Andrew Heinzman
Smart home manufacturers tend to treat HomeKit as an afterthought. Even the most well-reviewed HomeKit products feel like they’re just loosely attached to Apple’s ecosystem—like they aren’t official Apple products. Now, Logitech is going against the grain with its HomeKit-exclusive Circle View security camera. At $160, it’s as close to an official Apple smart cam as you’re going to get.
The Circle View is a refresh of Logitech’s old Circle 2 smart camera, which featured support for HomeKit, Alexa, and Google Assistant. Like its predecessor, the Circle View records and streams 1080p video with a 180-degree field of view. It has an IR camera for night vision and is weather-proofed for indoor or outdoor use.
But Logitech made some serious alterations to the Circle camera’s form and function. The new Circle View camera is built around Apple’s HomeKit Secure Video system, which encrypts and stores video directly to the iCloud. Logitech doesn’t have access to your recordings, and cannot charge you a monthly subscription fee. Still, Apple requires that you pay for a 200 GB ($3) or 1 TB ($10) iCloud storage plan to use its service with the Circle View camera.
Logitech also updated the Circle View with some privacy features, like an on/off LED, an easy to reach power button and a built-in stand that doubles as a sort of lens cap. When you want to physically block the camera lens for full privacy, you can just tilt it toward its stand.
And finally, the Circle View sports a new matte black finish and a built-in mountable stand. Unlike its predecessor, the Circle View is wired-only and has a non-removable USB power cable.
The Logitech Circle View is available for $160 on Logitech and Apple’s web-stores. Again, using it requires a 200 GB ($3) or 1 TB ($10) iCloud storage plan in place of a typical monthly fee.
