Trust Taxon QHD
Decent image and audio quality for the money, but the Trust Taxon QHD is basic in other respects
SCORE
PRICE £58 (£70 inc VAT) from pcpro.link/325trust
T he Taxon QHD sits at the top of Trust’s range of basic webcams and offers 2K streaming for
£70. Whilst Trust doesn’t match the bundled tripod stand of the Dell opposite, I’m not complaining about the captive 1.8m USB cable or the versatile hinged stand. This can be mounted to the top of your monitor or laptop screen, placed flat on a desk or screwed directly onto a tripod.
The camera captures video at
2,560 x 1,440 at 30fps, so it’s more advanced than the cheapest 720p and 1080p cameras. Add a pair of stereo microphones and a built-in privacy shield and you have a strong selection of physical features for the price.
Image quality is pretty good. The Taxon delivers an obvious advantage over most cheap 1080p webcams, with detailed video for calls and colours that are well balanced and natural. I like its 80° field of view as well: it’s just wide enough to allow one or two others to join a video call without being so wide you look tiny in the frame.
The microphones pick up your voice clearly, with a slightly darker tone than most cheap webcams. For the best quality, I would always recommend a dedicated microphone, but you won’t have any problems being heard if you choose to stick to the integrated mic. The privacy shield also works well: you simply slide a switch across to block the lens. A small LED glows green when the camera is active.
For a £70 webcam, I’d expect some kind of added software, which would allow for a reasonable degree of customisation, altering the field of view, sharpness, contrast or colour. However, the Taxon is as basic as webcams get and there’s no way of adjusting the image other than tweaks you may be able to make via your video-calling platform of choice.
It’s also frustrating that, when the privacy shutter is in place, the LED doesn’t change colour and the microphone isn’t muted. In fact, it’s quite difficult to tell if the privacy shutter is in place or not, other than the fact there’s no video being streamed from the camera. Overall, it’s a decent offering for £70 and not many other webcams offer 2K resolution capture for such little money. If you have more cash to burn, however, consider the Anker PowerConf C300 ( see issue 324, p70) or the AVerMedia PW315 ( see issue 321, p72), both of which boast more advanced features and better image quality.
SPECIFICATIONS
2,560 x 1,440 streaming at 30fps 80° field of view 90 x 65 x 50mm (WDH) 127g (camera only) 1yr limited warranty