In brief: If you're a streamer or someone whose job involves showing off products remotely, Logitech's upcoming Logitech Reach webcam could be the perfect device. The arm and camera combo will soon be available to buy, but it does come with a $350 price tag.
As anyone who has ever tried filming themselves doing an unboxing for YouTube (as an example) will know, setting up a phone on an unstable tripod or stretching a webcam cable as you search for the best position can be a pain. It's a problem often experienced by teachers, product designers, and remote professionals, too.
The Logitech Reach looks to address those sorts of issues faced by streamers and others with its 'show-and-tell' design.
Logitech's webcam comprises a 1080p / 60fps Logitech StreamCam and an articulating arm. The company says the camera can be positioned anywhere on the horizontal and vertical axis with the push of a button. You can also pivot the camera itself, all with one arm, keeping audiences engaged, apparently.
Somewhat unusually for a company as big as Logitech, its webcam was funded through an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign. The company says this was a way to gain valuable insights into the webcam's use cases in various environments. It's a line Indiegogo pushes to enterprise customers as a way of attracting big businesses to the platform.
The campaign certainly proved successful, with 2,112 backers raising $607,780.
The Logitech Reach's early bird price was $269. If you think that's high, then the $349 standard price will come as a shock. The company will likely point out that it's aimed more at creators, educators, gamers, streamers, designers, and those who want it for business reasons, rather than everyday users who don't fall into any of those categories.
The obvious question here is why spend $349 when you could just attach a cheaper camera – the StreamCam is $139.99 when bought separately - to an articulated arm? It's a good argument. The Logitech Reach can be used on either a weighed mount or a desktop clamp, which is a bonus, and replicating the camera's smooth sliding on the rails and its tilting feature might be challenging, but not impossible, in a DIY project.
The Logitech Reach will be available to buy this summer.
