Logitech C920 vs Brio (2022): Should You Save Or Splurge?

2020 has been the year of Skype calls and Zoom sessions and so the need for a quality webcam has never been greater. The grainy webcams that come with our laptops just aren’t cutting it anymore, especially if we’re trying to look as professional as possible during our online meetings. If you’re in need of a webcam upgrade, look no further than Logitech, particularly its C920 and Brio models. These two can provide you with the image clarity you’re looking for and more. To help you decide which model is the best for your webcam needs, here’s an in-depth C920 versus Brio comparison, taking their designs, picture and sound quality, softwares, and prices into consideration.

Logitech C920 vs Brio Comparison Chart

Design

The C920 comes with a sturdier clip while the Brio has a detachable chord.

Both the C920 and the Brio are quite wide and chunky so they’re pretty hard to miss once they’re mounted on your laptop or computer monitor. Width-wise, the C920 is at 3.7 inches while the Brio is at 4 inches. While they’re not exactly inconspicuous, this is forgivable because they do, after all, house top-notch cameras (we’ll get into this later). The Brio does, however, have a little bit more of a sleekness to it, thanks to its round edges. The C920 looks just a tad bit bulkier because of how angular it is.

Logitech is known for having some of the best webcam clips in the market and the C920 is definitely proof of that. Its clip is made up of a plastic, two-part arm that cradles the back of your laptop or computer monitor, as well as a rubber foot that secures your webcam into place. Mounting it is easy and you don’t have to worry about it falling in the middle of an important business deal. The C920 also has a built-in mount so you can prop it up on a tripod if that’s what you prefer. As for the Brio, it’s disappointing that its clip isn’t as well-made. Instead of sturdy plastic, its arm is made of rubber which tends to wobble at the slightest movements.

While the clip on the Brio doesn’t live up to expectations, Logitech makes up for this by sticking it with a detachable cable. It comes with a 4.9-foot cable but you can replace it with any USB Type-C chord of your choice. This is a pretty convenient feature, especially if your laptop isn’t compatible with the included cable. As for the C920, its cable isn’t detachable but it is 6 feet long, giving you more than enough length to work with.

Picture and Sound Quality

The Brio wins against the C920 when it comes to image and audio quality.

Once you put either the C920 or the Brio to the test, you’ll be too impressed to go back to your laptop’s dodgy webcam. You can expect both of these models to take amazing pictures for you, ones that are clear, crisp, and accurate in color. Don’t be surprised if even the strands of your hair or the stitches on your t-shirt show up in the images, especially in bright conditions. That said, the C920 and the Brio do have advantages over each other when it comes to picture quality.

For one, the Brio has a 90-degree lens which is a lot wider than the C920’s 78-degree field of view. This is a great feature if you want more of your background to be seen or if you have company and you’d like to fit them into the frame with you. Also, the Brio is equipped with RealLight 3 technology with HDR. This allows it to adapt to any kind of environment, whether it be a room filled with natural light or one that’s illuminated by fluorescent lights. Another advantage that the Brio has over the C920 is its 4K capability although this one isn’t very useful because the number of apps and services that stream this resolution is still very limited. As for the C920, it’s able to outdo the Brio in low light environments.

When it comes to sound quality, both the C920 and the Brio are reliable in this department, although the latter does have a slight upper hand. Built with dual omni-directional microphones, the Brio is able to deliver better quality audio. Even if you’re in a noisy setting, you can expect your voice to come through loud and clear.

Software

The C920 and the Brio are compatible with Logitech apps that give users more control.

The C920 can be paired with Logitech’s Webcam Software for Windows although as you can already tell by its name, it’s not supported by the other operating systems out there. With this app, you can perform different movements with your C920 such as zooming in and out as well as panning left and right. These actions are especially helpful for those who move around a lot and need to adjust their webcam regularly. If you’re worried about the things on your desk going missing, you can also turn your C920 into a security cam, thanks to the app’s motion detection mode. Other features you can enjoy with the app include avatars and backgrounds.

As for the Brio, it’s compatible with the Logitech Camera Settings app which allows you to make plenty of adjustments to your webcam. You can control the brightness, color saturation, and white balance as well as zoom in and out and pan from side to side. If your home or office is a mess and you’d rather not show the background too much, you can change the field of view from 90 degrees to 78 or 65 via the app. You can also blur out the background or change it altogether although this feature isn’t included in the app. You need to install another driver for it.

Verdict

Get the C920 if all you want is an upgrade but buy the Brio if you want to be ahead of everyone else.

If you haven’t been happy with the performance of your current webcam, the C920 is the upgrade you’ve been looking for. You’re sure to look good during your online meetings because the C920 is able to produce sharp images and videos even if the lighting in your space isn’t too ideal (it does better than the Brio in low light). Also, it’s equipped with a pretty sturdy clip so you can be sure that it’ll stay on even as you move around. It may not have the most impressive microphone though but that’s easily forgivable given that it’s found in the more affordable end of the spectrum.

If you want to have the clearest video feed than everyone else in your Zoom chat (and you’re willing to splurge a whole lot more), then the Brio is the webcam for you. It boasts of features such as a wide 90-degree field of view as well as RealLight 3 with HDR technology, making it truly impressive in terms of picture and video quality. It’s even capable of 4K resolution although it’s quite hard to appreciate this feature because of the lack of softwares that support it. The Brio also doesn’t disappoint in terms of audio quality, equipped with dual omni-directional microphones that will make you sound as clear as day. The only downside to the Brio is that its arm isn’t as sturdy and so you might find that it wobbles a bit.

FAQs