Dell Pro Webcam (WB5023) Review: Perfect Plug-and-Play in 2K
Dell impressed us with its sleek and sexy design 4K Dell Ultrasharp Webcam — but paying $199 for a webcam is steep, especially when most of the popular video conferencing platforms only support a maximum resolution of 720p or 1080p.
Well, if you’re a remote worker with less tolerance for working from home, Ultrasharp has a cheaper, lower-res, more pedestrian sibling, the Dell Pro Webcam. 2K QHD (1440p)/30 fps (1080p/60 fps) webcam with 30-degree field of view, HDR, and 4x digital zoom. It features a built-in monitor clip with a tripod mounting point, a built-in mic (the 4K model doesn’t have one), and AI auto-framing to track and keep your face centered as you move. flame.
When it comes to sheer performance and image quality, it may seem difficult for your average webcam to compete with expensive 4K options, but there’s a reason they’re on our list. best webcam It’s not just a list of 4K webcams. Not only did most people not need a 4K webcam, but even if they wanted to, they couldn’t get the most out of it. The $135 Dell Pro Webcam with 2K QHD resolution gives you more than 1080p without breaking the bank.
specification
Resolution FPS | 2K QHD/30fps; Full HD/30fps; HD/60fps |
Diagonal field of view | 78 degrees |
zoom | 4x digital |
auto focus | yes |
HDR | yes |
microphone | Built-in noise reduction microphone |
connection | USB-A (non-removable) |
mount | Built-in monitor clip with tripod mounting point |
Dimensions (length x width) | 3.6 x 1.73 inches (92 x 44mm) |
weight | 0.34lb / 155g |
software | Dell Peripheral Manager |
special features | AI autoframing |
Dell Pro Webcam Design
The Dell Pro Webcam is like its 4K sibling. It also has a gunmetal gray cylindrical body, a large, round glass-covered lens, and a removable magnetic lens cap. The Dell Pro webcam measures 3.6 inches (92mm) long and 1.73 inches (44mm) in diameter, including the lens cap, making it slightly shorter and wider than the Dell Ultrasharp webcam.
However, the similarities pretty much end there. While the Dell Ultrasharp has nice features like an all-aluminum body and a detachable USB 3.0 cable, the Dell Pro is plastic and has a non-detachable USB 2.0 cable. The Dell Pro also has a built-in monitor clip with a threaded tripod mounting point. The monitor clip is rubberized to prevent slipping, and has movable “feet” that allow you to adjust the webcam’s tilt angle so it stays securely on your desktop or laptop screen. This is actually an improvement over Ultrasharp’s interchangeable magnetic mounts. This is visually elegant, but insecure and easy to misplace.
The Dell Pro Webcam connects to your computer via a permanently attached 5 foot long USB-A cable. The cable is perpendicular to the body of the webcam, so it doesn’t stick out awkwardly or take up unnecessary space.
Dell Pro Webcam Bright Performance
My home office has little natural light and a lot of artificial light. 4 monitors (3 27″, 1 24″), 3 direct light sources (Elgato Ring Light, Elgato Key Light Air, Logitech Litra Glow), lamp for overhead background lighting and desk lamp for fill . With all the lights on, most webcams (understandably) will read this as severely overexposed.
However, the Dell Pro Webcam did a good job of keeping the exposure level down. The webcam’s automatic white balance was okay, but not perfect. I’m neither overly orange nor blindingly blue, but my skin looks a little dull.Not as good as the Insta360 Link’s automatic white balance, but better than what you’ll find on most webcams. Also, this may not bother other people, but it did bother me, the Dell Pro Webcam’s sensor is great for adjusting auto exposure/white balance/focus etc… for a while It takes a while. Not very long, but a second or two and I’m very impatient.
Dell Pro Webcam Low Light Performance
To test the low-light performance of the Dell Pro Webcam, I turned off all artificial light sources except the main 27-inch monitor. The Dell Pro Webcam impressed me with its ability to evenly illuminate the scene. Not only is the detail on my face pretty clear, but most of my background is visible and relatively crisp. Other webcams, such as the Logitech C920s, don’t even try to illuminate the background.
To test the low-light performance of the Dell Pro Webcam, I turned off all artificial light sources except the main 27-inch monitor. The Dell Pro Webcam impressed me with its ability to evenly illuminate the scene. Not only is the detail on my face pretty clear, but most of my background is visible and relatively crisp. Other webcams, such as the Logitech C920s, don’t even try to illuminate the background.
The Dell Pro Webcam features Digital Overlap HDR which is supposed to provide better images with more accurate color/white balance in extreme lighting situations. Turning on HDR in my low-light settings seemed to give a more evenly lit photo with slightly more accurate colors, but at the expense of clarity. This photo is much rougher than the first photo.
Dell Pro Webcam Overexposed Performance
To create an overexposed setting, I turned off all the lights and monitors in front of me (except my main 27″ monitor) and left the background lighting on. This is actually a pretty extreme lighting situation, but the Dell Pro Webcam was able to light my face and body just fine, so it doesn’t seem too extreme (although the background is still very overexposed). ). The image has graininess as expected, but not overly grainy, especially on my face. Unlike the overexposed images taken with the Logitech C920s and Logitech C930e.
Turning on HDR with an overexposed setting definitely improved the exposure level of the background, but not much (colors improved slightly, but weren’t as accurate).
Dell Pro Webcam Features and Software
Dell’s Peripheral Manager software automatically installs the Dell Pro Webcam the first time you connect it to your PC for a very quick and basic setup of choosing image presets and turning on HDR, AI auto framing and more. I will do it. The Dell Peripheral Manager isn’t the most robust webcam software I’ve used, but it does have sections for camera control (FOV and zoom adjustments), capture settings, and color and image adjustments.
This software allows you to adjust the white balance, brightness, sharpness, contrast and saturation of your webcam. After playing around with these settings, I found it difficult to tweak the image to ideal. I would definitely like a slider to adjust the exposure and gain. Luckily, the Dell Pro Webcam’s autoexposure and white balance are so good that you rarely need to adjust them.
Dell Pro Webcam Microphone
The Dell Pro Webcam has a built-in microphone (unlike the Dell Ultrasharp Webcam). This is useful if you really want the mic and have to keep it as far away from your mouth as possible. Most webcam mics aren’t great, and neither is the Dell Pro Webcam.
It had a hard time picking up my voice when it was perched on my monitor (which makes sense – my monitor is a little over two feet away from my face). is not entirely unexpected. Most webcam mics are terrible. But perhaps Dell could have left his Pro Webcam without a mic and slashed the price by a few bucks.
Conclusion
If you’re looking for something that works, the Dell Pro Webcam might just be the webcam for you. Just stick this webcam to your monitor, plug it in, and do nothing but video conferencing, twitch, streaming, and selfie days. The Dell Pro Webcam provides impressively balanced images in relatively accurate high resolution. Colors in almost any lighting situation. As for the out-of-the-box autoexposure and white balance settings for most webcams, remember that you usually end up with an image that looks like this:
The Dell Pro Webcam is a great webcam for most people, but it’s not for everyone. If you’re like me and want to be able to manually tweak your image to exact standards, Dell’s Peripheral Manager software doesn’t have detailed controls (and the controls aren’t subtle enough). A very image detail oriented person may want to skip straight to his 4K webcam, such as the Insta360 Link. But for everyone else, the Dell Pro Webcam offers very good image quality at a very affordable price.