Dell Pro 5 Webcam review

As I said in my Razer Kiyo V2 X review, the 1440p webcam market is almost as niche as the 4K one, and that's almost entirely because of its price point. With the likes of the Emeet Pixy regularly sitting at the $90-100 mark, the $100 Kiyo V2 X really struggles to justify itself, and yet Dell's Pro 5 2K webcam is $20 more than that.

But Dell does have a few tricks up its sleeve to justify that extra cost, even if I think it's comparably as attractive as the Kiyo V2 X. One big feature, Windows Hello, is genuinely good and shows that resolution is important, but it's not everything when it comes to picking out a webcam.

Dell have crammed a Sony sensor in its 2K webcam and, for the most part, it's rather solid. Texture in my hair is captured well, lighting off the side of the webcam doesn't look too blown out, and autofocus is fairly snappy. Its focus doesn't match the near-unnatural speed of the likes of the Obsbot Tiny 3 or Tiny 2 Lite, but it's still more than good enough for showing off a box or label to your buddies over Discord.

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One area I do think it drags behind other webcams I've tried is in colour accuracy. Video and pictures just look a little lighter than real life. For instance, the red streak in my hair comes through well in the DSLR-like Yolocam S3 but almost looks orange in the Dell webcam. The same goes for colours on my shirt and my background. This is definitely a matter of preference, but for me, I wanted to immediately tone that down.

Unfortunately, though Dell's own software is fairly easy to use, I couldn't quite tone down the image as I would have liked. Bringing up vibrance makes colours look a little more natural, and sharpening contrast helps it along, but it just looks like a brightness filter has been placed atop the image, which I can't seem to take off.

As well as this, I'd say none of the presets are worth using in a moderately well-lit environment. The 'smooth' preset cuts out all sharpness and looks generally too glossy, and both the 'Vibrant' and 'Warm' presets are simply too bright. The 'default' preset offers a decent enough level of quality, but one that feels like it has more of a software helping than I would like.

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One could argue that treatment is necessary on an otherwise cheaper webcam to try and pull up that quality, but 1440p isn't exactly low. In fact, many bits of software won't even run at 4K if you want them to, so 1440p should be a great middle ground between quality, accessibility, and budget. The Sony sensor inside Dell's webcam shouldn't need that much of a software hand to help it out.

As far as design is concerned, the Dell Pro 5 is inconsistent. The webcam itself is chunky and sturdy, with the magnetic stand offering a comfortingly heavy weight, but the stand connects to the webcam with a magnetic pull, and that pull is simply not good enough. It won't fall down by itself, but if you accidentally tug on the wire a little, the webcam will slide, messing up your otherwise perfect framing.

This means that, despite the cable being one and a half meters long, you actually won't want to use it any more than 1.4 meters away from your computer; you need some slack in the wire to stop it wiggling on the stand. I suspect a chunkier wire would cause all sorts of problems, as it does for the weak magnetic stand of the Obsbot Meet 2, but the Dell webcam has a single attached wire. I don't like this, as it adds another point of failure to the device's design. If the wire goes, the webcam goes with it.

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I do like the webcam's built-in privacy filter on the top. That's a welcome feature, and it's easy to use, but once again, that magnetic stand means that using the filter moves the webcam. This isn't a huge problem as you can simply adjust the webcam whilst you're flicking the switch, but it's a sign of just how weak the magnetic connection is.

The webcam's built-in omni-directional microphone picks up sound decently, with passable quality. Recording sounds a tad hollow, but it doesn't have any awkward filtering on it, and is generally fine for a quick call or conference.

The Dell Pro 5 Webcam feels like it's designed for more of an office setting, with its smooth, brightened software enhancement, ease of use, and, of course, its Windows Hello functionality. With this, you can register your face and sign into Windows by simply sitting in front of your computer. It works really well in practice and is a very strong feature for an otherwise just okay bit of hardware.

It's a shame that the lack of IR sensors means other webcams can't do the same, as I like the feature a lot, but I certainly wouldn't trade out my day-to-day webcam for the Dell one just because of Windows Hello.

Ultimately, the Dell Pro 5's biggest weakness is its price point. Though I do prefer it to the Kiyo V2 X's 1440p capture, it is very expensive for visuals that are worse than some 4K offerings and lacks the level of customisation necessary to really fine-tune it. The tethered cable and weak stand only make it a worse all-round package.

Ultimately, when you can get 4K webcams on a gimbal for smart tracking that provide better quality video for less money, it's Dell's name recognition, ease of use, and Windows Hello functionality that might pull it ahead. And for me, it's only that final quality which would grab me.