There are a few helpful tricks to make note of here: For one, if you’ve placed one of these Blink cameras in high-traffic areas, you can designate them as such in the companion app so your phone doesn’t drown in motion detection notifications. Since this is Amazon we’re talking about, you’ll get full control over settings and routines through Alexa. And you now have your choice of video storage options, too: You can pay $3/month per camera (or $10/month for unlimited cameras) to save videos to Amazon’s cloud, or use USB flash drives and the included Blink Sync Modules to keep all that footage local.

Like most prior Blink models, both the Indoor and Outdoor run on two AA batteries, which Amazon says is enough to power them for a full two years. If that still somehow isn’t enough, Amazon has confirmed it will start selling an extended battery pack for Blink cameras that house four AA batteries instead of the usual two, which should work out to four years of total runtime. That might be overkill for some (especially since the extended battery packs are $30 each), but the extra longevity could come in handy for people who have placed their Blinks well out of the way.

Amazon’s Blink is known for making affordable, easy-to-install cameras like the XT2. Its latest camera continues the trend. At $35, the Blink Mini is Blink’s most affordable product at the moment and a close competitor to devices like the Wyze Cam Pan. For that price, you get an indoor camera that can capture 1080p footage, detect motion and send alerts to your smartphone. With two-way audio, you can also use the device to talk to your pets and, in a worst-case scenario, intruders.

As you might expect, it pairs with Alexa, allowing you to watch both live and recorded footage, as well as arm and disarm the device using only your voice. Each Blink Mini also includes a free trial of the company’s cloud storage subscription through to the end of the year. 

The new Blink cam captures footage at an unspectacular 1080p, but it does talk to Alexa.

For many, the price might be the draw. The XT2 costs about 25 percent less than its predecessor with a $90 price tag by itself, or $100 if you don’t already have the mandatory Sync Module. It’ll reach the US on May 22nd and Canada this summer. And when cloud storage for videos is free, you don’t have to worry about recurring costs. As such, this may be a decent set-it-and-forget-it option for safeguarding your house.