Logi Circle Review

Introduction

The modern day security camera has evolved into more than just giving you peace of mind, since many of them go beyond just for security purposes. Many of them, in fact, are the brains of the smart connected home – allowing them to remotely turn on/off lights, act as baby cameras, and much more. Longtime accessories maker, Logitech, is taking a totally different approach with its Logi Circle, as it focuses more on the moments we miss while we’re away from home, rather than purely acting as a deterrent like your typical security camera.

Design

In contrast to its rivals, the Logi Circle is a charming looking camera that pays homage to Logitech’s old-school webcams from the early 2000s. Spherical in shape, it clearly has a softer image than say the majority of menacing looking security cameras out there – and better yet, it’s significantly more compact at the same time. Of course, it’s hard to miss that it’s a camera because of its appearance, but its demeanor isn’t as intimidating.

Where it undoubtedly sets itself apart from the pack is in the way that it’s mobile and articulating. Attaching the included magnetic shield, we’re able to place the Logi Circle on almost any surface that the magnet can attach itself on – making for some interesting perspectives in the process. You wouldn’t know it, but the Logi Circle is mobile because it packs a rechargeable battery that’s rated to deliver up to 12 hours of juice. In our experience, though, its battery life generally tops out at 8 hours. And when it needs to be recharged, we’re just required to place it onto the charging disc, which so happens to attached with an ample 10 foot chord.

On the Logi Circle itself, there’s a speaker grill that outlines the camera – enabling us to have two-way communication. As for the camera itself, it captures footage in 720p and features a wide 135-degree field of view. That’s decent because positioning it in the corner of a particular room is good enough to encompass almost the entire range. And finally, there’s a tiny LED light that indicates when someone is accessing the camera, however, we can become discrete by turning the option off through the settings.

Connectivity

Using an LG V10 to set it up, it doesn’t take long at all to have the Logi Circle connected to our home Wi-Fi network. At over 35 feet and located in another room, it’s able to maintain a solid signal thanks to its penetration through walls

Performance

Purely as a security camera, the Logi Circle suffices in capturing movement that’s happening in the scenery. Generally speaking, Logitech’s Scene Intuition technology is smart enough to minimize false notifications from false movement – so that it’s not saving redundant video, but instead, saving those that obviously matter. With its 720p capture, it’s more than enough to make out faces and whatnot, but hardly detailed enough to allow us to read the headlines from a newspaper. When it gets dark, its night vision mode ensures that nothing will ever go unnoticed because the scene remains illuminated.

Interacting with the camera is done using the companion mobile app, which is available for Android and iOS. There’s a timeline on the right side, where times are highlighted to indicate more prominent movement, but the coolest experience comes from its Day Brief. Simply, it’s a time lapse of what the Logi Circle captures each day starting when the clock strikes midnight. This, by far, is its most unique feature and differentiates itself from the typical security camera.

Currently, Logitech offers a free 24/7 monitoring with its service, so there’s no added cost beyond purchasing the unit. However, we should note that captured content is saved for a maximum 24 hour period, so once you exceed that, any videos prior to that won’t be accessible anymore – unless you save them to your device, naturally. While it’s limited in how much it stores in the cloud at the moment, Logitech says that more storage options will become available down the road, opening up the possibility of having more storage at a cost.

Conclusion

Pricing for the Logi Circle is set at $199.99, hitting the same price point as many of the other, popular security cameras that are on the market – such as Dropcam or Piper. Without question, the Logi Circle is different type of security camera, choosing to focus more on the ‘magic’ that happens at home when you’re not around.

Sure, its competitors offer a more comprehensive set of features, such as integration with other smart connected products, but the Logi Circle is the kind of camera that makes it fun to see what’s going on – even if you’re the kind of person that doesn’t want to be bothered by constant notifications that motion has been detected. Call it the lazy man’s security camera or something, one that doesn’t bombard you with those pesky notifications that eventually become redundant because they’re never-ending.

Instead, this gives you a glimpse in what matters, whether they’re for a split moment in time, or spread out over a period. You won’t miss a beat!