Review: Neewer X12 II Remote Teleprompter

It is certainly NOT that my memory is failing. Nope. It is that I seem to be completely unable to remember a script. Ad libs are easy. But when I need to be very specific in my wording – well, my brain fails.

The solution was obvious: move my pride to one side and buy a teleprompter. Except, in my experience, prompters are big, hulking devices that require lots of room and a sturdy tripod.

Then, last year, at the NAB Show, I discovered a new family of small prompters that used tablets or iPhones for monitors. Doing some quick research, I bought the Neewer X12 II Remote Teleprompter.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Neewer X12 Remote Teleprompter is a 12.2″ (diagonal) teleprompter that is well-built, easy to setup, works with virtually any smaller camera, and uses an iPad or other mobile device for a screen. Assembly takes less than 15 minutes the first time and less than five thereafter.

A teleprompter works by placing a “see-through” mirror at a 45° angle in front of the lens, then shrouding the entire assembly – prompter and lens – in dark cloth to keep out errant light. High-end productions have used prompters for decades. Neewer says it passes 75% of available light through the mirror. When I compared images, the image through the prompter is slightly desaturated and washed out. This can be adjusted – should you want – in any NLE. (See my mirror comments below.)

The Neewer comes with its own padded plastic carrying case, remote control, and cloth wipe for the mirror. The carrying case makes it easy to safely take it on location. And, it only weighs a few pounds, so it is easy to carry.

NOTE: The case does not have room for a camera, however.

The camera mount at the back supports cameras up to 22lbs (10kg) and adjusts for height and depth. I found the connecting plate tricky to install and connect, but it holds the camera securely and easily disconnects the camera from the prompter when needed.

I really like that it uses an iPad or other tablet for its monitor. Not only does this dramatically lower the price, it makes it very easy to connect to a Mac using Sidecar or run prompter software directly on the mobile device.

The iPad fits on an adjustable tray that slides under the mirror, then clamps the tablet in place so it doesn’t fall off if the camera were to pan or tilt.

The good news is that the prompter is solid and well-built and, once setup, it is always available. The bad news is that the Neewer prompter software is just awful. It requires a subscription and a cloud account. The software is, as far as I can tell, totally undocumented and requires its own app.

So, I’m creating two reviews: This one looks at the hardware – which I like a lot. The next will look at the software necessary to use this as a prompter. I have it working and it works great – but it took a couple of days to get here.

If you need a prompter for a small space, like vlogging, online video, or other options where the talent is within five feet of the prompter, this is an excellent choice. Just ignore the software that comes with it.

Manufacturer: Neewer
Product: Neewer XR12 Remote Teleprompter
Website: https://neewer.com/products/neewer-x12ii-remote-teleprompter-66605808
Price: $149.99 (though significant discounts are available)

ABOUT PROMPTERS

There are three key facts about prompters that you need to know:

1. The closer your talent is to the prompter, the smaller the prompter mirror should be. Otherwise, you will see your talent’s eyes sweeping across the lens as they read the text.
2. All prompters remove some light from the image. This may require some adjustment during recording or editing.
3. In order to use a prompter, you need a display that shows a mirror image of the text or image. When using an iPad, this mirror flipping is a surprisingly tricky to do.

PROMPTER SETUP

The Neewer arrived nicely packaged in cardboard and stored in its own carrying case.

Here’s how it looks in its carrying case, though in this photo, I had already removed the plastic sheet protecting the mirror. The carrying case is plastic with foam padding. While I would not trust this as checked airline baggage, it is more than enough to protect against typical knocking about in the back of a truck.

Here’s my current setup – a Sony alpha 7ii DSLR camera tucked into a corner of my desk. Space is tight, which is another reason to buy a small prompter. I just don’t have the room. The tripod is from Matthews and is designed for the desktop.

This is what the prompter itself looks like, folded and outside the carrying case. The prompter supports are aluminum, though the frame around the mirror is heavy plastic. Again, I wouldn’t recommend drop kicking it, but this is solid, secure and well-built. Treat it like a light or camera and it will last a long time.

There are several threaded holes to attach the tripod. Selecting the right one is important because you want all the weight centered on the tripod to prevent the prompter from tipping over. The heavier the camera the more you need to move the attachment point to the rear.

It’s important to screw these together tightly to prevent accidental panning.

The quick-release for the camera took some futzing. Although it looks like it should work with any rotation, I found myself having to rotate the mating plate on the camera a few times until I found the alignment that works. The silver lever triggers the release.

Once aligned, this easily snaps the camera onto or out of the prompter.

This is the plate, screwed to the bottom of the camera. All the screws and fittings are metal and industry-standard.

Unfold the mirror so it faces forward at a 45° angle, then zip the heavy black cloth covering around the frame. Note that the camera lens is already covered by the back-end of the hood. A drawstring holds it tight.

NOTE: Once this hood is in place, it is still easy to adjust the zoom lens of the camera. However, I use auto-focus to simplify my shoots.

Here’s the assembled prompter. Note the iPad sitting in the adjustable tray which then clamps it tight.

And here’s the prompter in its rightful place on my desk. My face is about two-feet from the camera lens when recording. Space is tight, but I still have room to work.

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE MIRROR

While solid construction and portability are important, it’s the mirror that determines the quality of a prompter. Specifically, how much light passes through the mirror to the lens and how much that light is altered.

A perfect mirror reflects 100% of the light. However, that would mean that no light would enter the camera.  A piece of pure glass would, essentially, pass 100% of the light. Great for the camera, but miserable as a mirror.

It seems the industry sets prompter reflectivity between 25-35%. The more light that reflects makes the prompter easier it is to read, especially outdoors, but less light that hits the camera. Neewer picked a mirror that reflects 25% of the light.

NOTE: Because the mirror only reflects 25% of the light, this prompter will be most readable out of direct sunlight. I did not test this prompter outside.

While 25% means more light passes through to the camera, that light is not unchanged.

NOTE: This is also why that black enclosure is so important. Not only does it keep errant light from hitting the mirror, it makes it MUCH easier to read the text reflected on the screen.

IMAGE COMPARISON

The top image is without the prompter. The bottom image is through the prompter. The prompter image is less saturated and a bit washed out. While this can be adjusted in any NLE, I will continue to experiment on optimizing camera settings to boost saturation.

I measured these shots using the video scopes in Premiere. Saturation was reduced 30% and minor tweaks (~10%) were needed for shadows.

NOTE: I don’t have other prompters to test with, so I don’t know whether these color changes are inherent in mirrors in general, or just this specific mirror.

SUMMARY

I like this prompter. I especially like that I can use any low-cost iPad as the monitor. From my normal recording distance, the mirror is clear and easy to read. While there are changes in the image caused by the mirror, these can be corrected in any NLE.

EXTRA CREDIT

In my second review, I’ll discuss the software needed to get this to work.

---

Bookmark the permalink.