Its 1080p lens is capable of a sharp, detailed image, and its built-in ring light means it works very well in bright and dark environments alike. The Kiyo is roughly the size and shape of a hockey puck, a circular black disc measuring 2.7 by 0.6 inches (HW) for the camera itself.
A small lens sits in the middle, framed by a ridged, glossy black plastic surface with a status LED above and a Razer logo barely visible below.
The bottom of the base folds back to reveal grippy rubber surfaces that, with a wide front tooth, can secure the camera to the top of your monitor or laptop. Razer’s Synapse software can adjust the Kiyo’s exposure settings, with multiple image presets including white balance. This isn’t capture software, however; Razer recommends OBS or XSplit for streaming or recording with the Kiyo, and of course any standard video conferencing service will work with it. It can actually get a bit too bright and harshly directed, but fortunately you can dim the light to your preferences by twisting the ring around the camera. It’ll add another $50 minimum to your video chat and recording setup, but it will drastically improve your audio quality.
But if you value a good picture over audio quality, or don’t mind spending a bit more and using another USB port for a separate microphone, the Razer Kiyo is worth a look.
Razer Kiyo Webcam
De Ring light zorgt er dan ook voor dat jij altijd juist belicht bent (maximaal 10 LUX op 1 meter afstand), zonder dat je jouw gaming kamer tot studio om hoeft te bouwen.
Wij stellen technologie op de proef
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The Razer Kiyo webcam is perfect for gaming and streaming, with a bright ring light and sharp image quality
The Razer Kiyo is billed as the perfect broadcasting camera for budding streamers and offers everything you need to get started at a reasonable $99.99 price. It takes a lot of work to look your best on video, whether you’re streaming on Twitch or producing for YouTube, so the top streamers have professional setups with expensive cameras, lighting rigs, and microphones. For anyone with a more limited budget, just starting out streaming, or looking to upgrade from a basic webcam, the Razer Kiyo could be the ideal choice.
While the Razer Kiyo can stream high quality footage, if you just need a decent webcam for video calls there’s no need to spend this much.
Webcams tend to have unobtrusive designs so they can clamp onto the top of screens unnoticed, but the Razer Kiyo has a very distinctive look that makes it stand out. The camera lens is in the middle of a ring, surrounded by subtle concentric circles and an etched Razer logo in black.
The parts that have contact with your screen or frame are finished in grippy, soft-touch, matte black, rubbery plastic to ensure the webcam doesn’t scratch or damage your display. While the braided cable feels durable and offers enough length to accommodate my standing desk when extended, it may prove frustrating for some people at just shy of 5 feet long.
Install Razer’s Synapse 3 software, and you get access to camera controls with sliders for brightness, contrast, saturation, and white balance.
There’s also an advanced settings menu that lets you dig deeper with extra options like sharpness and gain, as well as controls for zoom level, pan, tilt, and exposure. I found the Razer Kiyo offered impressive color accuracy in natural light and a pleasingly detailed image. Callers said the picture quality is great and they didn’t have any issues hearing me, though the Kiyo does have a pretty basic microphone.
My son, who has more experience producing gaming videos and streaming, tested out the Razer Kiyo with Fortnite and is impressed by the results. The light ring is really only enough to illuminate your face, but that’s the most important thing when you’re streaming, and any noise you see in the background on full screen is far less noticeable when you’re in a small window in the corner.
The Razer Kiyo is tailor-made for budding streamers looking to put out better quality video and ensure that they’re lit in a flattering way.
If you can live without the higher frame rate, the Logitech C920S is a lot cheaper, offers 1080p or 720p at 30 fps, has a handy privacy shutter, and boasts better audio with two integrated microphones.
Razer Kiyo Review: A Webcam Game Changer
The best streamers have studio setups with professional microphones, bright lighting and, sometimes, even green screens. The webcam is in the center of that top disc, surrounded by a thick, white, LED light ring and a dial to adjust how bright it gets. On the bottom of the lowest disc is a mount for brackets and tripods, for folks who’d rather not clamp it to a monitor. The Razer brand name is right under the camera lens, but the three-headed snake is tucked away on the back of the first disc.
Razer’s camera looks just as good as our favorite webcam, the Logitech C920, and its gaming version, the C922. My forest-green shirt was very close to the right shade, and my blue eyes looked better than on any other camera I’ve tested.
When I did an exact comparison shot with the C920, I found that while my shirt was slightly truer with Logitech’s lens, my skin and eyes looked better on Razer’s webcam, and both offered great detail. However, when I recorded some footage from Mass Effect: Andromeda (2017’s biggest disappointment) with OBS, that noise was far less noticeable because I was in a smaller box in the corner.
However, most gamers and streamers will use a headset or microphone (Razer would love for you to try its new Seiren X) on services like Twitch or Mixer, so it’s not the end of the world.
But cheaper cameras, like Logitech’s, have better mics built in, so I wish Razer didn’t skimp on it here. Most of Razer’s PC peripherals connect with Synapse, its software to adjust settings and change colors. It fulfills a need, but takes it to the next level by adding professional features without tacking on a higher price tag.
A single light ring (albeit a very good one) isn’t the same as a full setup, but it brings something more like a studio to a lot of people.
Razer Kiyo Pro review
The Razer Kiyo Pro is the latest product targeted towards streamers and content creators, with a fresh injection of modern technology that hasn’t been seen in the high-end webcam market for some time. The introduction of this newer technology is a welcome breathe of fresh air in what was becoming something of a monopoly for good high-quality webcams, though this shiny new hardware comes at a steep price at $199.99 (£199.99, AU$329.95).
The Kiyo Pro is also being marketing towards professionals who require something powerful for video conferencing, and despite the eye-watering cost, this could be a perfectly valid investment for folk who spend lot of time being broadcast.
The wide-angle lens means you can select between three adjustable FOV (fields of view) to include several people during a group call or a single individual. The video quality is excellent without requiring any messing around in the settings for anything that wants a simple plug-and-go experience, and we didn’t encounter any issues when using the Kiyo Pro across a variety of programs such as Zoom, OBS or Stream Labs. Software like Google Meets will restrict the webcam quality down to 720p, but the crisp visuals and vivid true-to-life colors still shine through.
A downloadable driver is available via the Razer Synapse software for anyone that likes to play with the video settings and provides some very intuitive adjustments to the quality. The Razer Kiyo Pro is available from February 23 for $199.99 (£199.99, AU$329.95) on the Razer.com store, with plans to go on sale via authorized retailers later in 2021.
The Logitech StreamCam will set you back $170 (£139, AU$279) when you can actually find one, which is a comparable webcam that is marketed towards streamers and content creators. The StreamCam doesn’t have as many features as the pricier Kiyo Pro however, so if you’re looking for a variable field of view and HDR support then you may find the additional investment cost to be worth it. Right off the bat you’ll see that the Kiyo Pro is much larger than most camera models, likely to accommodate for the powerful sensors and hardware required to achieve a crisp 60fps recording. The cylindrical design looks similar to a DSLR camera lens, even down to a textured surface surrounding the front section of the webcam that imitates a zoom ring.
The base model Kiyo webcam features an integrated ring light, something that is noticeably absent from the Razer Pro. The Kiyo Pro is usable right out of the box, and we didn’t run into any issues where software refused to recognize the camera. The Kiyo Pro also goes a step further by offering HDR (High-definition recording) at the expense of reducing the frame rate from 60fps to 30fps.
This image was taken with soft cool-toned front lighting in a dark environment that caused the webcam color correction to freak out and gave the video a stark yellow hue. As mentioned, this is an extremely expensive webcam and there are certainly cheaper products on the market for anyone who can’t stretch their budget.
Complete Razer Kiyo Webcam Review in 2021
The professional streamers generally make use of studios like setups with bright light, high-quality microphones, and green screens. If you are looking for a shortcut to achieve best results for your streaming sessions, we advise you investing on Razer Kiyo.
Razer Kiyo is designed to make things little easier for dedicated gamers who want to gain more audience on YouTube, Twitch and other popular streaming platforms.
Edit recorded clips quickly with a wide range of professional tools Razer Kiyo can produce punchy images with attractive contrast adjustment. Desktop streaming camera unit with an advanced multi-step bright ring light.
Color temperature range for ring light: 5600K with milky white LED diffuser. At a glance, you will find its basic design same as most webcams in the market, but Razer Kiyo has actually added something new to this unit with its amazing craftsmanship.
But rest all design features are quite impressive along with the company’s logo that is attractively engraved on the backside of the camera.
With the awesome design; Razer Kiyo also offers satisfactory image quality.
It can capture stills at 4 Megapixels with the perfect mixture of colors and brightness levels. although its microphone is not much loud, that won’t make a big issue because most of the streamers prefer to use gaming headphones for their streaming needs.
With all such features, we can say that Razer Kiyo is high-performance camera unit that can easily satisfy needs of most streamers. There is no software piece that can be used to zoom, tilt, pan and adjust the exposure settings from a distance. Although for many setups, users may need Synapse, it is compatible with many other streaming software, so gamers will easily find several choices. You will be happy to know that it also works perfectly with world’s most popular streaming software: Open Broadcaster and Xsplit. These 3rd party software tools can help users to adjust tint, contrast and brightness levels but it cannot work for tilt and pan settings. Although it lacks in some professional features; still, it has so many things to offer you with a budget-friendly price range. You can buy Razor Kiyo now by visiting trustworthy online websites; the sellers ensure fast delivery at the doorstep.
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