Netatmo debuts stylish HomeKit-enabled Smart Video Doorbell

AppleInsider

In what is shaping up as a race to be the first HomeKit doorbell to market, Netatmo took its stab at the niche segment and debuted its new Smart Video Doorbell at CES 2019.

Netatmo Smart Video Doorbell with HomeKit support

The new Smart Video Doorbell is similar to many others on the market that feature a camera on top, speaker/mic in the center, and a button below for visitors to ring.

Thanks to Apple HomeKit, whenever someone rings the doorbell, a rich notification appears where users can tap to jump right into the Home app. They can even ask Siri to show them who is at the door. The camera sports a 160-degree lens and records video in 1080p.

There is a built-in motion sensor, which is also tied to HomeKit. Automation rules can be configured to turn trigger actions like turning on the porch lights whenever motion is detected.

Aside from HomeKit, Netatmo's device is able to tap into IFTTT for additional apps and services.

One downside is the fact that this product is designed as a doorbell replacement, which means it needs a wired connection to function.

Unlike other video doorbells on the market, Netatmo requires no subscription. Video is stored on a microSD card within the device and can be accessed from within the app. Currently, HomeKit doesn't offer its own support for recorded video playback.

The Netatmo Smart Video Doorbell will be available in the second half of 2019.

This isn't the first HomeKit doorbell we've seen thus far. Netherlands-based Robin Telecom also claims to be releasing its ProLine video doorbell in the first half of 2019, ahead of Netatmo.

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xyzzy01

Can the video be automatically stored somewhere else? Being able to get rid of evidence by stealing the device as well sounds less than ideal.

loekf

@Appleinsider... does this one have some kind of theft protection ? For example, the Nest door bell simply clicks (no screws etc) on a plastic holder you screw on the wall or door post. So it's very easy to get stolen.. and that for a 200+ euro device.

Bad design decision to store the video files on a SD card inside the device. Still haven't seen any door bell device, which stores video on a NAS for example. There are standards for that (ONVIF), but no one is paying attention appearently.

HomeKit for home security is btw useless without any means to sound a proper loud alarm. Best solution I can think of is an Eve switch controlling a 230V or 24V alarm.

EDIT: looks like it works in Europe and the US. Doorbells in Europe typically use 8V DC, while in the US it's 24V DC. Nest is still using 24V only, while Ring can work with 8V as well.

EDIT2: article doesn't mention that you can store stuff in Dropbox or via ftp as well. Ftp is interesting, because it would allow you do to dump files.

davidmalcolm

I'd heard that Ring has said that they're going to bring HomeKit support and I really hope they do since I bought my dad one for Christmas and we've got a bunch of other Homekit stuff. (Ring stores their video in the cloud and you pay a few bucks a month for the service.)

airnerd

loekf said:

@Appleinsider... does this one have some kind of theft protection ? For example, the Nest door bell simply clicks (no screws etc) on a plastic holder you screw on the wall or door post. So it's very easy to get stolen.. and that for a 200+ euro device.

Bad design decision to store the video files on a SD card inside the device. Still haven't seen any door bell device, which stores video on a NAS for example. There are standards for that (ONVIF), but no one is paying attention appearently.

HomeKit for home security is btw useless without any means to sound a proper loud alarm. Best solution I can think of is an Eve switch controlling a 230V or 24V alarm.

EDIT: looks like it works in Europe and the US. Doorbells in Europe typically use 8V DC, while in the US it's 24V DC. Nest is still using 24V only, while Ring can work with 8V as well.

EDIT2: article doesn't mention that you can store stuff in Dropbox or via ftp as well. Ftp is interesting, because it would allow you do to dump files.

My Ring doorbell is screwed into the baseplate which is also screwed into the mortar of my house.  not sure what Ring doorbell you are using, but it is more than just "clicked to a plastic holder".  

airnerd

davidmalcolm said:

I'd heard that Ring has said that they're going to bring HomeKit support and I really hope they do since I bought my dad one for Christmas and we've got a bunch of other Homekit stuff. (Ring stores their video in the cloud and you pay a few bucks a month for the service.)

IMO you fell for the same scam that I did.  I bought the Ring Doorbell Pro about a year ago on the same "we will bring HomeKit integration to the Pro doorbell".  Still waiting and there has been no comments from Ring to make it sound like they are actually going to make good on that.  I'm still amazed there hasn't been a class-action lawsuit here in the States yet, because that 100% is the ONLY reason I went with the Ring lineup.  

mike1

airnerd said:

davidmalcolm said:

I'd heard that Ring has said that they're going to bring HomeKit support and I really hope they do since I bought my dad one for Christmas and we've got a bunch of other Homekit stuff. (Ring stores their video in the cloud and you pay a few bucks a month for the service.)

IMO you fell for the same scam that I did.  I bought the Ring Doorbell Pro about a year ago on the same "we will bring HomeKit integration to the Pro doorbell".  Still waiting and there has been no comments from Ring to make it sound like they are actually going to make good on that.  I'm still amazed there hasn't been a class-action lawsuit here in the States yet, because that 100% is the ONLY reason I went with the Ring lineup.  

That was probably their plan, but since Ring was purchased by Amazon, you can bet that it will never happen now.

jbdragon

Well from what I've seen in the market and reviews, the Speakers in them generally SUCK!! As in not very loud. Ring in general is a little louder than the others. But this Netatmo one, looks like a good speaker there in the middle? Homekit support is nice. No monthly cloud fee, kind of cool. Don't expect RING to ever have Homekit support. It's a Amazon device these days and so it's all about Alexa and only Alexa. I do wish these company's were more like Ecobee who supports everyone. But again they're not owned by Google or Amazon or Apple, and so they can do that. Makes no sense to them to block any one format out of the market. It would be nice if everyone supported everyone so you could use what you wanted for the type of home setup you were using. I think adoption for Smart Home devices would jump big time if things where this way. I know I haven't gotten a number of devices just for the simple fact they don't have Homekit support.

StrangeDays

xyzzy01 said:

Can the video be automatically stored somewhere else? Being able to get rid of evidence by stealing the device as well sounds less than ideal.

I doubt most robbers are aware of which brands and models use cloud storage and which do not. 

John Lockwood

The Netatmo Smart Video Doorbell like their other camera products - the Presence outdoor camera and the Welcome indoor camera comes with an SD card for local recording but has the option to alternative record to your Dropbox account or a generic FTP server. So far they still have not added support for SFTP. You could use your own NAS as an FTP server. I am slightly surprised Netatmo are claiming HomeKit support. Apple apparently dropped the entire doorbell category last year although this may more have been due to 3rd part issues than Apple. Ring obviously now being part of Amazon may have lost interest, and SkyBell seem defunct, these were the only two to claim they were going to add HomeKit support. This Netatmo product is wired so like other wired camera including Netatmo's own meets Apple's rules on that aspect.

neilm

1080p resolution sounds great at first. Then you start to think about a potential need to zoom in to identify a car license plate, or someone's face down at the sidewalk in front of your house, and it doesn't, especially with the ultra-wide angle lenses on these devices. I'd be holding out for 4K.

tjwolf

davidmalcolm said:

I'd heard that Ring has said that they're going to bring HomeKit support and I really hope they do since I bought my dad one for Christmas and we've got a bunch of other Homekit stuff. (Ring stores their video in the cloud and you pay a few bucks a month for the service.)

A bit over a year ago, Blink announced imminent availability of a smart door bell.  Blink keeps video footage for all its cameras in the cloud - for free (up to some # of gigs)!  Anyway, they never promised HomeKit support, but still the ringer never showed up - it made sense once it was announced that Blink was getting bought by Amazon - who had also just bought Ring.  Given that amazon now owns Ring, I'm a bit leery from a privacy perspective (just as I am about getting a Nest, who's master is Google).  On the other hand, not sure buying a smart doorbell from unknown companies is much better.  I took a chance with Blink when they came out because they were the only company that offered totally wireless cameras, but they were pretty cheap - with only 5 cameras so far, I can still back out of that devils' bargain if my privacy paranoia takes a turn for the worse :-)

tjwolf

Does anyone know enough about HomeKit to be able to authoritatively say that a HomeKit-based camera cannot (unless agreed to by user) send its information to a third party (for advertising/spying/etc.)?  I've read that HomeKit - the platform - is a lot more secure than the alternatives (it even used to require special hardware support I believe, but Apple has since opened it up a bit to software-only implementations).

gatorguy

tjwolf said:

Does anyone know enough about HomeKit to be able to authoritatively say that a HomeKit-based camera cannot (unless agreed to by user) send its information to a third party (for advertising/spying/etc.)?  I've read that HomeKit - the platform - is a lot more secure than the alternatives (it even used to require special hardware support I believe, but Apple has since opened it up a bit to software-only implementations).

I think I remember something about Homekit and doorbell video streaming not being permitted, probably the reason the Netatmo uses an SD card rather than their own cloud service. I think that was even mentioned as one of the holdups in an article I was reading earlier.

To the best of my knowledge Homekit does not allow sharing for advertising purposes (nor does Nest for that matter). Amazon's Ring on the other hand, the doorbell I'm currently using, seems to say they may use your personal data and use of the product for marketing. That's something I was not aware of until today. I may switch out to a Nest doorbell even tho I really REALLY like the very recent updates to the (Amazon) Ring Pro. 
https://shop.ring.com/pages/privacy

ferdinandcc

My husband and I have the Netatmo Presence outdoor security camera that we love so much we’ve become evangelical about it and want to buy all their products. They’re that good. We’ll definitely be getting this. Netatmo has a greater upfront cost, but they’re beautiful, high quality products and you don’t need to pay any monthly fees. The company is great.

F_Kent_D

loekf said:

@Appleinsider... does this one have some kind of theft protection ? For example, the Nest door bell simply clicks (no screws etc) on a plastic holder you screw on the wall or door post. So it's very easy to get stolen.. and that for a 200+ euro device.

Bad design decision to store the video files on a SD card inside the device. Still haven't seen any door bell device, which stores video on a NAS for example. There are standards for that (ONVIF), but no one is paying attention appearently.

HomeKit for home security is btw useless without any means to sound a proper loud alarm. Best solution I can think of is an Eve switch controlling a 230V or 24V alarm.

EDIT: looks like it works in Europe and the US. Doorbells in Europe typically use 8V DC, while in the US it's 24V DC. Nest is still using 24V only, while Ring can work with 8V as well.

EDIT2: article doesn't mention that you can store stuff in Dropbox or via ftp as well. Ftp is interesting, because it would allow you do to dump files.

Looking at their installation video they show the contents of the package and there is a security screw with a supposedly proprietary tool, (Probably just an Allen type wrench) but it is there looks to be similar to Ring’s version.