Over the past two-or-so years, Apple has made a considerable effort to improve the webcam (or front-facing camera) on most of its devices. Most the newest iPads, MacBooks and iMacs have a 1080p webcam — an improvement over the previous 720p webcam — that also supports a special AI-based feature called CenterStage, which automatically zooms and pans to keep you in focus, in frame and looking your best during video chats.
However, if you’re looking for an even higher-quality webcam — a 4K webcam, to be specific — that also has many of the same AI-based features as Apple’s newest devices, you should check out the Insta360 Link.
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Insta360 is best known for action cameras and it’s bringing a lot of that expertise into the webcam space. The Insta360 Link is a 4K webcam that sits on top of a three-axis gimbal. It can pan left and right, up and down, and track your movement so that you stay in focus and in frame. In fact, the Insta360 Link works very similar to the camera-and-gimbal combos that are in many of today’s popular consumer drones.
The Insta360 Link is capable of shooting 4K video up to 30 fps (or 1080p video at up to 60 fps). It also has several other AI-based abilities that make it even more versatile. There’s a “whiteboard” mode for presentations, a “portrait” mode that gives you a 9:16 crop for better mobile viewing, and there’s even an “overhead” mode where the webcam tilts downward and gives a top-down view of your desk.
Insta360 Link hooks up to your laptop or desktop via a single USB-C connection. There’s no built-in privacy shutter, but the camera with automatically point downwards when it’s off. As for mounting, you have the option of positioning the webcam on top of your computer via its built-in clamping mount; or you can use its quarter-inch thread to mount it on a tripod. (Insta360 gives you the option of buying a tripod kit for an extra $30.)
