Today, I’ll be checking out and sharing with you guys an add on Blink Panic siren alarm. Blink will be offering a complete home security system soon which you can easily add on like door and window sensors and a keypad entry with your current camera setup plus an optional 24/7 monitoring and a 4G cellular backup..So this siren is a part of this offering.

So, let’s open this up…
This is designed like their cameras, battery operated and is quick and easy to setup.

We have the installation instructions.
It tells you everything on how to set it up.

We have a window sticker.

And we have the panic alarm itself which is designed like their cameras..

Opening the back, we can see where we need to put in the battery. It only uses 1 double A battery.

On the bottom of the box, we have the mounting bracket which is the same bracket they use on their cameras.

It also includes a double A battery to power up the siren.

It is time for setting this up.

Click the plus sign to add the panic siren.

Makes sure we can access the serial number so leave the back cover off for now.

Click ok for Blink to access the phone’s camera.

Then you can scan or type in the serial number of the device.

Also, you can already put in the included battery.

Click continue..

You can then change the name of the device. I’ll just name mine “siren” and click ok…

Now, we can test it.

Yup..it works..the siren is a high frequency tone and is not as loud as I thought it would be.

After it is setup, you will be able to access the alarm on the lower right corner of the screen..and when clicking it, it will give you options on the settings or you can activate the siren.

On the settings, you can choose the length of time in seconds how long you want the siren to turn on which you can slide the slider from 10 seconds to 5 minutes.
At this time, this is the only setting you can tweak.

Now, the siren can only be manually activated and there is a little to no lag time. Click activate siren to turn it on and stop to turn it off.

I’m hoping that Blink will add an option that it can also automatically go off when motion is detected and I think that is the reason why there is a setting that you can change the duration the siren is going to be on. I wish they have that option already from the get go.

The Siren icon is also accessible in Live View mode or when you are reviewing the video footage.

To install the siren, it uses the same mount as the Blink cameras. So you will need to pop off the round tab off the back cover. Push in the round part of the mount until it clicks. Then, just snap the back cover back in and you can mount the siren just like the cameras.

Now, we are going to test the loudness of the siren. I read that the siren is around 105 decibels..so let’s test it out and how it sounds in different distances. I’m just using an app from my phone to test it. First, at close range.
It averages 87.5 and with a max of 94.7.

This one at 10 feet. About 75 decibels.

This one at 20 feet. About 68 decibels.

This one at 30 feet. About 70 decibels.

This one at 50 feet. About 65 decibels.

I’ll be installing this outside. I know that this is not designed for outdoor use but it will be under the eaves and it should be protected from the rain or sunlight. Installing is as simple as the Blink cameras which is basically just with 1 screw. Let’s see how the siren sounds when it is outside in an open space.

Blink Cameras at Amazon – amzn.to/2BYHRh5
Blink XT Camera Review – youtu.be/lH1mgTeBlIU
Blink XT 6 Month Review – youtu.be/gmgRhDIjWCM

It sounded ok but it is not one of those that will startle or even distract your neighbors that they will check where the noise is coming from. It can be an effective deterrent but in actual situation, it might not work as Blink intended it to be.

One of the reasons is that Blink cameras motion notification is not instant. They are designed to record the motion first and when recording is finished(which depends on your setting from 5 secs to 60 secs) then it will send the notification. This is where the issue is going to be. Most of the users will not set their cameras to 5 sec recording because it is going to be too short and what if there is an important detail that is 10 or 15 secs down the line. So, most users like me set the recording to at least 10 to 15 seconds.

Now, with 15 seconds recording setting, let’s see how long I will receive the notification. When the camera senses motion, it will record for 15 seconds first, then that is the only time it will send a notification which adds an extra 2-5 seconds. With my test… it is around 20 seconds before I got notified.

Now, we will add the time for me to open up the app to view the recording or the live view and to determine if I needed to sound the siren. This is an ideal situation where I’m already on my phone and I just need to open up the app. Let’s test it out.

Got an alert in 23 secs. then I needed to open up the app and see what is going on..I’ll view the recording and it takes about 33 secs from the start of the motion until I was able to view the recording…A burglar can do a lot in 30 secs and be out of your protected property before that and you will end up seeing nothing in the live view and it will be too late for you to sound the alarm.

One more thing, Blink doesn’t record the live view. So, after you saw the footage, you will have a tendency to click on live view to see what is going on the exact moment and this live view footage is not being recorded.

I don’t know about the effectiveness of this Panic siren in its current configuration. Blink needs to add a motion activated alarm and I’m thinking they probably will in their future updates because the duration setting on the alarm doesn’t really make sense if the only way to activate the alarm is to do it manually..then the user will usually turn it off manually also. Blink is also going to offer their Security System package soon which every component is compatible with what we have right now like their cameras and the panic siren. Now, if you have a security system then the motion detection which I think they are going to use the cameras for that should be connected to the siren which should go off when motion is detected just like traditional alarm systems for the house.

Anyways, I’ll be checking out their Blink seecurity system when it comes out.
For now, the siren will be installed outside under the eaves but I’ll probably remove it in the next few days and will just wait for Blink to start selling their security system which I will be checking and reviewing when it comes out.