Having a decent webcam used to be important for business travelers, long distance partners and other communicators with geographic challenges. But nowadays, many of us are working from home, studying remotely and socializing from afar, that this class of products that were once second-rate have been pushed into the spotlight. During most of 2020, you simply could not get a decent one, thanks to the scarcity of supply and the increase in demand due to the pandemic. Now the crisis has eased, making this a good time to move on to a better model that you couldn’t find before.
Choosing an appropriate webcam is not that difficult: Logitech, the market leader, manufactures most of the best models on the market, and you probably won’t go wrong when choosing one that fits your budget. However, after venturing beyond well-known brands, you can get lost in a sea of commodity models.
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But you don’t have to worry about getting lost in specifications. Frame rate (30fps or 60fps), resolution (720p, 1080p or 4K) and microphone (mono or stereo) are about that. This does not mean that they are not really different. Some are better than others in less tangible ways, such as how automatic exposure, white balance or focus works. These tend to be what differentiates cheap and perfect models from the best and most expensive.
How do you know what you need? Well, if you have nothing now, then anything is a step ahead. Most laptops – even expensive as MacBooks – tend to still offer 720p webcams, while most independent models on the market are 1080p. The latter generally looks much better than the former, because the greater the number of pixels, the image becomes sharper. And because you can place a webcam on a desktop tripod or place it higher than the webcam built into a laptop, you can place it closer to eye level, which is much more flattering than viewing below most laptop webcams.
Keep in mind, however, that even the best camera will not necessarily provide great videos and sounds on the other end; this may depend on the quality and consistency of your network connection.
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You may not even need to buy one. There are ways to use your phone or, if you have one, Your camera like an impromptu webcam with an application or utility from the camera manufacturer. Note that no matter how good your video may look, the software can decrease the quality to reduce the load of information it needs to send via the computer.
Furthermore, improving your environment with good lighting or a better angle you can often improve the video quality of your webcam more than updating your camera.
This short list is our first round of choices; we will update it regularly with more advice and more options as we test more webcams, so stay tuned.
Lori Grunin / CNET
This was not among my favorites until the price dropped, but for less than $ 90 you get good video quality and sound at 1,080 pixels, 30 frames per second, as long as the lighting doesn’t vary much. It has a built-in light ring, but unless you’re close to the camera, it doesn’t seem to make that much of an impact.
Logitech
This tiny webcam was designed for streaming (if the name is not revealing), but it has some advantages that make it attractive for general use. You can mount it horizontally or vertically, which makes it great for chatting with people on the phone or for recording quick videos on TikTok or Instagram. It records in 1080p at 60fps, which can often provide video that looks better than 30fps. In addition, it is tiny, so it can fit in tighter spaces.
Read more about Logitech StreamCam.
Lori Grunin / CNET
Razer’s non-conventional looking webcam supports 1080p at 60fps and, as it does not compress the stream, it can produce some good-looking videos. It also has a sensor and automatic exposure features optimized to compensate for low and strong lighting, as well as automatic white balance that preserves more natural-looking skin tones. And it comes with a cover; it is not as convenient as a lens shutter, but better to keep dust away from the front of the camera. The assembly is also one of the most flexible we have ever seen.
Read the practices of the Razer Kiyo Pro.
Logitech
Brio is one of the most popular webcams on the market, thanks to its impressive 4K resolution and Logitech’s webcam intelligence. If you have network bandwidth to transmit 4K, you can provide a clear image and even use it in your hand to show physical objects to viewers, instead of just sharing your screen. You probably don’t need 4K, so it can also stream at 1080p 60fps if you want a good video that is less stressful on your network.
Read the preview of the Logitech Brio 4K Pro webcam.