One of the key aspects of making a web meeting succeed is having the best video and audio quality that you can. A large part of this is using the best webcams you have access to. Using a webcam that provides high-quality sound and video can remove a lot of the potential frustration from an online meeting and make it a much more enjoyable and productive experience for everyone involved.
How do you choose a webcam for Zoom, though? With so many webcams out there, it can be hard to know which is a top pick and which isn’t worth your time. That’s why we’ve put together this buyer’s guide to help. The webcams on this list vary in terms of their cost, build quality, and features, but they’re all easy to use, support great video quality and audio, and good resolution. If you’re in the market for the best webcams to use for online meetings, then you’ve come to the right place!
While even the best webcams can vary dramatically in terms of the features they support, there are some universal things that you should keep in mind when looking for a new web camera. This can help ensure that your web camera has everything that you’re looking for and need to help your online meetings go off without a hitch.
Microphone Quality
It isn’t much use having an online meeting if the other participants can’t even hear you! Investing in a webcam with a great built-in microphone can make things much easier on the other people in your meeting. If the quality of your built-in microphone is poor, then they probably can’t hear you too well. The sound might come across as distorted or fuzzy, and it might be difficult to make out exactly what you’re saying. If audio quality is especially important for you, investing in one of the best webcams with a great microphone should be a priority for you.
Field of View
Whether or not you would benefit from a feature like a wide-angle lens depends on how often you have online meetings and how many of your colleagues tend to attend. For example, if you frequently have online meetings in a meeting room with several colleagues, it might be worthwhile for you to find a webcam that allows several people to be in the frame at once. This way, your online meetings can truly feel like meetings. Of course, not everybody needs a 180-degree field of view. If video conferencing isn’t something you do frequently or you tend to do so with a smaller team, then having a 180-degree field of view may not be so important for your new webcam.
Zoom Features and Quality
In certain fields and industries, video conferencing might include a lot of zooming in and out. This is especially true if your work is highly visual and you need to be able to show others detailed work or images. If this is the case, you might want to invest in a webcam with certain zoom features, like digital zoom and autofocus. This corrects the focus of the image, even when you’ve been widening and narrowing frequently.
Streaming or Recording?
Just because you aren’t planning on recording your meetings anytime soon, doesn’t mean it isn’t useful. If you buy a webcam that enables recording, you can record your meetings for future reference, or for colleagues that weren’t able to make it. This can be a very helpful feature, so don’t count it out!
Other Useful Features
Depending on the kinds of meetings and video quality you are accustomed to, you might like to look for a webcam with additional, special features. These might include white balance correction, a noise-canceling microphone, noise reduction features, a ring light, light correction, built-in stereo microphones, a 360-degree field of view, and more.
