Your opinion in a meeting can make a difference, but speaking it from home is more difficult. Especially if your poor quality webcam shows more of your lighted garden than your face, or if the view is too far away and makes it difficult to follow you. In short: if your ideas are what matters, the eye also wants its part. And during testing for this review, the webcam Jabra Panacast 20 has shown that he always knows how to keep our face at the center of the scene, in 4K and with many intelligence functionalities.
But this webcam has an edge for those who do hybrid workthanks to lightness and ease of transport. However, the price could turn those not looking for one away professional solution: it is not a webcam for everyone. We help you figure out if it’s for you in our review of the Jabra Panacast 20.
Our Jabra Panacast 20 review
Starting with the packaging, Jabra shows all its attention to this product, the first of its kind. In fact, if for some time now he has also added solutions for conferences and meeting rooms to his headphones, this intelligent webcam is their solution for smart working workers. And they coated it in a cardboard onlywithout any trace of plastic to make it clear that they have left nothing to chance, sustainability including.
Opening the package we find one “Travel bag” for your webcam small in size but which seems to us really well padded and resistant. You don’t have to be afraid to put this kit in your backpack when you are on the move for work: it is designed for hybrid and travel work.
Inside you will find a USB-C 3.0 webcam side and USB-A cable computer side of one and a half meters (sadly, an adapter is missing for the increasingly common laptops that only have USB-C). On the other side, well protected by the padding, you find the webcam.
We emphasize Jabra’s attention to detail, which will emerge several times during this Panacast 20 review: the addition of the travel bag not only offers a additional protection to the webcam. But it determines a function of it: this is a webcam meant to always be a provision of the professional. If you’re on a business trip, you don’t have to settle for a laptop webcam. And if you work a few days at home and someone in the office, he can always stay with you.
Small and light, but easy to postage
With small size (44mm x 80mm x 25mm) and a weight of only 136 grams, among the professional quality products, it is one of the most compact webcams we have tested. The compact design includes a hook for your PC that we tested on both a large fixed monitor and a couple of thin notebooks: remains easily freed, it is well built. In addition, it has a hole for a possible physical support (sold separately).
The USB-C input is downwards, a solution that is not always very convenient but helps to reduce the space required for the cable footprint. Furthermore, further protects the USB-C input. The camera lens is protected by a plastic coating that you can open with a ring, also great for privacy.
It seems to us a very well built product.
Professional-grade video quality
The main sensor of the Jabra Panacast 20 has 13MP and a resolution that goes as far as 4K. The video quality is therefore optimal if you use the camera app on your PC or some higher quality streaming service.
But this high resolution also helps on Zoom, Teams, and Meet. The connection and the screen of the viewer will undoubtedly limit the output quality: many will not see your face in 4K. But with higher resolution, you can zoom in on your face up to 3x while staying at 720p and without losing video quality.
This ability to zoom in and have the webcam follow us without losing quality impressed us a lot during the test video calls we did (and some actual meetings where we used it). You can put the your face at the center and make you follow, without the need for the context in which you work to distract your interlocutors.
The horizontal field of view is 90 °, the vertical one 75 ° and the diagonal one 117°. The focal length of 2.26mm and the image sensor is from 1 / 3.2 inch. All specifications that serve to provide a wide frame and capture good quality images, especially when there is a lot of light.
Jabra uses its own Edge AI for several clever features (no need to go to the cloud or steal resources from your PC), but most of all we like how manages the light during calls. We made a few calls with strong side and even rear light from the window, and the webcam knew reduce the light behind the curtains and instead put our person in the foreground.
We liked it a little less in situations where there was no light, especially in tests with only the light of the screen to illuminate us. There is indeed a little too much noise in the shaded areas. But we don’t think it’s something to distract from calls – it’s not on the level of a mirrorless camera or big smartphone sensor, but it doesn’t have to be to prove itself. a great webcam.
Jabra Panacast 20 review: smart and privacy features
As we mentioned, Jabra has come up with several clever features to improve calls. All are activated with the software Jabra Directyes install on the PC (and that will help manage headphones and microphones as well). A complete software, which also allows you to keep the firmware updated and stay safe.
A function that struck us and undoubtedly the Picture in Picture (PiP). Basically, it shows a wide-field scene and then zooms in on your face in a frame on the screen. That way, if you are giving a presentation and need to show a whiteboard (or if like me you want to brag about your posters!) There will still be a focus on you speaking.
Picture in Picture (above) and Intelligent Zoom (below), same distance
L’Intelligent Zoom instead it allows you to always have your close-up, even if you move. The movement is not instantaneous, it takes just a second to start following you. But we have to admit that it does it well – if you use to move around a lot during meetings, it can help.
We found the Vivid HDR, which offers more brightness. But you can especially take advantage of it in the evening and with the lights out, while we suspect that most people will hold their meetings during the day. The app also allows you to to balance i bianchi, zoom and everything you expect from webcam software. We like how Jabra has paid attention to the software side, the app is well done.
Attention also to the privacyin fact you find the shutter to physically lock the webcam, without having to detach it to be sure it does not record. The bezel is easy to reachbeing positioned in front, and it seems to us well done.
Microphones and call performance
Jabra has inserted three microphones in this webcam, very discreet indeed. The audio they capture is not as crystal clear as that of a microphone (It won’t replace our Yeti Blue, but neither will Jabra’s headset with headband microphone). However they are extremely comfortable because they manage to pick up voices even if they are a little distant from the webcam. So if you use the webcam in the office with a couple of colleagues next to you (perhaps with the PiP to see you all but with a zoom box) it will be able to capture everything you say. It cannot replace a dedicated solution, but it is one more interesting.
Regarding the call performance in general (both audio to test the microphones and the more usable videocall), we found only one problem, not worrying. Perhaps due to its compact size, it tends to warm up a little more than what happens to products in this category. There seems nothing alarming: it is not temperatures that can ruin the webcam.
Jabra Panacast 20 review: is it worth it?
If there is a sore point, which could alienate those who are not a professional who focuses everything on hybrid work, it is the price: on the official website it costs 294 euro (358.68 VAT included). Although online you can also find it at lower prices (on Amazon at the moment it is around 230 euro).
Those looking for a webcam for the occasional video call from home to friends and family can find something that costs significantly less. And who wants a webcam for it streaming (Twitch, etc) can find dedicated product, with fewer smart features and a slightly reduced price.
Jabra Panacast 20 convinced us during this review, but above all for the use for which it is designed: a webcam for professionals, especially if they move often and do hybrid work. For those who do not fall into this category, perhaps it is too much. But it is one great quality webcam for those who work.
PRO
- Lightweight and easy to carry
- Very useful smart features
- Good video quality
VERSUS
- The price is quite high for non-professional use
- Heats slightly more than necessary