Technologies

Best Webcams From 1080p to 4K for 2023

Low-res 720p (sometimes even 1080p) webcams just don’t cut it anymore. These top 1080p and 4K webcams are perfect for meetings, videoconferencing, streaming and more.

Webcams are no longer only used by business professionals and streamers. Almost everyone has a use for one. Most laptops have built-in webcams, though the camera quality can be poor. If you want to look good at work, at school or at play, a high-quality camera can be a necessity. And there are a ton of great webcam choices for every budget.

It’s not that difficult to find a decent external webcam model: Market-leader Logitech makes many of the most popular name-brand models on the market — notably the $60 C920x and basic, education-focused $25 C270 — and you probably won’t go wrong picking one that falls within your budget. Once you venture beyond known brands, you can get lost in a sea of commodity models.

Improving your environment with good lighting or a better angle can frequently enhance the quality of your webcam video more than upgrading the camera itself. Keep in mind, however, that even then the best webcam won’t necessarily deliver great video and audio quality on the other end — that can depend upon the consistency and quality of your network connection.

It depends upon your software as well — especially videoconferencing software, which tends to aggressively process the video for smoother and more consistent transmission over the network rather than looking good.

I’m continually testing new models, and here are my suggestions for the best webcam for your needs and budget. I’ll update this list regularly with more advice and picks as I test them, so stay tuned. And for more advice, scroll down below our recommendations — and check out all the best webcam deals here.

Former favorites

These previous top picks have lost out to newer, shinier models, but that doesn’t mean they’re not still recommendable.

Other notable webcams I’ve tested

Which webcam specs are important?

You don’t need to worry about getting overcome by specifications. Frame rate (30 or 60 frames per second), resolution (720p, 1080p or 4K) and microphone (mono or stereo) are about it. That doesn’t mean they don’t really differ. Some are better than others in less tangible ways, such as how well the automatic exposure, white balance or focus works. Those tend to be what differentiate the just-OK cheaper webcams from better, more expensive ones with higher resolution or faster frame rates.

If you have nothing now, then anything’s a step up. Most affordable laptops tend to still offer 720p webcams, though that’s changing rapidly, while most of the stand-alone webcam models on the market are 1080p (aka FHD). The latter usually has video quality that looks much better than the former, since the greater number of pixels makes your image look sharper for your video calls, video conferencing and live streaming. And because you can put a webcam on a tabletop tripod or perch it higher than the built-in webcam on a laptop, you can bring it closer to eye level which is much more flattering than the from-below-view most laptop webcams deliver.

Though it’s tempting to dismiss 4K models as unnecessary, they are better — you look much better zoomed in, for one thing, and even when 4K is scaled to 1080p, it can look sharper than a basic 1080p webcam. Keep in mind that you’re still at the mercy of your meeting software, which can take a good image and make it look…less good…by compressing the hell out of it for transmitting across the software’s low-bandwidth pipeline.

One thing to consider when buying a webcam for a Mac is that there are no controls built into the operating system. If you want to adjust exposure, zoom, white balance — anything really — then the support needs to be built into the specific application or into a utility that comes with the camera. Unfortunately, few manufacturers offer MacOS-compatible utilities; the Elgato FaceCam is a notable exception.

If you need to zoom in to better frame yourself without looking soft, crunchy or blocky or to demonstrate physical objects, think about jumping to 4K. You can also use your phone or a DSLR camera (if you have one) as a makeshift webcam with an app or utility from the camera manufacturer. The software which allows you to use a digital camera as a webcam frequently caps the resolution at 1,920×1,080, but you may get better zoom results than from a webcam.

More for people working from home

Technologies

Google I/O 2025: How to Watch and What to Expect

With Android 16 out of the way, Google I/O will certainly be all about AI.

Google I/O 2025 takes place on May 20 and 21 with Google’s big keynote happening on day 1. We expect Big G to talk about its myriad innovations across its ever-expanding portfolio of products — almost certainly with a huge focus on AI every step of the way. If we collectively cross our fingers, promise to be good and eat all our vegetables then we may even be treated to a sneak peek at upcoming hardware.

Read more: Android 16: Everything Google Announced at the Android Show

Google also hosted a totally separate event that focused solely on Android. The Android Show: I/O Edition saw the wrappers come off Android 16, with insights into the new Material 3 Expressive interface, updates to security and a focus on Gemini and how it’ll work on a variety of other devices.

By breaking out Android news into its own virtual event, Google frees itself to spend more time during the I/O keynote to talk about Gemini, Deep Mind, Android XR and Project Astra. It’s going to be a jam-packed event, so here’s how you can watch I/O 2025 as it happens and what you can look forward to.

Google I/O: Where to watch

Google I/O proper kicks off with a keynote taking place on May 20, 10 a.m. PDT (1 p.m. EDT, 6 p.m. BST). It’ll almost certainly be available to stream online on Google’s own YouTube channel, although a holding video is yet to be available. There’s no live link on the I/O website yet, either, though you can use the handy links to add the event to your calendar of choice. Expect links to a livestream to be available closer to the day.

What to expect from Google I/O 2025

Little chat about Android 16: As Google gave Android 16 its own outing already, it’s likely that it won’t be mentioned all that much during I/O. In fact at last year’s event, Android was barely mentioned, while uses of the term «AI» went well over a hundred.

Android XR: Google didn’t talk much about Android XR during the Android show, focusing instead on the purely phone-based updates to the platform. We expected to hear more about the company’s latest foray into mixed-reality headsets in partnership with Samsung and its Project Moohan headset, so it’s possible that this is being saved for I/O proper.

Gemini: With Android being spun out into its own separate event, Google is evidently clearing the way for I/O to focus on everything else the company does. AI will continue to dominate the conversation at I/O, just as it did last year (though hopefully Google can make it more understandable) with updates to many of its AI platforms expected to be announced.

Gemini is expected to receive a variety of update announcements, including more information on its latest 2.5 Pro update which boasts various improvements to its reasoning abilities, and in particular to its helpfulness for coding applications. Expect lots of mentions of Google’s other AI-based products, too, including DeepMind, LearnLM and Project Astra. Let’s just hope Google has figured out how to make this information make any kind of sense.

Beyond AI, Google may talk about updates to its other products including GMail, Chrome and the Play Store, although whether these updates are big enough to be discussed during the keynote rather than as part of the developer-focused sessions following I/O’s opening remains to be seen.

Technologies

You Can Now Buy Nike’s $900 Workout Shoes for Compression and Heating

The Nike Hyperboots, designed to help you warm up and recover from workouts, launched Saturday.

Those workout shoes with compression and heating that Nike and Hyperice showed off at CES 2025 earlier this year weren’t just a concept. The Hyperboot is now available to buy online in North America, so they’re within reach, as long as you’re willing to spend $899.

The high-tops, which Nike and Hyperice call a wearable much like your smartwatch, help your feet warm up before a workout, and then recover after it. The shoes do this with heating and air-compression massage technology, taking the idea of heating pads and compression socks and making them mobile.

«You can definitely feel the heat in here,» CNET former mobile senior writer Lisa Eadicicco said when she had the chance to try these workout shoes on in January. She walked across a demo room in Las Vegas wearing the fancy footwear to test out the compression and heating features.

The boots massage and compress your ankles and feet, and in CNET’s test, we could especially feel the heat around the ankles. Buttons on the shoes let you adjust compression and the amount of heat with multiple settings for each.

«The Hyperboot contains a system of dual-air bladders that deliver sequential compression patterns and are bonded to thermally efficient heating elements that evenly distribute heat throughout the shoe’s entire upper,» Nike said.

The battery lasts for 1 to 1.5 hours on max heat and compression settings, or 8 hours if you’re only using the massage setting. It takes 5 to 6 hours to charge via USB-C cable. The boots come in five sizes: S, M, L, XL and XXL.