Home Via Phone with the Logitech Circle Cam

A webcam that helps you experience home life as it happens? Hmmm….what is this all about? Enter the Logitech Circle cam which is an intelligent, portable home camera that brings life’s moments right to your smartphone…so you don’t miss a thing. When I think “webcam”, I think home security. And while, there are aspects of this camera that can help with home security, the focus of this camera really is bringing magical home life moments to your smartphone. 

Logitech Circle Cam

When we first opened up the Logitech Circle cam, I was quite impressed by how easy it was to set up. It went from the box to the top of our entertainment center in minutes. The instructions are simply “Turn Circle on” and “Download Circle app.” And seriously, it was that easy. We were ready to go in no time.

For the most part, we leave it on top of our Entertainment Center, plugged in. But, it is completely portable and has a very strong magnet that lets you attach it anywhere that has a magnetic field. We can move it places like the refrigerator, the bathroom medicine cabinet and even the walls where we have metal studs.

The box also includes a Command Strip and some screws if you do decide to mount it more permanently. When the Circle is not plugged in, the battery life is fairly minimal (lasting 2 – 4 hours depending on the amount of activity happening) which is why we keep it plugged in most of the time.

The Logitech Circle cam has 135° wide angle viewing. It features HD live-view and 2-way talk and listen. I can see what is happening in real-time on my phone.

As it records snippets throughout the day, I can scroll through the day and see what has happened during the day. If someone in the family is at home, I can actually talk to them from my phone and they can respond back.

The Logitech Circle cam also has Scene Intuition which adapts to your home and identifies interesting clips so you can focus on what is important. For the most part, the Logitech Circle cam recognizes when there is motion and starts recording. It filters out ambient changes like night lights and daylight changes so that you only see the important happenings. The night vision is great – you can see everything even when the lights are all off. 

For a Busy Family, theCircle Cam Helps Us “Do” Life

An Eye on the Kids

I am a mom of three boys, ages 11 (almost 12), 9 and 5. The 11-year-old is starting to get to the point that he wants to be able to stay home by himself or with his middle brother. I am still a little nervous about this. The Logitech Circle cam is great for this situation. I can go to the market and can check on them from my phone and know all is well.

I can see how he handles my being gone and figure out if and when he is ready for a little more responsibility. If he is fighting with his brother? I can yell at them from my phone and they will know that I know what is going on. I have also been able to remind them to take care of their responsibilities (like practicing piano and doing homework) through the camera.

Babysitters

Another way that the camera is useful is when we have babysitters. I like knowing that they are playing with my kids. I like to see what time they go to bed. And, I want to see that the sitter is cleaning up a little bit around the house if the kids go to bed way before we get home. While I can ask my kids in the morning and get some of this information, it is nice to be able to see first hand how good (or bad) the sitter is.

A fun feature of the Logitech Circle cam is the 24-hour replay option on the app. You can get a “Day Brief” that shows the day’s happenings in 30 seconds. You are able to download this and share it (via email, Dropbox, Facebook, etc.) There is also an option that allows you to download and share the segment. If my boys are acting crazy or doing something funny, I can find it on the app, download and email it to Grandma!

Pets

While we don’t have a pet, I could see that this would be a great way to keep an eye on your animal if you are out and about. You could even talk to your pet if you wanted to.

Security

I mentioned at the beginning that the Circle really focuses on catching family moments. Its focus is not being a Home Security camera. That being said, you CAN turn on push notifications which will alert you if the camera senses activity. If your entire family is out of the house and you get a push notification, you would know that something is up and could check the camera to see what is going on.

But, the main reason that I say that it is not a Home Security camera is that it only keeps 24 hours worth of data. So, if you were to go on vacation on Friday, were robbed on Saturday and came home on Monday, you would not be able to find any footage from Saturday to identify the thief.

If you had your push notifications on and knew that something had happened, you would need to download and share it that day or it would be lost. (As a side note, while I say that some of the home security features are a little lacking, based on the website, it looks like Logitech is working to make improvements on this.)

Pros:

• Super easy set-up
• Good picture
• 2-way talk and listen
• Day Briefs are a lot of fun
• Strong magnetic field that doesn’t make me worried about hanging it somewhere

Cons:

• Only stores 24 hours of data. If you don’t save something that you want to keep, you will lose it
• Battery life is short – keeping it plugged in is recommended

The Logitech Circle cam is available on Amazon for $169.99 plus free shipping and is available in black or white. The app is available via the App Store as well as Google Play.

A Mom’s Perspective

The Logitech Circle cam has been a great tool for me as my kids start getting older. I can give them space to be independent while still being able to see firsthand how they are handling that independence. It also works great as a nanny cam – I can see how my babysitter is interacting with my kids.

It is a little disappointing that it only keeps footage for 24 hours. When we were cleaning up our Christmas decorations, I meant to do a Day Brief because I thought it would have been a fun day to see all the activity in the den. But, I forgot to watch and save it and the next day, I was unable to see it. Bummer! The Logitech website does say that there will be more storage options coming soon so I’m hopeful that they will address this problem. 

*I was given the Logitech Circle cam for my honest review.  All opinions are my own.