CyberLink is a somewhat established player in the world of multimedia software products.
Its CyberLink PowerDirector platform won Editors' Choice in Daxdi's video editing software review roundup, and we found its CyberLink Power2Go disc burning software to also be quite good.
Recently, the company launched CyberLink U Meeting (which offers a limited free version), the company's entrance into the video conferencing software market.
The very best video conferencing software offer a wide array of tools for customers, including ones for screen sharing, private chat, dial-in by phone, whiteboards, and integration with third-party products.
These are just some of the features customers want when looking for a video conferencing service.
One of the top contenders in our video conferencing review roundup is Editors' Choice ClickMeeting, which delivers on all of these fronts, providing an intuitive experience for even the most novice users.
Honest, Objective Reviews
Daxdi.com is a leading authority on technology, delivering Labs-based, independent reviews of the latest products and services.
Our expert industry analysis and practical solutions help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology.
So how did CyberLink U Meeting do in our video conferencing software review roundup? As a newer solution, CyberLink U Meeting shows promise but isn't quite there yet.
However, CyberLink has built a very promising foundation here, and the service comes in at a very affordable price.
With just a few more updates, CyberLink U Meeting could become a strong contender.
Pricing and Plans
CyberLink U Meeting comes in three different versions; the Free version is the one we reviewed.
This version supports up to 25 participants per meeting, with a maximum meeting length of 50 minutes at a time.
That's basically it.
With the low limit on users and meeting length, it's not the option most businesses will want, but it's a good way to get a taste of what CyberLink U Meeting has to offer.
CyberLink U Meeting's Pro 50 plan (which begins at $9.99 per month per host) lets you do everything that's available in the Free plan but with a meeting limit of 50 participants and a maximum meeting length of 24 hours.
This is quite a good value considering other platforms, such as Zoho Meeting , cost nearly as much and support just five participants.
One curious addition to the CyberLink U Meeting's Pro 50 plan is the addition of CyberLink's PerfectCam plug-in.
This PerfectCam plug-in is also available for Google Hangouts and Microsoft Skype .
The plug-in works in a similar fashion to the virtual makeup apps offered by cosmetic companies.
It essentially uses facial recognition technology to not only add makeup to your face but to make skin appear smoother, alleviate baggy eyes, and generally improve your appearance.
If you have done video conferencing in the past, then you know very well that most webcams do not offer a flattering image.
This is a small plus the service offers but it's an appreciated one.
A subscription to the CyberLink U Meeting Pro 50 plan also includes a $10 gift coupon for any CyberLink product.
CyberLink U Meeting's Pro 100 plan (which begins at $19.99 per month per host) offers all of the features of the Pro 50 plan, but as its name implies, it supports up to 100 participants per meeting.
If volume at a good price is what you're after, then CyberLink U Meeting is an attractive offering.
If you need to support more people than that, then you'll have to get in touch with CyberLink's sales team for a customized Enterprise or Education plan.
In comparison, Amazon Chime costs $15 per user per month.
To support a team of 100, you'd need to spend approximately $1,500 for the same support.
Even more affordable options, such as Editors' Choice ClickMeeting ($40.00 Per Month Per Host at ClickMeeting) , cost $55 per month for as many attendees.
While it may not have the robust feature set of those two products, CyberLink U Meeting delivers strong value.
Setting Up Meetings
CyberLink U Meeting is a desktop and mobile app, but you can also access meetings in a web browser.
The convenience of being able to join a meeting without downloading an app is a nice plus.
If you are inviting people outside our your team to a conference, then it will eliminate the frustrating work of them having to create an account and downloadd the app just to speak with you.
There are two main ways to start a meeting.
You can either start a video meeting or voice meeting immediately or schedule one for a future date and time.
Scheduled meetings let you insert calendar holds for Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook.
Otherwise, you can copy and paste a linked invitation, which you can send via email or through a chat app on the Mac and PC versions by clicking either "Copy URL" or "Copy Invitation." It's all straightforward and we had no trouble setting up meetings quickly.
Inviting other people to a meeting on an iPhone, however, was less intuitive.
When I wanted to invite another person to my meeting, CyberLink U Meeting required me to be friends with the person on the Messenger module.
I was not able to simply send an invite link like I was able to do on the Mac and PC versions of the software.
I could send an invite by email but why not have the ability to send a quick invite from mobile? This might seem like a small issue on the surface, but consider some of the promises of a video conferencing app.
If a product is going to serve an increasingly mobile workforce, then it shouldn't restrict options to desktop versions of the platform.
I'd really like to see the iOS version of CyberLink U Meeting get built out to contain all of the functionality of the desktop versions.
Other things I'd like to see include the ability to set agendas in meeting invites, which you can find on other software, such as ClickMeeting.
The Meeting Experience
CyberLink U Meeting has an attractive, simple user interface (UI).
CyberLink definitely chose function over form, and in this case, I think they made the right decision.
Icons for Audio, Chat, Sharing, Video, and Ending the Call are all easily identifiable.
The icons look like something you'd find on a smartphone, so even the least tech-savvy members of your team should have little trouble participating in meetings.
From the participants' pop-up menu, you're able to see who is in the meeting and whether they're muted or not.
You can also start a chat directly by clicking the chat window on the lower right-hand side of the screen.
It isn't all that customizable but it works.
On the Mac and PC versions, you can share your desktop with other attendees.
In my testing, I found the video quality to be very clear, with little lag.
It's worth noting that, within the "U" product ecosystem, CyberLink also offers a more specialized webinar solution called U Webinar.
This offers things such as video on-demand and annotations for Microsoft PowerPoint ($8.25 Per User Per Month with Annual Commitment at Microsoft365 for Business) slides.
While you may want to consider that if you plan to host webinars often, the default screen-sharing feature in CyberLink U Meeting will work just fine for sharing a simple slideshow.
Once again, however, the lack of functionality on mobile was disappointing.
It is currently not possible to share the screen of your iOS device with participants.
Features and Limitations
Being able to record a meeting and going back to it for reference is an important part of what makes a video conferencing solution useful.
While you can record meetings to your machine's local storage on a PC, this feature is not supported on a Mac or the mobile versions.
This is a puzzling omission and makes the software much less attractive to users with Macs in their fleet.
I am hoping to see this much-needed feature implemented into CyberLink U Meeting soon.
There were other confusing design decisions I ran into while testing CyberLink U Meeting; some were small.
For instance, when scheduling a meeting on an iPhone, it displayed military time despite the phone being configured for standard time.
Other design decisions were more disappointing.
At the time of this review, CyberLink U Meeting doesn't have an open application programming interface (API), so you won't be able to plug your tool into any third-party systems without working with CyberLink directly on the connection.
The solution also lacks the whiteboarding features that many of its competitors have.
If you are researching video conferencing tools, then be aware that CyberLink U Meeting does not let you dial in to a meeting by telephone.
The service currently only supports Voice-over-IP (VoIP).
Adobe Connect (50.00 Per Month Per Host at Adobe) also lacks dial-in functionality but offers integration with a third-party service to make up for it.
CyberLink U Meeting has no such capabilities as of this writing, which could immediately disqualify it in the eyes of a lot of customers.
Encryption and Other Security Measures
In July 2018, CyberLink introduced end-to-end encryption (E2EE) to the CyberLink U Meeting platform.
E2EE can be extraordinarily helpful for keeping your meeting content secure.
What this essentially means is that the audio and video you share through the CyberLink U Meeting system are now kept secure from any possible eavesdropping.
Nobody except the parties in the meeting are able to access the information—not even CyberLink.
This may sound like a small addition but, if you are having a meeting about sensitive information such as financial account credentials or secret projects, then this will give you peace of mind.
Unfortunately, E2EE functionality is only available in the Advanced tier of the system.
While it's a shame that customers in the lower tiers can't enjoy the same security, it's still a step in the right direction, and will be appreciated by customers who prioritize keeping their data private.
CyberLink also recently introduced a feature with which you can now prevent a meeting from being recorded.
When you are in a meeting, simply click the gearbox to open the Settings menu, and de-select the "Allow Recording" option.
Overall, these new features make CyberLink U Meeting much more attractive to customers with privacy needs.
These new additions also make the platform easier to recommend to business users, and I'm glad to see the company continue to add functionality to the system.
CyberLink U Meeting Shows Promise
Unfortunately, CyberLink U Meeting isn't quite yet a dominant force in the video conferencing market.
It has a very friendly UI, but it needs some more features to be considered a truly great platform.
Even if the company doesn't plan on supporting dial-in by telephone, it should at least offer integration with third-party apps to do so.
I'd also like to see all of the features of the PC desktop variation expanded to the mobile and MacOS versions.
CyberLink U Meeting launched less than a year ago, making it a relative newcomer to the space.
Despite its shortcomings, however, CyberLink U Meeting is easy to use and affordable, and could be a fit for customers who are just looking for video conferencing.
Cons
Encryption only available on top-tier plan.
Only PC users can record meetings.
Does not support dial-in via a traditional telephone line.
The Bottom Line
CyberLink U Meeting is a solid video conferencing solution.
It might not have some of the features that the competition has, but it's easy to use and priced affordably.
CyberLink is a somewhat established player in the world of multimedia software products.
Its CyberLink PowerDirector platform won Editors' Choice in Daxdi's video editing software review roundup, and we found its CyberLink Power2Go disc burning software to also be quite good.
Recently, the company launched CyberLink U Meeting (which offers a limited free version), the company's entrance into the video conferencing software market.
The very best video conferencing software offer a wide array of tools for customers, including ones for screen sharing, private chat, dial-in by phone, whiteboards, and integration with third-party products.
These are just some of the features customers want when looking for a video conferencing service.
One of the top contenders in our video conferencing review roundup is Editors' Choice ClickMeeting, which delivers on all of these fronts, providing an intuitive experience for even the most novice users.
Honest, Objective Reviews
Daxdi.com is a leading authority on technology, delivering Labs-based, independent reviews of the latest products and services.
Our expert industry analysis and practical solutions help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology.
So how did CyberLink U Meeting do in our video conferencing software review roundup? As a newer solution, CyberLink U Meeting shows promise but isn't quite there yet.
However, CyberLink has built a very promising foundation here, and the service comes in at a very affordable price.
With just a few more updates, CyberLink U Meeting could become a strong contender.
Pricing and Plans
CyberLink U Meeting comes in three different versions; the Free version is the one we reviewed.
This version supports up to 25 participants per meeting, with a maximum meeting length of 50 minutes at a time.
That's basically it.
With the low limit on users and meeting length, it's not the option most businesses will want, but it's a good way to get a taste of what CyberLink U Meeting has to offer.
CyberLink U Meeting's Pro 50 plan (which begins at $9.99 per month per host) lets you do everything that's available in the Free plan but with a meeting limit of 50 participants and a maximum meeting length of 24 hours.
This is quite a good value considering other platforms, such as Zoho Meeting , cost nearly as much and support just five participants.
One curious addition to the CyberLink U Meeting's Pro 50 plan is the addition of CyberLink's PerfectCam plug-in.
This PerfectCam plug-in is also available for Google Hangouts and Microsoft Skype .
The plug-in works in a similar fashion to the virtual makeup apps offered by cosmetic companies.
It essentially uses facial recognition technology to not only add makeup to your face but to make skin appear smoother, alleviate baggy eyes, and generally improve your appearance.
If you have done video conferencing in the past, then you know very well that most webcams do not offer a flattering image.
This is a small plus the service offers but it's an appreciated one.
A subscription to the CyberLink U Meeting Pro 50 plan also includes a $10 gift coupon for any CyberLink product.
CyberLink U Meeting's Pro 100 plan (which begins at $19.99 per month per host) offers all of the features of the Pro 50 plan, but as its name implies, it supports up to 100 participants per meeting.
If volume at a good price is what you're after, then CyberLink U Meeting is an attractive offering.
If you need to support more people than that, then you'll have to get in touch with CyberLink's sales team for a customized Enterprise or Education plan.
In comparison, Amazon Chime costs $15 per user per month.
To support a team of 100, you'd need to spend approximately $1,500 for the same support.
Even more affordable options, such as Editors' Choice ClickMeeting ($40.00 Per Month Per Host at ClickMeeting) , cost $55 per month for as many attendees.
While it may not have the robust feature set of those two products, CyberLink U Meeting delivers strong value.
Setting Up Meetings
CyberLink U Meeting is a desktop and mobile app, but you can also access meetings in a web browser.
The convenience of being able to join a meeting without downloading an app is a nice plus.
If you are inviting people outside our your team to a conference, then it will eliminate the frustrating work of them having to create an account and downloadd the app just to speak with you.
There are two main ways to start a meeting.
You can either start a video meeting or voice meeting immediately or schedule one for a future date and time.
Scheduled meetings let you insert calendar holds for Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook.
Otherwise, you can copy and paste a linked invitation, which you can send via email or through a chat app on the Mac and PC versions by clicking either "Copy URL" or "Copy Invitation." It's all straightforward and we had no trouble setting up meetings quickly.
Inviting other people to a meeting on an iPhone, however, was less intuitive.
When I wanted to invite another person to my meeting, CyberLink U Meeting required me to be friends with the person on the Messenger module.
I was not able to simply send an invite link like I was able to do on the Mac and PC versions of the software.
I could send an invite by email but why not have the ability to send a quick invite from mobile? This might seem like a small issue on the surface, but consider some of the promises of a video conferencing app.
If a product is going to serve an increasingly mobile workforce, then it shouldn't restrict options to desktop versions of the platform.
I'd really like to see the iOS version of CyberLink U Meeting get built out to contain all of the functionality of the desktop versions.
Other things I'd like to see include the ability to set agendas in meeting invites, which you can find on other software, such as ClickMeeting.
The Meeting Experience
CyberLink U Meeting has an attractive, simple user interface (UI).
CyberLink definitely chose function over form, and in this case, I think they made the right decision.
Icons for Audio, Chat, Sharing, Video, and Ending the Call are all easily identifiable.
The icons look like something you'd find on a smartphone, so even the least tech-savvy members of your team should have little trouble participating in meetings.
From the participants' pop-up menu, you're able to see who is in the meeting and whether they're muted or not.
You can also start a chat directly by clicking the chat window on the lower right-hand side of the screen.
It isn't all that customizable but it works.
On the Mac and PC versions, you can share your desktop with other attendees.
In my testing, I found the video quality to be very clear, with little lag.
It's worth noting that, within the "U" product ecosystem, CyberLink also offers a more specialized webinar solution called U Webinar.
This offers things such as video on-demand and annotations for Microsoft PowerPoint ($8.25 Per User Per Month with Annual Commitment at Microsoft365 for Business) slides.
While you may want to consider that if you plan to host webinars often, the default screen-sharing feature in CyberLink U Meeting will work just fine for sharing a simple slideshow.
Once again, however, the lack of functionality on mobile was disappointing.
It is currently not possible to share the screen of your iOS device with participants.
Features and Limitations
Being able to record a meeting and going back to it for reference is an important part of what makes a video conferencing solution useful.
While you can record meetings to your machine's local storage on a PC, this feature is not supported on a Mac or the mobile versions.
This is a puzzling omission and makes the software much less attractive to users with Macs in their fleet.
I am hoping to see this much-needed feature implemented into CyberLink U Meeting soon.
There were other confusing design decisions I ran into while testing CyberLink U Meeting; some were small.
For instance, when scheduling a meeting on an iPhone, it displayed military time despite the phone being configured for standard time.
Other design decisions were more disappointing.
At the time of this review, CyberLink U Meeting doesn't have an open application programming interface (API), so you won't be able to plug your tool into any third-party systems without working with CyberLink directly on the connection.
The solution also lacks the whiteboarding features that many of its competitors have.
If you are researching video conferencing tools, then be aware that CyberLink U Meeting does not let you dial in to a meeting by telephone.
The service currently only supports Voice-over-IP (VoIP).
Adobe Connect (50.00 Per Month Per Host at Adobe) also lacks dial-in functionality but offers integration with a third-party service to make up for it.
CyberLink U Meeting has no such capabilities as of this writing, which could immediately disqualify it in the eyes of a lot of customers.
Encryption and Other Security Measures
In July 2018, CyberLink introduced end-to-end encryption (E2EE) to the CyberLink U Meeting platform.
E2EE can be extraordinarily helpful for keeping your meeting content secure.
What this essentially means is that the audio and video you share through the CyberLink U Meeting system are now kept secure from any possible eavesdropping.
Nobody except the parties in the meeting are able to access the information—not even CyberLink.
This may sound like a small addition but, if you are having a meeting about sensitive information such as financial account credentials or secret projects, then this will give you peace of mind.
Unfortunately, E2EE functionality is only available in the Advanced tier of the system.
While it's a shame that customers in the lower tiers can't enjoy the same security, it's still a step in the right direction, and will be appreciated by customers who prioritize keeping their data private.
CyberLink also recently introduced a feature with which you can now prevent a meeting from being recorded.
When you are in a meeting, simply click the gearbox to open the Settings menu, and de-select the "Allow Recording" option.
Overall, these new features make CyberLink U Meeting much more attractive to customers with privacy needs.
These new additions also make the platform easier to recommend to business users, and I'm glad to see the company continue to add functionality to the system.
CyberLink U Meeting Shows Promise
Unfortunately, CyberLink U Meeting isn't quite yet a dominant force in the video conferencing market.
It has a very friendly UI, but it needs some more features to be considered a truly great platform.
Even if the company doesn't plan on supporting dial-in by telephone, it should at least offer integration with third-party apps to do so.
I'd also like to see all of the features of the PC desktop variation expanded to the mobile and MacOS versions.
CyberLink U Meeting launched less than a year ago, making it a relative newcomer to the space.
Despite its shortcomings, however, CyberLink U Meeting is easy to use and affordable, and could be a fit for customers who are just looking for video conferencing.
Cons
Encryption only available on top-tier plan.
Only PC users can record meetings.
Does not support dial-in via a traditional telephone line.
The Bottom Line
CyberLink U Meeting is a solid video conferencing solution.
It might not have some of the features that the competition has, but it's easy to use and priced affordably.
