Logitech's human-spotting Nest cam rival works outdoors
Although shielding the power cable from the elements will cost you a little bit extra.
Back in 2015, Logitech took one look at Dropcam / Nest's home security cameras and thought it could do better. It released Circle, a cute ball that could monitor your dwelling and even stream video for three hours untethered from the socket. Two years later, and the company is launching the Circle 2, which looks a lot more like Nest's outdoor camera, and similarly works outside. Kinda. If you don't live in a perma-dry state, you'll need to plump for a weatherproof accessory to protect the cabling from the elements.
There are other accessories available, including one to mount the camera to a window to check out what's going on outside or attach it to a wall outlet. In addition, you can grab a spare rechargeable battery for the wire-free version that'll keep the hardware running while you re-juice its original power pack. Speaking of which, the cells are expected to run for up to three months at a time, so don't worry if sockets aren't close.
In addition, a future update will enable the devices to connect to both Amazon Alexa and Apple's HomeKit, although there's no word on when that'll happen. Out of the box, you'll get 24 hours of cloud video storage, with subscription packages available to push that up to 31 days. The wired version of the Circle 2 is available for $180/£170, while its wireless sibling will set you back $200/£200, and both will be available in July.
