to connect a USB flash drive to. The original version does not have a USB port and cannot store clips. It has no internal storage. Let me summarize.
To save motion clips without a Blink subscription, you need the Blink Sync Module 2 and a USB flash drive. The Blink Sync Module will store motion clips from your Blink Indoor, Blink Outdoor, or Blink Mini to the USB drive. The clips can be viewed on a computer or through the Blink app.
If you do end up getting a Blink subscription, the Sync Module will back up your clips to Blink’s cloud storage automatically at the end of every day.
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Blink Subscription Offerings
If you are interested in learning more about Blink subscriptions, here is the comparison table from Amazon, the owners of Blink. The most current version can be found on Amazon’s website here. In my opinion, the table is a little misleading because it doesn’t account for what you can do when you have the Blink Sync Module 2.
Compare Blink Subscription Plans
| Without plan | Blink Basic Plan | Blink Plus Plan | |
| Price | $3/month per device or save and subscribe for $30/year | $10/month for unlimited devices or save and subscribe for $100/year | |
| Number of devices supported | N/A | 1 | Unlimited number of devices per account |
| Motion-activated notifications |  |  |  |
| Live view streaming |  |  |  |
| Motion detection video recording |  |  | |
| Live view recording |  |  | |
| 60-day unlimited video history |  |  | |
| Rapid video access (instantly watch your videos as soon as they’re recorded) |  |  | |
| Video sharing |  |  | |
| Photo capture (images captured periodically for more coverage)* |  |  | |
| 10% off Blink devices on Amazon.com |  | ||
| Extended warranty coverage |  |
*Feature applicable to new Blink Indoor and Outdoor cameras.
Does blink mini work alone? Does Blink Mini need a Hub?
Let me offer this up as a conclusion to this article.
The Blink Mini can work alone for motion alerts and to view Live View in the Blink app. If paired with a Sync Module 2, motion detected videos can be stored locally, but not Live View clips. A Blink Subscription enables the recording of motion events and Live View clips.
In summary, the Blink Mini works as a stand-alone device, with no need for a hub or subscription if you only want to be notified when motion is detected or to view the Live View in the Blink app.
If you want to save the clips when motion is detected, you will need either the Sync Module 2 or a subscription plan.
If you want to record Live View clips, you will need to pay for the monthly subscription.
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