Logitech today introduced its newest home security camera with HomeKit Secure Video support, the new Circle View. The Circle View Camera offers crisp, 1080p video capture with a 180-degree diagonal field of view.
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According to Logitech, the Circle View features a wide dynamic range for more detail in sunlight or shadows. Like existing Logitech Circle cameras, the Circle View features an infrared night vision camera so it can continue to record in the dark, offering full-field visibility up to 15 feet away.
The design is similar to the Circle 2, but it is made from black aluminum with a new base design. The camera can tilt downwards when needed for privacy, and it can be placed on a shelf or mounted on a wall. Available to use indoors or out, it has a weatherproof body and a microphone and speaker for two-way communication in the Logitech Circle app.
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Logitech has in the past offered cameras that are battery powered, but the Circle View is a wired option because it records continuously.
The Circle View Camera supports Apple's HomeKit Secure Video, so it does not rely on Logitech's cloud services. With HomeKit Secure Video, recorded footage is encrypted and stored in iCloud. Video can be viewed from the Circle View Camera in the Home app on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Unlocking full functionality will require a home hub, which includes a HomePod, Apple TV, or iPad running the latest software from Apple.
There are no monthly fees associated with HomeKit Secure Video, but it does require a 200GB or 1TB iCloud storage plan. 200GB is needed for a single camera, while multiple cameras require the 1TB storage option. Apple prices its 200GB iCloud storage plan at $2.99 per month and its 1TB storage plan at $9.99 per month.
Though HomeKit Secure Video requires a higher-tier iCloud storage plan, video stored in the cloud does not count against your iCloud storage totals.
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All video is secured with end-to-end encryption with video analysis done on device rather than in the cloud. The camera can detect the presence of a person, animal, or vehicle before video footage is saved.
The Circle View can be purchased for $159.99 from the Logitech website or from Apple's online store starting today.
Top Rated Comments
Had nothing but positive experiences with Logitech in general, gear's generally good quality.
There's something broken about modern society that KEEPS insisting, no matter how often this is pointed out as dumb, that every problem requires one *and only one* solution.
Can we stay at least vaguely attached to reality? PoE is a MASSIVELY specialized item, it's hardly something that the average consumer knows about, cares about, or could even support in their house. It makes zero sense to demand that a consumer product support that; if you want business features look at business products.
5GHz is less justifiable, but I think the reality is that the market has pretty much concluded that 2.4GHz is the best option for IoT devices because of range. You can fight this every day, or you can accept this reality, create a separate 2.4GHz network for your IoT devices, and get on with your life.
There is real crap out there in the IoT space -- things like WeMo plugs that simply randomly disconnect from HomeKit every few days. I think we need to spend our energy fighting the battle against real crap, not against decisions that are perfectly reasonable, even if you don't like them. If you want 5GHz, EveCam gives you that. If you want PoE, the Ubiquiti cameras give you that, and you can HomeBridge them to HomeKit.
Pretty much all of the options like Ring are just massive privacy/security issues, hence Homekit is the only real option if you care about your privacy.
I think this HomeKit ecosystem is still in the development phase, but it has a lot of potential. I already use a bunch of iCloud storage, $10 a month to never have to worry about data loss, every family picture, every important document, plus 'free' cloud video storage makes HKSV a no brainer for me.