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

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  felixfurtak on 30/06/2026 - 12:07

  I was bored last weekend, so I started writing a method to extract the video data from the Blink system without using a subscription.

  The basic idea is to create a virtual USB flash drive that is connected to the Sync Module that can also be read remotely.

  It even does AI person detection on the videos and generates image thumbnails of the people from the video stream, so you get back almost all the functionality of the subscription.

  All done locally on a ~$30 Raspberry Pi Zero with 0.5Gb RAM, although It can upload to cloud automatically too if required.

  It's already working pretty well after around 10 hours of work.

  I'll finish the code off this weekend and upload to Github if anyone's interested.

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    qtboi on 30/06/2026 - 12:12

    keen as please!

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      felixfurtak on 04/07/2026 - 13:29

      @qtboi Here you go!

      https://github.com/felixfurtak1/blink-gadget

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        qtboi on 04/07/2026 - 17:40

        Woohoo thank you!!

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      felixfurtak on 30/06/2026 - 12:13

      Here's sample thumbnail image https://imgur.com/a/nwk0tPw

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        Latex Fist on 30/06/2026 - 12:30

        Put some shoes on.

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        Alan6984 on 30/06/2026 - 14:56

        Here's sample thumbnail image (https://imgur.com/a/nwk0tPw)

        I'm inclined to pick up the Blink stuff and a PiZero just to try it out!

        However, the filename needs fixing as a matter of great urgency… 08-57 when the time was, I am guessing, 2057hrs !!!

        If the image was from 12 hours or so prior to the timestamp in the picture, then I apologises :-).

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          felixfurtak on 30/06/2026 - 15:00

          @Alan6984: Yeah, the file structure is created by the Blink module. It's fairly stupid and also seems to use UTC time, hence why it's 12 hrs out. However, I just extract the Metadata from the video file to get the actual capture time, which is printed above.

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            Alan6984 on 30/06/2026 - 22:20

            @felixfurtak:

            Yeah, the file structure is created by the Blink module. It's fairly stupid and also seems to use UTC time, hence why it's 12 hrs out.

            Darn - Means that Blink is dead to me for, well, gross stupidity!

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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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  Cheapkiwi on 24/06/2026 - 06:39

  Thanks guys, for now I requested them to extend trial period by a month and they did..

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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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  qtboi on 25/06/2026 - 16:58

  I mainly grabbed it for a bit of fun while it was cheap. At the moment I’m just running it with a USB for local storage, which does the job.

  That said, I don’t think it’s the best bang for your buck compared to other options out there. The battery setup is a bit of a downside - having to deal with replacing batteries instead of just recharging like some competitors makes it a bit less convenient and costly long-term.

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    Rowjo on 26/06/2026 - 12:52

    I bought some solar panels with battery (charges itself and discharges to the camera)
    Seems to he working well at this stage

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      qtboi on 26/06/2026 - 13:14

      oo that's epic - which ones? My house is kitted with Eufy and Tapo so just got the blink to play around with ahah

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  NovaAlpha on 26/06/2026 - 01:06

  People really need to think carefully about what a security camera is actually supposed to achieve. I see a lot of people jumping on these camera deals without considering the limitations.

  A security camera is only useful if the footage survives the incident. If I were planning to break into a house, I wouldn't walk in blindly. I'd do reconnaissance first and identify any cameras that are visible from outside.

  If the cameras are mounted externally and are physically accessible, they can be disabled before the break-in even begins. A burglar could:

  • Use a long telescopic pole to damage them.
  • Use a ladder to remove them.
  • Cut exposed cables on wired cameras.
  • Knock down magnet-mounted cameras with a stick or even a thrown object.

  Convenient installation often means convenient removal.

  Even if the cameras themselves survive, local recording has another major weakness. If someone gains access to the house, they can simply:

  • Steal the DVR/NVR and indoor cameras.
  • Remove the hard drives.
  • Take the microSD cards from indoor cameras.

  At that point, all of your evidence disappears with them.

  If your cameras successfully record a burglary, the assumption is that you're not home to stop it. You're relying on that footage afterwards for identification and evidence to hand to the police.

  If all recordings are stored locally on:

  • A microSD card, or
  • A DVR/NVR inside the house

  then you're trusting the burglar not to take the very thing containing the evidence. Without some form of off-site backup or cloud storage, that's a significant vulnerability.

  Many people avoid subscriptions and assume local storage is enough. In reality, local-only storage leaves a major gap in your security setup. You don't necessarily need an expensive cloud subscription, but you do need footage stored somewhere a burglar can't physically access.

  One of the easiest and cheapest solutions is to use a spare Android phone as a dedicated monitoring camera. I've had good results using Security Camera CZ. Takes less than 10 minutes to setup. A basic budget Android phone (something around the $200 mark, such as a Xiaomi device) is more than sufficient.

  The setup can:

  • Upload motion-triggered photos or videos directly to Google Drive (use a dedicated Google account - which comes with 15GB of free storage).
  • Automatically delete older recordings in your Google Drive when storage gets low on space.
  • Support configurable motion detection.
  • Provide live viewing from your primary phone.
  • Run efficiently without causing overheating.

  There are plenty of more advanced solutions available, like using Frigate and FTP servers and some other options. But for many people, the above option provides off-site recording, motion detection, and remote viewing with minimal cost and setup effort.

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    Liger Zero on 27/06/2026 - 00:15

    People really need to think carefully about what a security camera is actually supposed to achieve
    A security camera is only useful if the footage survives the incident

    You seem to think about this from a very narrow perspective, a security camera is useful as security theatre, monitoring the postie/neighbours/potential porch pirates, checking for suspicious activity. Plus, there are plenty of opportunists that will be deterred by the presence of a camera and look for low hanging fruit.

    I think you do make a good point about perhaps being lulled into a full sense of security. But only one look at Amazon reviews and you know it's not meant to be a robust and industrial grade security system, just something basic and very simple to set up and use.

    Your Android phone solution is probably just too annoying for the target market here. Maybe some cheapies will try though.

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      NovaAlpha on 27/06/2026 - 11:42

      Again, the monitoring relies on recorded footage, or you'd just be doing live monitoring (in which case having a footage or not won't matter). If you think relying on a single microSD card for local backup is enough, then you do you. When it comes to backups, experts will tell you to never just have one backup point. So your option is to either invest in a cloud subscription (for additional cloud storage) and waste your money, or invest in something that is free but provides a bit more setup.

      Personally, if I want to setup something for various purposes, I don't just half-ass the setup with something cheap. If you want to do something, do it properly. The Android phone suggestion is not the best solution, but it addresses all my points and yours. If you want to go deeper, setup the cameras to be used with custom firmware (if supported) and use Frigate with AI detection.

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