Does your laptop’s webcam leave something to be desired? The Epos Expand Vision 1 is a pocket-sized 4K camera so you can appear clearly on the screen anytime, anywhere.

Video meetings will not disappear from our professional lives any time soon. It’s not nice to have video calls with a camera that lets you count the grains or a microphone that makes you unintelligible. In the past, webcam quality on laptops was often nothing to write home about, and while this has certainly improved on business devices in recent years, a professional webcam will offer a slightly better view if you have bags under your eyes or at least you want the coffee stain on Show your t-shirt.

Hybrid working doesn’t necessarily make video conferencing easier. Now you should actually have a high-quality webcam both at home and in the office so that you can always present yourself with the best image quality. If you commute a lot between your home, your clients, and the office, it may be that that important meeting was scheduled while you were on the move.

Epos has found an original solution with its new webcam Expand Vision 1. This webcam is small enough to fit in your pocket, so you can carry a 4K camera with you anytime, anywhere. Is the Epos Expand Vision 1 the ideal webcam for the hybrid worker?

In your pocket

Epos already scores points in terms of portability. The Expand Vision 1 webcam measures just 58mm x 29mm x 42mm and weighs just 83 grams. To illustrate, you can place the webcam in the palm of your hand. Of course, the device can be easily transported in a backpack; you don’t even feel it in your pocket. Keep in mind that you will also need to carry the included USB-C cable with you.

The shape of the webcam is reminiscent of a pocket projector. The rotating wheel at the top immediately catches the eye. With this you literally open and close the doors of the lens. With this function, Epos responds to the data protection-conscious user who does not want to be inadvertently in the picture. Such “privacy windows” are appearing more and more frequently on business webcams.

Insidious marketing

With the Expand Vision 1, Epos is focusing on the hybrid worker and also shows this in the marketing of this product. The advertising images give you the impression that you are always ready for a meeting in just a few seconds, regardless of whether you use the webcam in combination with a laptop or monitor. After mounting the webcam on our own laptop, we came to a different conclusion.

Firstly, the foot is pretty tight and difficult to get out with short fingernails. Then it is a real challenge to bring the webcam into a natural viewing angle in which it remains stable. A plus point is the USB port, which is placed at a 90 degree angle; This way the cable disappears behind your screen and your desk looks less tidy. Ultimately we get a working setup, but please allow more than a few seconds when dialing in with your laptop.

It’s not uncommon for a webcam to lock on a laptop because the screen edge is much thinner to compensate. We wouldn’t even mention it if Epos didn’t want to make it seem otherwise in its marketing. Manufacturers sometimes dare to promise too much, as we saw with the MSI Pro MP161 monitor.

Let the cameras roll

Once you find the right angle, you can open the image settings in a floating menu via the Epos Connect software. This allows you to see the effect of each adjustment while you have the Windows Camera app or Microsoft Teams/Zoom open. The webcam has a resolution of 4K, although it should be noted that most video conferencing programs these days do not support more than 1080p.

With Epos you can choose between three picture modes: Standard, panoramic or detail, where the camera “jumps” closer or further from your face. These jumps are not particularly large, as you can see in the selection of photos below that we took with the webcam. Panorama mode gives you an angle of up to 95 degrees.

You can also play with the light and temperature settings. The latter casts an artificial white-blue or yellow-orange glow on you during a conversation and, to be honest, we’re missing out on the added value here. The webcam does not have sensors to track your movement. So you have to sit still if you want to stay in the center of the picture.

The difference in image quality between a professional webcam and a laptop webcam becomes clear when we compare the images side by side. We blush noticeably less on the Epos Expand Vision 1 than on our Microsoft Surface laptop’s webcam, making us look like we’ve been in the sun for way too long.

The light goes out

Typically, you can be in a well-lit room for a meeting. However, if this is not the case, it is helpful if your webcam can regulate this. The Epos Expand Vision 1 webcam offers two light modes to artificially darken or brighten the room. We tested how the webcam can light up a dark room.

Once again the difference to the laptop webcam is visible. The laptop webcam image is much blurrier. The lighting effect is less noticeable when we compare it to other professional webcams we have tested recently, such as the Dell Pro WB5023 and the Logitech Brio 505. You can see this in the attached photos taken with different webcams.

No picture without sound

On the image side, things are going well with the Epos Expand Vision 1. But the image is just one of the essential parts of a video meeting: A picture may be worth a thousand words, but you also want to be heard clearly during a meeting. . To record your voice, Epos installs a double omnidirectional microphone with noise cancellation in the webcam.

You can hear how it sounds compared to the average laptop microphone in the attached audio fragments. We also test whether the quality of the microphone can keep up with that of a professional audio setup (Philips Smartmeeting PSE0540).

Fragment 1 (Epos Expand Vision 1):

Excerpt 2 (Microsoft Surface):

Fragment 3 (Philips Smartmeeting PSE0540):

Conclusion: Is a webcam worth your money?

Many will see a webcam as an unnecessary purchase: after all, you’re buying something that’s already in your laptop. Anyone who makes a direct comparison cannot deny that a professional webcam like the Epos Expand Vision 1 delivers outstanding image quality. The image is sharper, skin colors are displayed more realistically, and in less than ideal lighting conditions you can make adjustments using software. You will always look better with an external webcam than with your laptop webcam. It would be a shame if that wasn’t the case.

The question is whether the benefits of a professional webcam outweigh the costs. Professional equipment costs money and if you want a webcam with a built-in microphone, the cost can be high. The Epos Expand Vision 1, for example, will cost you 209 euros including VAT. That sounds like a lot for a pocket-sized webcam. Whether the device is worth it depends on how you use the webcam.

If video conferencing is your everyday life and you regularly give virtual presentations from your home desk, it is preferable that everyone in the meeting can see you clearly. The experienced Teams or Zoom user can quickly cover the purchase costs for a webcam. However, if you only attend a meeting sporadically and don’t need to be the center of attention, the webcam in your laptop will suffice.

The Epos Expand Vision 1 is available in black for 209 euros. This price includes VAT.