Blink Cameras – What Are You Doing after The Free Trial Ends?

Cheapkiwi on 22/06/2026 - 14:41

Hey Cheapies,

A little while ago there was a popular deal on Blink cameras, and I'm sure quite a few of us (myself included) jumped on it.

My 1-month free trial is ending tomorrow, and I'm curious how everyone is managing their setup afterwards.

Did you end up taking a Blink subscription?
Are you using local storage with the Sync Module instead and how is that working for you?
What features do you lose without the subscription?
Any tips or workarounds to keep the cameras useful without paying a fortune every month?

Would love to hear what other Cheapies are doing and whether the subscription is actually worth it, or if there's a more cost-effective way to keep everything running smoothly

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  • KiwiHunts4CheapDeals on 22/06/2026 - 15:42

    My subscription ended last week, so I’ve been running everything on local storage since then. Honestly, I don’t see myself paying for it.

    There are a few downsides without the subscription. They’re a bit annoying, but not deal-breakers:

    1. There’s no way to tell which videos you’ve already watched. The usual “red dot” that marks new recordings is gone, so you have to open clips one by one to check. I think this should be illegal!

    2. Video thumbnails are missing in local storage mode, so you don’t get any preview images in the list.

    3. If you open Live View while the camera is recording, it stops the recording. If you want to capture what’s happening live, you’ll need to use your phone’s screen recording instead.

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    • Jexla on 22/06/2026 - 15:57

      3 is a deal breaker for me tbh.

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    • Alan6984 on 22/06/2026 - 16:15

      My subscription ended last week, so I’ve been running everything on local storage since then. Honestly, I don’t see myself paying for it.

      There are a few downsides without the subscription. They’re a bit annoying, but not deal-breakers:

      1. There’s no way to tell which videos you’ve already watched. The usual “red dot” that marks new recordings is gone, so you have to open clips one by one to check. I think this should be illegal!

      2. Video thumbnails are missing in local storage mode, so you don’t get any preview images in the list.

      3. If you open Live View while the camera is recording, it stops the recording. If you want to capture what’s happening live, you’ll need to use your phone’s screen recording instead.

      Number three seems like a pretty serious problem - enough to switch to a different system despite any sunk costs.

      Seems likely that if something is happening, there is a pretty good chance you would want to be monitoring the situation and also recording it?

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      • KiwiHunts4CheapDeals on 22/06/2026 - 16:19

        Agree. I just tested this. If you jump right into the live view while it is recording, then the whole clip is lost if it is not saved locally yet. :(

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  • LupinS on 22/06/2026 - 16:40

    Just find the biggest USB stick you have around and expect to have to replace it at some point once it has too many rewrites (though if most people are like me you'/ll have a ridiculous number sitting around anyway).

    Only real downside for me is that you cant snooze the battery cameras. You can still snooze the door camera, and I also got a USB powered mini that can also still be snoozed (I assume they were originally sold with this advertised as a free thing)

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