Cheap or good value? – The Lexip Ca20 Clear Speech Webcam in test

A webcam has long been part of the basic equipment of a laptop. However, this was not the case with PCs for a long time, but the demand has risen sharply especially in the last few years. It’s no wonder that manufacturers have launched many new devices on the market. But what do you really need in a webcam? Do you really have to spend so much money for it? Lexip has launched its CA20 webcam, an FHD camera that costs just under 40 Euros. We check for you what the webcam is made of and whether 40 euros is already enough for a good webcam.

Technical specifications

On paper, the Lexip CA20 webcam already looks not bad. Especially considering the price of just under 40 €. But a camera is more than just the value of a resolution in combination with the number of frames per second. That’s why we’ll now delve deeper. Let’s start with what you get with the purchase in the first place.

Scope of delivery

With the scope of delivery we are quite fast through. Of course, there can’t be much in the small 10x6x6 cm package. Besides the webcam, there is only a small book included here: the user manual. That’s all that’s inside, so take it out and have a closer look.

Design and finish

The design of the Lexip Ca20 is based on simplicity. The case and also the removable lens cover are completely black. Only on the mount is the Lexip lettering and next to the lens still the logo. Let’s stay on the front for a moment. This is made of a kind of reflective Plexiglas, while the rest is made of plastic. The lens itself is also surrounded by a plastic ring.
As for the workmanship, everything looks a bit cheap at first. On the other hand, everything serves its purpose and therefore there is actually no reason to complain.

Features

As already mentioned, the Ca20 has a lens cover. This basically consists of a plastic clip that has a flap attached to it. This can then be rotated over the camera. To prevent the lens from being damaged, there is a small black foam pad on the bottom. In itself, this is a good idea, except that you should probably use the cover all the time and not just once in a while, otherwise the pad will get covered in dust and then dirty the lens.

Other than that, the webcam is on a 360° ball joint. This is very practical in and of itself, since you can virtually align the camera at will, but on the other hand, you need a bit of dexterity. Adjusting the horizontal position in particular is often not that easy. Because in addition to the low weight, the mount itself is not really easy to pack.
Speaking of the holder. With this, it is possible to simply place the webcam on the table, or to use a locking mechanism to place the webcam on the monitor. Due to the mechanism, it can actually be placed on any monitor, but you should note that the front, with the lettering on it, protrudes a good 1 cm beyond the edge of the monitor. Unfortunately, this causes the webcam to cover part of the screen on most of today’s monitors. But enough about the exterior. Finally, the inner values also count.

Picture and sound quality

Let’s start with the image quality first. Especially with cheap webcams, it is quite often the case that they can’t handle too little light. Very quickly, the image then becomes washed out and you can hardly recognize any details at all. In addition, there is image noise, which is of course anything but good. But what does this look like with the Lexip webcam?
The picture itself also shows these weaknesses. There is increasing image noise in too little light and the contrast also decreases. However, if you compare it with similar webcams, you can only be amazed. The picture is simply much better than other models in the price range.

The second picture was taken while the lighting, which I usually use for streams, was on. Here you can see relatively quickly that significantly more details are recorded directly. However, you can also see a few weak points here. The white wall in the background is more of a pixel clutter, so there is still some image noise depending on the background and corresponding lighting. The positive side, however, is that you can at least recognize the face very well in the foreground. Of course, the level of detail is not extremely high, but it is still much better than other webcams in comparison.

Lastly, let’s listen to the microphone. Those who have been lured by the “Clear Speech” or “Noice Reduction” advertising will be bitterly disappointed. The microphone is by no means anything special. It contains quite a lot of noise despite the supposed noise reduction. In addition, speech sounds very muffled. Here, the noise reduction seems to work in the wrong place and mainly alters the actual voice. There is no difference here to microphones found in laptops. But again, it’s obviously not the best quality, but before you can’t be heard at all, it’s obviously better.

Conclusion

The Lexip Ca20 webcam offers basic features and more. To provide a good image, you need very good light, as with any camera, otherwise everything will be a bit washed out, with some image noise. However, compared to other inexpensive webcams, the Ca20 clearly stands out. Even in good light, the sensor is clearly better, especially in comparison. The microphone is touted as “Clear Speech”, but it is no better than the many cheap laptop microphones that come free.

Accordingly, the purchase recommendation also turns out. If you are looking for a webcam to meet friends or family online and share your own picture, you can also go for the Lexip Ca20 for 40 €. You can also use Lexip’s Ca20 as a cheap streamcam, but you should make sure you have good lighting here and definitely have an additional microphone.