Disclosure: This review was written by Lumina, a company that builds devices for remote work. Our mission is to make remote work better by building forward-thinking collaboration software, webcams, and conferencing devices.

The Razer Kiyo is a popular webcam choice amongst gamers and live-streamers. It has garnered good reviews and is named as one of the best webcams of 2020. A unique thing about this webcam is its built-in ring light that illuminates the environment to produce high-quality videos. It is considered one of the more expensive webcams in the market right now from the price point.

Today, we got our hands on this webcam and will be testing its image, video, and audio quality. Afterward, we will see how the Razer Kiyo fares with two higher-end Logitech webcams.

Ratings ⭐️

Pros

• 📸 Sharp and clear image resolution
• 🖊 Small and portable build
• 💡LED Ring Light - provides better lighting and eliminates harsh shadows

Cons

• 💸 Expensive price tag - $99.99
• 🎤 Microphone quality is not great
• 🎯 Slightly saturated colors during lowlight conditions

Image Quality 📷

Let's start by testing Razer Kiyo's image quality in two different lighting conditions: daytime and nighttime. We took two pictures (with and without the ring light) in each state to see the difference.

In the daytime condition, Razer Kiyo produces high-exposure and sharp images, and both the person and the background appear clear. There is not much difference between using an LED (right) or no LED (left) during the daytime, mainly because the environment already has bright lighting. Razer Kiyo's ability to adjust its white balance is good as the colors look vivid and vibrant.

During nighttime or lowlight conditions, the colors seem more saturated than the daytime. There is also a significant difference with and without LED. Without LED (left), we can see shadows on the person's face. Using the LED (right), we can eliminate the shadows and make the person's face appear brighter.

The picture above is the cropped image of the books in the background. The photograph taken with the LED (right) is significantly sharper than without the LED (left). Hence, the ring light helps the webcam's autofocus better during low light conditions, making the image look well defined.

Furthermore, we took a picture of the test chart above to test several other measures, including the distortion level and image noise. Based on the results, the distortion is almost not visible here.

Color palette for white balance and exposure result	Resolution test result

The left picture compares the actual palette color (small square) vs. the webcam output. The colors captured by Razer Kiyo come across as darker compared to the original color.

On the right picture, we measure for the image resolution. The result is fantastic as we can read up to the highest number 40. Among all the webcams that we have reviewed, this webcam has one of the best image resolutions.

Razer Kiyo noise test result	Logitech Brio noise test result

To test the image noise, we compare the Razer Kiyo with the best Logitech webcam in the market, the Logitech Brio 4k webcam. When compared side-by-side, Kiyo's output has more image noise and lower exposure than Brio's.

Comparison with Other High-End Webcams

This section compares the Razer Kiyo with two high-end Logitech webcams, Logitech C930e and Logitech Brio. All of these webcams are priced at $100 and above. Razer Kiyo is the lowest-priced webcam among these three, but is its performance on par with these high-end webcams?

Technical Specifications ⚙️

We captured side-by-side images using Razer Kiyo, Logitech C930e, and Logitech Brio during the daytime. At first glance, we can see that Logitech Brio's output has the highest exposure and widest field-of-view. Meanwhile, Razer Kiyo has the lowest exposure and the most saturation, shown from the color of the top that the person is wearing.

Here are the cropped pictures of the bookshelves in the background. All three webcams showcased spectacular results in image resolution since we can read the books' title. When we focus on the yellow book, Razer Kiyo exhibits the sharpest image compared to Logitech Brio and C930e, where we can see a slight blur. On the other hand, the image noise is the most visible in Razer Kiyo's output and the least in Logitech C930e.

Video Quality 🎥

Daytime with LED

Nighttime with LED

We recorded these two videos using 1080p resolution with 30 FPS with the ring light turned on. The daytime footage appears softer than during nighttime, where it appears sharper and crisper. Overall, the results are pretty great for a live-streaming webcam.

Audio Quality 🔊

The quality of Razer Kiyo's microphone is not the best. The voice sounds muffled and unclear. We highly recommend using an external microphone or an earphone during video calls.

Design 🖋

Product Dimensions

Razer Kiyo's circular design sets itself apart from other webcams that are usually rectangular. The design is minimalist, and the ring light highlights the black circle in the middle. The mounting clip works pretty well to attach the webcam on top of our monitor, but the plastic body makes it feel cheap.

Conclusion

Overall, the Razer Kiyo webcam produces sharp images and videos even though the colors might appear slightly saturated during dim environments. The most significant plus point for this webcam is the built-in ring light that dramatically improves the image and video quality during low lightings.

This camera's sharpness and resolution are on par with high-end Logitech webcams that cost more than the Razer Kiyo webcam. Depending on your preference, if you like your videos bright with high exposure, then the Logitech Brio is more of your cup of tea. However, if you have a lower budget and want saturated and vibrant colors in your video, then the Razer Kiyo is a better option.