The best PC webcam doesn’t have to bust your wallet

Who should buy the eMeet Piko+?

The only knock on this camera was that (for now) it lacked a laptop mount, meaning that you’d have to screw the camera to its tripod. No longer! Now it has a traditional webcam mount, meaning that this cute little webcam is as functional as any other.

I was amazed by its ability to capture crisp, 4K visuals in low light, and that was really what sold me.

eMeet Piko+: Further considerations

The eMeet Piko+ has a list price that’s hundreds of dollars less than some of the other 4K webcams we recommend. You’d have to put each webcam side by side to discern any differences.

I’m not a huge fan of the included utility software’s UI, but its ability to unlock some of the camera’s features, such as cropping and zooming, are easy enough to find and offer powerful configurability options — and hey, it’s software. It can be tweaked.

Who should buy the Anker PowerConf C200?

What sold me on this webcam are the basics: It’s just a good webcam for an affordable price. As such, it will appeal to a broad segment of buyers: work-from-home employees, small businesses, and general consumers. If you’re tired of your laptop’s webcam and want something better, start here with the Anker PowerConf C200.

It offers an affordable yet substantial upgrade from the 720p cameras found in most laptop webcams to a 1440p webcam. The webcam also works well in low light, a pitfall of many webcams.

Anker PowerConf C200: Further considerations

Anker and Amazon characterize this as a “Mac” camera. It’s plug-and-play within Windows, however.

Additional features include an adjustable field of zoom that crops down to 65 degrees, meaning you can orient the camera on your face alone. The camera autofocuses, too. Naturally, there are noise-canceling mics and a privacy shutter that actually turns off the entire device.

You will need Anker’s free Windows software, though, to enable some of these features. (That’s available on the Anker website.) We weren’t sold on the need for original software at first, but many other webcams now offer similar apps to enable full functionality.

Who should buy the Creative Live! Cam Sync 4K?

If 4K matters, and you don’t feel like spending a lot, this is the camera for you. To me, this feels like a good choice for a student, or someone who wants to look good in front of their friends and maybe while taking remote classes, but just doesn’t want to spend a ton of money.

It’s also best for someone who will be streaming from an environment without a lot of (changing) natural light, but is still well-lit by a lamp or screen.

The question you should always ask of budget hardware is, what corners did they cut? Here, the answer is: not many.

Creative Live! Cam Sync 4K: Further considerations

Okay, it has manually adjustable focus, but that’s not a problem if you don’t move around a lot. Similarly, backlight adjustment is typically handled automatically, but this webcam’s manual adjustment is not a problem if you work in a single location — you can dial it in and forget it. There’s a flip-over privacy shutter, and a button to mute the mic.

You’re going to find that it cheats in the frame rate a bit, and I wasn’t wild about the color balance. But for about $50, for a 4K camera? It’s worth investigating.

Who should buy the eMeet SmartCam C960 2K?

eMeet is a prime example of how good, how cheap, and how fast webcams have become over the past few years. I like Creative’s webcam (above), but eMeet pushes the envelope, hard: The zoom and focus capabilities are top-notch, and the remote is truly useful. This is a budget webcam in name only, and could certainly be used by a professional with a tight budget.

eMeet SmartCam C960 2K: Further considerations

The LED lighting is goofy, full stop, and unnecessary in this case. I also think spending a bit more on a gimbal would have benefited this webcam. As it is, positioning this webcam feels a bit precarious. I also think that the accompanying software isn’t particularly useful, but it’s a good effort.

Who should buy the BenQ IdeaCam S1 Pro?

The IdeaCam S1 Pro looks particularly nice under good lighting, so it’s better for a user who isn’t expecting the camera to do a lot of heavy lifting in that regard. And while it might not offer the absolute top-of-the-line options, it never really fails at anything, either. It’s just a good, solid value. Period.

What I think I like most about this webcam, though, is that it excels as a webcam, then adds additional value through its peripherals, including both a macro (closeup) lens as well as a free remote control. This almost-but-not-quite 4K webcam even flips over for a top-down view.

If you’re a streamer (a woodworker or baker, say) then the ability to flip the webcam into a top-down mode, then undock the IdeaCam S1 Pro and bring it in close with the macro lens, feels like a tool hardly any other webcam offers.

BenQ IdeaCam S1 Pro: Further considerations

The IdeaCam S1 Pro would probably be our favorite webcam if it wasn’t for the $100 or so price premium it commands, which isn’t for everyone. It’s robustly built, and ships with a free software utility that adds to its capabilities. (Zooming in and out is most easily accomplished via the remote control, which does take up more room on your desk.)

The webcam slides in and out of a robust mount quite easily. Pair that with the macro lens, and you can zoom in on detail work for presentations or hobbyists. The webcam has autofocus, though you’ll probably want to lock down the focus for the macro lens. It all works surprisingly well together, though.

Who should buy the OBSBOT Tiny 2 PTZ 4K?

If the budget webcams we selected above were ideal for students, this is the lecturer’s webcam. Share your slides with your student (or your clients, in a business setting) and let your video app project a snapshot of your face over them as you illustrate your point. If you walk and talk, this is the webcam for you.

Floating on a gimbal, this tiny(!) 4K webcam can literally pan, zoom, and rotate essentially 360 degrees, using AI to lock on your face and follow it as you walk around a room.

OBSBOT Tiny 2 PTZ 4K: Further considerations

While the Tiny 2 webcam boasts the same gimbal and tracking features as the first Tiny PTZ webcam, OBSBOT used a bigger 1/1.5-inch 50Mpixel sensor in the new model that lets in more light and provides a slightly clearer picture. So it accomplishes what you’d expect in a webcam: It wildly succeeds as just a webcam, with gorgeous 4K HDR images — but provides the increased tracking capabilities to add value. It almost tracks a little too well; avoid zooming in too close if you walk around so as not to give your viewers vertigo!

I also love the fantastic software package that accompanies the webcam, which on the Tiny 1 was the best I’d ever seen. I’m less impressed by two new features: voice commands, which are useful but not necessary, and new “beauty” features that use AI to adjust your face. While the latter features work, I prefer a more natural appearance, flaws and all.

Read our full OBSBOT Tiny 2 4K PTZ webcam review

Who should buy the NexiGo N980P?

If you have more than one person on camera at any one time, consider something like the NexiGo N980P. During the pandemic, the local middle school’s drama department broadcast monologues and scenes via Zoom, which allowed students the opportunity to perform. But a narrow webcam wouldn’t have allowed these scenes to be broadcast as effectively.

This camera would work equally well with a small conference room or even a family gathering, such as a living room where one family talks to grandparents overseas. It’s still a fixed-focus camera though — if you want an autofocusing model I recommend you pay about $100 for the upgraded NexiGo N680p instead.

NexiGo N980P: Further considerations

Not everyone needs a wide-angle webcam. But this does allow you to show off more of a scene than an ordinary webcam does, which makes it a valuable tool for specialized applications.

This fixed-focus 1080p webcam captures frames at a smooth 60 frames per second, as opposed to the more standard 30fps. You’ll look smoother and more lifelike as a result. The wide angle means that it will work well in a conference room. A privacy shutter is included.

Who should buy the Lenovo Performance Windows Hello Webcam?

If I hadn’t tested this webcam myself, I might not have recommended it. But I was really impressed by the quality of the video this camera captured. (See our review, below, for more.) Our existing picks for the best budget webcams have a higher resolution, which I think elevates them above the Lenovo.

With a solid webcam performance and Windows Hello capability, I think you’ll really like this webcam, even as basic as it is. And you’ll save a ton, too.

Lenovo Performance Windows Hello Webcam: Further considerations

It is basic, down to the packaging. Windows handles all of the necessary adjustments: contrast, white balance, et cetera. There are no utilities to facilitate any settings you might make. The noise cancellation is adequate, but not much more than that.

Who should buy the CA Essential Webcam Flex?

Some will dismiss the Webcam FLex as a gimmick. It kind of is. But this is also a good camera for people who want to feel more connection with the person on the other end of a video call.

With a webcam mounted on top of your monitor, you can’t look at the eyes of the person you’re talking to while maintaining eye contact with the physical webcam. CA’s webcam solves that problem, giving conversations a much more natural feel.

CA Essential Webcam Flex: Further considerations

You’ll be able to look directly into the “face” of the person you’re talking to, even if you may need to move the webcam slightly to the left or right to not block their image. Still, the person you’re talking to will see your face directly in their screen, rather than offset.

I can see this being a good camera for professionals who require fostering a sense of connection to be effective at their jobs — such as a therapist or a salesperson, for example.