Amcrest 1080P Webcam with Microphone Privacy Cover Web Cam USB Camera Computer HD Streaming Webcam for PC Desktop

With everything going on now I've been in the market for a web camera. As a lot of us are working from home or school from home, I was looking for a web cam just to be able to have enough for all the needed Zoom, Google Meets and other work / school needs. The technology gods must have heard my concerns and saw an ad for this camera. Thought I'd give it a run. To be honest, I am familiar with Logitech or Microsoft when it comes to web cams...not familiar with Amcrest. But from what I've read, and researched, they are very familiar with camera technology. The camera came in a soft envelope packaging from Amazon - VERY QUICKLY. 3 to 5 days at most. Inside the envelope a small box - 4" x 2.5" x 3" (approximate). But packaged securely and very well. Setup was a breeze. Literally plug it in and Windows 10 recognizes it. Used it on two different computers. Both setup super easy. Now, as far as quality goes, let me put things into perspective. I've dealt with two main web cams. 1. A 14 year old Microsoft web cam that no longer even worked with a PC. 2. A Macbook Pro for work. The Microsoft and Macbook cameras are polar opposite. The old one was grainy, and low definition where the Macbook is extremely clear, bright, and colors seem vibrant. My first impression of the Amcrest camera was that a bit dull. Not that it is bad - just that it wasn't seemingly as brilliant compared to the Apple camera. But others have said it compared to or was better than their Mac. I do believe that my lighting played a large roll in how the camera looked. This camera has what I think an amazing wide view. Three to four people could be around a computer and could see them all fine. An no distortion or fish eye. Video is clear! Certainly a high quality camera. In fact we actually lowered the "quality" and wide angle range so that it wasn't so wide for classroom settings and Google Meets. The audio seems to be more than sufficient, although for one of my kids classes, they had to step a few feet back so that their full body could be seen for a "speech" type assignment. It was a little quiet in that situation. But for a Zoom / Google meets situation - GREAT! Overall, I'll give this 5 stars. I really do believe that the quality of this camera for the price makes this an incredible value. I did see a difference between my Macbook Pro's built in camera and this one as mentioned above - however I would not lower any of the ratings or value to this webcam. Amcrest did a great job on this camera. Overall VERY impressed. Read more

Functionality/Ease of Use: I can say that getting this webcam up and running was pretty seamless. I happen to use a Macbook Pro and after plugging in the webcam it was immediately found and able to be used. The quality of the video is pretty much on par with other top consumer brand webcams. In comparison, the Logitech 920 is of equal quality in video. The angle of the lens is large enough while only being about 2 ft from the camera itself. Can't ask for anything better there. The sound quality of the microphone is what I would consider expected. Not the quality of a dedicated microphone with noise cancellation or filters but definitely good enough to get the job done. The light indicator that shows the camera is active is REALLY a nice touch because it is obvious enough to get your attention and inform you that the camera is active. I really can't complain in any way. For the price, this is a great value buy with top of the line video quality. Design/Hardware/Practicality: I really love the design. Simple and sleek enough that the webcam doesn't overwhelm you when looking at your screen. Some webcams on the market are just too bulky and can be a distraction. The nice addon of the protection lid is a nice to have and having it be a part of the packaging and giving the user the option of installing with the provided sticker is a nice touch. I've seen other consumer brand webcams have a giant price inflation just to have the lid. That is absurd and I am glad Amcrest makes this feature/addon a simple part of the product with no price increase. Privacy should be a top concern, not a money maker. So kudos to Amcrest on that. Installation from a hardware standpoint is pretty easy. The design allows for either the install mount on top of a monitor or by use of the included tripod which was a pleasant surprise! I happen to like the use of the tripod on my desk as it gives me a better angle that I like for the video that I am in. The tripod works well although it would have been key to use a gorilla type of tripod mount instead of the wire bend type. I can't complain honestly as it works well. Just maybe a per user preference to use a more adjustable set tripod legs. But for the price, you absolutely cannot be this tripod inclusion. Overall: I love this webcam and honestly during this hard time during the pandemic when a majority of all webcams are out of stock, this particular webcam not only cam in handy but I am SO glad I was able to test this webcam out and put it to good use. I have used this webcam with Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Cisco Webex, Slack, and more. I have already begun promoting this webcam to my colleagues as well as friends and family members. For the price, quality, ease of use, this is by far the best webcam I have used. Note: One really nice touch that maybe could be added in a future revision would be the inclusion of adding RTSP as an option. I could use this for when I am away and want to monitor the office by using this webcam. There is software to do this via the computer you are using but would be really nice to have this a part of the webcam natively. This may be a hardware limitation and would require an upgrade and price increase but if there was a version that supported this feature, I would upgrade. Read more