Siren Blink Review

Siren hasn’t had the best starting run, between the ergonomics and performance issues of the Maulr (springer primary) and the Gnarl (mag-fed springer pistol). Luckily, the top blaster in the line, the Blink, suffers from far fewer issues while having lots of great features. $90 is a lot to ask, but with how much actually comes with the blaster, it’s a far better deal than other recent pro blasters on record (the Nerf Pro Stryfe X included).

PWM EVERYTHING!

That’s one of the features of this blaster: adjustable flywheel speed and pusher motor speed via pulse width modulation. In layman’s terms, the electronics inside are rapidly turning the motors on and off. The more time that’s “on” than “off”, the faster the motors go. That allows for the variability in both the dart velocity and the rate of fire.

That’s not the only electronic fun inside this blaster. It also ships with a 1000mAh 3S Lipo! Even better, the blaster itself has a charging and balance system for said Lipo. A USB-A to USB-C cable is included in the package, and you can simply plug in the blaster to charge the Lipo. Assuming you have the Lipo in the blaster, of course.

Once the battery is installed and charged (the little red light will turn off), unplug the USB-C cable. The power dial doubles as the initial “on” switch for the blaster, and it turns on a green LED indicator when you’ve done so. Thankfully, the blaster does go into sleep mode if untouched for too long, so leaving the little light on won’t drain your battery immediately.

The blaster also comes with iron sights, a 20-dart magazine, 20 bright yellow and pink half darts, and safety glasses.

Side note: for the Blink, Siren uses regular half darts; the rigid darts from the other blasters tend to get destroyed quickly between the flywheels.

Gameplay, Performance and Handling

The Blink may have a “stock”, but in reality it’s a compact blaster you’re not going to be shouldering anytime soon. I see no problem with that, but some people expect a usable stock when paying this much money. Or at least some kind of attachment point. Depends on the person, I guess. At the very least, having the battery in the back helps balance the entire blaster.

The grip is plain and angular, but it’s also not an uncomfortable mass like the Maulr or too tiny like the Gnarl. It might be too small for larger hands, but average or small will at least be okay holding it. Not great, but okay.

Rate of fire can range from controllable to mag dumping, depending on preference (around 4dps up to 8 dps). You can single shot fairly easily on the lowest setting, but you do need to make sure you’re consciously releasing the trigger after depressing it – it’s easy to forget and send extra darts down range.

The Siren’s power settings, from my experience, hit velocities from ~135fps to just above 190fps. However, regardless of power level, there is a noticeable delay between hitting the rev trigger and the flywheels getting up to speed – presumably, the PWM is designed for a certain amount of current, which is less than the stall current of the motors, so it takes a little extra time to fully spin them up. The motors are also quite loud, especially on full power. Those aren’t insignificant downsides if you’re extra competitive.

Internals

And here are the guts! Those are giant wheels similar to those from Banned Blasters, with high crush for spitting out those darts. The pusher is derivative of those you’d find in Stryfe full-auto kits. In the back of the blaster, though, sits all of the electronic wizardry that I’m in no way qualified to touch. I’d let the board operate everything and just leave things be.

Last Thoughts

NSI International didn’t exactly hit home runs with the Gnarl or Maulr, but the Siren Blink is fairly close. $90 MSRP is expensive, but that price gets you variable fps (up to and above 190fps), variable rate of fire, a solid lipo battery, and your own built-in charging platform. And while it’s not my perfect preference for gameplay…it’s pretty close. It’s an easy blaster to argue for, and one you should consider grabbing for the arsenal.