Poly’s latest foray into webcams attempts to bridge the gap between their pricier enterprise solutions and your typical home webcam with the introduction of the Poly Studio P5. Poly promises exceptional camera optics, low-light compensation, and easy setup and use. Let’s see if they’ve hit the mark.
Webcams can be stylin’
If there’s one thing that tells you the Poly Studio P5 isn’t your typical piece of office kit, it is the colour. Well, pattern. The Poly Studio P5 isn’t your usual work enterprise black and silver affair. The unit features a unique sandy speckled pattern theme. The beach and coastal lifestyle of the team at Poly in their home of Santa Cruz, California, has been a clear influence on the design.
Poly Studio P5 breathes life into the design of the humble webcam.
It’s not a proposition of form over function either. The camera’s rear houses a USB-A port hidden behind a removable panel that can connect a Poly wireless headset, effectively turning the P5 Studio into a mini USB hub by freeing up valuable USB Port real-estate on your PC.
Poly’s nifty little USB port hidey-hole
Usability and Function of the Poly Studio P5
Mounting the unit on my LCD Display was admittedly a tad tricky. That said, once I got it clamped on, it seemed to sit comfortably perched on top of the screen.
While the Poly Studio P5 is a plug-and-play affair. It is extremely easy to use. You can download Poly’s “Lens” software from their website to tailor your experience. It features a host of settings allowing you to tweak quite a few image settings and update software.
Poly’s Lens application allows for a decent range of image tweaks
The Poly Studio P5 is well equipped with features that will deliver a quality presentation to those joining your web meeting. The 1080P true colour camera provides a high definition image with 4x Zoom and does well in all levels of light. The image seemed a tad “soft” and looked to smooth the image to my eyes.
P5’s performance in low light is very good.
It’s not a bad thing, just an observation. The Poly Studio P5 also features a directional microphone that is tuned to focus on your voice and assist in suppressing background noise. If you want to take your experience to the next level and stay in the Poly ecosystem, I’d recommend a headset like the Poly Voyager 2 which will be appearing in a review here at DRN soon.
Your hybrid home-work factored in
On the privacy side of things, a feature I genuinely love is the manual privacy shutter. A simple twist of the bezel on the front of the camera and the shutter closes shut. It is easy to see at a glance; the bright red mark when the shutter is closed is a clear indicator your privacy is secure. In this day and age (hello COVID), where your work and personal life will almost certainly meld into one, nothing is as reassuring as a manual privacy shutter.
Every webcam should have a physical privacy shutter!
The Poly Studio P5 is well and truly geared for the home and office environment and will become a reliable partner in conducting your online meetings.
What are the official bits?
The Poly Studio P5’s specifications:
- 1080p (Full HD), 720P (HD) Compatible
- Auto focus with 4x zoom / EPTZ
- 80° DFOV
- Low light quality & true color images
- Custom controls through Poly Lens Desktop
- Single directional microphone optimized for personal workspaces
- 50 Hz to 16 kHz frequency response
- Compatible with any application that supports standard USB 2.0/UVC standards
Other important details:
- 2-year limited warranty included
- Poly+ enhanced support available
