Meet Maggie, PCMag'sWhen I reviewed the Blink Video Doorbell back in 2025, I praised its affordability, sharp video quality, and long battery life. The Blink Battery Doorbell 2K+ offers more of the same. It's affordable at $79.99, and its battery life is superb. This time around, you get 2K video and AI-powered features. That said, you still have to pay to view recorded video and to unlock some features. As an alternative, the $99.99 TP-Link Tapo D225 Video Doorbell Camera also delivers sharp 2K video, doesn't require a subscription, and offers local and cloud storage options, making it our Editors’ Choice for video doorbells.
At 5.1 by 1.8 by 1.3 inches (HWD), the Blink Battery Doorbell 2K+ is roughly the same size as its predecessor and a bit smaller than the TP-Link Tapo D225 (5.9 by 1.9 by 1.5 inches). It comes in black or white and includes a Sync Module that connects it to your home network, an AC adapter for the Sync Module, three AA batteries, a USB-C cable, straight and wedge mounting plates, mounting hardware, and a quick start guide.
The front of the doorbell holds the camera, an LED that glows solid blue when the camera is recording, an IR LED for black-and-white night vision, a doorbell button with an LED ring that flashes white when the button is pressed and blinks red during pairing, a motion sensor, and a microphone. There’s a speaker on the bottom, and around back are two terminals for use with your existing doorbell wiring if you prefer a wired connection.
The Sync Module Core is the same as the one that comes with the first Blink Video Doorbell. It has a white finish, rounded corners, and measures 3.1 by 1.7 by 0.8 inches (HWD). It is equipped with a 2.4GHz Wi-Fi radio to connect to your home network and can pair with up to 10 Blink cameras. It uses a USB-C port for power and has two LED indicators that glow blue and green when everything is connected, but it doesn’t have a USB port for connecting external storage devices.
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The camera has a 2K (1,920-by-1,920) video resolution and a 140-by-140-degree field of view with a 1:1 aspect ratio, providing a head-to-toe view of your doorstep. Depending on usage, the three AA batteries can power it for up to 16 months when the doorbell video quality is set to Best (1,920 by 1,920), up to 19 months when set to Standard (1,440 by 1,440), and up to 22 months when set to Saver (960 by 960).
The Blink Battery Doorbell 2K+ will record video when it detects motion or when the doorbell button is pressed, but you have to subscribe to a Blink plan to access the footage and to unlock many features (Blink offers a free 30-day Basic trial with each doorbell). If you'd rather avoid a subscription, the TP-Link Tapo D225 supports SD cards up to 512GB, but you have to supply your own.
Blink's Basic plan, which goes for $3.99 per month or $39.99 per year, gives you 60 days of cloud video storage for a single camera, extended live viewing (90 minutes instead of 5 minutes), person and vehicle detection, Blink Moments (combines multiple events into a single video), Notification Snooze, and Photo Capture (the camera takes pictures throughout the day so you can see what’s happening between recorded events). The $11.99 monthly/$119.99 yearly Plus plan includes everything in the Basic plan, plus support for unlimited devices and an extended warranty.
To take advantage of Blink’s AI features, you have to upgrade to the $6.99 monthly/$69.99 yearly Basic AI plan, which gives you everything from the above-mentioned Basic plan (for a single camera) as well as AI-powered Video Descriptions, Single Event alerts that reduce notification clutter, and Unusual Activity alerts that let you know when something out of the ordinary has occurred. The Plus AI plan provides the same features for all of your devices and costs $19.99 per month or $199.99 per year.
The Battery Doorbell 2K+ uses the same Blink Home Monitor mobile app for iOS and Android as other devices from the brand, such as the Blink Outdoor 4 Camera ($69.99) and the Blink Wired Floodlight Camera ($99.99), and appears in its own panel on the home screen along with other Blink products you have installed.
The home screen displays the last image captured by the camera and the name of the doorbell, and it has a play arrow that launches a live video stream. At the bottom of the video panel are Save, Tap to Unmute, and More buttons. Tapping the Save button saves a clip of the current stream, and tapping the Unmute button turns on the microphone. The More button opens a screen where you can access device settings. Here you can edit the name and Wi-Fi connection, update the firmware, configure motion sensitivity and zone settings, enable smart notifications, adjust video, photo, and audio settings, and create privacy zones.
The doorbell works seamlessly with the Alexa platform and Alexa+, and with numerous third-party devices via IFTTT applets, but it doesn't support Apple HomeKit or Google Home. The TP-Link Tapo D225 offers more flexibility, with support for Google in addition to Alexa and IFTTT. HomeKit support is still relatively rare for video doorbells.
Installing the Doorbell 2K+ is as easy as it gets. Start by downloading the mobile app, creating an account, and tapping the plus icon in the upper-right corner to add a device. Select Sync Module and use your phone to scan the QR code on the back of the module. Choose a system to add the module to (or create a new one), verify that the LEDs are solid green and blinking blue, and tap Discover Device. Select a Wi-Fi SSID to connect to, enter your Wi-Fi password, and enter your location.
Next, tap the plus icon again, select Video Doorbell from the list of devices, and scan the QR code on the back of the doorbell. Select the system you just created, then follow the instructions to install the batteries in the doorbell. When the LED blinks red, tap Discover Device, wait a few minutes for any necessary firmware updates (they are automatic), and tap Continue. After you give the doorbell a name, you can view the mounting instructions or skip them if you already know how to install the doorbell outdoors.
The Battery Doorbell 2K+ delivered sharp 2K video with excellent color saturation in my testing. Its wide angle provided a full view of my doorstep as well as most of my front yard and driveway, and motion alerts were accurate and arrived instantly.
Alexa voice commands to view video on an Amazon Echo Show smart display worked flawlessly, as did my Alexa routine to have a TP-Link Tapo L535E bulb turn red when the doorbell button was pressed.
Final Thoughts
(Credit: John R. Delaney)
Blink Battery Doorbell 2K+
- 5.0 - Exemplary: Near perfection, ground-breaking
- 4.5 - Outstanding: Best in class, acts as a benchmark for measuring competitors
- 4.0 - Excellent: A performance, feature, or value leader in its class, with few shortfalls
- 3.5 - Good: Does what the product should do, and does so better than many competitors
- 3.0 - Average: Does what the product should do, and sits in the middle of the pack
- 2.5 - Fair: We have some reservations, buy with caution
- 2.0 - Subpar: We do not recommend, buy with extreme caution
- 1.5 - Poor: Do not buy this product
- 1.0 - Dismal: Don't even think about buying this product
Read Our Editorial Mission Statement and Testing Methodologies.
The $79.99 Blink Battery Doorbell 2K is a solid choice for keeping tabs on visitors at your doorstep and beyond. It’s completely wireless and very easy to install, and it delivered superb 2K video in testing. That said, you have to subscribe to a Blink Plan to view recorded video and to unlock several features. If you want local storage or would rather not pay for a subscription, look to our Editors’ Choice winner, the $99.99 TP-Link Tapo D225.
About Our Expert
I’ve been working with computers for ages, starting with a multi-year stint in purchasing for a major IBM reseller in New York City before eventually landing at PCMag (back when it was still in print as PC Magazine). I spent more than 14 years on staff, most recently as the director of operations for PC Labs, before hitting the freelance circuit as a contributing editor.Â
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