Clevertouch Impact Max vs. BenQ Board

According to Futuresource, the traditional duopoly that Smart and Promethean enjoyed in the interactive whiteboard market has been challenged by more innovative interactive touch screen TV’s, from companies like Clevertouch and BenQ. With the latest release of its new Impact Max interactive display, how does it compare with the latest models of the BenQ Board used in the classrooms of over 60 countries?  Here are the key elements we will look at in a fair and honest comparison:

• Hybrid Learning Whiteboard Functionality
• Classroom and Lesson Recording Features
• Health and Safety Features for students and teachers
• How many teachers can use one display?
• Summary

The BenQ Boards and Clevertouch Impact Max have built-in computers and advanced optically bonded IR sensors to enable a better touch screen experience than traditional whiteboards – and recognize objects and text written on the screen. So, what is the biggest difference for schools looking to use these displays for remote learning?

While both the BenQ Board and the Clevertouch Impact Max come with whiteboarding software that can be used in the classroom, the BenQ Board is equipped with the world’s first dynamic cloud whiteboarding system to enable a teacher to remotely connect to any student on any device- even if they are not logged onto the school network. Here’s how it works.   For a remote learning or coaching session, a teacher can send a link or a QR code and broadcast directly from the board to a student Chromebook or iPad logged into their own home network. The teacher can also allow the student to interact directly on the board with the device with a single tap– say to allow the student to solve the math problem on the board. Since the system is network agnostic, it enables unprecedented flexibility for both teachers and students to replicate the classroom experience remotely. Powerful cloud whiteboarding features like this are why BenQ’s Board RP-series is the world’s most awarded education touch display.  This is a standard feature on all BenQ Boards – including the entry-level RE model. 

The Clevertouch Impact Max takes a different approach with a whiteboard software called Lynx that does not have any cloud whiteboarding capabilities and requires an account to save and share files. The third-party Snowflake program that is included doesn’t have any two-way whiteboarding capability but is designed to create activities, lessons, and polls to be shared with students at home.

For hybrid and flipped classrooms, being able to have a student or teacher wirelessly share their screen from their desk is an important part of classroom pedagogy. Both the BenQ Board and the Clevertouch Impact Max have a wireless screen mirroring system, but the way they work, and function are substantially different. 

The BenQ Board uses its InstaShare 2 app that runs on nearly any brand of notebook, Chromebook, or mobile device and can mirror the screen via a local network connection for smooth and reliable performance.  This system also enables the screen to be split and shared by up to nine different students and has a moderator function for the teacher to control the screen. In addition, the software also enables touchback control to any of these devices – so students can wirelessly control their device directly from the BenQ Board interactive display.

The Clevertouch Impact Max uses a licensed third-party software called Airserver. This system uses Miracast, Airplay, and Google Cast protocols, and doesn’t have any split screen capability or moderator function to enable multiple students to share the screen.  The system will only support touchback control of a Windows device (and limited Android devices) using Miracast from the display.

Ensuring that teachers can record, store, and replay lessons to students who are not in the classroom is a key element to improving student performance in hybrid classrooms. How does the Clevertouch Impact Max compare to the BenQ Board in how easy it is for a teacher to record a lesson?

All BenQ Board interactive displays allow for a teacher to start instant recording directly from the board with a single two-finger tap on the board anytime regardless of the application they are using. The BenQ Board records both video and audio from whatever is running on the board. This means there are no extra applications that need to be loaded or run – making it easier for teachers to record their classes.

The Clevertouch Impact Max comes with a separate Lynx recording software app that runs on either a PC or Android. The app is loaded and running on the screen it works like the BenQ system recording both audio and video. There are no extra licensing fees or subscriptions for screen recording for either board.

Teachers have known the most effective lessons combine both visual and audio information. The BenQ Board RM and RP series both offer an integrated beamforming array microphone capable of recording the teacher’s voice from 15 feet away -while effectively canceling out unwanted noise. The Clevertouch Impact Max also has an array microphone, but there is no other information about the number of microphones or the range. 

These array microphones are an example of what separates BenQ and Clevertouch from traditional whiteboard companies like SMART, that still require schools to purchase third-party microphones for their classroom displays. 

Since the Covid-19 outbreak – protecting students from harm in the classroom continues to be a top priority. So how does the BenQ Board compare to the Clevertouch Impact Max when it comes to keeping students and teachers safe? 

One significant difference between the BenQ Board and the Clevertouch Impact Max is that all BenQ Board models have been certified effective by international testing agencies TUV on five different types of germs including E. coli, staph, food-borne Salmonella enterica, and the respiratory pathogen Klebsiella pneumonia.  BenQ Boards have also been rated safe by SIAA as non-toxic to students who might have sensitive skin or allergies.  A few other education displays such as the Newline RS+  have antimicrobial screens for student safety, and this is becoming a key concern for schools looking to safeguard students and teachers. 

Another safety consideration is how easy it is to break the glass on the screen. Education displays typically are designed with harder glass like on a smartphone to avoid having the screen crack or shatter in case of an accident or mischief. The BenQ Board is rated a 9 on the hardness scale while the Clevertouch Impact Max is only rated at a 7 on the same scale.

Considering a teacher spends nearly 1000 hours a year in close proximity to an interactive display, and students’ eyes are only inches away from the screen when writing on the board – protecting users from harmful blue light and flicker is an important factor in choosing a display.   Only the BenQ Board is certified by TUV to have effective protection against harmful blue light and is also certified as a flicker-free display. The BenQ Board display can even sense when someone approaches and will lower the blue light automatically. The Clevertouch Impact Max does not have any blue light or flicker-free safety certifications for eye safety. 

BenQ believes nothing is more important than student health, so the premiun RP series has additional health features available including sensors for carbon dioxide (which leads to drowsiness), air pollution, temperature, and humidity, as well as the potential to clean the air with ionizing particles.  All these can be watched and managed using the BenQ DMS program detailed later in the article. 

According to Education Week, about 77% of all middle schools use a form of team teaching, which requires both planning and flexibility to properly execute. So how well can an interactive display like a BenQ Board or Clevertouch Impact Max help facilitate both effectiveness and flexibility without placing an undue burden on IT?

The Clevertouch Impact Max can store different profiles directly on the board that can be unlocked by typing on the on-screen keyboard. This means if a teacher needs to use different boards – they need to set up a profile on each one. Also – there is a risk for students of watching the teacher type in the password on the screen in front of the class. 

The BenQ board uses a more sophisticated approach to enabling teachers to access and use profiles.

Only the BenQ’s displays offer users the ability for a teacher to create a personal profile and log into any board on campus. This profile is managed by IT, enabling teachers to log in to their personal “board space” with their apps, bookmarks, and connected drives from any connected display on campus. The BenQ Board enables teachers to securely log in with a QR code on their phone, or with the RP Series – simply tap an NFC card on the display to instantly login. No need to type on the screen – and teachers can easily move from one room to another. More importantly, it is extremely easy for IT to manage this using their existing infrastructure. Here’s how it works.

For a teacher to access to their personal profile on a connected display, BenQ is the only brand that will link to your existing IT infrastructure instead of having to manage the boards individually. Here are the three ways you can support BenQ Single Sign-On technology using your Active Directory, Azure, or Google Workspace infrastructure.

Any model of a BenQ Board can link to the school’s Active Directory account to enable IT managers to have direct control over their data and permissions. Active Directory is so common that approximately 90% of the Global Fortune 1000 companies use it as a primary method to provide seamless authentication and authorization. It also has the advantage of having Microsoft stand behind the system to ensure regular security updates.

Any BenQ Board can directly integrate with Microsoft Azure – as you can see by this tutorial on Microsoft’s own website.  According to Microsoft – 95% of Fortune 500 companies use Microsoft Azure to manage their IT infrastructure, so IT managers can be confident about their security and data integrity – as well as long-term future support. 

With a BenQ Board, IT managers can use their Google Workspace databases to assign rights and access to teachers to enable them to log into any connected BenQ Board anywhere on campus and access their Google Drive, and instantly have their display personalized to their own apps and files.In 2021, over 170 million students and teachers relied on Google Workspace to teach, learn, connect, and share information around the world. 

Both BenQ and Clevertouch supply device management systems (DMS) permit admins to push settings, updates, apps, and campus-wide messages to any or all boards in their network. The Clevertouch DMS only works with its own boards, while BenQ’s DMS can control BenQ interactive displays, digital signage displays, projectors, and wireless presentation systems. 

There are two other advantages to the BenQ DMS system.  First, if you have the RP series, the DMS system can capture and monitor room conditions such as CO2 levels, temperature, and air quality levels.  Secondly, the BenQ DMS can manage popular legacy projectors like Sony, Epson, Hitachi, and NEC. This means with BenQ your IT department can control more equipment from one screen and without costly software licenses. 

While both BenQ Boards and the Clevertouch Impact Max share other similar features such as power charging USB-C ports, integrated sound bars for audio, wide viewing angles, and 4K resolution, understanding the key differences will help you decide which brand of interactive touch display will be right for your classroom. Here is a summary of some of the key differences between the two displays.

It’s important to do research and consult important stakeholders before deciding which board your school district should adopt. There are some major advantages that BenQ brings to the table that can make a difference to a school that might want more flexibility in its curriculum. When deciding on your chosen solution, consider the following differences:

• The BenQ has more advanced classroom safety features, including certified toxin-free anti-microbial glass, certified blue light filters, and a flicker-free screen that helps protect the user’s vision.

• The BenQ Board RM & RP series features an advanced array microphone system and integrated recording software that can capture student questions and can follow a teacher’s voice from as far as 15 feet away. The Clevertouch Impact Max uses a separate app that must be opened and run.

• BenQ’s Tap ‘N Teach NFC technology enables instant, wireless, secure teacher login – and even integrates with Active Directory, Azure, and Google Workspace. With a single tap, an enrolled teacher can transform any board on campus into their own board in under 10 seconds.

• BenQ Device Management System (DMS) allows school IT admins to manage BenQ displays, projectors, and even equipment from displays from legacy brands including Epson, NEC, Hitachi, and Sony!.

• BenQ Boards are designed and tested to run a wide variety of classroom education curricula including Smart Notebook, ActiveInspire, Google Classroom, Microsoft Whiteboard, and dozens of other curriculum software platforms to enable teachers to switch learning.

If your school is considering a change in touch display or would like to try one for the first time, contact us today!.