![](\"https:\/\/9to5mac.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/04\/Eufy-Doorbell-1.png?w=1600\")
<\/div>\nIn my time watching the HomeKit market, the most strange thing about it is how few HomeKit enabled doorbells there are on the market. It seems like every few months a new doorbell with HomeKit support is announced that never seems to be released. We also continually see products that claim HomeKit support is coming<\/em>, but the software update never arrives. Where are all the HomeKit doorbells, and is it worth waiting on before making a purchase? This week, I want to look at the Eufy doorbell.<\/p>\n HomeKit Weekly<\/a><\/strong> is a series focused on smart home accessories, automation tips and tricks, and everything to do with Apple\u2019s smart home framework.<\/em><\/p>\n If you look at the existing doorbells on the market (even non-HomeKit ones), you see two types of products: wired and wireless models. The wireless models are pretty self-explanatory. The device is charged from an internal battery, and then at some point in the future, you\u2019ll have to remove it to charge it back up. The devices have built-in cameras along with a button that acts as the \u2018doorbell button.\u2019 These devices are essentially wireless cameras with a doorbell attached.<\/p>\n On the other hand, wired doorbells are a bit more traditional in terms of their wiring setup. A \u2018regular\u2019 doorbell that comes standard with most houses includes a chime inside the house that is attached to a physical button at the door. Behind this chime is 110v power that is connected to a transformer that converts 110v down to 10\u201324 volts. A traditional doorbell button is wired into this setup. When the button is pressed, it \u2018breaks\u2019 the circuit at the chime to trigger the chime to alert homeowners that someone is at the door.<\/p>\n Now that we\u2019ve set the groundwork on doorbell technology let\u2019s look at possible reasons why HomeKit doorbells are so far and few between. The only doorbell made that has HomeKit support enabled is the Robin products<\/a>, and they are very pricey.<\/p>\n Over the years, we\u2019ve seen multiple stories about products that are \u2018coming soon\u2019 such as Netatmo video doorbell<\/a> and the abode smart doorbell<\/a>. As the months have passed, we are still waiting on these products to be released. While I have no concrete proof, I suspect that the issues companies are facing is balancing cost, the complexities of powering a HomeKit camera with 16v wiring (wired), or having optimal battery life with HomeKit support in such a small factor. If you look at the Robin lineup of doorbells, you\u2019ll notice they are expensive, in a more substantial form factor, and require power over ethernet. The PoE requirement will mean you\u2019ll either need a PoE switch<\/a> or a PoE injector<\/a>.<\/p>\n I say all of this to get to this point: If you are someone who loves<\/em> HomeKit<\/a>, what are your options? As I was building out my smart home setup<\/a>, I pondered why I really wanted HomeKit support for in a doorbell. As I mentioned a few weeks back, the real benefit of HomeKit<\/a> is in the automations you can create. In a perfect scenario, I would have a HomeKit doorbell, but there aren\u2019t many options out there. I already have EufyCameras<\/a> covering my exterior doors, so I concluded that I already had HomeKit benefits on my front door because I can use the EufyCam 2 to trigger my Hue floodlights<\/a> when motion is detected at night.<\/p>\n
\n![\"Doorbell](\"https:\/\/9to5mac.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/05\/Doorbell-Transformer.jpg?quality=82&strip=all\" "\\"HomeKit")
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