EMEET was kind enough to send over seven of their budget webcams for me to try out to help you make a decision on which one is best for you to get the best quality possible.
Just a quick disclaimer: all of these webcams are being tested in a very controlled environment. This means that the lighting that I'm using is exactly the same for all of the tests. Your lighting is going to matter more than your webcam. With bad lighting, even the best webcam is going to look like it has bad quality. If you don't know how to properly light yourself, check out my lighting course that will teach you how to light yourself in 90 minutes or less.
Let's go ahead and get started. I'll be breaking down the features of each of the webcams, as well as what they look like with just the plug-and-play settings. This just means that I won't be adjusting any of the settings or tweaking any of the colors. I'll just be showing you what it looks like straight out of the box with the set lighting.
All of these cameras range in price from $23 to $150. I'll also let you know which one shocked me and that I would recommend above the others based on the quality straight out of the box and your budget.
EMEET SmartCam C950 1080p
The first camera that we'll be looking at is the C950. You can check it out here: https://geni.us/TgxRf (Amazon).
This is a 1080p, full HD webcam. It is very small and circular. This webcam does have a USB connection, as well as a mount for you to be able to put this on your monitor for a different look and feel. It has a 70-degree field of view (FOV).
Before I show you exactly how this will look and what the features are, let's look at what you get with this.
Keep in mind that, as a gamer and streamer, typically you're going to have a smaller camera. At 1080p, even at 720p, this camera is still going to look good when it's just a small portion of your stream. When you're doing a "Just Chatting" or if you're uploading clips to social media, you'll want something with a bit better quality. The lowest I would go is 1080p, but 4K is always going to be a great option.
This camera, as well as a lot of the ones that we'll be looking at today, has auto-lighting correction.
It also has built-in noise cancellation, just like all of the other webcams that we'll see today. A webcam microphone is going to be good enough to communicate, but I would always encourage you to have a separate microphone for when you're streaming and creating content. However, all of these webcams do have a built-in mic if needed.
All of these webcams will be plug-and-play, meaning that you can connect them to your computer, and they will be ready to use with whatever your preferred streaming software is. A bit later, I'll show you how to make these look more professional.
Above, you can see what the C950 looks like straight out of the box. When I move my hand closer to the camera, the colors will automatically start to adjust. It's trying to compensate and change the white balance. In the EMEET settings, you're able to tweak these settings and even disable the white balance.
With a few tweaks, this $23 camera can look a little better.
EMEET SmartCam C950 4K
The next camera that we'll be looking at is also the C950, but the 4K version. This one costs $38.99. Check it out here: https://geni.us/CHLmQb (Amazon).
The body of the camera is exactly the same as the 1080p version, but you will notice a difference in the quality.
You can see that this is not as washed out. The white balance is doing a much better job. You can go in and adjust the settings to make the blacks darker and to tweak anything else that you need. However, out of the gate, this is a really good webcam for the price, and you can really see the difference between the 1080p and 4K.
EMEET SmartCam C960
This webcam is going to be the same price as the C950 4K, costing $38.99. You can check it out here: https://geni.us/E3Up85 (Amazon). This camera is going to be only 1080p. If I had to choose between these, I would go with the 4k option, simply because in creating content, you're going to want to scale up to get a better image.
This camera is going to be shaped a little differently than the C950. It's a little bit wider, with two omnidirectional microphones. Similar to the other webcams we've looked at so far, this one also has a USB plug-in and a mount for your monitor or tripod. This still has dual noise-cancelling mics and is plug-and-play.
This is going to give me a bit of a wider field of view. It will also have the auto-light correction. Just as a reminder, I'm using the exact same lights for each of these tests.
You can always change the settings a bit to make the blacks darker and to increase the saturation. Out of the box, I'm just looking to see how good the webcam looks, if it lags or stutters, if it's clear enough, and if it moves enough. These are the things that I'm looking for, and at this budget price point, this is a really good image out of the box.
EMEET SmartCam Nova 4K
This camera is starting to move us into the $50-$60 price range, with this one costing $56.99. Check it out here: https://geni.us/KaRK (Amazon).
When you look at this, you'll notice that it has a really similar body to the C960, with the main difference being that this one is 4K with autofocus. It's going to give you a bit more of a wide field of view, with a bit better quality picture. It's super important to understand that going from 1080p to 4K gives you a much crisper image when trying to scale up or scale down your content.
This might look a little bit washed out right now, but I like the crispiness and the details that I'm receiving here. With a slight adjustment to the color, it can make this webcam look really good.
EMEET SmartCam S600
The S600 is going to be a 4k webcam that will run you about $57. Check it out here: https://geni.us/v6On (Amazon). This is where you're going to start to have a different design in the webcams. It's going to be a bit more round in the back, and it'll have the same kind of base, but there will be no wire. It will still need a wire, but you can unplug it from the webcam.
This is going to have a USB-C plug in the back, and then it will use USB to connect to your computer. Keep in mind that if you plug any of these webcams into a dongle or into the wrong port, you may not get the maximum resolution of each webcam. This might be a 4K camera, but if you plug it into the wrong port, you might only get 720p out of it. If you're experiencing that, make sure you plug it into a 3.0 or a 2.0, directly into your PC, to get the most out of it.
At 4K, you get 30fps. At 1080p, you get 60fps and 30fps. This will have Ultra HD 4k resolution, sharp autofocus, Intelligent light correction, and a 73-degree field of view that will really help make your stream look good so that you have that crispier image that you're looking for.
Out of the box, I'm looking at the colors to see what it looks like without me having to make any kind of adjustments. This camera looks pretty good, in terms of color, straight out of the box.
EMEET has its own software to be able to adjust these colors and settings that you can download for Windows or for Mac, called 'EMEET Link'. This is going to allow you to be able to customize and save these settings directly to the webcam.
Above, you can see what this software looks like. You'll have options to adjust not just the colors, but also the grid, zoom in, zoom out, add filters, and more.
You can easily adjust the brightness, contrast, sharpness, and saturation to make the webcam look a lot better.
Here, you can see how much just a few quick adjustments helped to take this camera up a notch.
EMEET PIXY PTZ 4K
This is going to be a 4k camera with AI-assisted cameras, helping to optimize focus and exposure. It is going to be the most expensive option that we've looked at so far, coming in at $135.99. Check it out here: https://geni.us/ZpcqFXn (Amazon).
I'm really excited for this one since it does integrate AI, meaning that it can track you and move to help keep better focus and quality throughout your recording content.
When we take a look at this one, you can see that it's built a little bit differently. It has more of a circular base, with no cable behind it. However, you will still need a cable to plug it into your computer, but it uses USB-C to plug into the camera and USB to plug into your computer. At the top, where the camera is, it's on a sort of gimbal, where the bottom moves to adjust the camera.
Before I show you what the quality looks like, I want to go over some of the features. It is a dual-camera with 4K quality. It has two different options: the AI-assisted camera and the 4K camera. The AI-assisted camera is going to have better facial imaging and AI-powered focus targeting for super-fast autofocus. The 4K imaging camera has a Sony 1/2.55" sensor, as well as being able to shoot UHD at 4k with 30fps.
There are also options for low lighting and back lighting, so that it can help to balance out your images. However, it's still really important that your lighting is good to begin with.
This is what the image is going to look like straight out of the box. If I hold my hand up for two seconds, the camera will begin to track my motion. The camera can move up and down, as well as side to side, to track your motion, so long as you're in the frame. If you want it to stop tracking you, all you have to do is hold your hand up again for two seconds.
This is a really unique feature because it allows you to be more connected with your audience. Whether you're trying to show them something or if you're walking around your room, it will track you and help to keep people interested and engaged.
As we did with the S600, you can put this into EMEET Link to adjust the colors and other settings to make this look even better with minimal effort.
EMEET SmartCam S800
The last camera that we're going to look at is the S800. This is going to be the most expensive one mentioned, at $149.99. You can check it out here: https://geni.us/j4NfA (Amazon).
This one is going to be similar to the S600, but the quality from this one shocked me with how good it is straight out of the box.
This is going to have the same body shape, mounting system, and plug-in situation as the S600 did.
Before I show you what this looks like, let's talk about what features you're going to get with this camera. It will shoot 8MP at 4K, with 1080p at 60fps. It has AI face autofocus, a Sony 1/2" sensor, and 0.3s super-fast autofocus. A lot of these things don't really matter as much as the picture that you're going to get out of this camera.
With the HDR, the image quality is going to be much better than UHD. The colors will be crispier, and the image will be of better quality. Even when zooming in and clipping your content, it's going to maintain really great quality. This camera uses a USB 3.0 connection. It also has an adjustable field of view that can help if you're using a green screen.
This has a really good image right out of the box. It has good color and is lighting both me and my background well. There's good clarity in motion, too. For $149.99, it has a great quality for you to be able to utilize. With the software, you can easily adjust the coloring as you need, too.
What I Recommend
Now, we're going to look at which ones I would recommend to you based on your budget.
If my budget were under $50, I would go with the C950 4K option. I'll always opt for 4K over 1080p so that I can get the best picture quality possible, even when I zoom in. The Nova is also a good option, but it is a little over the $50 budget at $56.
If my budget were around $100, I would go for the S600.
If you have a little more to spend, I would recommend going for the AI option (PIXY PTZ 4K) if you want the AI features. If you don't care too much about the motion tracking of the AI camera, I would spend a little more and get the S800. This is going to have the highest quality.
You really can't go wrong with any of these options; it really comes down to what your budget is.
We've also talked about lighting being really important, even more important than the quality of your webcam, but if you purchase one of these webcams or if you already have one, there are some tweaks you can make inside OBS Studio that will make your webcam look really professional and high-quality. Check out this video right here to learn how to do that.
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