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Home Best HomeKit doorbell currently available in U.S.?

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wlev

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Jun 9, 2021
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What is the best HomeKit-compatible doorbell camera currently available in the US?

I'd like to stay away from Google- and Amazon-owned companies. The way I understand it is that using HomeKit would possibly protect against any of their snooping or storage leaks, but I'm not 100% on that.

Bonus points if the doorbell camera company also has home security cameras, but I'm mostly focused on the doorbell right now.

Sorry if this is easily findable info, but with the constant promises and reneges on HK-compatibility, combined with new products constantly being released, I haven't been able to find a reliable source. Thanks in advance!
 
As StumpyBloke said, Logitech Circle View doorbell is one of very few options out there but I believe the only one (worth mentioning) that supports HomeKit Secure Viedo at the moment. They also make regular Home security cameras which are also supported by HomeKit Secure Video (only).

Other doorbells available for HomeKit , other than Google Nest (with Starling Hub or HomeBridge) and Amazon Ring (which is only supported for HomeKit with HomeBridge) are:
Yobi- Got terrible reviews and ugly (IMO lol)
Arlo- Needs a base station.
Robin ProLine/Mini- Need a second mortgage on your house to buy one lol.

Edit*** Forgot to mention Netatmo. They too make a nice looking HomeKit doorbell and security cameras (with flood lights) but I’m pretty sure they are not compatible with HomeKit Secure Video as of yet, but it was announced.
 
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It’s amazing more aren’t out, but I’m starting to think that may just be what happens since so many companies want to sell their cloud recording and not allow their units to work with Apple secure video.

So Apple should come out with one themselves already. And cameras around the house inside and out.
 
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What cameras in general are available for secure video in the US that are good?
 
inkahauts said:
What cameras in general are available for secure video in the US that are good?
Click to expand...
Also, not a doorbell and only for indoors but the Aqara G2H are relatively cheap and got really good reviews. They support HKSV and can be used as a Zigbee hub for additional Aqara accessories (window/door, vibration, water leak, temp/humidity, etc). All very nicely priced with minimal design language. Very reliable thorough HomeKit.

Indoor cameras are in abundance for HKSV but outdoor (and especially doorbells) are scarce.

“Matter” was just delayed to next year but I assume (I hope) there will be many more options when that makes a rollout.

FWIW, I have all Logitech Circle 2’s for indoor and outdoor. I really like the 180 deg FOV on them for more coverage (means less cameras that need to be installed). If I were to switch today, I’d go with the Logitech Circle Views which are exclusive to HKSV. My current doorbell is a Nest Hello with the Starling Hub but I’m switching to the Logitech Circle View doorbell once we get unlimited HKSV cams in iOS 15.
 
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I have been trying to find a solution myself lately and other than Logitech for the doorbell there really are no options that are homekit compatible. I decided to go with eufy's setup because i didn't have to fiddle with the wiring in the house and because it has no subscription fees and isn't hosted on anyone else's servers. Not ideal wince its not homekit compatible but better than ring or nest imo.
 
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Sadly, like others have said, Logitech is pretty much the only fully featured solution, but it comes with a caveat. If your front door is facing a lot of sun and there is no shade be ready for the doorbell to constantly disconnect and go offline. Those doorbells overheat like crazy and there is nothing you can do about it :( I wish we had more than 1 option.
 
mlody said:
Sadly, like others have said, Logitech is pretty much the only fully featured solution, but it comes with a caveat. If your front door is facing a lot of sun and there is no shade be ready for the doorbell to constantly disconnect and go offline. Those doorbells overheat like crazy and there is nothing you can do about it :( I wish we had more than 1 option.
Click to expand...
There’s the Robin ProLine and Compact but those are ridiculously overpriced.
 
mlody said:
Sadly, like others have said, Logitech is pretty much the only fully featured solution, but it comes with a caveat. If your front door is facing a lot of sun and there is no shade be ready for the doorbell to constantly disconnect and go offline. Those doorbells overheat like crazy and there is nothing you can do about it :( I wish we had more than 1 option.
Click to expand...
How much of a concern is overheating? My front door faces west so it gets the evening sun, but I do have a covered porch.
 
TonyC28 said:
How much of a concern is overheating? My front door faces west so it gets the evening sun, but I do have a covered porch.
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It'll overheat when hit by direct sunlight. Even with the latest firmware, which kinda spoiled the image quality a bit.

Mine also faces west, and the doorbell goes offline for 8 minutes, several times each evening at this time of year (When the air temp is in the 70s, and the autumn afternoon sun is low enough to hit the device). However, while annoying and clearly a design flaw (Who designs a device meant to be outdoors that can't handle being outdoors?), overall I'm pretty happy with the Logi. The overheating is the only issue I have with mine. Otherwise it works well for me.
 
dotme said:
It'll overheat when hit by direct sunlight. Even with the latest firmware, which kinda spoiled the image quality a bit.

Mine also faces west, and the doorbell goes offline for 8 minutes, several times each evening at this time of year (When the air temp is in the 70s, and the autumn afternoon sun is low enough to hit the device). However, while annoying and clearly a design flaw (Who designs a device meant to be outdoors that can't handle being outdoors?), overall I'm pretty happy with the Logi. The overheating is the only issue I have with mine. Otherwise it works well for me.
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Hmm strange. I wonder if the sensor is getting "overloaded" by the light rather than overheating? I wish someone would come along with a product better than my Nest Hello so making the switch is an easy decision.
 
TonyC28 said:
Hmm strange. I wonder if the sensor is getting "overloaded" by the light rather than overheating? I wish someone would come along with a product better than my Nest Hello so making the switch is an easy decision.
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I wish it was that simple, but nope - this sucker gets hot. Really hot. Probably doesn't help that they encased it in matte black plastic. It's bad enough that they actually warn you about it in the fine print at the bottom of this page:

www.logitech.com

Logitech Circle View Wired Video Doorbell - HomeKit Enabled

www.logitech.com www.logitech.com

"Direct sunlight can heat the product, even in low ambient temperatures. The product may initiate protective measures, including shutting down temporarily (while still being able to ring the indoor chime) and automatically turning back on once cool enough."

But on Reddit there are tales from those who have had some success with stability after jumping through a few hoops like replacing their transformer etc. I tried that too - didn't make much difference in my case I'm afraid.
 
dotme said:
I wish it was that simple, but nope - this sucker gets hot. Really hot. Probably doesn't help that they encased it in matte black plastic. It's bad enough that they actually warn you about it in the fine print at the bottom of this page:

www.logitech.com

Logitech Circle View Wired Video Doorbell - HomeKit Enabled

www.logitech.com www.logitech.com

"Direct sunlight can heat the product, even in low ambient temperatures. The product may initiate protective measures, including shutting down temporarily (while still being able to ring the indoor chime) and automatically turning back on once cool enough."

But on Reddit there are tales from those who have had some success with stability after jumping through a few hoops like replacing their transformer etc. I tried that too - didn't make much difference in my case I'm afraid.
Click to expand...
Wow that is crazy. Dang it will someone please make something better than my Nest Hello so I can switch to HomeKit!!
 
TonyC28 said:
Wow that is crazy. Dang it will someone please make something better than my Nest Hello so I can switch to HomeKit!!
Click to expand...
Very frustrating. It’s a damn doorbell with a camera for crying out loud lol. One of the staple devices of a proper smart home and the technology has been around for many years. At this point, I fear that won’t happen until Matter starts rolling.

Whatever happened to Blue by ADT? Think it was CES 2019 they announced HomeKit support. There was a doorbell involved.
 
I've had the Logitech Circle View doorbell installed for a couple of weeks now. Installation was very simple and it has worked well.

My only complaint is that this doorbell/camera/sensor is very sensitive and will send me a notification every time my neighbor opens their garage door, walks from their driveway to their front door, etc. My porch has a full view of my neighbors front yard and the front of their house and driveway (we are in a cul-te-sac). So I get lots of notifications and short video clips showing them leaving their house, returning, mowing their front lawn, and so forth.

It would be nice if I could adjust the sensitivity of the doorbell to not pick up motions that are more than perhaps 20 ft away, but I am not able to find any such adjustments for this doorbell.
 
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Here is another unfortunate situation with this doorbell. With iOS15, Apple changed something in the HomeApp and now my doorbell preview is cropped. I think Apple wanted to remove the black bars on left and right, but at the same time, the top and bottom part of camera view is cut off. I am very upset about this change, cause now if I want to check if there is something laying on the ground, I need to actually click on the camera.
 
Phil77354 said:
My only complaint is that this doorbell/camera/sensor is very sensitive and will send me a notification every time my neighbor opens their garage door, walks from their driveway to their front door, etc. My porch has a full view of my neighbors front yard and the front of their house and driveway (we are in a cul-te-sac). So I get lots of notifications and short video clips showing them leaving their house, returning, mowing their front lawn, and so forth.

It would be nice if I could adjust the sensitivity of the doorbell to not pick up motions that are more than perhaps 20 ft away, but I am not able to find any such adjustments for this doorbell.
Click to expand...
Settings -> Select Activity Zones is your best bet. Mine is a very small area on the ground about 10 feet from the door. All it takes to activate is a shoe to enter that zone. I also set mine to people only... sometimes, a bird will troll me but for the most part it's workable. Reasonably few false positives.
 
Chiming in (ha) for the Eufy wired doorbell. Works really well and I rarely have issues with it. Nice to have specific alert zones you can "draw" with a multi-point shape, too.
 
dotme said:
Settings -> Select Activity Zones is your best bet. Mine is a very small area on the ground about 10 feet from the door. All it takes to activate is a shoe to enter that zone. I also set mine to people only... sometimes, a bird will troll me but for the most part it's workable. Reasonably few false positives.
Click to expand...
I'm not finding that in my settings either in iOS or the Home app. Can you be more specific on where this is found?
 
mlody said:
I think this option shows up if you have iCloud storage, at least that is what it used to be.
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I do have iCloud storage. I had previously tried to find information on this online, without success. This discussion led me to try again and finally I found a support discussion on the Logitech website that explains how to set this up. It is not at all obvious or intuitive but I now understand how these zones can be set up. The settings are buried, you have to open the video view for the doorbell camera in HomeKit, then there is a settings icon at the top of that screen that will show the options including setting up the activity zones.

Thanks for the response which prompted me to give this another try!
 
it finally started to cool off so my doorbell is no longer cooking itself. I'm so disappointed with the Circle Doorbell.

BTW, my doorbell is never in direct sunlight.
 
Vacheron said:
it finally started to cool off so my doorbell is no longer cooking itself. I'm so disappointed with the Circle Doorbell.

BTW, my doorbell is never in direct sunlight.
Click to expand...

There has been quite a bit of talk about this particular model and heat, it even mentions it on Logitech‘s website.

What would be the ambient temperature when yours was cooking itself?
 
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