Cables and Kits recently sent me a free test version of their HD Webcam to test out. They were especially curious to see how well it compares with the built-in webcam in my high-end iMac Pro. Cables and Kits is a place where I purchase networking gear (I especially love their Ethernet cables), and they are a fantastic company to do business with, and they offer top-notch service. I recommend everyone check out their company for networking gear.
The webcam comes in simple product packing and easily plugs into any PC or Mac over USB (USB-A). The webcam offers HD quality video although at 2.0 MP (it does offer autofocus) and a wide-angle microphone for clear audio. It’s essentially plug and play without any fuss. The lens does include protective plastic over it to protect it during shipping, but the rest of the webcam is shiny and could pickup scratches in shipment, so extending the protective plastic over the rest of the shiny portions of the webcam would be a nice improvement in future variants.
I tested the webcam using a variety of apps on my iMac Pro and in comparison with the built-in webcam on my iMac Pro. My iMac Pro’s built-in webcam offers higher-quality video than the Cables and Kits webcam (then again, it is a $5,000 computer), but the video quality on the Cables and Kit webcam was still overall clear (slightly grainy, mainly in lower light) and not bad for a 2.0 MP webcam. While some higher-cost webcams offer higher-quality video, this webcam offers a great balance between video quality and price, plus ease of use.
Environments where this webcam would be ideal in are rapid-deployment environments (including schools) where organizations need to quickly hand over low-cost webcams for video conferencing (especially now during this time of COVID19). While this webcam wouldn’t be used to make a feature film or studio-quality broadcast, it’s perfect to be used with popular video conferencing apps such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Cisco WebEx, GoToMeeting, etc. For the price, an organization can easily afford to buy these in bulk and quickly hand them out to employees to move video conferences online without having to invest in comparable higher-cost webcams.
Nathan Parker
