Technologies
Best Gear for Online Meetings: Webcams, Lights, Mics, Tripods and More
Zoom call for work? Cocktail hour on FaceTime? This gear will enhance all your video chats.

Video conferencing on Zoom, Google Meet and the likes is no longer novel. While many aspects of our lives have returned to normal, working from home and distance learning are here to stay. If you haven’t already, it’s important to get a quality webcam and set up the rest of your telecommuting gear so that you look and sound your best during remote video calls and meetings.
Part of this means learning the fundamentals of a videoconference meeting on camera. You don’t need an HD webcam to get good results — optimizing lighting conditions (don’t try to stream in low light), choosing the ideal environment and positioning the camera lens in just the right way can make your video call look much more professional. Truly, you don’t need to be a professional YouTube personality or Twitch streamer with a great webcam, even better external mic and lighting options galore to look good during live streaming and video recording — even a novice can function competently without too much of a learning curve.
First, it’s essential to have the right gear, including the best webcam and microphone. Unfortunately, in most cases, your laptop’s built-in camera and microphone stink — and they’re preventing you from coming across as professionally as possible on videoconferencing calls. You should ditch the integrated webcam and invest in a standalone webcam and stereo microphone with noise cancellation. Even a cheap webcam with autofocus and a decent microphone can improve picture quality and sound enough to take things to the next level when on a video call.
Upgrading your audio and video tech is fairly easy from a technical perspective, however, and relatively affordable — and it will dramatically improve your production values in virtual meetings. We’ve compiled a shortlist of the best gear for video chats from home webcams, lights, mics and more that will enhance your video chatting. This list has plenty of input from CNET’s on-camera video team, all of whom are working from home now, too. Our favorite picks for the best webcam and external mic options are below, and we’ll update this periodically.
(Note that prices are accurate at time of original publication, but may fluctuate. Also, availability and delivery times are changing all the time, so be sure to check before moving forward with any purchase.)
Read more: Best Wireless Earbuds and Bluetooth Headphones for Making Calls
More WFH advice
- The Best Wireless Range Extenders in 2023
- Learn to Code with These 5 Online Coding Courses for Beginners
- Best Kids’ Tablets for 2023
- 7 Must-Have Ergonomic Upgrades for Your Home Office
- Ultimate Webcam Tips: How to Look and Sound Great Online
- Zoom vs. Microsoft Teams: Which to Use for Videoconferencing
- Twitch Streaming Gets ‘Sudden Influx’ of Copyright Takedown Requests
- Best Video Streaming Devices for 2023
- Best Headphones for Noise Cancellation
- How to Use Your Phone as a Webcam
Technologies
Starlink Restored After Hours-Long Outage Took Down Elon Musk’s Satellite Internet Service
Technologies
Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for July 25 #509
Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for July 25 No. 509.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.
Today’s NYT Strands puzzle is a mix of easy words to find and unscramble and one whopping long one. But if you know the theme, that word is easy to decipher. If you need hints and answers, read on.
I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.
If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.
Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far
Hint for today’s Strands puzzle
Today’s Strands theme is: Step to it!
If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Boogie shoes.
Clue words to unlock in-game hints
Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:
- HOGS, RICE, RICER, MUSE, CHAT, CHATS, GRAM, PANT, COAT, COATS, PARS, CARS, LASS, CLASS, CLASSY
Answers for today’s Strands puzzle
These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:
- MUSIC, COSTUME, RECITAL, TEACHER, CHOREOGRAPHY
Today’s Strands spangram
Today’s Strands spangram is DANCECLASS. To find it, start with the D that’s five letters down on the far-left row, and wind up and over.
Technologies
Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for July 25, #305
Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for July 25, No. 305.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.
Today’s Connections: Sports Edition tested my breadth of sports knowledge. The blue category pays tribute to one of the greatest players of all time. See if you can figure it out. We’ve got hints and the answers in case you get stuck.
Connections: Sports Edition is out of beta now, making its debut on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 9. That’s a sign that the game has earned enough loyal players that The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times, will continue to publish it. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but now appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can continue to play it free online.
Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta
Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups
Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.
Yellow group hint: Rink-related.
Green group hint: The lower end of the Golden State.
Blue group hint: NFL G.O.A.T.
Purple group hint: You can also do this to your hair.
Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups
Yellow group: Hockey statistics.
Green group: Southern California teams.
Blue group: Teams Jerry Rice played for.
Purple group: What «cut» could mean.
Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words
What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?
The yellow words in today’s Connections
The theme is hockey statistics. The four answers are goals, penalty minutes, plus/minus and shots.
The green words in today’s Connections
The theme is Southern California teams. The four answers are Angels, Clippers, Ducks and Sparks.
The blue words in today’s Connections
The theme is teams Jerry Rice played for. The four answers are 49ers, Mississippi Valley State, Raiders and Seahawks.
The purple words in today’s Connections
The theme is what «cut» could mean. The four answers are change direction, gash, release and swing.
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