Video calls on services like Skype and Facebook have become a great way to keep in touch with friends and family who live far away. We usually resort to the webcam built into a laptop or tablet. Thing is, those cameras aren’t always the latest or greatest. In fact, they usually stink. Upgrade that call to Granny with a new 4K web camera. I took the Logitech BRIO 4K Webcam for a test.
Like most external webcams, the BRIO plugs into a USB port (USB 3.0 recommended but not required) on your laptop or desktop computer. It works with both MacOS and Windows. The camera isn’t tiny but has a sleek black look and a clip that will adjust to fit on top of any computer monitor.
In my testing, setup was super simple. My Windows 10 machine recognized it instantly. I downloaded the latest drivers from Logitech’s website and quickly installed them. The 4K camera quality is amazing for a webcam. It worked out of the box with Skype. The picture was crystal clear and video was smooth. The camera’s field of view is super wide, which means you can fit more people and action into a webcam shot. A feature called “RightLight” essentially shoots HDR video. This means, even when the lighting is dim the picture still looks bright and video is still smooth.
Video calls will only be as good as your broadband connection, so check your speeds if you’re having breakups and digitization. If your connection is good, it might be time to upgrade that camera. The Logitech BRIO is $199 and is about as good as it gets when it comes to 4K webcams for your PC. Grandma will most definitely notice the difference and appreciate it.
