Julio E. Gonzalez
Do not sell a used item as a new item.
Item purchased as new, but the packaging indicated that box had been opened and resealed.
PLT
Poly Studio P15 Personal Video Bar
7 videosCustomer photos & videos
From 10 customers
Al in SoCal
Well beyond those inexpensive webcams… it's a 'working tool' from which I can benefit
ITEM: The Polycom Video-Conference Camera System Mdl. P15
My expectations for this ‘webcam’ type camera w-audio device were met; maybe not completely regarding the 4k video quality. At the outset, and after doing a bunch of short videos, I was really disappointed with the video quality. While not streaming via video-conference software, I used the Poly Studio P15 with my post-processing video software to do the majority of my video review. What you’ll see is the final video, where from my playing around with the software settings, I found a way to greatly improve the look of the video.
I’ve labored and tweaked so many webcams to get barely acceptable results when conferencing. So after spending just a few minutes in setting up the P15, plugging in the power and connecting ‘my’ usb-c to usb-a cable to my PC, I was able in a few minutes to run the Poly Lens software. This is basically a ‘Plug and Play’ device. Luckily, I had zero issues in the setup. And as mentioned, my dissatisfaction with the video changed the minute I went into the Poly Lens software and went ‘manual exposure.’ Adding proper video lighting is a good star. And improvements occurred when I manually adjusted the brightness downward, and worked with the contrast and saturation to brighten up the overall look.
Yes, the $500+ price tag seems steep. But when I considered how this would help me during tele-conferencing calls with our clients, owing to the many video and audio special features, it made sense as a ‘tool of the trade.’ And most importantly, remember that this device’s framing, zooming and audio blocking capabilities are all focused on you being the star participant. This particular Polycom unit is not for a committee or group sitting at a long conference table. There is another series of units for that. This one caters to a single user, and makes sure you’re the ‘star’, regardless of whether you have to get up and move around or not. The camera software will do its best to follow you. For that I felt it was a solid 4 star ‘tool of the trade.’
JARELLANO
Not good under low light conditions
I think the Poly P15 is ideal for content creators that record to themselves for social media videos. Then you will save a lot of time by just recording from this good 4K camera. Then you can justify the price tag as still is less expensive than a pro video cam (around $1,000 body only). Mine did not performed well under low light conditions when the source of light was behind me while other lower price webcam delivered a nicer image I think. Once you provide better light conditions then P15 will deliver a better video.
An excellent feature is that the moment you stop talking, the AI (artificial intelligence) "muted" the sound of the keyboard while I was typing. That is awesome and makes a big difference because as long as you are quiet, there is no need to keep putting yourself on mute.
Construction of the cam is premium and you can tell that is a high end product. I have attached some pictures.
Parks N' Tech
Works Well, Clear & Crisp Image Quality, Great For Live Streamers, Web Conferencing
This camera works very well! First off, the device itself feels well made and doesn't feel cheap. It's actually a lot bigger than I originally expected. It is very easy to setup and use - nearly plug and play. It works with all major video chat software and works with other webcam software, too. The unit does have a physical privacy shutter which is great for any privacy concerns.
The audio quality sounds great and honestly, I was quite impressed with it for a webcam. The 4K video is also very nice - clear and crisp.
Because of the high price tag of this, I wouldn't recommend this if you are just looking for a 4K webcam as there are others just as good video quality wise as this and cheaper, however, if you need a powerhouse when it comes to web conferencing with great sound quality, then this is it. Again, this is not for everyone and is very expensive, but when push comes to shove, it is worth it if you do live streaming, web conferencing, or are video chatting a lot for work or pleasure.
Steve Garfield
Excellent 4K camera.
The 4K webcam is excellent quality. The software has some nice features that allow you to customize options on the camera including back lighting, automatic pan, and exposure.
I prefer a standalone microphone and speaker. Having the microphone and speaker combined with the camera makes this unit too big.
Ron Killian
No thank you barley 1080...
Given all the glowing reviews, it seems most people did not actually try the unit or they don't know what 4K should look like. So sad people are not being honest about this unit. Least one person was honest in their review.
It is a great looking unit, that is for sure. Very modern looking and sleek. I love how it looks. I don't think it is that heavy, given it's size. Though my monitors are very thin and delicate, so the mount is not something I would use. But it comes with a screw mount, like for a tripod, so that could work. Though I doubt I am even going to use this unit. Also, oddly it only comes with a USB-C to USB-C cable. Most desktops at least do NOT come with USB-C ports. I have a very new computer, it does not have C, luckily I have adapters. The facial recognition works as well, but not sure if I like it doing it on it's own. That is more a personal opinion.
As for the quality. Argh, real disappointment. Even more so given the huge price. I hooked the camera up, turning the setting up as high as they can go. Even tried different lighting sources, just to cover all the bases. The video quality is hardly 1080 and just on the border for that. Even looking at some of the other pictures posted here, a person raving about the 4K when their pictures show it's not that high of quality.
I was excited about getting this because it's hard to even find a 4K webcam type camera. Guess I will be continuing to look because this one does NOT record 4K. Not even close.
Just don't like all these companies stating 4K and trying to get high prices, but not delivering. Happens way too often. You'd be better off with a new Gopro, much higher quality video and cheaper. Even my lower end DJI mini 2 drone takes better video.
Really wanted to praise this, but I would not be honest and it's not fair to people who are thinking about spending good money on this.
Jspec1
Premium 4k Video and HD audio for remote /zoom work @ home.
Brought to you by well established professional brands focused on commercial communications within the office/meeting room environment. Plantronics (known for work headsets) and Polycom (known for conference room speaker phones) joined forces to design and produce this video bar solution. The Poly Studio P15 is really a high end device for the home professional that doesn’t want to mess around with trying to get the right angles, or worrying about being out of shot. This video bar solution sorts everything out for you, while being configurable enough to give some controls over challenges while trying to zoom/stream from. Also great for pro vloggers that dont want separate mics and arms to buy and configure. It also doubles up as a really good speaker, and for an environment particularly at home where you might have outside noises or unwanted visitors, turning on the Poly Acoustic Fence (think of this as a geo fence for audio ) can save the people you’re talking to from interruptions and distractions in the background. There’s also two USB 2.0 ports on the back, in case you have other devices to plug in like headset USB dongles. A really neat solution with some extra bells and whistles to justify upgrading from an average webcam and external mics. MAC/Windows compatible. A premium product with a premium price tag.
Honest Professional Reviews
4K camera + good microphones + powerful speaker in one package; high price and video quality issues
This Poly Studio P15 video bar seems to target a pretty cool niche:
High quality (4K) video camera + top notch microphone array + decent & loud speaker all in one unit. While I appreciate the idea, and I had high hopes, it turns out to be good in some ways, but a disappointment in others.
Primary features:
** 4K lens/camera
** High quality microphone array
** Microphonic fencing and noise reduction
** Full range speaker capable of playing at good volume
** Automatic face tracking allow auto pan/zoom to properly frame face
** Built in hardware privacy through lens rotation
The goal here is an all-in-one solution that replaces a good quality video setup, which would include a webcam PLUS an outboard microphone (e.g. Blue Snowball, which is what I use) PLUS external speakers.
The price is high, even relative to the total cost of those components, but if it works well, it could justify itself based on convenience. And the auto face tracking is a great feature not typically found even on decent webcams.
Setup is pretty trivial. In the box you have the P15 video bar, a mount hinge which screws on, a power cable and a USB-C-to-USB-C cable. Unfortunately, the P15 REQUIRES the external power cable, even if connected to a power delivery USB-C socket. This is unfortunate. Also unfortunate is that they do not include a USB-C to USB-A adapter for the side of the USB cable that connects to your computer. Many desktops (and even some laptops) still do not provide extra USB-C connections.
I connected the camera and the power source and my workstation immediately recognized the video bar and it appeared in lists of available video cameras in apps such as Google Hangouts, Zoom, Camera, etc.
To make any adjustments to the camera, you need to instal the Poly Lens software, which is Mac/PC compatible and which you can get from the manufacturer's website. There is no Android/iPhone app, but since this video bar makes no sense for a phone, that's not surprising. The app installs find, and the settings are easy to understand (see photos for screenshots).
One thing that was disappointing was the realization that this video bar is both big and relatively heavy. It's basically the width of a 17" laptop, and it weighs about 1 pound, 9 ounces with the mounting hinge. That's a LOT of weight to hang over the top of a monitor, and it's too much weight to reasonably hang over the top of a laptop screen. I tried it with the 17" laptop shown (photos), and if I inclined the monitor much beyond 90 degrees, the weight of the video bar would push the screen all the way down. I had this idea that I might be able to use the video bar while traveling to provide an excellent video/audio setup on the go. Nope, that's not really in the cards. Oh well.
I tested it on a workstation, hanging the video bar on a 43" monitor. There, the weight did not present any significant issue. To test performance, I compared to both a Logitech C920 webcam and a Razer Kiyo Pro webcam, both attached to the same computer. The C920 is considered the gold standard of reasonably priced home solutions, and the recently released Razer Kiyo Pro is a serious step above in terms of performance.
When I first installed the camera, I was very disappointed in the picture quality , which was very soft and lacking in detail. I determined that this was a result of extremely aggressive noise reduction. I turned off auto exposure and reduced brightness, and was able to achieve a more acceptable picture. That said, the camera is working in decent light conditions (good room light behind the camera) that the Razer Kiyo Pro is able to navigate properly.
See my photos for screen grabs of the performance of the three cameras in the same room with the same light. The Logitech C920 gets the lighting fine, but it's very soft. The Razer Kiyo Pro does a LOT better with detail, although suffers a bit of oversharpening. The Poly Studio P15 presents about the same amount of detail as the Razer, but the picture shows FAR more noise artifacts. There's no separate user adjustment for noise reduction (noise reduction only seems to turn on when auto-exposure is used), so there's no obvious way to fine tune this.
Ultimately, the picture of the Poly Studio P15 is superior to the Logitech C920, but interior to that obtained with the Razer Kiyo Pro.
One nice feature of the video on the P15, which is not a feature of either the Logitech or Razer, is the ability to auto-track the user's face. This feature can be turned on/off through the app. With the feature on, the video from the P15 will continually adjust to keep you properly framed. You have the option of tight/normal/wide framing. I found that this worked quite well. I've attached a photo demonstrating the full field of view from the P15, as well as the auto-framed picture. Note that any camera zooming is carried out digitally, so while the native camera may be 4K, the effective zoomed image won't be. Given that most video conferencing downscales to 1080p or less, the side-effects of digital zooming probably won't be noticed on the other end.
The microphones built into the P15 are good. In testing, those on the other side had no trouble hearing me, and the sound was clean and rounded--it sounded like a good phone call. An A/B comparison between the microphones of the P15 and my Blue Snowball external USB microphone, however, had those on the other end broadly preferring the Snowball. The summary comment was that my voice sounded warmer and more rounded.
The built-in speaker provides surprisingly loud volume and a clear signal. It is far better than the speaker built into a standard laptop, for example. It couldn't come close to the Logitech Z623 2.1 speakers I normally use--but that's a pretty unfair comparison. As an all-in-one solution, the speaker function is very good, and I had no trouble understanding anyone during conference calls.
On the whole, I'm torn about this P15 video bar. On the one hand, it does provide three essential functionalities in one package. The video is 4K and offers auto-dynamic framing, the microphones are good, and the speakers is very good for the footprint. On the other hand, the video quality suffers from more noise than I would have hoped, even in a reasonably well lit room (suggesting that they didn't use a big enough CMOS sensor). And the video bar is big and (more significantly) fairly heavy--making it impractical mounted directly to a laptop screen (where the screen will fold over due to the weight). The video bar also requires a separate AC power adapter, which further reduces its usefulness for laptops/travel.
Given the fairly significant price, then, this is probably only going to appeal to a fairly narrow set of buyers who want an all-in-one solution for a non-portable installation and where the auto-framing is going to be of significant added value.
The P15 does help point to where things may be going, and I wish/hope that in the future Poly provides a similar bar that weights less and that is completely powered via USB-C--aimed as a portable solution. I can't be the only one who suffers witha fantastic expensive high-end laptop that has fairly poor teleconferencing components.
S R
A SUPERB add-on for a home office
If you are looking for just a webcam, this product is a total overkill for you.
We got this personal video bar because the school got the bigger version – Poly studio – for the classes. See picture. Working with the bigger version was an eye opener. So many options in the software.
When we saw that a personal version is being offered, we got it immediately.
Some of its capabilities: 4K video, ability to adjust quality in accordance to your bandwidth, a loud and clear speaker, and multitude of microphones allowing sophisticated video conferencing experience.
For example, the auto camera framing follows you as you move around, and it can even change the zoom to better capture you. The NoiseBlockAi is another great feature which eliminate background noise (like keyboard typing, barking, the blowers of the gardeners, kids...). One can use the Acoustic Fence to block sound around you (a 3 feet cone).
Bottom line, this camera/video bar is not just an amazing piece of hardware, but the real differentiator is the software which drives it. I didn’t even mention the multitude of option with manual mode.
I have included picture of size and weight to show that it is not suited the best for a small laptop, unless you mount it on the side.
Joe Santucci
Awesome audio and video for all of my meetings
I use the P15 in all of my zoom and teams meetings. The audio quality is awesome and the camera is amazing. The highlight of the audio is Noiseblock which keeps distracting sounds out of my meetings. I love that it has auto framing so I am free to move around while staying perfectly framed. It is expensive, but for somebody who is on video as much as I am, I think it is a great investment.
