Neat Bar vs Neat Bar Pro vs Neat Board: which Neat device for which room?
Neat Bar is for huddle and small meeting rooms of up to about 10 people with an existing display or two, Neat Bar Pro is for medium to large rooms of up to about 20 (more with Neat Center on the table), and Neat Board is a 65" all-in-one touch display with the camera, microphones and speakers built in, for small collaboration rooms that want whiteboarding and video in one unit. All three are Android appliances that run Zoom Rooms or Microsoft Teams Rooms natively and are managed through Neat Pulse; Neat is strongest in Zoom estates, where it started, but is fully certified for Teams.
| Model | Room size | Form factor | Camera | Audio | Controller | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neat Bar | Up to about 10 people, huddle and small meeting rooms | Video bar on or under one or two existing displays | 4K wide-angle camera with Neat Symmetry auto-framing | Built-in mic array and speakers with Neat Audio processing, suited to a short table | Neat Pad (included) | Zoom Rooms, Teams Rooms; BYOD over USB-C |
| Neat Bar Pro | About 10 to 20 people, medium to large rooms | Larger bar for up to three displays | Triple-sensor 4K camera array with wider framing and higher zoom | Larger mic array and speakers for longer tables; add Neat Center for a 360-degree table view and extra pickup | Neat Pad (included) | Zoom Rooms, Teams Rooms; BYOD over USB-C |
| Neat Board (and Board 50, Board Pro) | Up to about 8 to 10 people, huddle and collaboration rooms | 65" (or 50") 4K touch display on a wall mount or wheeled stand, camera and audio built in | Integrated wide-angle 4K camera with Symmetry | Built-in mic array and speakers | On-screen touch controls; Neat Pad optional for scheduling | Zoom Rooms, Teams Rooms; BYOD over USB-C |
Indicative UK device prices, excluding display and installation: Neat Bar around £2,400 to £2,900 ex VAT, Neat Bar Pro around £4,500 to £5,500 ex VAT, Neat Board around £5,000 to £6,500 ex VAT (Board Pro higher). Neat Frame, a 32" portrait device for personal offices and phone booths, sits outside this comparison.
From the floor. Neat Board wins rooms where the display budget was going to be spent anyway: one box on the wall, one network cable, done in half a day. It loses rooms where the team wants a bigger screen than 65", because then you are paying for a display you cannot use as the main screen. Decide the display size first; the Neat device follows. (David Corker, Technical Sales Director)
How to choose between them
- Neat Bar when the room has, or is getting, a 55" to 75" commercial display and seats fewer than 10.
- Neat Bar Pro when the table is longer than about 4.5 metres, the room needs three displays, or you want Neat Center for a centre-of-table camera and microphone in a boardroom.
- Neat Board when people stand at the screen to annotate, wall space is tight, or a mobile stand needs to move between rooms; Board 50 for smaller rooms, Board Pro for a better camera and audio.
Every Neat device also carries Neat Sense occupancy and air-quality sensing, reporting into Neat Pulse. Installed, a Neat Bar room sits inside the £3,000 to £8,000 huddle band or the £8,000 to £20,000 meeting room band depending on displays, and a Neat Bar Pro boardroom with Neat Center and ceiling microphones is a £25,000+ build. Device choice by room is settled on a Zoom Rooms design (about £45 per room per month to license), or inside the wider video conferencing systems choice for Teams estates.
Quick reference: Neat Bar for rooms up to about 10 with existing displays; Neat Bar Pro (plus Neat Center) for 10 to 20 or three displays; Neat Board for huddle and collaboration rooms that want a 65" touch display, camera and audio in one unit; all run Zoom Rooms or Teams Rooms natively.
Related solution: Video conferencing systems.
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