We’re big fans of the Kiyo, Razer’s innovative webcam that came with a built-in ring light to illuminate you in the frame for those times you’re in the middle of less-than-ideal lighting. The Razer Kiyo Pro takes a different approach, relying on better optical components rather than additional LEDs to deal with low-light conditions.
That’s right, the “pro” version of Razer’s popular webcam ditches the ring light that’s become its signature feature, which, we’ll be honest, is the one thing that truly sets it apart from others in the market. Instead, it combines a light sensor with a wide aperture lens, allowing it to adjust its light capture as needed by each scene, so you always look perfectly-lit in the frame, regardless of the actual ambient lighting in the vicinity.
The Razer Kiyo Pro uses a 1/2.8-inch IMX327 sensor from Sony, which is significantly larger than the one in their webcam from 2017. It has a 2.1-megapixel resolution, which is enough to capture 1080p footage at up to 60 fps, which slows down to 30 fps if you choose to enable the optional HDR mode for improved color reproduction. That sensor is paired with a wide angle lens that sports an adjustable field of view, allowing you to easily switch between 103 degrees, 90 degrees, and 80 degrees, which it dubs as wide, medium, and linear.
The onboard light sensor constantly measures the ambient lighting around you in the frame, which informs the camera about any adjustments it needs to make to its light capture settings. As such, it’s able to restrict and allow more light as needed, giving you exactly the right amount required to properly illuminate a scene for clarity. That way, you don’t have to look like you’re working inside a closet during those times you’re holding video calls without adequate lighting in the room. Yes, it’s really able to do that even without a ring light in tow.
The Razer Kiyo Pro comes with a mount that allows you to set it on top of the monitor, all while doubling as a flat base if you want your webcam on a flat surface (like your desk) instead. The mount is, of course, detachable, so you can also take the webcam off for mounting on a tripod. As with most webcam solutions now, it also gets a privacy cap, so you can cover the entire lens completely when not in use to avoid accidental recordings. To increase the webcam’s durability, the lens is made with Corning Gorilla Glass 3, so it’s highly resistant to nicks, scratches, and other kinds of damage.
Aside from capturing images, it’s equipped with an omnidirectional mic, so you can use it for both video and audio, in case the sound quality is good enough for your liking. It comes with a USB 3.0 connection, by the way, so they recommend plugging it to a corresponding 3.0 port to ensure you get the optimal signal quality. And yes, it’s compatible’s with the Razer Synapse software, which should let you make quick adjustments to the camera settings right on your PC.
The Razer Kiyo Pro is available now.
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