To help us provide you with free impartial advice, we may earn a commission if you buy through links on our site. Learn more
Amazon has just announced that the Blink Video Doorbell (2nd generation) is coming to the UK.
The new device was first unveiled for the US market in May but now its hopping across the Atlantic. It comes with some significant new upgrades that should address the weaknesses of the original – and Amazon has kept the price low, too, at a mere £50.
The overall look of the doorbell is much more stylish than the original but the most significant upgrade is to the camera.
First, the field of view has been expanded to capture a full “head-to-toe” 150°, both horizontally and vertically. This means the doorbell’s camera will be able to show much more of the area in front of your door, including most of the front step – useful if couriers regularly tend to leave packages there.
Second, the resolution has been bumped up from 1080p to 1440p. Video quality is something we have criticised in the past in the previous model, so this is a welcome upgrade.
The doorbell can also now detect people, vehicles and animals and only alert you if it detects one of those types of objects. Although note that those features are only available if you take out a cloud video clip storage subscription.
There’s also proper weather proofing with an IP65 rating ensuring it should be able to shrug off a rain shower. And while the battery life is the same “up to two years” as the original Blink doorbell, the doorbell now runs on three rather than two AA batteries.
The final change is that the doorbell now requires one of Amazon’s Sync Modules to function. That’s not too onerous a requirement, though, since it should work with any existing modules you own, and it can be purchased in a bundle with the Sync Module Core for £60.
The Blink Video Doorbell (2nd generation) is available to preorder from today from Amazon with product shipping due in mid-August.
