Working from a laptop, taking meetings from mobile, and planning your next project are all possible while on the go, thanks to tablets, smartphones, and vast improvements in laptops but this free movement and convenience usually involve some serious comprises on quality.
For example, the webcam built into your laptop may be adequate but its picture and audio quality are rarely great and never look professional.
Audio experts EPOS are best known for their high-end audio solutions and have been successfully moving into visual technology too with products like the EPOS EXPAND Vision 3T that blend their incredible audio precision with high-quality video conferencing solutions.
But EPOS EXPAND Vision 3T isn’t suitable for meetings on the fly nor is it easy to carry around and that’s where the EPOS EXPAND Vision 1 comes in.
The EPOS EXAND Vision 1 is a smaller, portable, personal webcam. It looks fairly typical, it's a smart, black, rectangle with curved edges giving it a less brutal look and an obvious circular lens in the center. While its design isn't revolutionary it's very neat and practical.
It is incredibly portable due to its compact size of 43mm deep, 58mm wide and 29mm tall which is still compressed even for a webcam, and it weighs only 83g.
It also comes with a stylish, slightly padded carry case that the camera and USB-C cable can fit inside, keeping it neat and very easy to carry.
Despite its included case the Vision 1 features solid with a metal body and glass front covering the lens meaning you don’t need to be too precious with it.
There is an integrated privacy shutter on the front of the lens control by a dial on top. When the shutter is closed it is easily visible by a red dot which is a great indicator just to be safe.
On the underside, there is a moveable hinge that allows you to adjust how it fits any screen you want to attach it to but it also has a standard 1/4” thread tripod mount too, making it more versatile.
The Vision favors image quality over smooth performance, with a maximum resolution of 3840 × 2160 / 4K giving it fantastic image quality and sharpness when compared to most other video solutions.
This is very useful if you are in a room full of participants and still need to be clearly visible or if you are on a call and want to be able to show notes or illustrations to quickly demonstrate your thoughts the Vision will be able to pick up the smallest details.
It also just looks cleaner and more professional having 4k quality, however, if my lighting wasn’t bright enough image quality suffered, with image quality becoming noticeably grainy.
While options could be adjusted even right out of the box skin tones were clear and natural looking, even under some hideous fluorescent lighting in my office.
But the maximum framerate is 60 frames per second, which doesn’t matter too much as higher frame rates are better for capturing motion and fast movements which makes it fine for video calls.
There are three pre-sets for its field of view including wide view, which was great for conferences, default, and close-up, which was good for one on one calls.
You can zoom up to 8X allowing you to really fill the frame if you want to or zoom in if the camera isn't directly in front of you.
One issue I notice is that even when not in use the camera tended to get warm not to the point to damage anything but it’s not an issue I’d ever had with any other webcam before.
Unsurprisingly audio pickup and quality were superb with other users and able to clearly hear me despite some murmurs and background noise.
The Visions One's two noise-canceling omnidirectional microphones do a fantastic job despite the device's small size of picking up sound and talking even in louder environments like public spaces, a busy office, and a very active meeting room.
Vision 1 is compatible with multiple video conferencing apps, From Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Google Meet, and others.
But of course, being an EPOS product, it is certified for Microsoft Teams and is tailored for this, however, I’m glad to see unlike its big brother the Vision 3 that this works with all standard video conferencing programs.
When broadcasting a white LED light is visible letting you know it’s active. While It can act as a simple plug-and-play device it is also compatible with EPOS connect.
With this software, you can edit the camera's settings like level of zoom, brightness, zoom contrast, etc, however I was disappointed that I couldn’t manually set the resolution.
Changing resolution is something I often do when joining meetings while out and about, so I often try to lower the resolution to use less of my phone's data or if the coffee shop I’m in has slow Wi-Fi.
I also wish there were a few more framing options, so I don’t have to move the camera to change my alignment in the frame.
It comes with a 1.2 meter, 90-degree curved USB-C to USB-C 3.0 cable which makes it easier to fit around the back of monitors, TVs, and laptops.
EPOS EXPAND Vision 1 Verdict: 4/5
With its excellent video and recording quality as well as its incredible portability the Vision 1 is a fantastic option for all your important video calls offering incredible quality.
However, I wish there were just a few more options in software to tinker with to allow me to really create my perfect setup.
The EPOS Expand Vision 1 ensures you are clearly seen and heard in your important meetings, whether at home or out in the wide world you’re no longer at the mercy of low-quality, unflattering built-in cameras staring up your nose.
It feels like the first video conferencing tool that’s truly made for hybrid working offering professional quality while compromising nothing.
The EXPAND Vision 1 is available now from the EPOS website for £179.00
