Poly Studio P5 Professional Webcam (Plantronics) – 1080p HD
Poly Studio P5 Professional Webcam (Plantronics) – 1080p HD Laptop Camera for Video Conference & Distance Learning – Monitor & Tripod Mount – Privacy Shutter-Works w/Teams (Certified),Zoom(Certified)
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| Weight: | 3.4 Ounces |
| Size: | Personal Webcam |
| Dimensions: | 6.9 x 6.1 x 4.3 centimetres |
| Brand: | Plantronics |
| Model: | 2200-87070-001 |
| Part: | 2200-87070-001 |
| Dimensions: | 6.9 x 6.1 x 4.3 centimetres |
| Size: | Personal Webcam |
I have used the cam it not only looks good but image quality is very good. I also downloaded online software which keeps the camera updated. It Covers larger area behind you has many features which are good too it can rotate while its still mounted on laptop. It’s something you Must buy.
This ia a good camera and works well. However, the instruction are too simplistic. The camera connected OK but I couldn’t get a picture. It turns out that the privacy cover has to be opened beyond a click as you open it fully counter-clockwise to facilitate the picture. Might have explained that in the instructions.
I’ve got a Poly headset and this camera. Both products are great. The picture quality is brilliant and although the autofocus may take a few seconds to readjust, once it does, it stays in focus. I would buy this camera again.
All I can say is wow. I have had much cheaper web cams and was recommend this by a friend as I have to conduct a lot of calls for work via Microsoft Teams etc.
This is is a remarkable improvement, the focus picture quality and overall build are second to none. It’s that good I have recommend to other colleagues to grab one as well.
Overall I am really happy with my purchase.
PROS
It’s compact – a lot smaller than most other HD webcams I’ve seen & used.
Simple connection – USB-A and that’s it. I didn’t install any additional software on my Mac and it works flawlessly with Teams, Zoom and Skype.
You can physically close the shutter – some other webcams have a flimsy hinged flap to hide the camera, this one has it built-in – you turn the lens to close the shutter and the status light turns red. Nice.
It’s not black! It’s a mottled-white/grey thing which certainly stands out. Whether that’s to your taste or not…
Fantastic low-light performance – the image remains clear and bright even in low light conditions, with no blurring or focus-shifting. It’s the best low-light camera I’ve used.
Brilliant picture quality – this is the best HD camera I’ve used, way better than my previous C920S. The quality really is fantastic (note that you’ll probably need to enable the ‘HD’ option in the video settings of Teams/Zoom etc.).
Doesn’t lose focus – one of my big bugbears with my Logitech camera is the focusing – sometimes, if I move about, it’ll lose focus on me and focus on the background or something closer to the camera. I have to turn the camera off and back on again to reset it. I’ve never had this issue with this camera – focus remains on you all the time.
CONS
It’s pricey, but you do get what you pay for. It’s twice the cost of the C920S and, I’d say, twice the camera (just the quality and focus alone make it worth it)
The status light remains on all the time, even when your machine is sleeping – it took me a while to clock that “light on does not mean you’re on a call”. It’d be good if the light went off when the machine sleeps, but not a biggie.
All in all, this is a great webcam and I’m super happy with my purchase!
Pro’s
– Picture quality is amazing, very sharp and good colour balance,
– Has a good set of customisable settings using software available to set to your preference
– Good digital zoom and auto focus levels, the video capture area could be pointed where I wanted it
– I can plug in my headset directly into the back of the webcam without any messing about with the back of my machine
– Built in microphone worked as you’d expect it to
– Well designed, sits nicely on top of my monitor and will pivot to an angle you desire
– Very portable, the camera is small and folds up so it can stored away without taking much space.
– Privacy shutter, its great to know when its not in use and shut off
Con’s
– Limited setup help out of the box, had to go online for everything
– Messy to setup to work on Windows10, failed several times before eventually installing and detecting as a webcam
– Did work very well in dark conditions without the use of a nearby light source
– The cable is way too short for any average desktop user, I had to buy a USB3 extension for my setup
– Expensive for a webcam!
Conclusion
A good well rounded web cam which will offer you a level of easy to use video streaming/recording facilities during the day from your desk with everything you’ll need, but at the price point i expected so more, it struggled at times in lower light conditions but this did not hinder its use too much.
I chose the Poly Studio P5 Professional Webcam (Plantronics) – 1080p HD Laptop Camera for Video calls with family and friends as I always hate using the webcam on my laptop and had hoped that the image presented via P5 would be better and clearer. That said it arrived securely, amazon actually sent me a code to my mobile, which was asked for by the delivery man. First time I have had this experience from Amazon and was impressed. Made me think that ‘inside this box is something special’. I carefully unpacked my P5 and found it was very easy to set up, in fact it took seconds from delivery to installation – very impressive. All you have to do is download the polylens app from their website. Easy. I was impressed with the security features, the aesthetics and the overall robust design of this webcam but disappointed that the visual acuity was not as sharp as I would have liked. If your home is light and airy then, there is no problem but without the light and without optical zoom available it didn’t quite meet all my expectations. However for the price, I would suggest that it is a product that is pleasing to the eye, does not incumber my laptop and goes some way to improve ones video experience.
I am really impressed with this Poly Studio P5 Professional Webcam, purchased for my son and for me to use for zoom calls and the picture quality is very good, so much better than my standard laptop cam, its is also very small so handy to put in your pocket or bag for on the go meetings.
The built in directional microphone focuses on your voice and not any other distraction noises (we know every house has them!!) so this helps massively when on those all important meetings!
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HD webcam is also optimised to show you and not too much of your surroundings. Maintaining proper lighting when you work from home with automatic low-light technology. Fab!
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I just loved this webcam by polycam. It’s so handy and gives such a clear picture and audio during the calls. Totally loved it. I tale all my video calls using the polycam
The picture quality on this camera is great. Annoyingly I actually have to wear make up on my calls now because my face is so clear – unlike with my old camera which could hide a multitude of sins. The security shutter is a great feature and the camera itself is super easy to install and use.
Great quality and sound, The picture from the P5 is certainly better than your average laptop webcam.
Sharpe image from the camera, I do find it’s better The P5 in low-light situations.
The microphone on the P5 is very good!
In the era of a pandemic, good equipment for communication is a must have. Employee videoconferences, school activities, or even contact with the family – a good webcam is essential. Poly Studio P5 is a USB webcam. It guarantees excellent quality of online calls both at home and in the office. The camera has been equipped with many functions that allow for the convenience of use, that’s why it will become an inseparable accessory of every online conversation. Excellent color reproduction and automatic low light compensation function ensure a clear image in professional quality, regardless of the location from which the call is conducted.
The directional microphone focuses on the speaker, not the surrounding noise. For even greater working comfort, the camera can be paired with the Poly handset or hands-free kit.
A manually operated built-in privacy shutter provides visibility only in those situations where you want to be visible. Stay in full control and safety.
This is a very good equipment – perfect for professional use, but it will also be perfect for use at home.
Perfect for those video calls and meetings throughout the day. It was literally plug and play, so easy! The design is really slick too! Fits my office perfectly! Build quality feels great. Literally no complaints.
This webcam is great quality and really easy to use. Fits most laptops, the camera is much better quality than you’d get on your laptop. Well packaged, all round great camera!
I never knew my laptop webcam quality could use an upgrade! It didn’t disappoint, it was also very easy to set up. My favourite part is the privacy shutter because you can never be too safe!
This webcam is amazing!!! The quality image is the best one I’ve ever seen/used on a webcam before.
The built-in microphone works perfectly, there’s mo need to use another microphone nor airpods to speak.
It’s so easy to use and adjust that a child could do it without problem; and it also has a software to adjust the brightness, contrast and all that good stuff.
I love that you just twist it and it will close, showing the red thingy (1st picture attached), so you don’t have to worry about the webcam being on when you don’t want to.
My husband has 2 webcams but he stole this one from me because he absolutely loves it, works wonders on his meetings.
It adjusts fast and accurate when the light is too low. I took a picture with a strong light directly on my face and it was yellow-ish (last picture attached), but that’s excepted and easily adjusted on the software.
On the 4th picture attached I had natural lighting and as you can see, the quality image is amazing!
The auto focus is also perfect: being close or far is not a problem, it automatically focuses.
This webcam is amazing. So sleek and stylish, easy to use and the picture quality is amazing. The shutter on there is an added bonus for peace of mind around security. This has really made my working from home a lot easier.
Brilliant little webcam.
Plugs in via USB. Handy for team meetings instead of relying on the webcam built into the laptop.
It just needs to adjust to the light abut better but maybe I needed to look at playing around with it.
Other than that great purchase
My Poly Study P5 Professional HD Webcam has not disappointed. The best webcam I’ve honestly used. It has such a high quality picture, allows you to maintain light exposure in dark rooms. My favourite thing about it though is that it has a camera shutter so when you’re not using it you can cover the camera. If you need to update your webcam then I’d highly recommend this one.
The picture quality is a million miles better than my inbuilt laptop camera as you can see. It’s also plug in and play so super easy for tech idiots like me to use for both video calling and photos.
Privacy shutter works perfectly giving a sense of security and safety, the field of view is perfect.
I’m really impressed with the Poly Studio P5 and would happily recommend it anyone looking for a low budget quality webcam!
The desktop app for the the Poly P5 lets you customize your video settings for your personal environment and needs
Great product, intuitive, beautiful and quick to install. Superior camera quality, smooth image and very fast movement, in real time. The only flaw, the high price compared to the competitio
I love the Studio P5 — it has great customisation, you can crop your camera focus as well as adjust your camera angle. It takes away the need to blur your background as you can point the camera wherever you want. Installation is easy, you will need an admin password if using on a locked down PC, and the POLY app is easy to follow. I also like the camera “close” function which means you truly know the camera is not watching!
Overall I’ve been reasonably impressed with this camera, it certainly is an upgrade to a previous, budget end model that I was using before. The main thing I’ve noticed is the improved image quality, it is smoother and and has a less washed out appearance, it is however traded off by a slightly narrower field of view. There is a lot of functionality within the software to tweak the settings as well to suit the environment which is nice to have.
In a call with some friends I did an audio comparison, again the microphone is a big upgrade. It’s not a patch on having a dedicated headset or standalone mic, but it certainly is at a good standard for teams/discord/zoom etc.
Packaging was nice, good to see everything recyclable. I’m not keen on the actual looks of the camera, it stands out against my screen with its speckled white finish, but fortunately I’m the only person who has to look at that! The only real issue I have is that the autofocus doesn’t seem great, it struggles at times to keep up, at this price I would expect a lot better.
I really like this webcam, it was easy to set up, my laptop picked it up straight away after plugging it in, the picture quality is amazing compared to my laptop’s built-in camera which now looks so poor quality. I love the open and close shutter feature which is great for privacy when the camera is not in use. overall for quality, build, and ease of use this ticks all the boxes for me. it feels quality in looks and feels. definitely recommend it if you’re in the market for a newly upgraded webcam.
It’s a great little camera, the physical aperture to block the camera is a nice touch. Works well in low light.
The picture quality is pretty good for the price, surprisingly well in low light actually. Autofocus (AF) could be a little faster but it isn’t bad.
Only downsides are window hello, and build quality feels a little cheap. Especially the cable it reminds me of a webcam from the mid noughties you’d use on MSN. That said the picture quality is much better.
Works straight out the box with Windows, Microsoft Teams, zoom and Google Meet all happy.
The privacy shutter is simple and effective and great for putting your mind at ease when you’re between meetings. It also lights up red to confirm it’s closed.
Additionally, the USB port on the back is really useful for plugging in a mouse when working on the road.
Picture quality overall is good but to fine-tune settings you will need to download the app. The colour balance on skin tones can be a bit hit and miss but overall a huge improvement on the built-in camera.
I do a lot of my work as a trainer over teams, using multiple screens, so my laptop’s built in camera just wasn’t giving me the best experience.
I like how this camera can easily be moved form one screen to another, making it easier to engage with my audience at eye level, and help take care of turkey-neck!
The bright red lens cap helps make sure that they can only see what I want them to see, but if I want to show something off to the side, the camera pops off its magnetic clip so I can point at other material.
I prefer using a headset and attached mic, so can’t comment on the microphone, but a surprisingly useful feature is the ability to pop a wireless dongle in the back to free up a usb slot.
Most importantly though is that I appear clear and remain in focus, and I’m not having to constantly adjust my laptop screen as I shift about in my seat.
Overall very pleased!
amazing camera with great resolution. this goes far beyond my standard laptop camera and is great for work calls and conference calls for my NVQ. the picture is so much clearer since i upgraded and the sound quality on the microphone makes is easier for others to hear me. I also do painting lessons via web call and the zoom features are amazing making it a very versatile camera. I definitely recommend the poly lense app to as allows you to customise many features. with the nights drawing in the automatic low light feature has been a god send as don’t have to worry about moving to brighter rooms all the time. All in all a great picture and great sound quality and very portable and compatible camera to use. highly recommended and well worth the 5 stars
Having now worked from home for 18 months which has now become a permanent change I decided that an upgrade of webcam was required. The camera in my work laptop by its nature was not flattering due to the angle of the camera small lens and poor image quality. I have also moved to a second display for use at home rendering the inbuilt webcam useless. I have had previous experience of the Logitech range of business grade cameras so had high hopes that Polys product would be in line with its bigger brothers as a leader in Meeting Room video conferencing solutions. Out of the box the build quality felt robust. The twist and turn privacy filter felt smooth and the mounting bracket had a good resistance and nice addition of grip on the bottom. The image is sharp with a natural white balance. 1080 resolution is more than satisfactory for both Teams and Zoom with plug and play compatibility in Windows. Auto focus could be improved as this can refocus when not required. Product has good low light performance with little noise and does not suffer from wash out even with significant backlight.
I have been using the Poly P5 for a few weeks now. Working from home has become the norm, a decent webcam has become a valuable part of working life. I use it for Zoom training, teams meetings and private skype calls. It works flawlessly in any application I need to use it with. It can be customized to suit your environment, with zooming capabilities and color correction. leaving the settings on auto leaves me to get on with work, regardless of what application I need to use it for. The design is sleek and aesthetically pleasing. It is lightweight and easy to store. It has very clear and crisp HD video quality, much higher quality than other HD cams.
I bought this camera to upgrade from a cheap camera that I got during the height of the lockdown. It’s not the cheapest, but it is definitely worth it.
Packed with features that make this worth the extra money. The privacy iris makes me pretend like I am in Stargate-SG1 every time I open it. The hidden USB port is a nice tough should you have one of their headsets.
The auto focus is fast and snappy, when I hold something up to the camera it focusses without hassle. The picture quality is great. With the provided app you can configure almost everything to do with the picture. You can zoom the picture in, change colour balances and almost anything you can think of. The app also allows you to update the camera’s firmware. This will allow the manufacturer to add new features later.
The other really good thing about this is the microphone is clear and crisp. When the iris is closed, blocking any picture from being broadcast, the microphone is still active.
Only downside for me is the USB type A connector. My computer only has USB type C plugs.
The quality of the image is very good, with fast auto focusing taking place. Colour and lighting looks good, but can be altered if required All in all, a good product. Has a shutter cover for physical privacy and a light to indicate your status so people can know your status without interruptions. The camera delivers quality 1080p resolution video and is very good in low light.
It’s a big step up from my laptops’ cameras. I have tested this camera with Zoom, Webex and MS Teams on two separate laptops but will go back to the built in ones until a webcam comes along who’s features and quality allow it’s form factor to compensate for the convenience of a camera built into the screen.
What’s good?
Getting the camera off the laptop lid! As I use 3 screens (including the laptop), if I have my web conferencing window on the screen above the camera and it always looks like I am looking up. Mounting this camera just an inch above the screen has made all the difference and now it looks like I am engaging with my audience. I can also move it left and right to change the background and also angle the lens left, right, up or down giving subtly or considerably better image angles. Such vertical movement on the laptops involves moving the screen which makes using the computer more difficult.
I didn’t try the software as my work laptop won’t allow installing it, however the camera installs itself with a nice set of adjustments. I should add tough that many of the ‘auto’ check boxed don’t seem to be selectable.
The webcam is magnetically attached to the base and just pops off. Inside is a tripod mount which is a nice touch. The base moves nicely and grips well to any surface.
The privacy shutter is the one of the best features of this camera and is very clear when the lens is off. As you turn the ‘lens ring’, a bright orange shutters close and the light on top turns from white to red, clearly indicating that you can do your morning team call stark naked without any worries, having both muted the picture and physically (and visibly) covered the lens. No need to worry about those phishing emails either!
Another great feature is that you can pop off the back of the camera and insert a USB dongle (or cable) so you don’t lose a USB port. I connected my Bluetooth mouse dongle and put the lid back on. If you use a wired USB device, it will work but the lid will not go back on and the cable will pull on the camera. It’s a nice feature but not documented and I must remember to remove my dongle when I send the camera back. Oops, that leads me onto the bad points
What’s not that good?
Oddly enough, it took me a while to get the thing to work. My laptops both recognised the camera but the screen was black, even when I opened the shutter. I googled the problem to no avail and whilst trying to make it work, I became a bit miffed about the sloppiness of the lens ring which opens the shutter. After far too much time for a techy, I realised that you have to rotate the lens ring anticlockwise further than you expect, past the ‘click’ and then it magically pops into life. No concerns about the ring closing accidentally and the red mute light went white.
My expectation of the 1080p video quality was too high. I was expecting a BIG improvement over the built in cameras on my laptops. I was disappointed though as the quality was not significantly better. I tried Zoom, Teams and Webex with my friends and colleagues. Not a single person thought it was significantly better than my built in camera. Although they said it was sharper, comments were that the image was too grey, colours were less real, it was constantly refocussing and every few minutes it would flicker as though it was re-synchronising. I tried changing settings using the camera options but with no joy and will go back to using my built in webcams.
Built in microphone. Naah, just don’t. In some situations it could be good but the quality isn’t great. I use a Jabra conference phone but tested the built in microphone which is no better than the latop’s own mic. The benefit here would be reduce noise if you type while you talk.
In summary, this is definitely a good camera. Video quality is good but not outstanding. Focal length is good but can only be adjusted digitally and the camera lacks some features I expected for the price.
What is missing?
Optical zoom: The camera body is quite large and could accommodate a 2x optical zoom.
Better backlight compensation: People complained my face was dark even with front lighting from a window. With a light behind me I was a silhouette
Face tracking: some cameras have this feature allowing it to maintain focus and allow some degree lateral movement whilst staying in frame (useful when Teams crops the image to fit the screen).
So don’t get me wrong this camera is definitely better than a built in camera but needs to be better still to justify buying it. I want people to say “ooh your picture quality is good” rather than “Hello Phil” when I start a web conference. It doesn’t acheive that.
Sorry Poly but it’s a no from me.
The Poly P5 Studio camera is a much improved offering over the regular cameras found on most peoples laptops. The quality of the image is very good, with fast auto focusing taking place. Colour and lighting looks good, but can be altered if required with the downloadable software. The units microphone is an improvement over the normal laptop microphone, although could probably be better by the addition of a dedicated desktop microphone if necessary. All in all, a good product at a reasonable price point.
I love the privacy filter – the bezel rotates to open/close. The red ‘petals’ of the cover are a nice visible reassurance that the lens is covered, but the bezel also triggers a physical switch, so the camera doesn’t switch on until you rotate the filter to fully-open.
The mount is good, adjusting to clip on to the screen and give some angle, but if you remove it (its magnetised rather than screwed in) so you just gently pop off the base to access a standard tripod mount thread (which I am using) – I’ve read reviews saying the lack of a tripod mount is a negative and that did put me off initially, so I really wanted to address this – it’s a great webcam!