Review: Logitech C920 HD Webcam & H600 Wireless Headset
For many years, I’ve been using a cheap no-name webcam and headset bought from eBay for $10. To be honest, it worked just fine, my Skype friends could see me and hear me just fine, but I felt it was time to step up my VOIP technology game and I did this with Logitech’s C920 Webcam & H600 wireless headset.
Starting with the C920 webcam, which features a high definition 1080p camera with a built-in stereo microphone which sits very securely on top of my 34-inch curved ultrawide monitor thanks to its grippy rubber backing and adjusts up and down for the perfect positioning. The lens is of all glass construction and offers a wide 16:9 field of view with great color balance and clarity using full auto exposure mode.
However, the stereo microphone does not match the quality of the video. It’s adequate for the people on the other end to hear and understand you, but it seemed a little muffled to me when recording the sound locally. I didn’t realize the C920 had audio capture, so I can’t ding it for the muffled audio from the built in mic, so it’s a nice added bonus should you want to have more than one person in front of the camera.
Installation could not be any easier, plug in the USB cable into any available USB port and Windows 10 finds the device, automatically installs the basic drivers and you are ready to go. After the driver installed, I simply fired up Skype and immediately had video presented to me. Rather shockingly, the quality highlighted what an ugly f**ker I really am, I looked better on the old no-name cheapo 800×600 webcam.
You can download software from Logitech which expands functionality including local video recording, face tracking, motion detection plus pan, tilt and zoom controls. I don’t need these added features so I didn’t bother to install the software package so I won’t comment on how well this software performs.
Moving onto the Logitech H600 wireless headset, again, installation was a doddle, simply plug in the USB dongle, flip the switch on the headset to the on position and Windows 10 installed the driver software. However, I would offer this advice, use a front panel USB port for the dongle as I found the signal to be weak, breaking up when moving more than six-to-eight feet from my PC using a rear panel USB port.
Sound quality is excellent, the microphone sounds clear and crisp with plenty of volume to be heard at the other end of the Skype call. Headphone quality is also clear, although lacks real low down thump and super crisp highs when testing with music. This can be forgiven as the H600 was specifically designed for VOIP calls where those frequencies are not important, that said, audio is pleasant and easy on the ears.
As a convenience, Logitech has included a mute button and volume up/down buttons on the right headphone, although using them can be annoying to the other person on the Skype call as the clicks travel down the boom mic and into the other person’s ear, which must be highly annoying for them.
The range is decent, I can walk to all extremes of my 1400 SQ.FT home without losing signal through up to 3 walls. My office and computer is centrally located in my home which obviously helps with that, but I can get up to 25-30 feet away without issue, the signal only dropped out after going beyond the firewall of the garage which is understandable and I am unlikely to be holding a conversation in a roasting hot garage.
Battery life on the H600 headset is excellent for most users, unless you are a hardcore Skype user. I don’t know the exact battery life, but I have had five-hour conversations with friends on Skype and the battery was still going strong, still showing a green LED, meaning there is at least 30 minutes of talk time remaining. Even if battery life is low, you can use the 5 foot USB cable to power and charge your H600.
However, there are a couple of issues, at least on my computer setup. When initially switching on the headset, it will not make a connection with the receiver/transmitter until I unplug the USB dongle and plug it back in again. The second issue is the open nature of the microphone boom, in my office, I need to have a fan running as it gets incredibly hot during the summer, and the wind noise is very apparent.
However, the solution is very simple, I pulled the wind/pop shield off my old headset and placed it on the Logitech boom, problem solved. If you don’t have a wind/pop shield, they are readily available online for less than $10 for a pack of five. That said, it would have been nice for Logitech to include this.
In conclusion, the C920 / H600 combo is amazing for video calling through Skype, the webcam is crystal clear and the headset allows you to hear your chat partner clearly and vice-versa and the freedom being wireless gives you is astonishing after previously being tied to a six-foot cord. If there is a downside, it’ll be the price, combined, this combo costs $150, which for some might be too much for VOIP/video calling.