AVerMedia - Live Streamer CAM 313 1920 x 1080 Webcam

This is a great little webcam. I was tired of dealing with using my laptop camera now that i work from home. The setup on this camera was easy and the picture and sound are great. No complaints that i sound like i am in a wind tunnel. It sits securely on top of my monitor and it’s easy to slide the cover on it and keep it closed when you don’t want to accidentally be on camera.

With work from home the standard now, I needed a camera for work. I use a dock for the laptop and two monitors and so can't use the camera built into the laptop easily. I needed this for MS Teams and it works great. Easy setup, clipped it right to the top of my monitor in seconds and plug and play USB with the camera. Up and running in less than 5 minutes.

Like many, I wanted to purchase a Logitech webcam for use with my new Mac Mini. But since there’s no supply, I decided to ty the Avermedia PW313. Most of the reviews are from people who use Windows machines, so they weren’t much help in making a decision. My Mac Mini has a quad-core i3 processor, 16 GB of memory, and an Intel UHD graphics 630, so I wasn’t sure how it would perform with the Avermedia PW313 webcam. I purchased the webcam for $80, which I think is on the high side given that it only has fixed focus, mono mics, and a 2 MP camera. It does have a privacy cover and tripod mount, however, which I like. The camera is advertised as being plug-and-play and compatible with Mac OS Catalina. After plugging it in to the USB 2 port, I followed the instructions on the Avermedia website to determine if the webcam was recognized by the system and if the built-in mics were working. Worked as advertised! I also downloaded the CamEngine Lite software, which can be used to adjust picture quality. Following the directions on the website, it too worked as advertised. Finally, I tested the webcam on Zoom and FaceTime, and it seems to work well on both. The mics clearly picked up my voice. Initially, I thought the video was overexposed, but I was able to improve it to an acceptable level using the CamEngine Lite software. Bottom line is the Avermedia PW313 webcam is a sleek looking device that attaches securely to my monitor. It proved to truly be plug-and-play with my Mac Mini running the Catalina OS. It has a wide field of view with decent picture and sound quality suitable for use with Zoom and FaceTime. Given that Logitech devices are not available, at a reasonable price, I would recommend the Avermedia PW313 as an alternative.

I go this camera because it was inexpensive, and I wanted something to use for work while I'm working from home during the pandemic. It was easy to set-up. I just plugged it in, and it worked with all my needed apps. One small quirk is that the front part to hang from the monitor is a bit big, and I had to use my older monitor with the bigger bezel. Also no autofocus, so if you plan on using this for anything other than meetings or chats, you might want to go with something a few more features.

I was pleasantly surprised by how good the video cam is. The build quality appears to be on par with other name brands. It does provide 360 degree view but you would have to turn the camera with a little effort. My computer recognized the camera right away. To get the best experience, you need to go to their website to download their software called StreamEngine and CamEngine. Once installed, the CamEngine would be the default for this webcam. Sometimes it is not picked right away and I had to unplug the webcam and plug it back in to have the engine enabled. The advantages of using the engine are better picture quality and scenes appeared to be zoomed out a little (probably adjusted automatically). We only use it as a web cam so there might be other benefits that we haven't realized yet.