Even with things slowly returning to normal, working from home is part of the new normal. Meaning some of our meetings will always be video ones, with bad visual quality, poor connection, barely audible sound, and a desk eye view of people or equally unflattering angle of participants.
However, video calls can't always effectively convey as much as meeting in person, and just getting video calls to work well and look professional can be a considerable challenge.
The audio and visual experts at EPOS have been trying to create a solution to this and make video meets as fluid and seamless as meeting in person.
The EPOS Expand Vision 3T is that solution, but it’s not just a fancy webcam, it features a built-in android interface, so it works as a standalone device, it also comes with a dedicated audio speaker and microphone with the EPOS Expand 30T Speakerphone.
Firstly, the camera unit is a wide rectangle with a cylindrical camera module in the middle it measures 280mm wide, and 28mm tall with a depth of 55mm while it weighs only 550g.
The camera module is very solid and durable made of metal and is a solid sealed unit, meaning if it’s accidentally knocked off a screen or falls, provided it doesn’t land on the Len’s it should be ok thankfully a wall-mounted bracket is included to prevent this.
It can even be locked in place as it supports a Kensington lock which is great if it’s left in a meeting room or in an open space. It can even be mounted onto a tripod stand.
You can easily connect the Expand Vision 3T to almost any TV or monitor in your office and turn a meeting room into a conference room.
Another option for those working from home is to connect the Vision 3T to your home TV and make your living room a comfy conference room.
The Vision 3T can easily sit on most screens comfortably and without issue and while not the most subtle camera solution I’ve seen, it is still smart and professional looking, so everyone can clearly see the device in the meeting room but it doesn’t stand out.
The included Expand 30T is a compact, circular, Bluetooth speaker, it measures 120mm long and 120 wide with a metal and plastic build that also feels tough and weighs around 314g, making it not the lightest portable speaker I’ve used but also not too heavy.
It also comes with a carry case which helps keep it in good shape, especially while on the go.
The camera’s Sony sensor records at 4K resolution but only outputs 1080p, 60 fps to give the zoom some image quality to work with and so you don’t before a pixilated mess on calls which is a great idea.
Footage on screen can also be zoomed in is also up to 4X zoom to get rid of some dead space in the frame. Intelligent Picture Framing uses EPOS AI automatically adjusts the digital zoom to capture all meeting participants.
The zoom can either be activated manually in the menu which I couldn’t see how to do quickly on the provided remote or alternatively you can set it to zoom automatically which works well for small meetings or if you are by yourself.
Although I sometimes found the AI attempts to recalibrate and follow me distracting, however, this can be turned off.
Colours were very accurate, matching the look of my living room and with the office meeting room not over or underexposed and no detail was lost on drab white surfaces.
The 30T offers full, 360° coverage and features two powerful echo and noise canceling microphones that go a long way to improve call clarity and pick up most occupants even in a very busy conference clearly.
Audio quality was unsurprisingly exceptional making it very easy to clearly hear other callers, including all the annoyingly little taps and noises they made, I’m told my voice was clear despite other meetings going on pretty close to me which was a massive plus.
The battery life of the 30T is around 16 hours and takes 3 hours and 15 mins to fully charge.
The Vision 3T connects to the network – either wirelessly or by cable and is also connected to a monitor or television screen via a standard HDMI cable.
Then using the simple and easy-to-use remote, you can set up the device and log in to your Microsoft Teams account, which is required to use the device. You must also use a corporate account and not a free one, which does limit its functionality.
While in a meeting, using the button on top of the Vision 3T, you can mute auto or cut the video which is indicated on the screen and on the lights on either side of the device, with a blue light indicating muted audio and a red light indicating a cut video feed.
The 30T is even easier to set up with the option of Bluetooth 5.0 or a built-in USB-C cable and with its simple 7-button interface, betting connected and in a call is easy. It has an effective range of around 10 feet making it fine for all but the largest meeting rooms.
It is connected to the camera module via the USB-C cable and thankfully an extension cable is included.
I loved connecting my mobile phone and just placing the 30T in the center of the room and not having to think about it unless I wanted to mute myself, which was also easy to do.
EPOS EXPAND Vision 3T Verdict: 4/5
The EPOS Expand Vision 3T solid conferencing system that after some initial tweaking and set up is a brilliant tool for businesses and individuals working to collaborate and clearly express their ideas, and being able to work independently of any computer and being completely plug and play is invaluable.
It's also been great to carry on with meetings without sitting in the same chair with my computer's screen inches from my face. giving me the ability to take meetings from my sofa with professional audio and video.
The video quality is great although I really wish it could utilise that tantalizing 4k quality. Audio quality from the 30T provided was utterly fantastic with strong noise cancelation that could occasionally good a little too strong in a busy room but was mostly sot on.
The 30T was even more versatile due to its separate nature, so I could leave a meeting and take it with me to continue elsewhere.
My only real issues are the system being locked into Microsoft Teams and not even offering other options with reduced functionality, as my workplace doesn’t use it and Vision did not like my free account at all.
The EPOS Expand Vision 3T is available now from the EPOS website for £1,245.00
