In the ever-evolving landscape of remote work, having a reliable and high-quality webcam is essential. The BenQ ideaCam S1 Pro does its best to step up to the challenge. On paper, the webcam seems to offer impressive specifications and a slew of intriguing features catered to professionals, educators, and content creators alike.
But in the wide canvas that is the webcam market today, does the S1 Pro actually bring anything new to the table?
At first glance, the ideaCam S1 Pro strikes a balance between functionality and aesthetics. Its compact form factor doesn’t really dominate your workspace, and the gunmetal grey outer shell adds some finesse to your PC. However, the plastic panel on the back feels a tad less premium. The out-of-the-box magnetic privacy panel adds a practical touch, and ensures your privacy when the camera is not in use. The overall build quality of the camera is on par with webcams in its segment.
Equipped with an 8MP Sony sensor, the ideaCam S1 Pro delivers strictly functional video during meetings. The wide f/2.0 lens shows a mediocre performance in low-light conditions. The maximum resolution of 3264 x 2448p does match up to other webcams in its class, but in practical usage, the overall quality of the video feels sub-par. That said, there was an odd improvement when using the camera on Google Meet as opposed to seeing the feed on Zoom or in the brand’s enSpire software. However, this may speak more about Google’s software optimisation than the camera’s own capabilities.
The smart auto focus works well, but it occasionally struggles with rapid movements. As a plus point, the brightness sensors adjust exposure based on your background, ensuring clear filming, regardless of the lighting at your workspace. Again: We’ve seen this being executed better in some webcams, like the recently reviewed Logitech MX Brio that showed up at the Digit office, recently. Then again, the S1 Pro doesn’t claim to use AI enhancement and there is the ~₹4,000 price difference between the two models to consider.
The three shooting modes—Portrait, Deskview, and Hand-held—provide a measure of flexibility during usage. However, the execution of these modes could be smoother. Switching between modes isn’t as seamless as expected. However, for quick close-ups, you can lift the camera off its mount seamlessly and switch to hand-held mode. The internal sensors automatically correct the angle of view when you flip the camera downward, which helps to ensure a more logical perspective of your workspace.
The 15X magnifying fixed-focus lens that comes with the webcam allows for macro photos. It attaches to the camera magnetically and does a fair job. While it’s a nice addition, the image quality doesn’t always justify its existence. The ring light helps, but it’s not a game-changer. Also, speaking from a practical standpoint: how often do I really need to show people my moustache hair up close?
The dedicated EnSpire Control Puck serves as your remote control. It gives you a tactile way to resize, refocus, mute, or freeze frames. Claimed to be compatible with Chrome and Edge browsers, this tool felt like a real premium enhancement out of the box. However, in real-world usage, the puck wasn’t exactly everything we hoped it would be. While intuitive, the frame resizing and refocusing feels limited, and we found ourselves doing it in-software manually despite the easy access to the control puck. ‘Refocus’ is not manual, instead, it’s essentially a single click switch between auto and manual focus, and the latter requires you to use the BenQ enSpire software on the side. In fact, at no point did the puck work outside of the enSpire ecosystem. All-in-all, despite its amazing build quality and feel, we didn’t find ourselves using the puck as much as we hoped to.
The built-in digital microphone cancels ambient noise, so as to ensure clear audio during video calls. It’s not the best we’ve seen, but it certainly gets the job done.
The BenQ ideaCam S1 Pro does try its best to combine webcam functionality with a sort-of documentary camera type versatility. It has some innovative features on paper – like flexible shooting modes, macro photography, and smart auto focus – but while these do set it apart, the just adequate real-world usage feels like a letdown.
For those seeking a webcam that goes beyond the basics, the ideaCam S1 Pro may feel like a nice addition to your workspace, but with that ₹19,990 price tag, we find it really hard to truly root for this device.
To be very frank, there are definitely better options out there. When you’re competing with the likes of webcams like the Dell UltraSharp WB7022, Logitech MX Brio, Elgato FaceCam or even something like the Razer Kiyo, the BenQ ideaCam S1 Pro doesn’t quite give you all that you would hope for.
