Monitoring your property has never been so easy with a smart security camera and HomeKit. So lets look at one option with HomeKit Secure Video in this Logitech Circle 2 review.
The Logi Circle 2 is a smart security camera from Logitech that offers 1080p video streaming, night vision, advanced motion detection. It is also one of few smart cameras that supports HomeKit and HomeKit Secure Video. The one used in this review is the Circle 2 wired version.
Logitech Circle 2 review key features
- Review Price: £169.99 Amazon Link
- Full HD (1080p) streaming and video recording
- 180-degree wide-angle lens
- Night vision up to 15ft
- Digital Zoom
- Indoor and outdoor use
- 86 x 71 x 67mm
- 207g
- Wi-Fi 2.4 and 5 GHz compatible
- Time-lapse feature
- 24 storage recording as standard
- Built-in speaker and mic for two-way talk
- Mobile app and web browser access
- Smart Home support via HomeKit, Alexa and Google Home
Logitech Circle 2 price deals & availability
The Logi Circle 2 is available to buy in the UK, Europe and the US. There are two variants available with varying price-tags one: The first the wire version £169.99 / $179.99 / €199 featured in this review and the wire-free version at £199.99 / $199.99 €229. Although you can get them for a lot less if you shop around.
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Logitech Circle 2 review in pictures
Logitech Circle 2 design
- Discrete circle design
- Wifi status display on the top of the plug
- Available in white only
The Logi Circle 2 is a small, portable and desecrate design. It measures in at 86 x 71 x 67mm, and weighs only 207g and comes in whie only. On the front of the camera is the lens with the LED status light ring that is around the lens.
A subtle ring around the lens alerts you to the camera’s status, You can turn off the LED status light.
- White LED: On and ready to use
- Green LED: Someone is viewing the live video feed
- Yellow LED: In privacy mode
- Red LED: Off or not recording
- Blinking blue LED: In pairing mode
The Circle 2 design features a mounting base that allows you to mount it stood up or attached to a wall surface with the wall bracket provided. This allows you to find best view and angle possible for your video.
Featured on either side of the camera is the speaker and microphone on the left and the reset button on the right. You can use the built-in speaker to listen to what is happening outside. You can also use the microphone and speaker together for 2-way conversation.
As I have already said, you can place the Circle 2 outdoors, so it’s completely weatherproof. The 3m cable provided with the wired Circle 2 is weatherproofed, which allowed me to mount this outside. Logitech also sell an extension cable if you need that extra distance.
Logitech Circle 2 Review – setup
- Logi App available for iOS & Android
- Easy to follow instructions
The Circle 2 comes in three main parts in a lime green coloured box, separated into 2 internal boxes. The Circle camera is in one box and the camera cover Swivel mount with power cable, USB power adapter and wall bracket in the other.
In the Circle 2 box you get:
- Circle 2 Camera with Camera Cover
- Swivel mount with tethered 10 ft (3m) cable
- USB power adapter
- Wall bracket, 4 screws, 4 anchors, 2 cable clips
- Quick Start Guide
Putting the smart camera together is very easy, First, you insert the camera into the camera cover, making sure that you line up the 2 marker lines. You then attached the Circle 2 to the swivel mount again, lining up the lines and then turn to lock the camera in place. You then plug the power cable into the USB adapter and plug into a socket.
The next stage involves downloading the Logi app from the App Store. It will then ask you to choose the model of Circle 2 camera you want to set up. When you first turn on the Circle 2 it will the LED will flash amber and then after about 30 second a blue light around the outside of the lens will be flashing.
Once the camera has been paired successfully, the colour of the light around the lens changes to white to confirm everything is connected,
A subtle ring around the lens alerts you to the camera’s status:
- White LED: On and ready to use
- Green LED: Someone is viewing the live video feed
- Yellow LED: In privacy mode
- Red LED: Off or not recording
- Blinking blue LED: In pairing mode
I found when the camera was outside and you left the LED on this would attract small inspects and this would trigger the motion sensors.
Logitech Circle 2 performance and app
- Records motion
- Simple app and easy to use
- HomeKit Support
The app on the Circle 2 offers a decent lineup of features for a camera in this price and range. It offers motion detection, two-way audio, 1080p resolution, live-streaming. It also offers a cool feature called Day Brief, that compresses a selection of the day’s recorded activities into a 30-second time-lapse video.
If you subscribe to Circle safe, which is Logitech premium service for the Circle 2 camera. You get advanced event and alert filters, person detection, customisable motion sensing zones. I will talk about the premium circle plans later in this section, but for now I will focus on all the features and app performance.
When you first use the app you get the option to live stream what the camera is viewing at that moment in time. But you also have the option to view events that have been recorded by the Circle 2. So unlike some CCTV systems that record the footage 24/7, the Circle 2 will only record footage if the Circle 2 detects motion.
Now speaking of the motion detection, it worked well in the main and would capture motion when I walked on the drive via various entry points, However it did recorded some false positives.
- The first being a moving bush in the wind from my neighbour’s garden, this would often trigger the detection and send me an alert
- When it rained heavly, it would detect motion and send me a notification. This may have been because of the position of the camera.
Besides event recording, the circle 2 has a feature called “day brief.” This will give you a snapshot of the 24 hours events. This is useful if you want to see what is been happening in the 24 hour period, rather than going through all the events captured. You can also save this day brief video to your camera roll.
Two way talking
The Circle 2 has a 2 way mic, so you can talk to someone like a deliveryman. Buy you need to think about where you position the camera to ensure the audio is clear. I positioned it under my upstairs office window and speaking with someone was ok. But I live in a quiet corner plot, but you may issue in a busy area or city location.
The app also has the functionality to alter settings on the camera like the resolution or the night vision settings and notification preferences for altering you to motion triggers.
Circle safe plans
Whilst the Circle 2 comes with some great features out of the box, you can subscribe to “premium” features, so let me give you the low down on these.
Circle Safe free
- Cost: Free
- 24-hours cloud storage
- Unlimited streaming and downloads
- Smart Time-lapse Day Brief
- Smart Alerts
- Unlimited Cameras
Circle Safe basic
- Cost: Single Camera: £ 2,99/mo
Home plan (up to 5 cameras): £ 5,99/mo or £ 59/yr
- 14-days cloud storage
- All the free features
Circle Safe premium
- Cost: Single Camera: £7,99/mo or £79,99/yr
Home plan (up to 5 cameras): £13,99/mo or £139/yr
- 31-days cloud storage
- All the free features
- Person Detection
- Motion Zones
- Custom Smart Time-lapse Day Brief
All new customers get a free trial of circle safe premium as a way to show off the features. But I have an issue with paying extra for some features that should be standard like Motion zones and person detection, that are found on smart cameras like the Netatmo Presence for free.
By suscbring to Circle Safe, you can create zones within the field of view based on the zone you have set. Now you can only do this via a web browser and not the app. But you can create up to 5 zones and name them on. So if an event has been triggered, on the playback it will tell you the name of the zone motion that was detected.
You also get person detection. This feature works really well and it will alert you to a person rather than just motion detected. If It detects a person, the event will also zoom in on the person to show you a better view of the person, similar to the Netatmo Presence. You can also save a screenshot of the event or download the clip for future use to your camera roll.
When I was carrying out the Circle 2 review, I used the free trial of Circle safe premium. But my view is that it is not worth paying the £7.99 per month to just get more storage, person detection and motion zones. This opionon is further reinforced now the Circle 2 supports HomeKit Secure Vide.
Logitech Circle 2 video quality
- 1080p and digital zoom
- Night vision, but sometimes it takes time to adjust
The Circle 2 comes resolutions, 1080p (720p and 360p are also options, which will use less bandwidth. But as with other smart home cameras, image quality isn’t amazing on the lower settings.
The Circle 2 features a wide, 180-degree lens and whilst others have complained about the distortion, I don’t think its bad. The upside of using a 180-degree camera is the ability to monitor an entire room if you place the Circle 2 against a wall. You can also select smaller fields of view within the app if you want to. But during the Circle 2 review, I kept it at the default settings.
When the environment is fully dark, infrared night kicks, but I did find at times if I switched to the cameras live view mode the night vision would take time to respond, but this was not much of an issue.
Overall I am impressed with the Circle 2’s video and night vision performance, granted the night vision is only to 15 feet which is shorter than some of its competitors, however it performs well.
Logitech Circle 2 HomeKit setup
- The built-in motion sensor can be used to trigger other HomeKit accessories
- Simple app and easy to use
- HomeKit Secure Video if you dont mind beta software
The Circle 2 is one of the few smart security cameras that support Apple HomeKit on the market. It is also the only one that has public Homekit Secure Video support, albiet it in Beta.
In terms of standard HomeKit support, integration works really well and you are able to see a live view of the camera from within the Home app. You can also use triggers and automations using the motion sensor that is exposed to HomeKit.
If you place to use the standard HomeKit intergration, then you will find yourself as I did using the Logi app more. The Logi app offers far more features and customisation over the Apple Home App. But to get the most out of HomeKit, I found updating to HomeKit Secure Video gave me greater options.
HomeKit Secure Video
Once you have got the Circle 2 camera setup with HomeKit Secure Video, it’s not immediately obvious how to use it. To view your recordings launch your Home app and select your camera. At the bottom you will see your timeline, which Apple has split into events that help you easily identify them. HomeKit has 4 different icons to help you identify the motion it has recorded. These are people, animals, cars or a generic motion that HomeKit could not identify.
Selecting a clip will playback that clip and I found this responsive and played within seconds. You can also jump to live view to the left of the timeline or play the entire recorded clips using the button to the right of the timeline.
HomeKit Secure Video records up to 10 days of motion footage and older clips will automatically be deleted on a rolling basis. You can Delete individual clips from your timeline by selecting the share button and then the bin icon.
Once of the biggest nenefits of HomeKit Secure Video is not having to subscribe to the Logitech subscription. But its worth noting that you will lose a number of other features by upgrading as the Logi app is no longer accessable.
If you want a detailed overview of the full features of HomeKit Secure Video, then checkout the article below
Logitech Circle 2 review conclusion
The Logitech Circle 2 is a great choice if you are looking for a smart home security camera. It has a fantastic app, that really makes the user experience enjoyable. The motion detect is pretty good with only a few false alerts and the night vision works well.
I particularly like the Circle 2 HomeKit integration, but it really works well when you pair it with other HomeKit devices using triggers. I also like that HomeKit Secure Video has been launched.
The only downside is the subscription plans to enable the power features like person detection and motion zones which could add a yearly fee of 79.99, making the overall ownership expensive.
Well thats a wrap on the Logitech Circle 2 review. Don’t forget to subscribe for more smart home and HomeKit reviews. If you have a question or a comment, then leave it below. You can also follow us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram.
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