The best webcams help you look your best, whether you need one for work, streaming to Twitch, or video chatting with family. A good webcam’s image sensor is much larger than the camera built into your laptop, so will pick up features better, even in lower light. Most webcams also have a higher resolution than most laptops, so you’ll get a lot more detail, too.
Many of the best webcams are very affordable, and even the top-end models (some of which have built-in lights and can stream in 4K) are usually no more than $200. We’ve tested a range of webcams, starting at models less than $40, to bring you as wide a range of options as possible. So regardless of whether you’re using Zoom, Skype, Discord or Microsoft Teams, there’s a webcam here that should meet your needs.
Webcams are but one part of a student’s back-to-school setup, and are always in high demand as people start shopping for supplies, so it pays to start looking as early as possible. Whether you’re heading off to college or going back to school, you’ll want a webcam suitable for both work and play. Right now many of our favorite picks are currently on sale making now the ideal time to buy one of the best webcams. Be sure to check out the best back to school sales and follow our back to school guide for all of your shopping needs this season.
Our current pick for the best webcam for most people is the $60 Anker Powerconf C200, which offers crisp 2K video at 30 frames per second. The C200 also features dependable dual microphones for capturing your voice, an adjustable field of view, and a tripod mount, should you want to use it away from your laptop or desktop. And, it comes with a privacy shutter built into the webcam itself.
If you want the absolute best, we recommend the $299 Insta360 Link, which has a 4K camera that’s mounted to a 3-axis gimbal, so the camera can swivel and rotate to follow you around a room. It also has a ton of innovative features, including the ability to respond to hand gestures and a vertical video mode for TikTok and similar formats. It also delivers some of the best video we’ve ever seen from a webcam.
You can also make yourself look better with the best ring lights, and the best microphones will make you sound better on your calls.
The best webcam under $100 is the Anker Powerconf C200. For the price, you get a 2K webcam that delivers excellent video in all sorts of lighting conditions, an adjustable field of view, and an integrated privacy shutter for those times when you don’t want to be seen.
In our review, we found its 5MP camera sensor was great at accurately displaying colors, even if the overall image was a bit grainy. Its dual mics were very sensitive — it could head us from 30 feet away — but its AI noise cancellation was great at blocking out extraneous noise. Anker’s software also lets you tweak the image and audio settings very easily, In all, this is a great bargain for an excellent webcam.