SCN Review: What I Love about the EPOS EXPAND Vision 1… and You Will Too
The EPOS EXPAND Vision 1 is a personal webcam that is ideal for an array of use cases. Compact and portable, it is designed for the businessperson or college instructor who is seemingly always searching out the one open meeting room they need. With a 4K camera and EPOS Audio, the personal webcam is optimized for high-quality sound and video in any light condition.
I was recently able to give it a test run, and spoiler alert: There is a lot to like about this easy-to-use, Microsoft Teams and Zoom-certified webcam.
Here, There, and Everywhere
As a relative newbie in Pro AV, so I'm always looking for ease of use and setup. The EPOS EXPAND Vision 1 certainly fits that bill. In fact, set up is as simple as can be—a true plug-and-go device, making it perfect for jumping between meeting rooms or classrooms. If you’re someone who learns visually like me, there is a step-by-step diagram with images on how to do so inside the product box. You can also go to eposaudio.com/connect, but more on that in a little bit.
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I love the case. It fits in the palm of your hand and is small enough to carry in a loose pocket. The cloth feel makes the case pleasant to touch, but the hard casing is plenty strong enough to protect the camera in a backpack without being cumbersome. Inside the case, the EXPAND Vision 1 fits snuggly into its form-fitted place, while a mesh pocket holds the USB-C cable.
The cable has an L-shaped connector for the webcam, which is beneficial because the cable runs down smoothly from the camera to your USB-C port or dock with no bunching. As someone who works from home, at trade shows, and coffee shops, this is beneficial when space is limited. Plus, the camera's folding hinge easily adjusts to any laptop (I tested it on a Surface Go 2 and Mac Book Air), and a rubber stopper helps it stay in place. There's also a scroll wheel on top of the unit to open and close the built-in privacy cover.
Performance and Adjustments
Now that the EPOS EXPAND Vision 1 is set up, let's play with it.
I used the personal webcam on both my MacBook Air on a Zoom call and my Surface Go 2 on a Google Meet call. In both instances, with a little tweaking on the app, I was right there in high-detailed HD. The 4K camera is certainly a tremendous upgrade over a computer camera. Because I work from home and have an excitable 7-year-old running around, I work with a custom SCN background. The camera worked well with the background, even when I blurred it.
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And the EXPAND Vision 1 isn't all about the image. Let's talk about that audio. I put the two omnidirectional, noise-canceling microphones (positioned on either side of the lens) to work by walking to the other side of my office, which is a good 15 feet from the camera. On calls from both laptops, participants on the other end of the call were blown away by the audio quality. Compared to the computer microphone, both said it was incomparably superior, and when I told them both that I didn't raise the volume of my voice to be heard better, they both were impressed by the clarity from such a distance.
The app (easily downloadable at eposaudio.com/connect) is both practical and adds a layer of fun. You can pan and tilt as needed or choose from three predefined view angles (wide, default, and close-up). Plus, there are three different light levels and three different color temperature levels, as well as advanced settings for more detailed adjustments. I'm a warm guy myself, and both of my video call colleagues confirmed that whether right in front of the camera or on the other side of my office, I was indeed warm.
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Listed at $239 on the EPOS website, the EXPAND Vision 1 helps you look and sound better at a cost that doesn't break the bank. A solid choice for nomadic professors or professionals who want a compact solution that's better than their laptop's built-in camera, this pocket-sized webcam offers high-quality audio and video with plenty of basic adjustments and advanced customization.
