

Autofocus, auto white balance, and low-light correction: Most webcams look pretty good with a professional lighting setup, a thoughtfully-framed and curated set, and some manual software fine-tuning.

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.

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.
