Webcams are very good these days, and if your laptop’s built-in cam does you no favors, Razer’s new Kiyo Pro promises to make you look good even in bad lighting.
The $ 200 Kiyo Pro is aimed at popular premium webcams, such as Logitech’s Brio and SteamCam, but also has some major upgrades to Razer’s older webcam.
The biggest change is that different from the standard $ 100 Kiyo, the Kiyo Pro does not have a built-in ring light. Instead, Razer upgraded the Kiyo Pro with a larger 1 / 2.8-inch full HD CMOS Sony Starvis illuminated sensor, which is adapted to deliver improved image quality, even in difficult conditions such as low light or background. The ultimate goal for the Kiyo Pro is to deliver solid image quality without the need for extra lighting.
The Kiyo Pro can record video at 1080p / 60 fps or 1080p / 30fps with HDR for enhanced color and exposure. The webcam also offers three fields of view: 80 degrees, 90, degrees or 103 degrees. And for sound, the Kiyo Pro also comes with a 16-bit stereo microphone with an omni-directional pole pattern, which looks good for general use but is not really meant to replace a high-quality external microphone .
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Although I have not yet had the chance to fully test the Kiyo Pro, I must say that I like the design. It’s simple and surprisingly underrated in a way that will work for both gamers and people working from home, and it has a detachable stand that can be used to hold the Kiyo Pro on a desk or on the back of to push a monitor. I also appreciate that Razer includes two tripod mounts for extra flexibility: one at the bottom of the camera itself and another at the bottom of the detachable stand.
Razer even throws in a plastic lens cover, which is nice, but I have to admit it looks a bit like an afterthought. Unlike private shutters, which are increasingly common on new laptops, the cover of the Kiyo Pro is closer to what you would find on a DSLR or a mirrorless camera, and if you remove it, there is not really anywhere to save it. eventually becomes extra clutter on your desktop. I wanted Razer to make the cover so it could rotate up or behind the camera when not in use.
Video of the Kiyo looked slightly sharper and more colorful in my early testing than the Logitech Brio I’ve used in the past year. Razer said it specifically designed the Kiyo Pro to handle more gamer-style environments, including setups with RGB lighting, but I could not yet compare the quality in a number of different lighting conditions.
Logitech still dominates when it comes to higher-end webcams, but it’s good to see a competitive alternative from Razer. Many jobs are expected to move permanently to partial remote work after the pandemic, so it’s probably time for many people to consider upgrading from the panic placeholder devices they bought last year.
The Razer Kiyo Pro is available today directly from Razer for $ 200, with additional availability from third-party retailers sometime before the end of the first quarter.