Blink introduces a $99 video doorbell

The best way to stand out from the CES deluge? Announce your product three weeks before everyone else. Last year’s show was  big one for the connected home, and all signs are pointing to 2018 being even bigger, so Blink is getting out in front of things by announcing its new video doorbell this week.

The biggest differentiator from the competition here is price. At $99, it’s significantly cheaper than products from bigger connected home names like Nest ($229) and Ring ($199). Though that’s really the price for this who’ve already picked up a Blink product.

Everyone else will have to pick up the bundle with Blink’s Sync Module hub to get it up and running. That package is a still reasonable $129. Things go up from there, too — the Blink Doorbell Chime is another add-on with a still unannounced price. The company’s got to save something for CES, after all.

The doorbell connects automatically to the aforementioned hub once AA batteries are inserted. It should get about two years of life on those, according to the company. The system shoots HD video of people approaching your front door and offers up two-way audio, so you can chat with people before letting them in.

There’s on-board motion detection,  infrared night vision and IP65 waterproofing — all of the standard connected doorbell features, really. Blink also promises not to charge for cloud storage once the system is installed. More information will be available in a few weeks at CES.