Several home security device announcements were made at Amazon’s event in New York today, but none got more stage time (and applause) than theBlink Arc, a $100 dual security cam setup that is essentially two small Blink Cams fixed to a single base. The stationary camera feeds are stitched together to deliver one 180-degree panoramic view of your yard and property — no multicam installation or pan-tilt required (though a Blink Subscription Plus plan is).
While the brand is calling it a “new invention” in home security, plenty of home security cameras offer panoramic views via a dual-cam system that records video and stitches it together into one view for the app and video recordings. We’ve seen similar 180-degree cameras and video stitching before from brands like Reolink, but the $100 price caught our eye. It’s rare to find this kind of technology for that low of a price, especially if it means you can use one cam instead of two.
CNET was on hand in Manhattan’s Spring Studios to see the Blink Arc camera live.
In addition to Arc, the brand unveiled the latest-gen cameras, now with 2K video resolution, 4x zoom capability, enhanced low-light performance, audio with noise-cancelling two-way talk, and smart notifications. These features, while new to Blink, are available from a variety of competitors, although we remain fans of Blink’s easy-to-use app.