Swann’s Max-i-Vision is the only webcam here with a proper mounting clamp. You can fix it solidly to a notebook screen with the 30mm-wide jaws but they're not wide enough to fit over the top of most LCDs. Instead, you can peel the backing off a sticky pad and attach it that way, but that’s not ideal if you move it around. The awkwardness is compounded by the split cable, which separates into USB and microphone cables. On some notebooks, this means a bit of a stretch to reach both ports at once. There’s a snapshot button on top and a manual focus ring, and the camera body swivels in all directions on a ball joint.

Field of view is the widest of all, but this meant there was pronounced barrel distortion. The Max-i-Vision coped well with backlighting, though, and there was a fair amount of detail in full-screen mode. However, the frame rate wasn’t the greatest despite the USB 2 interface.

Audio quality left us wanting. Speech sounded highly compressed, giving the impression of speaking while underwater, and background noise was obvious during moments of silence. Making matters worse, Swann’s capture software is rudimentary and difficult to use.

Considering the fish-eye distortion, the audio problems, lack of software and limited mounting options, it’s hard to recommend the Swann in this month’s Labs.