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If you want a straight path to 1080p video calls, the best webcam for Skype is the Anivia W5 Webcam. It cuts away some of the fat that other webcams have—good features, mind you—to drop down its price to something easily obtainable. However, it doesn’t skip out on compatibility, being widely accepted across several systems.
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Dabbling with different software? The Anivia W5 Webcam plays well with just about any video software you throw at it, making it the ideal choice for testing out new programs.
Related: Our reviewers highly recommend the Anivia 1080P HD Webcam W8 review
The Anivia Webcam W5 uses a wide angle lens, capable of capturing two people at a time. Underneath the lends is a 2MP optical sensor, which takes decent but not good pictures. It’s relatively small, given its dimensions are 4 x 3 x 2.7 inches and weighing 4.8-oz. Be careful not to drop it!
For the ideal resolution, whether it’s streaming or recording, you want 1080p. You can get away with 720p, but 1080p adds sharpness and clarity that would be missing otherwise. The Anivia W5 Webcam made the right choice not to downgrade, whereas the Logitech HD Pro Webcam C920 drops to 720p during live calls.
Lacking a tripod, the Anivia W5 Webcam’s image stability is fine. However, you have to keep the clip in a stable place, otherwise image stability takes a hit.
While optical zoom and internal storage are missing, it makes up for it by having a wide, 90-degree viewing angle. Since it has built-in stereo microphones, sound quality gets a bump up, provided you have an environment suitable for recording. It comes close to the Logitech C270 Widescreen HD Webcam in terms of audio quality.
Related: Take a quick look at the Aoboco USB Pro Web Camera Stream review
For a cheap computer camera, the Anivia W5 Webcam is a gem among stinkers. It suffers a bit outside camera quality, but with some help from your own lighting and perhaps an external mic, most of its downsides are largely avoided. You’re essentially spending $27 on a glorified 1080p streaming camera, which is pretty nice. That’s better than spending $60 on the Logitech HD Webcam C525, an arguably inferior model.
To circumvent the dark patches, a bit of lighting is necessary. Even with good auto-light correction, there’s no getting away from the need for fair lighting. To make full use of the Anivia W5 Webcam and its features, you need to do extra work for your setting, just to make up for the other less-than-stellar specs.
