Nest Cam vs Blink XT – Features, Pros and Cons

There are plenty of smart security cameras on the market, so it can be tough to decide how you want to equip your home. Nest and Blink both offer benefits and drawbacks to your home security solutions, but can ultimately enhance your experience by providing security footage at your fingertips with plenty of other features.

Main Differences Between Nest Cam and Blink XT

The main difference between the Nest camera and Nest Cam Blink XT are:

• Storage solutions. The Nest camera requires a monthly subscription to their Nest Aware service in order to store your footage online. Blink XT offers two hours of cloud storage free without a subscription.
• Monthly subscription costs. Nest Aware has three different monthly subscriptions, each offering more storage space and time than the last. Blink XT doesn’t have any monthly subscription and only offers two hours of cloud storage for free for all users with no available upgrades.
• Two-way talk. Nest cameras have a two-way talk feature allowing you to communicate with the person on the other side of the camera. Blink XT does not.
• Facial recognition. Nest IQ cameras have highly intelligent facial recognition and can tell you exactly who is in the frame. It can even differentiate between a person and an object. Blink XT cannot.
• Custom activity zones. Nest cameras allow you to set up custom activity zones for increased security in certain places. Blink XT instead allows you to customize the length of time you want it to record.

Nest Cam

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Nest has plenty of home automation products that can turn your house into a smart home. From security equipment to thermostats, Nest has almost everything you need. Their lineup of products improves your home’s safety and performance.

Because the founders of Nest are former Apple engineers, the company has focused on delivering tech-advanced automation tools. Since Nest became a part of Google’s Hardware Unit, Google Assistant is built into every indoor smart camera Nest offers.

Features

Nest cameras are packed with technology to make your life easier. With 24/7 live video, you can access the camera feed at any time, no matter where you are. The high-quality, 1080p HD video allows you to review your footage in extreme detail. This keeps you safer and helps you identify criminals with the help of police, if needed.

Nest also has night vision, helping you to identify activity in the dark, and Supersight, which uses 4K sensors to show detailed views of every camera angle. And with a 3-hour snapshot history, you can see a quick, high-level overview of what’s been happening at home.

Two-way talk functionality allows you to communicate with friends and family in another room or talk to visitors who come to the door. You can also scare away intruders by letting them know you can see what they’re doing.

Custom activity zones allow you to pay more attention to certain spots in the camera’s view. This is especially useful if you want to be alerted to someone in the frame who might be trying to gain access to a safe or some other valuables.

Storage

A 30-day video history gives you access to your 24/7 stream for thirty days with a Nest Aware subscription, plus you have 300GB of cloud storage to hold all the footage you need at one time. Storing all of your video footage in one place allows you to share clips with neighbors or warn other Nest users in the area if someone suspicious is on the prowl.

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Mobile Application

If you connect your Nest camera to Wi-Fi and download the app on your smartphone, you’ll have access to your footage on the go. You can collect insights on camera activity, use the two-way talk feature, and review footage in detail.

Set up alerts on your phone so you get notifications whenever your camera detects movement. Nest IQ cameras have facial recognition, so your phone will tell you who is at the door. If it doesn’t recognize the person, you can determine whether it’s a stranger, the mailman, or an intruder.

Ease of Use

Nest makes it easy to set up their cameras and the mobile app. Once you download the Nest app to your smartphone, it will walk you through how to connect your camera and set it up. It’s as simple as that. The outdoor cameras are a bit more tricky, but still pretty easy for someone knowledgeable about technology.

Customer Service

Nest’s customer service includes a self-help section online with guides, articles, and tutorials to help you find what you need quickly. It’s easy to search and navigate. There’s also a community forum where you can talk to other Nest users and share unique and innovative solutions.

You can contact Nest directly via live chat, phone, email, or Twitter. There aren’t too many online complaints about Nest customer service, and as an added bonus, returns and exchanges are easy if you have any sort of trouble with your product out of the box.

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Nest Aware Plans

Nest offers subscription plans to give you increased access to your camera footage. With 5, 10, and 30-day plans, you have access to your video history for 5, 10, or 30 days. You get at least 100 GB of cloud storage, and with the 30-day plan, you get 300 GB.

All plans give you 24/7 continuous recording so you won’t miss anything. They help improve the functionality of your IQ camera by giving you intelligent person alerts and differentiating between people and objects.

It’s easy to search your video history using clips and time lapses. If you want to view footage in more detail, simply set up activity zones or watch in 1080p HD. Each plan comes with a monthly cost, so it makes the Nest cameras overall a bit more expensive, but it’s well worth the extra features.

Nest Cam Pros:

• Two-way talk
• Custom activity zones
• Facial recognition
• Great mobile app
• 1080p HD video

Nest Cam Cons:

• Monthly subscription fees offer more storage, but cost more money

Blink XT

The Blink XT (read my full review here!) is a simpler camera solution that doesn’t have the same fancy features but offers solid performance and high-quality video. It’s also weatherproof, so it can work both indoors and outside. It’s a great camera for people on a budget.

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Performance

Blink XT cameras don’t come with a monthly subscription option like Nest. Blink XT cameras offer two hours of motion-activated video stored in the cloud. The videos record in a loop, so as soon as your two hours are up, it starts recording new video over the oldest footage.

One disadvantage to this system is that it doesn’t record clips when it detects motion in front of the camera. It begins recording when it detects the motion and then records for a period of time that you indicate in your settings. You also have to set up a reset time, which tells the device how long it needs to sleep after recording before it’s capable of recording again.

If you set up your recording time too short or your sleep time too long, you may miss activity you need. However, if you set up the opposite, you’ll fill up your two hours of cloud storage very quickly and won’t capture anything but squirrels or rabbits running by.

The benefit of this type of recording model is that you don’t have to pay an extra monthly fee. A lot of security cameras require at least a $10 per month subscription to store anything at all on the cloud. With Blink XT, you get two hours free.

Audio

Blink XT audio is similar to other security cameras. You may sometimes hear an echo, but the sound is otherwise clear. You can hear conversations and detect what exactly is being said without any problems understanding.

Video

Blink XT cameras don’t record the best video of any smart security camera, but they do still offer 1080p resolution for a clear picture when you watch your recordings later. A 110-degree field of view is a little less than the typical 130 degrees you get with most cameras.

However, Blink XT does offer infrared recording at night, so you can see what goes on at night. The criminals don’t take a break, and neither should your security camera. This is a great feature on a more affordable camera and many other cameras in this category don’t have it.

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Mobile Application

The Blink mobile application is well-designed. The user interface is clear and intuitive. You have the ability to change your recording settings, change schedules, and enter live viewing mode to see what’s happening on your front porch right now.

The app is easy to learn, understand, and use. When it’s time to view your footage or make a change to your settings, you can do it quickly with no problem.

Real-Time

While viewing your video in real-time is possible, the feed seems to be choppy because of low latency. A lag of up to five seconds can affect your viewing capability when streaming in real-time. You could miss a lot of action in five seconds if the video cuts out at the wrong time.

Installation

Blink XT will rest on any shelf or horizontal surface. You can also mount it to a wall with the mounting hardware Blink provides in the box. You need two AA batteries for the camera which is great because you don’t have to mess with wires, making it easier to install outside.

Blink XT Pros:

• Affordable
• Weatherproof
• Free cloud storage
• Easy mobile app

Blink XT Cons:

• Smaller field of view
• Only two hours of storage available

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Comparison Chart

Wrap Up

Nest cameras come with plenty of features and subscription plans to choose from so you can customize every bit of your experience. They’re easy to install with indoor and outdoor options, and the mobile app gives you access to your footage and alerts.

The drawback to Nest cameras is that they are slightly more expensive and you have to sign up for Nest Aware to get any cloud storage at all. But they do offer enhanced features like two-way audio and facial recognition.

The Blink XT security camera comes in with just enough features at the right price point to make it the perfect solution for someone who needs a weatherproof option or who isn’t very tech savvy. The user experience is good, and it provides good audio and video with two hours of free cloud storage.

It also has a mobile app and no monthly subscription fees. It has a few drawbacks, but overall, it’s a great security camera for a great price. It’s the best solution for you if you’re new to home security or you want something that fits into your budget easier.