From videoconferences to streaming, these cameras offer the best video resolution you can get.
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A good 1080p webcam will cost between about $100 and $150, although you can find some decent ones below $100. For 4K, you'll need to spend at least $140 or so to get a decent one and probably upward of $200 for a really good model.
If you're on a budget, stick to 1080p (1,920x1,080 pixels, aka FHD). If you can afford it, 4K will provide a lot more flexibility, if not now then in the future.
For typical laptop or desktop videoconferencing, an FOV of 75-90 degrees should work well. If you need to fit more than just you in the frame, look for more than 90 degrees. If you want the ability to use a high level of zoom (say, to focus on small objects on your desktop), then look for less than 75.
As long as you don't care about how good the mic is, a built-in mic is a nice-to-have feature. If you want excellent sound quality, then get a standalone mic or dedicated headset. In between the two choices, it's a little harder. Look for reviews that mention whether the audio sounds overprocessed, tinny, noisy, muffled or other potential issues.
Get a size that matches your computer; in other words, a desktop monitor can handle a large webcam, but a big one won't be very steady on a laptop monitor. Although most offer one, if you want to mount the camera to a tripod, make sure it has a threaded socket to do so.
CNET’s expert staff reviews and rates dozens of new products and services each month, building on more than a quarter century of expertise.
A good 1080p webcam will cost between about $100 and $150, although you can find some decent ones below $100. For 4K, you'll need to spend at least $140 or so to get a decent one and probably upward of $200 for a really good model.
If you're on a budget, stick to 1080p (1,920x1,080 pixels, aka FHD). If you can afford it, 4K will provide a lot more flexibility, if not now then in the future.
For typical laptop or desktop videoconferencing, an FOV of 75-90 degrees should work well. If you need to fit more than just you in the frame, look for more than 90 degrees. If you want the ability to use a high level of zoom (say, to focus on small objects on your desktop), then look for less than 75.
As long as you don't care about how good the mic is, a built-in mic is a nice-to-have feature. If you want excellent sound quality, then get a standalone mic or dedicated headset. In between the two choices, it's a little harder. Look for reviews that mention whether the audio sounds overprocessed, tinny, noisy, muffled or other potential issues.
Get a size that matches your computer; in other words, a desktop monitor can handle a large webcam, but a big one won't be very steady on a laptop monitor. Although most offer one, if you want to mount the camera to a tripod, make sure it has a threaded socket to do so.
While most laptops and some desktops come equipped with built-in webcams, the video quality isn’t always great. If you’re looking for a new webcam for your setup, there are several options to consider. After hours of testing countless webcams over the years, I’ve chosen the Insta360 Link as the best, thanks to its excellent video quality, performance and feature-packed software. Coming in at around $300 (sometimes available on sale for closer to $200), it's on the expensive side. It includes features not everyone needs, and you can save money by opting for the Logitech MX Brio, though you’ll lose the pan-tilt-zoom capability. My top 1080p pick is the Razer Kiyo Pro, with a much more palatable price of around $120. Razer's software, which is key to most of its features, only runs on Windows.
I'm continually evaluating new models as they become available and I'll update this list regularly with more advice and picks as I test them. Since I can't test every webcam on the market, I filter the potential list of products to those I think will offer best-in-class performance, excellent value or that people will be curious about. More complex or expensive models may get full reviews, while less complicated or cheaper models worthy of recommending are only covered here.
With excellent video quality, intelligent operation and software and a good built-in, noise-canceling mic, Insta360's debut webcam stole my heart. It's got nearly all the must-have features of competitors -- including 1080p/60fps streaming, a vertical video mode, a gimbal with automatic tracking, custom presets plus tons more -- and is as good or better at everything.
It's not perfect, although most of my gripes can likely be fixed in software or firmware; they're not necessarily hardware flaws. At review time there was no way to change the default sleep timer or initial framing state, you couldn't save image-related presets (like exposure compensation or white balance), the app didn't let you rotate the camera vertically and it can get pretty hot.
It's also really expensive; not overpriced for what you get but more than a lot of people can or are willing to pay for a general-purpose webcam. If being polished on camera is part of your job, it might be worth it to you.
The MX Brio does a bit of everything and a lot of some things. It stands out for its ability to focus a lot closer than any webcam I've seen, on top of excellent video and mic quality and some nice design details, like the clever shutter. It integrates well into Logitech's MX ecosystem, plus it lets you stream at 1080/60fps.
The software is great as well. Its Options Plus and G Hub software -- one for biz and one for gaming -- have identical options, though Options Plus runs on Mac while G Hub doesn't. And there are a ton of controls.
At $200, it's in the zone for competing-quality 4K webcams, but I think you'll find it discounted later.
I had my doubts about this at first: So many small, unfamiliar brands are on Amazon that it takes a lot more than a four-plus star review to pique my interest. I was quite surprised at how good this basic webcam is for the price, much of which has to do with the software. It also supports Macs, something the camera it replaces doesn't. (It's the Creative Live Cam Sync 1080p V2, which remains a fine choice for Windows at an attractive $30 to $40.)
There's only so much you can do with the image quality on a basic 1080p/30fps webcam, but the Nexigo still delivers better video quality than many 720p laptop webcams, with relatively solid white balance and autoexposure, even across various lighting conditions. Don't expect great 1080p picture quality at full-size viewing or in low light. Under those conditions, you can see noise and softness, but it's no worse than most 1080p webcams under $100. Scaled down to a typical laptop viewing size, it looks good.
Nexigo's software isn't pretty, but some of it's a lot more functional than much of what I've used. For instance, the manual white balance actually works well along a continuum rather than just giving you a choice between too pink or too green. It also allows you to save presets for all the adjustable settings. It doesn't currently work with MacOS Monterey, so I couldn't test that, but the company promises an update to support the latest version of the OS within the next couple of months.
It's got a built-in mic, although the audio quality is disappointing. The mic performs noise cancellation, but you can't turn it off or adjust it, and I heard quite a bit of popping and tinniness on my end.
The build feels about what you'd expect for a cheap webcam, plasticky but not fragile, and the mount supports tilt and swivel. Nexigo includes the typical loose cover. I hate those and have already lost it. Other trade-offs for the price: a captive USB-A cable and a non-removable mount. It also has a 110-degree field of view, which is kind of wide for your usual web conferencing. You can zoom digitally, but as with any 1080p webcam, that gets ugly fast.
Razer replaced its Kiyo with the Kiyo X at a lower price, a level that the Kiyo used to drop to when on sale. It did so by cutting out the ring light (which is useless, anyway) and the mic (the built-in mic in your laptop is better than with most webcams), as well as switching to a simple, non-swiveling mount. Not much differentiates these entries 1080p/30fps from each other, but Razer's stands out a bit for its accurate white balance and decent exposure, as long as your lighting doesn't vary wildly.
The 1080p Obsbot Tiny, a PTZ (pan/tilt/zoom) model, replaces the Anker PowerConf 300 as my pick for the peripatetic. It's larger overall than most webcams, it's smaller than it looks and it's worth the extra bulk for the built-in gimbal that lets it tilt and rotate to track you. That means it can cover you over 180 degrees without requiring zooming out until you're just a tiny head in the frame. It tracks quite well. It also has limited gesture controls -- to control face-lock for tracking and to zoom -- which comes in handy. The design is great as well, with a magnetic attachment to the mount and a large LED that not only tells you if it's on, but that indicates if it's currently focused on anything. Instead of a cover, you can tilt the camera down, so you don't have to worry about losing a cap.
It has all the essentials covered as well, including solid video quality and a surprisingly good mic (although it lacks features you might be used to from the mic in your laptop or headset, like noise cancellation), as well as a lightweight utility to control the camera position and zoom in software.
Some aspects I don't like as much. In software, you can zoom continuously between 1x and 2x, but the gesture control only takes you completely in or out, while 1.5x is probably your best general choice. Since it's 1080p, the 2x digital zoom doesn't look great. While the auto white balance and exposure work pretty well, it doesn't handle low light as well as the cheaper Anker, which can also do 1080p at 60fps (the Tiny is limited to 30fps). The latter wouldn't be as much of an issue if the utility had some image controls, but the Obsbot relies entirely on Windows' settings dialog and even then supports only white balance and exposure. You can change the aperture, but that setting doesn't seem to do anything on any webcam I've tested thus far.
Because it's so tall, you may not like mounting it on top of a big monitor, although I've got it perched on top of a 32-inch without issue. It's a benefit if you're using it atop your laptop, since the way most people use their laptop cameras, it sits well below their eyeline.
Now that the Elgato Facecam Pro has evaporated, there's no 4K 60fps choice, but the next best thing is the 4K 30fps Razer Kiyo Pro Ultra. It's expensive, like most 4K models, but it's one of the better models for handling 4K; excellent color, exposure and focus, partly thanks to a large sensor and adjustable settings to fix problems you'll encounter with other webcams. Although most people won't want to stream at 4K, if you do (or if you want to drop to 1440p), you can adjust the Pro Ultra's streaming compression for better performance in conjunction with software that uses MJPEG, like OBS.
Even if you don't need it for 4K streaming, it can come in handy when you need better detail for prerecorded segments or zooming in to your head and shoulders, for example. Plus, if you're embedded in the Razer ecosystem, it should fit right in.
It does have some distinct flaws, which is why it's a qualified recommendation given the high price. Most significantly, you can't adjust most of the settings while previewing your recording, streaming or conferencing application, and it can be a bit glitchy; those could conceivably be fixed in a future firmware or software update.
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