Logitech this week launched a new doorbell product, meant to compete with Ring’s doorbells, called the Circle View Doorbell. The product is touted as the first wired video doorbell that’s made to work with Apple’s HomeKit ecosystem. 

The product is available for $199.99, or $299.99 with professional installation included. 

The product offers what Logitech calls “crisp head-to-toe portrait video,” while also using face recognition technology to identify people who have been tagged in the user’s Photos library. Apple users can also be notified via the Home app when someone is at their door. 

“We could not be more excited to launch the Circle View Doorbell, a very welcome addition to the Logitech home security family and sure to be an indispensable addition to your home,” Michele Hermann, vice president of mobility at Logitech, said in the announcement. 

“Circle View Doorbell has been thoughtfully designed from the ground up to work exclusively with HomeKit, featuring all of the security features you’d want in a smart doorbell and a striking design that will add the finishing touch to your home.”

The arrival of the product comes as Logitech has had a wildly successful few months, as the pandemic has kept people home more and caused demand to skyrocket for the sorts of products the company sells. 

In quarterly earnings announced in October, Logitech said that it posted sales of $1.26 billion, a 75 percent gain over the same quarter the year before. The company posted a profit of  $266.9 million, compared to $73 million the year before, as most of its business segments showed gains, including gaming, video collaboration products and PC webcams. 

 It was also the company’s first-ever quarter of over a billion in sales. Logitech’s stock had also nearly doubled from its value at the start of the year to over $90 a share and is now trading at $89.61 a share, compared to $47.31 on January 1. 

In the early days of the pandemic, back in April, there were worries about a webcam shortage, once large numbers of people began working from home. A product thought to be obsolete once webcams became a standard future of notebook computers, standalone webcams were suddenly in great demand, once users realized they wanted a more professional presentation for their Zoom calls. There were even reports of hoarding and price-gouging. 

While webcams were sold out across major retail channels for a time, Logitech was working to ramp up production, and the company was eventually able to meet demand. Meanwhile, Logitech’s products have become a mainstay of “best webcams” lists published by tech websites. Business Insider named the Logitech C920S as the best available webcam back in the spring. 

Stephen Silver, a technology writer for The National Interest, is a journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to Philly Voice, Philadelphia Weekly, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Living Life Fearless, Backstage magazine, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver.

Image: Reuters