Dell’s new 2K webcam is designed for hybrid work on a smaller budget

Dell is adding a new option to its selection of webcams and hybrid work peripherals. The new Dell Pro Webcam (model WB5023) follows a similar playbook to last year’s Dell UltraSharp 4K Webcam, with a compact, barrel-shaped design and automatic cropping software to keep you centered in the frame. Although instead of 4K resolution, the Pro Webcam records and streams up to QHD 2560 x 1440 resolution. This more modest resolution helps it reach a lower price of $134.99, but thankfully Dell has brought in a noise-reducing microphone for this price – correcting the 4K model’s biggest omission. This new camera is available worldwide starting today.

Image: Dell

In the center of the Pro Webcam is a Sony STARVIS sensor that outputs QHD at 30 or 24 fps or 1080p at 60, 30 or 24 fps. There’s also a 720p HD setting, though it doesn’t offer framerate advantages over 1080. The optic for that sensor is a multi-element autofocus lens with an f/2.0 aperture and 4x digital zoom. It has a 65 and 78-degree field of view, which are not as wide as the 90-degree field of view of the more expensive model. Although, like the 4K model, the Dell Pro Webcam uses image processing to reduce noise and enable HDR to keep faces brightly lit when backlit in low-light situations – with Dell Peripheral Manager software support, allowing you some advanced fine-tune settings.

While this new webcam shares some features with the premium version, such as being certified for both Zoom and Microsoft Teams, it differs in good and bad ways. On the plus side, it has that built-in mic for a much better price than the 4K model plus an extra mic. On the negative side, it uses an integrated USB-A cable rather than going the detachable route – although the cable is quite long at 4.9 feet / 1.5 meters.

Image: Dell

Being limited to USB-A and having to go the way of adapters or dongles for USB-C compatibility is a bit of a sour point, but the Pro Webcam seems to make fair compromises for that lower price. Ultimately, the picture and sound quality will most likely determine whether this is the better buy than the 4K version or competing options from Logitech, Microsoft, Razer, and others.