If you don't already have a strong smart home hub, the Aqara Doorbell Camera Hub G410 can kill two birds with one stone. Describing the Aqara Doorbell Camera Hub G410 as just another video doorbell is like dismissing the quirky VW ID. Sure, it will keep an eye on your front porch, but it can also control all the other smart devices in your home, thanks to the presence of Bluetooth, Thread, dual-band Wi-Fi, and Zigbee radios; Matter support; compatibility with Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Samsung SmartThings, IFTTT, and Apple's HomeKit Secure Video; and a 24/7 recording option with RTSP support for hardcore users. One caveat: Its Zigbee support is limited to Aqara's own Zigbee devices. It's still a massive step up from the Aqara Smart Video Doorbell G4 that TechHive reviewed in the spring of 2024, addressing nearly every criticism leveled at that earlier product.

If you're shopping for indoor or outdoor security cameras, video doorbells, or a mix of all three to cover your property, finding a system you can trust is tougher than it should be. Between security scandals, shoddy software, expensive subscriptions, and laggy feeds, you'll struggle to find a bulletproof security camera brand. Believe me, I've tried them all. Anyone with Apple devices in their home has probably considered Apple's HomeKit Secure Video system (HSV). It looks amazing on paper, but does reality match expectations?

The $200 Logitech Circle View Doorbell is aimed at a very specific audience: Homeowners with wired doorbells who've embraced Apple's rapidly growing HomeKit smart home ecosystem. This is not a cross-platform product: Android users need not apply; nor is there any support for Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant. The upside of this approach is that it allowed Logitech to take full advantage of what HomeKit has to offer, including HomeKit Secure Video, which uses the Apple hardware in your home to process captured video locally, versus uploading it to a server in the cloud that you have no real control over (you can upload encrypted video to your iCloud account, but you will be the only person with access--Apple won't be able to decrypt the files). I fashioned my own mounting block to compensate for the clapboard siding on my home. The downside, of course, is that you'll need to have that hardware in the first place: A HomePod, HomePod mini, Apple TV, or an iPad (provided it never leaves your house).