Why You Can Trust CNET Logitech's Circle View Doorbell is your main option for HomeKit Secure Video on your door
The Circle View Wired Doorbell is available now.
The doorbell costs $200.
The Circle View Doorbell is Logitech's latest smart home product, a hardwired video doorbell that works with HomeKit Secure Video. It costs $200 and it's available now at Apple.
HomeKit Secure Video is Apple's platform for home security devices, built directly into the Home app for iOS devices. It offers cloud storage and facial recognition, but setting up HomeKit-compatible devices in the Home app isn't particularly intuitive, as I learned while testing HomeKit Secure Video with the Eufy Indoor Cam 2K.
Similar to the Circle View Security Camera, Logitech's doorbell counterpart was made specifically for HomeKit and only works in the Home app. In addition to facial recognition, the doorbell is supposed to differentiate among people, animals and vehicles when you receive alerts. You can create your own activity zones, and recorded clips are saved on iCloud for 10 days.
The Logitech Circle View Doorbell is among the first video doorbells to work with HomeKit Secure Video, but others, such as the Robin ProLine Compact Video Doorbell, were available for sale before this Logitech model. That makes the Logitech Circle View Doorbell one of your only options right now if you want a doorbell from a mainstream brand that works with Secure Video, although the long-awaited Netatmo Smart Video Doorbell is also supposed to work with the HomeKit video service when it launches in the US (although Netatmo still hasn't said when that will happen).
Find out here if your electrical system is compatible with the Logitech Circle View Doorbell.
The main thing that stands out to me here is the doorbell's price. We've entered a period where home security devices are finally getting more affordable, from brands like Eufy, Wyze and even Ring and Arlo, so I hoped to see a similar price reduction here. I also hope HomeKit Secure Video has improved since my hit-or-miss testing with Eufy, but we'll know more as soon as I get a test unit to try out. Stay tuned.
