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This review first appeared in issue 353 of PC Pro.
As the latest member of the HP Poly Studio family, the X52 video bar delivers an advanced all-in-one solution for medium-sized meeting rooms. Taking over from the Studio X50, it features an uprated 20MP 4K UHD camera, a more powerful Qualcomm 865 CPU, improved dynamic framing algorithms, advanced microphones and Wi-Fi 6 support.
Apart from the larger camera there’s little to tell the two models apart but at 95°, the X52 has a narrower FoV (field of view) than the X50. This is because the X52 is designed to deliver a higher resolution when zooming in to participants at the far end of the meeting table.
Its mic array claims a six-meter pick-up range, while sound output is handled by two 20W ported speakers. You have two HDMI-out ports for dual monitor support, HDMI-in and USB-C for host connections, a gigabit network port and a port for Poly’s optional extension mic. All are easily accessible at the rear.
The X52 runs Poly’s Android-based VideoOS software, which supports BYOD (bring your own device) mode and includes built-in video apps. The guest list is impressive, and includes Microsoft Teams, Zoom Rooms, Google Meet, GoToRoom, RingCentral Rooms and BlueJeans Rooms.
Deployment is simple: you connect power and network, wait a minute while it boots up and point a browser at its IP address. The web interface presents a system status dashboard with the active video app and you move to the Provider section to choose another app from the drop-down list.
You can swap between them as required and, although a reboot is necessary, it only takes two minutes to regain access. BYOD mode is always available with the X52 automatically swapping to it when it senses a USB connection and, once you’ve finished, you can exit back to the app.
We had no problems cloud-managing the X52 by registering it with our Lens portal account. You can remotely manage all your Poly devices, assign them to sites and rooms, run remote firmware updates and upgrade to the premium Lens service for detailed meeting analytics.
We tested with Microsoft Teams and used the registration code presented on the screen to assign it to our Microsoft 365 account, where the X52 appeared as a new Teams Rooms on Android device. We also paired the X52 with Poly’s TC10 PoE-powered controller tablet and used the same registration process.
Our Teams console showed both devices as online and paired, after which the tablet moved all meeting controls to its own display. We had no problems creating and joining Teams meetings using the tablet’s 10in touchscreen, and in BYOD mode we could use its menu to manually control the camera and create up to ten presets for specific camera positions.
Video quality is excellent, and we noted the camera’s focus is markedly sharper than the Poly P15 we use in the lab. The mics worked well, as remote participants could hear us clearly when we were 4.5 meters away, while the dual speakers delivered a clean sound quality that easily filled our 24m2 meeting room at a 60% volume level.
The X52 gets the benefit of Poly’s NoiseBlockAI and Acoustic Fence technologies, which remove annoying background noises, while the DirectorAI feature handles group and speaker tracking. Also accessed from its web console, the DirectorAI Perimeter option allows you to define a custom tracking zone.
Although still in a preview testing phase, the X52 offers people framing, which shows all participants using up to six split screens. Whichever mode you choose, you’ll be impressed with its speed as the camera snaps to active speakers in no more than two seconds.
Poly’s Studio X52 is perfect for businesses that want a professional video conferencing solution for their medium-sized meeting room. Video quality is excellent, speaker tracking is impressively fast and the big choice of built-in VC apps makes it incredibly versatile.
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