Acer ACR010

PRICE £42 (£50 inc VAT) from store.acer.com

This is a frustrating webcam. In so many ways, it’s excellent. The colours are pleasantly vibrant, albeit erring on the side of oversaturation, and it’s capable of capturing up to 1944p (a 4:3 aspect ratio of 2,592 x 1,944), which is impressive for a webcam costing £50.

Yet it has one major idiosyncrasy: barrel distortion. Whether through software manipulation or superior hardware, barrel distortion simply isn’t noticeable on any other webcam on test. Another contributing factor is Acer’s surprisingly wide field of view (FoV), which Acer states as 78° but in practice feels wider – perhaps because of the fishbowl effect.

I tried to get around the problem by switching to CyberLink’s YouCam software, which features a digital zoom, but even when cropped in there’s a significant amount of distortion.

I hit another hurdle in Zoom: the built-in microphone (there’s only one) was picked up at around one-third volume. This is arguably more Zoom’s problem than Acer’s, and you can always move closer or speak louder, but it’s one more annoyance. In the Windows Camera app, the audio comes through nice and clearly, so I hope it will be fixed in an update.

One thing that can’t be fixed in software is the lack of privacy features. Acer supplies a plastic cap to fit over the lens, but that’s no match for an integrated shutter. Even worse, Acer doesn’t bother to include a light on the unit itself to show that it’s recording, which breaks Privacy Rule 101.

Where does this leave the Acer ACR010? Quite simply, at the bottom of the pile.

KEY SPECS

1944p webcam 30fps 70° field of view single mic 2.5m cable 100 x 25 x 35mm (WDH) 2yr RTB warranty