Anker makes a wide range of affordable household gadgets, including batteries, security cameras, wireless charging holders and more, but now the company is entering the home office with the launch of a new AnkerWork line.
Many people moved to work from home during the pandemic and expect a lot of jobs to stay away even when they can return to the office after the post-pandemic, so Anker’s pivot in the home office and business equipment seems to be on time. And, like other Anker gadgets, its new AnkerWork devices still embody the same simple, affordable approach you see on other Anker devices.
The first new AnkerWork device is a key part of any modern home office: the PowerConf C300 webcam. At $ 130, the C300 seems to get rid of Logitech’s $ 170 Webcam, offering similar specifications, including 1080p / 60fps video recording, dual microphones, and AI-powered tracking technology to help keep your face centered .
The C300 even supports HDR and has an adjustable field of view, with three different settings for closing (78 degrees), normal (90 degrees) and ultra-wide (115 degrees) to best suit your video calling needs. Along with support for Zoom, Teams and all other major video conferencing applications, Anker said the C300 will also support live streaming software such as XSplit, OBS and others.
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If home office meetings revolve around large conferences, AnkerWork also has the PowerConf S500 portable speaker. (FYI, the reasoning behind the AnkerWork naming scheme is that “S” means speaker and “C” stands for camera.) Bluetooth PowerConf speakerThe S500 has four microphones to help capture 360-degree sound, along with a 10-watt speaker and a built-in battery that offers up to 16 hours of offline call time. The S500 is designed for people who often need to make group calls while traveling and accept meetings of up to 12 people at a time, although you can chain a pair of S500s to increase the number of participants to 16 or more a lot.
Unfortunately, Anker has not yet released a price or release date for the S500. However, I had the opportunity to play with the C300 and, based on initial tests, I like what I see so far, including good image quality at the price. Out of the box, the C300 doesn’t need any additional software to appear as a generic webcam for Zoom, Google Meet and the like. However, you’ll need to install the Anker app if you want support for AI-powered automatic framing or AI-enhanced color adjustment. Anker’s app was still in beta during my testing, so I didn’t get a chance to check out more advanced features like HDR and video recording.
The design of the C300 is simple, yet includes the basics, such as an adjustable stand with built-in tripod and a USB-C port and cable that comes with a USB-A adapter for use with older computers.
I’m also a big fan of the adhesive privacy shield that comes with the C300, which has a simple shutter that you can slide over your webcam lens whenever you want to make sure your flow is blocked. It may not sound like much, but compared to the huge lens cap that comes with it Razer’s Kiyo Pro (which has no place to store the lens cap when not in use), Anker’s sliding shutter is a more useful and stylish solution to make sure you’re not spied on.
Anker said it expects to launch more Anker Work devices throughout the year. The launch date of the PowerConf S500 is still up in the air, but the PowerConf C300 is available today for $ 130.