It's not so good, however, if you have a thrown-together work-from-home setup and you don't want viewers to see the mess around you. This is good if there will be multiple people in the shot, or if you're planning on presenting using a visual aid such as a white board.

Field of View (FOV): Webcams with wider FOVs show more of the room.

Common web conferencing apps such as Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams limit your outgoing video stream to 720p or 1080p, so it's unlikely your coworkers will benefit from that extra quality unless you plan on zooming (higher-res webcams will offer more detail in zoomed-in shots).

Resolution: It's easy to be wooed by that 4K label, but make sure you actually want - and can use - an ultra high-res webcam.

Here are a few details to consider while you're shopping for the perfect webcam. Why you can trust Tom's Hardware Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. We've tested dozens of webcams, inspecting build quality, capturing photos in a variety of common lighting conditions, and playing with settings and software to determine the best webcam for you - whether you're trying to appear professional while working from home in sweatpants, or creating content for millions of viewers. Plus, if you've never looked at a close-up of your face in ultra-high-def 4K video - trust me, you don't want to.

Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, etc.) don't support higher than 720p or 1080p video anyway.

And it's not as easy as going for the highest specs: most of the common video conferencing platforms (e.g. It's impossible to recommend one or two perfect webcams for all users, because there are so many different ways to use webcams these days. Today's webcams range from standard HD (1080p) to 4K resolution and have increasingly larger lenses and sensors, and many feature impressive internal AI-powered tech that can do everything from improving low-light performance to tracking face and body movement. The good news is that the external webcam market also looks like it'll stick around - the pandemic spawned a slew of new webcams (and webcam makers) and spurred innovation. And while we're slowly returning to offices in the post-pandemic era, it looks like remote working is likely to stick around (at least part-time). But since the pandemic made remote working routine, the market for external webcams has exploded. They weren't good, but we didn't use them enough to care. Pre-pandemic, webcams were mostly an afterthought - built into your laptop's bezel as a convenience, nothing more.

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