Why It’s Time to Upgrade Your Video Technology

We tend to notice when our phones are running a bit slow, or when our batteries are drained after half a day on the go, and it typically doesn’t take us long to snatch up an upgrade offer and get a new device that meets our needs. But often, organizations continue running legacy video collaboration tools even when better technology has been on the market for years. 

With Android 10 set for an end-of-life deadline in 2026, Neat is offering a trade-in program to ease the transition to next-generation devices. Organizations that make the leap won’t just save money on their new equipment, they’ll also see these critical benefits.

The jump to next-generation Neat video bars and boards means upgrading from a 12-megapixel camera to a 50-megapixel camera. In a one-on-one meeting, this might not make a huge difference. But in conference room settings, where cameras zoom in on and auto-frame participants, the improvement is dramatic. Currently, close-ups in these larger meetings can be a bit softer, breaking the illusion that meeting participants are all sitting together in the same room. Newer cameras offer a more immersive experience. 

We’ve found that many of our customers want a meeting experience that centers whoever is speaking at a given time. However, the original Neat Bar and Neat Board lack microphones capable of speaker tracking. The second-generation Neat devices incorporate advanced microphone technology that can pinpoint exactly who is speaking in a conference room, giving the system the information it needs to highlight that person. (Important note: If meeting participants are having a side conversation, microphones will pick this up, too. Even the best technology cannot overcome poor meeting etiquette!) 

The original Neat Board features passive stylus technology, which can lag or skip, particularly when meeting participants are writing quickly. Some have compared the experience to drawing in sand rather than writing with a pen. The newer Board 50 and Board Pro feature active stylus technology, which feels more fluid and immediate. The newer tech is also pressure sensitive (producing thicker lines when users apply more pressure), creating a smoother, more intuitive experience for whiteboarding and annotation. 

Many of our customers require BYOD support, since their clients may use different collaboration platforms from what they use themselves. They still want the advanced capabilities of our video bars and boards, but they want to allow users to connect to these systems from their own laptops to drive the call. With older equipment, this experience may be cumbersome, requiring users to connect multiple cords and converters. By contrast, next-generation tools can allow a user to walk into a meeting space as a meeting is about to start and connect with a single USB-C cable. 

Although Microsoft’s Android 10 end-of-life deadline was pushed from 2025 to 2026, and its end-of-support deadline isn’t until 2027, it’s still coming. (Zoom has released similar dates announcing Android 10 EOL for Zoom Rooms.) Organizations that fail to meet these dates won’t be able to take advantage of newer features and security improvements and may see downtime after the end-of-support date. Neat’s next-generation tools are already in the process of being certified for Android 13, and Neat is offering incentives to trade up to these newer devices. Organizations that upgrade now will see immediate benefits to their meeting experience and will also avoid scrambling to meet an end-of-support deadline. They’ll be ready for whatever comes next.