The Blink Sync Module 2: Faster response and local storage, too

The technology treadmill never stops, and so it goes with Blink’s second-generation hub device versus its predecessor. The post The Blink Sync Module 2: Faster response and local storage, too appeared first on EDN.

Electronics Apr 14, 2026 0 7 Add to Reading List

The Blink Sync Module 2: Faster response and local storage, too

The technology treadmill never stops, and so it goes with Blink’s second-generation hub device versus its predecessor.

Last month, I compared the conceptually similar (and thankfully, concurrent-use RF-compatible) hub-and-spokes approaches used by Blink and TP-Link for their respective battery-operated device ecosystems. Blink’s particular hub implementation, the first-generation Sync Module still in active use at my residence to this very day, doesn’t support local recording storage, only to the cloud, a service which fortunately is free for me (albeit in a somewhat limited-duration fashion) as a legacy customer.

(it’s more recently been moved from my office to the laundry room, and as regular readers know from other recent writeups, that Belkin Wemo smart switch above it is also now DOA)

Gratis capacity for non-geriatrics

But when I saw an inexpensive “for parts only” second-generation Sync Module available for sale on eBay, I still jumped on the opportunity, driven by curiosity. Primary differences between the two generations include, for the more recent model:

A functionally active embedded USB-A connector, for mating with a flash stick or other mass storage device for local recording storage
More robust, therefore more responsive, integrated processing, and
Claimed wider-range Wi-Fi coverage

Turns out the device itself works fine, at least to the degree I’ve tested it so far; I was able to factory-reset it, and the Blink app can now “see” it (although I haven’t yet set it up). The only thing missing was the originally included AC/DC adapter with a micro-USB output, but I’ve got plenty of spares of those already, along with the one currently fueling its same-dimensions precursor in case I ever decide to upgrade in situ. So, let’s dive inside and see what we can learn, both in an absolute sense and relative to the first-gen Sync Module that I took apart…yikes….nearly seven years ago. Shall we?

Here’s today’s patient, as usual accompanied by a 0.75″ (19.1 mm) diameter U.S. penny for size comparison purposes:

All-important FCC ID (2AF77-H2121520):

Micro-USB power input:

and now-functional USB-A data port:

Open sesame

I wish everything I tore down was this easy to open up:

At this point…

Let’s pause a moment for some interesting (at least to me) background info. In re-reading my archaic first-gen teardown verbiage, I noted that I’d written (among other things) the following:

Today’s teardown candidate is that very same Sync Module. The one currently in use with my Blink XT cameras matches their black color; this particular one was purchased standalone off Ebay specifically for teardown purposes and is white (and previously used). Color scheme deviations aside, the two models are functionally identical.

I was right with my “identical” claim, at least with respect to the functional angle. And I’d already noted the color deviation. But further (and more recent) research has enlightened me that there were other (non-functional) hardware differences between my in-use device and the one I took apart, too. Blink actually brought to production multiple main variations of the first-generation Blink Sync Module (including a low-volume initial “launch” iteration), along with region-specific tweaks of each variant reflective of differing RF spectrum regulations:

There have been 5 main revisions of sync modules:

Version 0 which was white and has a (non-functional) ethernet port and (non-functional) USB and BLE (non-functional) available. This was the ‘launch’ era.

Version 1a which is white and has a (non-functional) ethernet port and (non-functional) USB.

Version 1b which is white or black and has a (non-functional) USB.

Version 1c which can be white or black and has no ports.

These were all the general ‘XT’ era modules.

Version 2 (the current one) which has a functional USB port.

All the modules are currently compatible with each other, but Modules 0, 1a,b,c have support ‘no longer guaranteed’.

However, this isn’t the end of the story, as the boards inside all come in combinations of EU and US and Intl flavors (due to regulatory / radio differences) too!

I’m guessing that the version I tore down back in mid-2019 was a “Version 1a”. I suppose it also could have been a “Version 0”, although I didn’t come across any Bluetooth Low Energy circuitry inside it. The one still in use here is a “Version 1b”.

Intra-generational variation

When the Redditor who wrote the above shared his thoughts four years ago, there may have been only one (initial) version of the Sync Module 2 we’re looking at today. Fast forward to the present, however, there now have been (at least) two. The initial hardware was based on Atheros silicon for both the processor and Wi-Fi module; Blink subsequently switched to NXP-sourced ICs for both the processor and wireless subsystems, the latter this time supporting not only Wi-Fi but also both Bluetooth and BLE.

Onward. Remove two screws:

And the PCB pops right out:

You’ve already gotten a glimpse of the PCB frontside, so in fairness to its backside counterpart, let’s start there with the detailed analysis:

Admittedly, there’s not much of note, unless you’re into passives and embedded traces, that is. At lower left is the reset-and-pairing switch. And to its right is a Winbond W25Q256JV 256 Mbit serial NOR flash memory, presumably for system code storage. For comparisons sake, here’s the comparatively sparse backside of the first-gen Sync Module PCB:

Now flipping the PCB back over…

I didn’t bother expending much effort at peeling the initially stubborn sticker off the processor; I already know from the NXP logo visibly atop the chip in its upper right corner in conjunction with the helpful Wiki reference page I’d found that it’s the second iteration of the second-gen design, employing NXP’s MCIMX6Z0DVM09AB application processor with the following specs:

ARM Cortex-A7 running Linux
900MHz
SRAM: 128kB
SPI/UART/I2C
96KB bootrom, 128KB internal RAM
Has Arm TrustZone

That other NXP chip I previously noted is the 88W8987-NYE2 wireless “solution”. Below the processor is an ISSI IS43TR16640BL 1 Gbit DDR2 SDRAM. And at the top center of the PCB is one more notable (albeit tiny) IC. Labeled as follows:

455A
CQRX
220

It’s Silicon Labs’ Si4455 sub-GHz wireless transceiver, which (as the name) implies implements the proprietary long-range 900 MHz channel that Blink refers to as the LFR (low-frequency radio) beacon.

In closing, here’s the first-generation Sync Module PCB topside for comparisons sake: