- At first glance, Ring and Blink
might feel like two totally different brands.
One has a fully-fledged home security system
and an army of cameras,
while the other is the more budget-friendly,
camera-only option.
They might seem like competitors,
but Blink and Ring are both owned by Amazon.
Just like the cereal in the grocery store
or toys you might buy your kids,
the illusion of choice
still applies to the home security industry.
Amazon acquired Ring and Blink
roughly a year from each other,
but these siblings
each have their own strengths and weaknesses.
Today, I'm going to be exploring prices, products,
and which one is better for you.
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The whole sibling rivalry strategy
is pretty clever on Amazon's part.
It's also fairly common in the home security world.
For example, Alarm.com is known
for white labeling its equipment for other brands to sell.
While there are differences between Blink and Ring,
there are family resemblances in their cameras.
But with a home security system
and pet projects from Amazon, Ring seems to be the favorite.
Blink's edge is mainly in its prices.
Its most expensive security camera is $100 cheaper
than the similar one from Ring.
It seems that Amazon acquired Blink
for its battery saving technology,
but Blink isn't just spare parts.
It is a genuinely affordable option
for a home security camera.
As far as family resemblance goes,
you can see a lot of that in Blink and Ring
both working with the Neighbors app
and in the specs for their cameras.
So let's talk home security cameras.
Blink and Ring both have video doorbells, outdoor cameras,
indoor cameras, and floodlight cameras.
How do they compare?
With seven different ones to choose from,
Ring has dominated this space and expanded from there.
Its catalog consists of battery-powered
and hardwired doorbells,
and even solar panels to keep your footage rolling.
Most of the Ring doorbells stream in 1080p,
except for the Doorbell Pro 2,
which streams in 1536p,
just shy of 2K.
It also has cool features like 3D imaging
that lets you see movements of people around your house.
But, Ring is significantly more expensive than Blink.
Ring's standard, no-frills doorbell cost about $100,
while Blink's is half the price.
So what's up with Blink's doorbell?
Why not go for the cheaper option?
Well, sometimes, you get what you paid for.
Check, check, test, test.
From my view, I can't see much in the live view.
I could only talk,
there's no recording option or anything like that.
When I tested Blink's Video Doorbell,
I wasn't that impressed.
But, there was a little bit I didn't know before jumping in.
Blink's doorbell,
along with any of its other battery-powered products,
needs a Sync Module to store any of the footage.
And I didn't have a Sync Module in my tests.
This left me with limited features,
no live view unless someone rang the doorbell,
and no two-way audio unless I was in live view.
You can check out our full review
on Blink's Video Doorbell right up here.
Now, let's move inside
to look at Ring and Blink's Indoor Cameras.
Blink has the Indoor Cam and the Mini.
Both stream in 1080p and have two-way audio.
The biggest difference between the two is power source.
The Indoor Cam is battery-powered,
so you can move it anywhere in the house,
while the Mini is wired,
but it's super small and posable
so you can angle it anywhere.
Amazon's trust in Blink's cameras is growing.
In May, Amazon announced
that they are swapping out the Cloud Cam for the Blink Mini,
which is really good news for Blink.
The story is similar with Ring's Indoor Cameras.
There's the Indoor Cam and the Stick Up Cam.
The Stick Up Cam really sticks out
because it's weatherproof,
making it an affordable option
for an indoor and outdoor camera.
It also comes with different power options,
like battery, wired, or solar,
but that's really the biggest difference between the two.
Both stream and 1080p, have smart alerts,
motion detection, and two-way audio.
Finally, let's look at Ring and Blink's outdoor
and floodlight cameras.
The Blink Outdoor is nearly identical to the Indoor Cam,
it's just waterproof,
so you won't have to worry about rain, snow, wind,
or the elements at large affecting your video.
And just like the Blink Doorbell, it's battery-powered,
so you can place it anywhere outside of your home.
But, with that, we also recommend getting the Sync Module
so you can store video footage and keep that battery going.
Then, there's the Blink Floodlight cam
with its 700 lumen light.
When it senses motion,
the camera will light up and start recording.
Once again, Ring outcameras Blink
with three instead of two.
There's the Stick Up Cam that I mentioned before,
but Ring also has the Spotlight and the Floodlight Cam.
The biggest difference between those two
really just boils down to hardware.
The Spotlight is the smaller, more understated camera,
while the Ring Floodlight is pretty noticeable and big.
But, they both do essentially the same thing.
When each camera detects motion,
they will start recording
and flash a bright light on anything they see.
Again, Ring brings the variety to this category,
but with Blink's outdoor cameras being battery-powered,
that means they're a lot easier to install.
So far, we've seen that Ring and Blink
have similar offerings with a big price gap:
Blink on the cheaper side of things
while Ring has more stuff.
Now, what about apps and extra features?
Surely, Blink might have an advantage here.
Well, not really.
Blink does have local storage through its Sync Module,
which is something that Ring doesn't have,
but it's not really an option
if you're going with a Blink battery-powered camera.
That $35 device and your own USB thumb drive
is basically mandatory
if you want things like live view and two-way audio.
You can find deals that bundle Blink's cameras
with a Sync Module,
but it's not really optional.
Blink's app is also pretty basic, too.
I didn't find anything super noteworthy in it,
but if you're only looking for nuts and bolts security,
that's not a bad thing.
And security is where Ring trounces Blink.
Along with its list of cameras,
Ring also has a full-fledged security system.
To learn more about that,
check the links in our description
to see our written review on SafeWise.
Like I mentioned before,
Blink and Ring both worked with the Ring Neighbors app
and have cloud subscription services.
Here's what those look like.
Ring has three tiers of cloud service:
Ring Protect Basic, Ring Protect Plus, and Ring Protect Pro.
All three tiers give you access
to video sharing and recording,
but Pro really steps it up
with 24/7 professional monitoring.
We could do an entire video about Ring Protect.
And if you wanna see that, let us know.
But the need to know is this.
The Ring Protect Basic plan is worth the extra cash
if you wanna store all of your video.
But, if you have multiple cameras
or want to monitor your cameras like a security system,
Plus or Pro are the way to go.
As for Blink, you can opt for local storage
through the Sync Module,
or you can try its free 30-day trial with the cloud service.
Blink's cloud storage is priced almost exactly like Ring's.
It's $3 a month for the Basic or $10 a month for the Plus.
The Basic plan is best if you only have one Blink camera,
but you do get things like rapid video access
and video sharing.
Or if you have extra Blink cameras,
go with the Plus for $10 a month.
This option also comes with 10% off of Blink stuff
from Amazon.com.
For all of Blink and Ring's family resemblance,
Ring still comes out on top.
Between these sibling brands,
Ring still has more cameras, professional monitoring,
a full home security system, and better cloud storage.
Whether you're considering a new video doorbell
or something to keep an eye on the nursery,
Ring's got it all!
That said, I wouldn't write off Blink entirely,
at least not yet.
Amazon originally adopted the brand
for its battery-stretching technology.
And with the coming swap of its Cloud Cam
for the Blink Mini,
I'm expecting to see a lot of growth
on that side of the family.
Overall, Blink is a solid choice
for cheap home security cameras, but not much else.
If you wanna weigh in on the great Blink/Ring debate,
drop a comment below and let us know which side you're on.
We've got a ton of resources in the description,
including articles and reviews
about both brands from SafeWise,
as well as links to both cameras on Amazon.
After all, Prime Day is approaching.
And if you found this video helpful,
like and subscribe so we can make more like it.
Thanks for watching and stay safe.
Thanks for watching.
And if you want more safety,
head over to safewise.com, and you can find reviews
and our lineups of best home security systems,
best wireless cameras, and more.
Stay safe!
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