The demand for home office equipment is on fire right now. Desks, chairs, monitors, keyboards, mice and webcams are all selling out as more companies realize that working from home isn’t going away. At times, during the past year, it’s been impossible to get hold of a good quality webcam for love or money. Some of the better webcams were selling for up to triple the normal price due to massive demand.
One company that’s spotted this trend is Anker, the computer accessory brand that already produces a wide range of chargers, cables, docks and power banks. Anker also has a sub-brand of earphones called Soundcore and now the company is launching AnkerWork. This is a new sub-brand for great quality accessories designed for home and office workers at sensible prices.
Today, AnkerWork is launching the first couple of AnkerWork products designed for home and office workers looking for enterprise levels of performance at consumer prices. One of the first products to roll off the production line is the PowerConf C300, a premium HD webcam for use with Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Skype and Facetime.
The PowerConf C300 is a 1080p, Full HD webcam that includes an AI chipset designed to produce high-quality images with accurate color reproduction and excellent performance at low light. I’ve spent the past week assessing a production sample of the new webcam and it’s one of the best I’ve ever used. It’s up there with the Logitech Stream webcam which has been my “go-to” tool for video conferences throughout the past year.
The C300 has three angles of view starting at 78-degrees for close-ups, a 90-degree mid-view, plus 115-degrees for the widest field of view, enabling the PowerConf C300 to be used for meetings with up to 10 participants. It also includes one of the best focus algorithms which is able to refocus in just 0.35ms.
AnkerWork has also developed special software to work with the webcam’s AI capability that offers smart framing, a clever technique that helps keep an individual or group of people centered on the screen. An AI algorithm assesses what is going on in the shot and only reframes once a subject’s deliberate movements have finished. This technique makes for much smoother auto framing. For example, a subject can take a sip of water off camera without making the focus shift or reframing the shot.
To enable great quality sound to be picked up the C300 has dual stereo microphones with noise-canceling function to ensure great sounding audio, although it’s also possible to the audio input from another microphone if that’s required.
I’ve tried out the PowerConf C300 for the past week and it’s one of the sharpest and most flicker-free webcams I’ve ever used thanks to its 60Hz frame refresh. The color balance of the webcam’s image is accurate. Adjustment of exposure to compensate for backlighting or low light levels is truly impressive and addresses one of the major problems experienced when using “dumb” webcams. I’d put it up there with the Logitech Stream and some of the more high-end video conferencing devices that cost much more.
The build quality of the PowerConf C300 is excellent and it includes a versatile multi-axis stand for mounting the webcam on top of a monitor or on a bookshelf. The also stand has a screw thread for mounting the C300 on a tripod. AnkerWork includes a couple of privacy sliders for covering the lens to protect the user’s privacy.
Speakerphones for all
Launching alongside the PowerConf C300 webcam is the all-new AnkerWork PowerConf S500 speakerphone. This model follows on from the original PowerConf speakerphone that I reviewed back in February 2020. The new model includes four upgraded microphones with Anker’s proprietary VoiceRadar technology. VoiceRadar uses microphone beamforming and enhanced Digital Signal Processors (DSPs) to pick up the voice of whoever is speaking while ignoring any other surrounding sounds to ensure that everyone gets to hear the speaker more clearly.
The PowerConf S500 can be used with the AnkerWork app (available on Android and iOS) that enables users to choose between three pickup patterns for use in different meeting scenarios. These patterns include traditional conference room environments where there are multiple attendees; a single-person mode for presentations; plus, a setting to use the S500 as a microphone for live streaming.
Two PowerConf S500 speakerphones can be connected for use in larger conference rooms and each speakerphone includes an upgraded 10W amplifier and custom-designed speaker that can produce enough output for conference calls held in larger rooms or when listening to music. Like most speakerphones, the S500 includes a built-in rechargeable battery that enables the speakerphone to be carried around and used almost anywhere for up to 16 hours of use between charges. Better still, it’s small enough to fit in a work bag or even a purse.
Pricing and Availability: The PowerConf C300 webcam is available today from Amazon, Anker.com, plus select retailers. It will sell for $129.99 / €129.99 / £119.00. The price and availability of the PowerConf S500 speakerphone will be announced at a later date. Additional working-from-home products from AnkerWork will be announced in the coming weeks.
More info: www.anker.com
