AVerMedia Live Streamer CAM 513 4K Web Cam Review

How Much Does it Cost?

The AVerMedia PW513 Live Streamer 4K UHD Webcam is priced at £181.99 right now and is available from a range of retailers such as Scan and Amazon. That puts it around the same price as the Logitech BRIO, and the Razer Kiyo Pro. So it’s certainly competitive there, but since I have not tested those myself, I can’t compare their performance.

Overview

The AVerMedia PW513 Live Streamer 4K UHD Webcam is a welcome addition to the market right now. There’s really not much competition for 4K gaming/streaming webcams, and anything that drives competition is good for consumers. It’s a fairly decent camera, too, depending on how you use it, and therein lies the main problem I have with it.

4K Performance

While in 4K30 mode, the image is far too dark, and while lighting can help, it didn’t seem to ever get to the levels I would have expected. The handling of colours, tones, brightness, and white level all seem rather underwhelming.

1080p Performance

This is by far the best mode for this camera, offering a much brighter and ironically clearer image than 4K. Plus, you get to benefit from the full 60 FPS frame rate, which is awesome for modern gaming streamers, as you’ll be in sync with most of the gameplay you’re streaming, and it’ll provide a more gamer-friendly experience.

Software

The UI is straightforward to use and allowed quick access to a good range of options. However, most of them just seemed to make things worse for me, and I figured it was best to leave them alone. Of course, every scene is unique, so your mileage may vary.

The Problem

Well, why the heck would you spend all that money on a 4K camera to use it in 1080P? I don’t know if I’m honest. It’s a lovely looking camera, and it’s super easy to set up and use, and I applaud that.

Furthermore, the zoom feature was something I was eager to use, but that resulted in a noisy image. It’s not so much zoom as it is a crop of the native recording resolution. This would be fine, but with such a massive FOV on this lens, you sometimes feel the need to bring it in a little. I do like that it has auto-tracking, but again, it’s still leaning on the digital zoom aspect to archive this.

The microphone is nice and clear, but it was a lot quieter than what it was recording. That’s fine, you can boost it manually with your mixer, but it did lack bass, too, making things sound a little distant and making me sound like I had a hoarse throat.

Should I Buy One?

It’s tough for me to say, if I’m honest, it’s a decent camera, so long as you have the right expectations. The colours are very vivid on what it captures, but they’re not accurate, really. If you’re using it in 1080p mode, in a well-lit room, and using a separate microphone, it’s pretty awesome. However, is that really worth nearly £200? Hmmm. I wouldn’t mind testing the AVerMedia PW315 1080p60 to see how that compares.