When I started watching smart video ringtones for my new home, a specific feature I was looking for was HomeKit support, but as it turned out at the time (just 3 months ago), it didn't exist. So, like everyone else, I was content with a ringtone from the Ring, which worked reliably for me. Installation was simple. The setup was a breeze, and daily use was as frictionless as you would expect from a bell.

But then Logitech introduced Circle View Doorbell in December 2020, the first device of its kind to support HomeKit, thus playing nicely with all Apple devices in the house and pocket.

So I contacted the people at Logitech who sent me one Ringtone with circular view after giving me a brief briefing on the product. In this review, I will share your impressions of this smart video sound. But a bit of a warning: this review will be heavily nuanced by my experience with the Ring, which I see as standard in the category or the beating device, if you will.

Initial installation and configuration

The installation was a little more boring than the Ring. Where I only had to connect a few wires to the Ring bell, The Circle View required a little more work. Specifically, the installation of a sound kit on your physical bell added something to an otherwise simple installation.

And because Circle View needed more power than Ring, I also had to change the ringer transformer in my house. This is not necessarily difficult to do, but it adds friction to the experience. It also adds costs!

Logitech has an excellent website that guides you through the installation process, but the fact that it needs a website to get started tells you a lot about it. Instead, the installation and configuration of my ring was done in a few minutes following the instructions in 3 steps from a brochure that was in the box.

Once installed, the setup was painless. It is made entirely in Home application and lasts only a few seconds.

To take full advantage of HomeKit support, especially video recordings, you'll need to be on ICloud plan of 200 GB / month or above. If you're under it, you'll still be able to use the ringtone, but features like video recording won't work. You will be able to stream, but not record. This is no different from the Ring, which requires a $ 3 / month plan to offer similar features. It's important to note that although you need a 200GB iCloud plan, videos stored in iCloud don't count in your plan.

Beautiful hardware

The appearance of the Logitech Circle View ringtone is absolutely top notch. It is simple, elegant and has a special feeling, something I can't say about the Ring, which I thought was cheap.

I would argue that the hardware itself is actually the best thing about Soneria Circle View.

A lighted circle tells your visitors where to press, but the entire bottom half of the device can be pressed to ring the bell. At night, you have the option to turn on a night light that shines a surprisingly large amount of light at your door. This can be turned off and on in the Home app.

All in all, this is a beautiful piece of hardware. Unlike the ring, which I find quite repulsive to look at, it has a simple and modern design in a small footprint.

But HomeKit ruins them all

If the Logitech Circle View Ring shines with its hardware, it quickly lags behind the Ring in the software department, and that's not Logitech's fault. Choosing to make a HomeKit compatible ringtone, they had to rely entirely on what the Apple Home app can offer to manage all the smart ones.

There aren't many things to ask for from a video ringtone. You want to send / record videos of activities happening at your doorstep, and you want to be informed about these activities. While the transmission / recording of the activity was impeccable, my main problem is how HomeKit does not allow too many customizations of the activity. Notifications.

This quickly became apparent when I began to be inundated with motion notifications. That's because my kids were playing by the font door. My phone literally announces to me every few seconds that there is activity at the door. No big deal, I thought. Ring allows you to postpone / silence these notifications for a certain period of time right from the notification itself, so HomeKit certainly has a similar function. Wrong! Your only option is to set a schedule or turn off motion notifications completely. Although I didn't want to, I chose to completely disable notifications for motion detection. A huge teddy bear if you ask me, because this is one of the best features of smart video ringtone.

Worse than not being able to change my notification settings, I would often receive notifications a few seconds after my activity was detected or someone knocked on my door. In one case, the delivery man rang the bell while I was not home. When I received the notification and opened it to talk to him, the guy was already gone. This happened a few times, enough to make me angry. The people at Logitech told me that I should try to restart my hub (Apple TV or HomePod used as the central brain for all this) or the bell itself. It hasn't changed anything.

The straw that broke the camel back that was when I stopped receiving notifications altogether!

This actually happened yesterday, when I started writing this article and I realized that I had not received a notification for a few days, which is impossible since I knew that my son had rang the bell so he could talk to me while I was at my desk (I know, weird, but it's a quick way for him to plead with me when his mom says he can't watch TV).

So I did a few tests, disabled and re-enabled notifications, but still nothing. Finally, I received notifications of movement activities to return, but no notification for when someone would ring the bell. After the bell restarted, these bell notifications returned temporarily, but 10 minutes later, they disappeared again.

That was enough for me. I grabbed a screwdriver, removed the beautiful Logitech Circle View ringer, and reinstalled the Ugly Ring. And believe me, I cursed through it all!

I put all the blame on HomeKit

In case I haven't been clear before, all these disadvantages have absolutely nothing to do with Soneria Circle View. The device itself is absolutely flawless, but it is kept by HomeKit itself and apparently Logitech can't do anything about it.

Notifications are the only feature a video ringtone needs to correct. Not only did HomeKit fail to get started, but it made me insecure, asking me to ask myself: what's the point of using this if I can't rely on it?

I don't expect progress to be made until iOS 15, because, like most Apple products and services, everything happens on an annual cycle, with little or no improvement between them.

Until then, I'll use the Ring.

Pros and cons of using a HomeKit ringtone

Pro:

• It plays nicely with all your Apple products
• Use people from the Photos app for facial recognition
• Stores videos in iCloud, but isn't based on your iCloud storage plan
• Announce who is at the door on your HomePod and Apple TV when facial recognition is turned on
• It can create automations using the Home or Shortcuts application

If you live in an Apple household like me, these are really appealing features.

Versus:

• Unable to customize notification sound
• Motion activity notifications cannot be distinguished from ring notifications
• I can't postpone notifications (ie temporary silence)
• Unsafe notifications

Logitech Circle View support is available on the Logitech website and starts at $ 199. You can install it professionally for another $ 100.