Netatmo announces U.S. availability of HomeKit video doorbell

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in General Discussion
Originally debuted at 2019's CES, Netatmo will soon be bringing its HomeKit-compatible Smart Video Doorbell to U.S. customers in early January




Netatmo's Smart Video Doorbell has a 140-degree field of view, smart HDR technology to handle backlit scenes, infrared night vision, and locally recorded video. Thanks to a thin-film coating, it's IP44 rated and is entirely waterproof and dustproof.

The Smart Video Doorbell utilizes Artificial Intelligence algorithms to identify between random motion and a person approaching the door. Its built-in microphone and speaker allows users to communicate with guests, delivery people, or strangers at the door. A customizable Alert-Zone enables users to define what areas will trigger motion alerts and which won't.

Homekit users can create custom scenarios to connect their doorbell to other devices, too. For instance, if the doorbell detects a person, it could turn on HomeKit-compatible lights. Additionally, users can utilize Siri to show them their front door with simple voice commands.

While Netatmo has a somewhat higher price tag, it includes premium features and no monthly fee, a departure from many other smart video doorbell brands. Users can also install the Smart Video Doorbell themselves by replacing an existing doorbell.

HomeKit Secure Video is not supported at launch. As it stands, HomeKit support allows users to call up the camera using Siri, trigger scenes or lights based on detected motion, and view the camera from the Home app. Netatmo is still promising HSV, but it will be arriving at a later date as an automatic firmware update.

Netatmo's Smart Video Doorbell will be available on January 6 but will be available to preorder from Amazon and Netatmo's online shop starting today for $299.99.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 8
    grom007grom007 Posts: 14member
    Better late than never. While homekit and no subsciption is nice, there are only two features would make me upgrade now. The first is a higher resolution camera, and the other is better wifi connectivity like wifi 6 or wifi 6e. What I hate is the lag between when the door bell is pressed and when it appears on the phone. Hopefully, this doorbell has some options to change doorbell holiday chime similar to the nest.
  • Reply 2 of 8
    george kaplangeorge kaplan Posts: 169member
    I think Logitech is eating Netatmo’s lunch right now. Had they brought his out 6 months ago, they’d probably have sold many. This is $100 more than Logitech Circle doorbell and without HSV. [sad trombone fx]
  • Reply 3 of 8
    AutigerMarkAutigerMark Posts: 64member
    Took too long to come to market.  Was looking forward to this a year ago when announced but now there are other cheaper HomeKit doorbells.  Still might get it but will wait and see the feedback after US release.
  • Reply 4 of 8
    bsimpsenbsimpsen Posts: 398member
    Hopefully, the Netatmo doorbell is actually designed for outdoor use. The Logitech Circle View Doorbell has an operating temperature range (-4 to 104F) that will be exceeded in nearly every US state at some point during the year. Florida and Arizona customers are already complaining of over-temperature shutdowns during the day. Imagine how bad it'll be in summer, when ambient temperatures in Arizona will exceed the doorbell's operating limit virtually every day.

    In addition, I discovered during installation that the Logitech doorbell requires you to abandon any rear door bell you might have. That's absurd. I returned my unit and will wait for someone to offer a doorbell suitable for its intended purpose.
  • Reply 5 of 8
    jonshfjonshf Posts: 90member
    bsimpsen said:
    Hopefully, the Netatmo doorbell is actually designed for outdoor use. The Logitech Circle View Doorbell has an operating temperature range (-4 to 104F) that will be exceeded in nearly every US state at some point during the year. Florida and Arizona customers are already complaining of over-temperature shutdowns during the day. Imagine how bad it'll be in summer, when ambient temperatures in Arizona will exceed the doorbell's operating limit virtually every day.

    In addition, I discovered during installation that the Logitech doorbell requires you to abandon any rear door bell you might have. That's absurd. I returned my unit and will wait for someone to offer a doorbell suitable for its intended purpose.
    I don't think the ambient temperature is the issue but the direct sunlight hitting the doorbell which is colored black. If the doorbell is not south facing or under shade then it shouldn't be a problem.

    As to the two doorbell issue I think that's trickier than people think. These doorbells are using some kind of wizardry to use the same single circuit from the chime to the doorbell for both power to run the electronics in the doorbell and to sound the chime. Pressing a normal dummy doorbell just completes the circuit to send power to the chime but I don't know how these two smart doorbells can both get power to run themselves without turning the chime on and then also use the same power circuit to turn the chime on. Getting two doorbells to do that with the same chime seems impossible. My guess is getting a separate chime for the rear doorbell would work fine and having a separate chime with a different sound would also tell you which doorbell was pressed.
  • Reply 6 of 8
    bsimpsenbsimpsen Posts: 398member
    jonshf said:
    bsimpsen said:
    Hopefully, the Netatmo doorbell is actually designed for outdoor use. The Logitech Circle View Doorbell has an operating temperature range (-4 to 104F) that will be exceeded in nearly every US state at some point during the year. Florida and Arizona customers are already complaining of over-temperature shutdowns during the day. Imagine how bad it'll be in summer, when ambient temperatures in Arizona will exceed the doorbell's operating limit virtually every day.

    In addition, I discovered during installation that the Logitech doorbell requires you to abandon any rear door bell you might have. That's absurd. I returned my unit and will wait for someone to offer a doorbell suitable for its intended purpose.
    I don't think the ambient temperature is the issue but the direct sunlight hitting the doorbell which is colored black. If the doorbell is not south facing or under shade then it shouldn't be a problem.

    As to the two doorbell issue I think that's trickier than people think. These doorbells are using some kind of wizardry to use the same single circuit from the chime to the doorbell for both power to run the electronics in the doorbell and to sound the chime. Pressing a normal dummy doorbell just completes the circuit to send power to the chime but I don't know how these two smart doorbells can both get power to run themselves without turning the chime on and then also use the same power circuit to turn the chime on. Getting two doorbells to do that with the same chime seems impossible. My guess is getting a separate chime for the rear doorbell would work fine and having a separate chime with a different sound would also tell you which doorbell was pressed.
    Ambient temperature is absolutely an issue. Here in Wisconsin it's not uncommon for wintertime temperatures to fall below the Logitech doorbell's minimum operating temperature. My west facing front door routinely gets much warmer than ambient in the afternoon. The Logitech doorbell would then be expected to shut down due to overheating on many summer afternoons. There's no excuse for such poor engineering, my car's electronics work on the coldest and hottest of days, in sun or shade, day or night.

    As for operating two doorbells, that's also a trivial bit of engineering (I retired from designing medical electronic instrumentation after a 40 year career). The doorbell unit can sip power from the doorbell circuit in the same way as the light bulbs commonly found in old mechanical doorbells do. The doorbell is in series with the chime solenoid. So long as the doorbell (whether a bulb or smart electronics) does not pass enough current to pull in the solenoid, pressing the button will pull it in and make the chiming sound. The second doorbell button drives a completely independent solenoid (which usually strikes only the shorter of the two tone plates, making a single "ding" on press). I don't understand why Logitech would require abandoning the second door bell, as it's really an independent circuit capable of operating on its own.

    It's pretty rare for me to see engineering errors like this in modern products. Logitech's effort with the Circle View is quite disappointing.
  • Reply 7 of 8
    jonshfjonshf Posts: 90member
    bsimpsen said:
    jonshf said:
    bsimpsen said:
    Hopefully, the Netatmo doorbell is actually designed for outdoor use. The Logitech Circle View Doorbell has an operating temperature range (-4 to 104F) that will be exceeded in nearly every US state at some point during the year. Florida and Arizona customers are already complaining of over-temperature shutdowns during the day. Imagine how bad it'll be in summer, when ambient temperatures in Arizona will exceed the doorbell's operating limit virtually every day.

    In addition, I discovered during installation that the Logitech doorbell requires you to abandon any rear door bell you might have. That's absurd. I returned my unit and will wait for someone to offer a doorbell suitable for its intended purpose.
    I don't think the ambient temperature is the issue but the direct sunlight hitting the doorbell which is colored black. If the doorbell is not south facing or under shade then it shouldn't be a problem.

    As to the two doorbell issue I think that's trickier than people think. These doorbells are using some kind of wizardry to use the same single circuit from the chime to the doorbell for both power to run the electronics in the doorbell and to sound the chime. Pressing a normal dummy doorbell just completes the circuit to send power to the chime but I don't know how these two smart doorbells can both get power to run themselves without turning the chime on and then also use the same power circuit to turn the chime on. Getting two doorbells to do that with the same chime seems impossible. My guess is getting a separate chime for the rear doorbell would work fine and having a separate chime with a different sound would also tell you which doorbell was pressed.
    Ambient temperature is absolutely an issue. Here in Wisconsin it's not uncommon for wintertime temperatures to fall below the Logitech doorbell's minimum operating temperature. My west facing front door routinely gets much warmer than ambient in the afternoon. The Logitech doorbell would then be expected to shut down due to overheating on many summer afternoons. There's no excuse for such poor engineering, my car's electronics work on the coldest and hottest of days, in sun or shade, day or night.

    As for operating two doorbells, that's also a trivial bit of engineering (I retired from designing medical electronic instrumentation after a 40 year career). The doorbell unit can sip power from the doorbell circuit in the same way as the light bulbs commonly found in old mechanical doorbells do. The doorbell is in series with the chime solenoid. So long as the doorbell (whether a bulb or smart electronics) does not pass enough current to pull in the solenoid, pressing the button will pull it in and make the chiming sound. The second doorbell button drives a completely independent solenoid (which usually strikes only the shorter of the two tone plates, making a single "ding" on press). I don't understand why Logitech would require abandoning the second door bell, as it's really an independent circuit capable of operating on its own.

    It's pretty rare for me to see engineering errors like this in modern products. Logitech's effort with the Circle View is quite disappointing.
    I think you can expect the device to exceed the stated temperature range. I have a Netatmo and the temperatures have gone well below the lower limit claimed. The upper temperature range is also probably conservative but if the sun is shining directly on the doorbell on a hot day, not to mention the heat buildup from the sun hitting the wall of the house, then the temperature inside the doorbell may far exceed the ambient temperature. In Wisconsin you may even be dealing with both ends of the temperature range. Where I live only the lower limit is an issue. We'll see how it handles a cold wave in January or February.

    I think you're right about how the power is sipped through the single circuit. If your second doorbell is on a separate circuit then I don't see how that can be a problem. Perhaps Logitech is implying the case where two doorbells are connected to the same solenoid. I would definitely not remove the other doorbell and if the your Logitech doorbell can handle the climate range in Wisconsin I would even dare to install a second one.
  • Reply 8 of 8
    bsimpsenbsimpsen Posts: 398member
    jonshf said: if the Logitech doorbell can handle the climate range in Wisconsin I would even dare to install a second one.
    I returned it. It's already evident it won't handle Wisconsin summers. It's not currently handling Florida/Arizona winters.

    https://www.reddit.com/r/HomeKit/comments/k9z0vr/logitech_circle_view_wired_doorbell_overheating/
Sign In or Register to comment.