Closer Look: FaceVsion TouchCam-N1

Most webcams have some sort of circular or spherical components to them, but the FV TouchCam-N1 looks nothing like an ordinary webcams. The design is clean, and quite small. It seems like FaceVsion made such a large box for the sake of making a large box. Skype branding covers nearly every side of the box, clearly outlining that this is considered one of those official Skype certified products. While clearly stereotyping here, but Skype-certified products are usually high in quality, plays extremely well with Skype, but tends to cost a fortune. In this case owning a FV TouchCam-N1 will set you back $119. The price is up there in the high zone, all that's left is to see if the quality and performance is up there as well.

Many of the TouchCam-N1's details are printed on the box. On the side it lists the main features, including Skype-certified, 720p HD, H.264 encoder, dual mics, wide angle, and auto-focus. The built in H.264 encoder is a big surprise as there really aren't many webcams with that built in. By including it the goal is to offload the encoding process from the CPU and ensuring smooth video streaming. The H.264 encoder is a nice feature but FaceVsion will make you pay the extra cash for it.

The back of the box outlines the FV TouchCam-N1's main features again. Most notably the ease for use with Skype. Their description is completely accurate and not at all exaggerated: You install Skype 4.2+, plug in the webcam, and you're ready for an HD conference.

Unboxed, the two main components are the webcam and a USB cable. The connector on the back of the TouchCam-N1 is a mini-USB port. The cord measures 1.5 meters from tip to tip, but unfortunately it wasn't long enough to reach from the top of my monitor to the USB ports on my computer on the ground. An extra thirty centimetres probably would've fixed the problem. The included quick start guide simply directs you to Skype's website.

The presentation of the FaceVsion TouchCam-N1 is decent and the list of features is impressive. For those looking for a webcam that has a design suitable for office settings, the TouchCam-N1 will work very well. The webcam seems very promising so far. Continue on as Benchmark Reviews takes a more thorough look at the details.

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