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Logitech Circle View Doorbell With HomeKit Secure Video Launches at Apple

I have my Ring Doorbell Pro working in the Home app via homebridge, so I don't see much advantage in any native HomeKit alternative.

I'm not so gullible as to believe there is any difference between Amazon and Apple when it comes to privacy of cloud storage, so I'm not going to make any decisions based on that.

The Ring has near flawless person detection which makes false positive alerts practically non-existent, so the Logitech product has a very high bar to meet.
 
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Lemon Olive said:
Yes its a "wired" doorbell because it uses existing low voltage doorbell wiring for power instead of a battery. This is the same phrasing used across the entire video doorbell market.
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From a network standpoint it’s wireless though right??
Any way to pull an RTSP stream for Blueiris from this? Or to add a viewing station in other parts of the house?
 
I hope these things do not require a old fashion ringer/wall chime from the 1890s. we ripped ours out as part of remodeling. Currently, we use Ring doorbells and their Wifi based chimes. You can place them on various floors, in the basement, etc. and still know when someone rings or approaches the door.
 
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This looks like one of the first real alternatives to ring that also has homekit. I know there are others, but I found them to either be overpriced or ugly.

If this works well I will definitely order. It seems narrow enough for most door frames. I don't like the new rings that are super wide.
 
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Dan08 said:
Planning to ditch my Arlo Video Doorbell for this one as well. I'm happy to post an update here once I get it to compare the wide-angle views and let you know if it includes an angle mount.
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Looks like Logitech has it up on their site and an angle mount is included.
 
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Sadly not in Belgium

I'd seriously consider to kick out our nest if it were available out here. The less Google knows the better. They went too far when Chrome was caught trying to open Bluetooth, now all their products are to be removed from in and around the house as far as I'm concerned, even those like the doorbell that I can't really care that they hear and see what goes on outside of our front door. If one betrays the little trust I had: that's fundamentally betrayal and there's no way back from that, no matter if or what they promise now or in the future.

I fear that Logitech's stranglehold on resellers to only offer things in a certain region is going to be used here just as they do for e.g. the true US layout of the MX keys for mac keyboard that's AFAIK impossible to get in Europe (an "international" is all you can find unfortunately) and all the usual US sources refuse to ship it (at any cost).
 
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Figures! I just recently installed the nest doorbell, but I am happy with it. The coverage is excellent; color during the day black and white with IR at night. Very little latency and I receive video notices on my iPhone and my Apple Watch. I also have the google/nest home max and the Nest Outdoor IQ with awesome quality. I don't use nest aware, but I'm still happy with the setup as is. Not sure if this is worth switching over at this point. However, the commercial-grade doorbell referenced in the article does look very impressive. Super clean flush metal mount with ethernet. Of course, at nearly $900, I would have to be strung out on my pain meds before committing to that one. Of course, where there's a will, there's a way.
 
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anson42 said:
I did that move recently, wasn't expecting a HomeKit door bell to appear. Helps that I already had Nest cams in place elsewhere outside the house to finally combine all the video into one place, even if that place is Google. I think I'm too heavily invested in Nest cams and Nest Aware services now to switch but integration of HomeKit cameras with Photos facial recognition and iCloud storage is an attractive one. Wish it was around a couple years ago when I went down the security camera path.
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The EufyCam gear is really inexpensive and quite solid. It would not take much time for the monthly fee from the Nest Aware subscription to exceed the cost of the cameras.
 
jonen said:
You moved on specifically from a Skybell? If so, how would you say the performance/speed/overall quality has improved? I've seen a Nest Hello in action with a Home Hub and was very impressed, but I'd love to hear some first hand experience from an identical situation.
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Yes, I had a Skybell. Nest Hello has better wi-fi performance. Where my wi-fi router is placed my Skybell would sometimes lose signal, which is annoying for a security camera. I was almost at the point where I was going to buy a wi-fi extender just to support it. Turns out the Hello has much better wifi reception as it hasn't dropped yet.

Nest's camera view is much more expansive. Through the Nest app, the "normal" view is 4:3 – unlike the other Nest cameras that are widescreen – with a pretty wide angle. It then expands into a vertical view when someone is present. Nest Aware also support facial recognition that can be managed through the app.

The Skybell does not require a "chime connector" dongle but Nest comes with one that should be used for most installations. In my case, I have a physical bell that looks like a fire alarm bell that the previous owner put in. I have no idea how my kind of doorbell compares to a conventional mechanical chime but I decided to forgo installing the chime connector and the Hello works perfectly fine as a drop-in replacement for the Skybell. Nest Hello installation has its quirks as you can review on Google's support page. But then I had issues with my Skybell installation thanks to its odd power contact points and I did not experience any issues myself with the Hello.

EDIT: Nest has additional features over Skybell that are a bonus; e.g. generic voice greetings, external chime themes, closeup of faces.
 
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Very interested but have a few questions
1. Is angle mount included?
2. I got the circle view and quality was terrible. Excessive compression. Compared it with ecobee and eufy cameras and worst of the three and not able to see facial details well. Hopefully this is an improved sensor from that camera.
3. With my ecobee camera, now with HSV, it sends recording footage to iCloud that includes a few seconds before motion is triggered which is super helpful. Hopefully this does the same since it is hardwired.
 
Lemon Olive said:
The Ring has near flawless person detection which makes false positive alerts practically non-existent, so the Logitech product has a very high bar to meet.
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The HSV should enable the same motion/person detection for all cameras connected. I find that it was worked very well with my ecobee camera pointing out the entryway window. So I would expect this Logitech to behave the same
 
Alan Wynn said:
The EufyCam gear is really inexpensive and quite solid. It would not take much time for the monthly fee from the Nest Aware subscription to exceed the cost of the cameras.
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True. Those cameras are very interesting. The fact that they can operate a full year on one charge is interesting. One major headache with the Nest cams (and most cams) is the need for power and drilling through the wall to get it. I had to have my electrician install the cams as a result and those unsightly cables have to be mounted somewhere, too.
 
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Ordered. Goodbye Arlo, you won’t be missed. Between the subscription fee and the continued lack of doorbell support, I came to resent Arlo - The HomeKit Sv solution may have limitations but for my 3 cameras is perfect. One less box to plug in.
 
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anson42 said:
True. Those cameras are very interesting. The fact that they can operate a full year on one charge is interesting. One major headache with the Nest cams (and most cams) is the need for power and drilling through the wall to get it. I had to have my electrician install the cams as a result and those unsightly cables have to be mounted somewhere, too.
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Reports are they don't actually last a year on a charge. More like less than 3 months with some reports saying a month at most.
Personally I wish eufy would release wired versions so I can just plug them in.
 
jerryk said:
I hope these things do not require a old fashion ringer/wall chime from the 1890s. we ripped ours out as part of remodeling. Currently, we use Ring doorbells and their Wifi based chimes. You can place them on various floors, in the basement, etc. and still know when someone rings or approaches the door.
Click to expand...
they don’t require the chimes, but they do require the power from the transformer that powers the chimes. We had the Ring doorbell and removed the chimes and left the transformer, when someone rings the doorbell it comes through our homepods and we get a picture-in-picture on our Apple TV. (Ring won’t do this natively, had to use a hack to make it work with HomeKit. But these work with HomeKit natively)
 
munpip214 said:
Very interested but have a few questions
1. Is angle mount included?
2. I got the circle view and quality was terrible. Excessive compression. Compared it with ecobee and eufy cameras and worst of the three and not able to see facial details well. Hopefully this is an improved sensor from that camera.
3. With my ecobee camera, now with HSV, it sends recording footage to iCloud that includes a few seconds before motion is triggered which is super helpful. Hopefully this does the same since it is hardwired.
Click to expand...

As far as the angle mount, see Logitech's site and this other post for slightly more details

profets said:
My doorbell is perpendicular as well. Not sure if the angle mount will be enough.

View attachment 1689408
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I have the Circle View 2 on HSV and (luckily) I haven't had those same issues you described, so I am hopeful for this new video doorbell...
 
Patiently waiting for Netatmo to launch their HomeKit doorbell here as I like the looks better compared to this, but would like to see some performance reviews/comparison of both...
 
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