In a world filled with zoom meetings and video calls with friends and family, having a great webcam is almost a requirement on your laptop or desktop computer. Sure, your laptop likely has a webcam built-in but those are often medicore… at best. Logitech, out with a brand new webcam that promises better lighting, face tracker and better audio. I took the new Logi Brio 500 for a test .
First and foremost, the Brio 500 is pretty big. It’s the largest Logitech webcam I have tested in years. I’m not sure if this is a bad thing but it is certainly a surprise to see. With that said, it has a good look to it. The white model (it’s also available in black) that I tested has an almost cookies and great pattern to it. I really like the built-in privacy shade. Turn the side of the camera and it closes the physical privacy shade. Turn it back and it opens it back up. This is a much better option than an additional plastic cover that goes on top.
While other webcams simply have a USB-C port on the back, the Brio 500 is hardwired. This means you can’t swap out cables. In addition to that, the Brio 500 has a USB-C plug so if you have an older computer without USB-C ports (aka my PC at home) you’ll have to find an adapter.
The Brio 500 is very versatile for mounting, there is a standard tri-pod threaded mount hole on the bottom of the camera. You can use it with the included plastic clip to attach to the top of your monitor or use any 1/4″ threaded tripod. It’s great to see Logitech making this as flexible for various uses as possible.
Hardware and mounting aside, it’s all about the picture quality. Logitech has been building webcams for years so it’s not a huge surprise to see this camera pumping out a great image. It includes a nice 90 degree wide angle 1080p camera which provides a great image for video calls. You can adjust the camera to 78 degrees or 65 degrees if you don’t want to show off your entire space.
There is some Logitech goodness baked into the camera as well as the Logi software that makes the picture look pretty darn amazing. Logitech calls their low-light processing “RightLight 4” and it works pretty well. You can’t fix every bad light situation but it does a good job of pumping up those typically cruddy home or office lighting situations.
The included mount also has a cool pivot point so you can point the camera straight down at your desktop. This is a great option if you’re in a meeting and want to show a document to the group. This isn’t a huge feature add but it shows that some though went into the little things, including the mounting bracket. After all, why shouldn’t it be easy to show something on your desk?
Overall – the Logi Brio 500 webcam is a simple lesson in the school of “you get what you pay for.” It’s not the cheapest webcam on the market but it’s worth the price. The Brio 500 will look awesome in that next Zoom call and includes extra features that are small by themselves but add up to a solid webcam package. Logitech proves that in the world of webcams, they know what they’re doing!
My only complaint about the Brio 500 is the size. Why does it have to be so big? It’s not a huge deal (no pun intended) but it does make using the 500 with a laptop a little clunky.
The Logi Brio 500 is available right now in Off-white, Graphite and Rose for $130 in stores and available directly from Logitech’s website.