The 10 Best Conference Cameras
Special Honors
Poly Studio Huddle Room This comprehensive solution delivers both outstanding video and excellent audio with noise suppression technology to keep the sounds of a busy office at bay. It's compatible with a wide array of conferencing software, and is certified for use by Microsoft, Zoom, and Skype Business. It's competitively priced, and comes with a one-year warranty. poly.com
Neat Bar This capable all-in-one easily snaps into place on just about any TV, even wall-mounted models, making it ideal for meeting rooms that host large digital and in-person gatherings. It's available with a tablet device that functions as an interface and can control just about every parameter of the audio and video, though much of this hardware is rather expensive. neat.no
Editor's Notes
August 12, 2020:
As camera and display resolution standards continue to rise, there are very few options in the 720p range worth considering. That said, we have kept the Huddly Go Video on our list for its setup flexibility, provided you also purchase its mounting kit. It should be said that not having 4K should not be a deal breaker here, either, as plenty of computer screens, monitors, and even TVs used in business settings are still roughly 1080p, and using a 4K feed over conferencing software with limited bandwidth might actually cause either a slowdown or an untenable amount of video compression that would negate the gains in resolution anyway. Still, if you've got the internet speed, 4K will allow you to crop in as needed and not lose much resolution.
With that in mind, we particularly love the Owl Labs Meeting Pro, which offers 1080p, but in the form of an adaptive 360-degree camera that can pick and choose sections of its frame to highlight in a video conference based on the direction from which it detects a speaker. It employs an eight-microphone array to make that possible.
Zoom is a name that's become synonymous with video calls in recent months, and the company has gone so far as to establish criteria for camera hardware used in so-called Zoom Rooms, as well as relationships with a pair of manufacturers that meet those standards. Both of those camera options can be found in our special honors section, and they greatly resemble the Logitech MeetUp HD and the Vaddio HuddleShot All-In-One in both form and function.
February 19, 2019:
There's no denying that Logitech has a big hold on this category, with offerings for everyone from individual workers to large teams occupying vast board rooms. They take up a solid 50 percent of this selection. Still, other companies — most notably Owl Labs — are employing some exciting technologies that will likely soon force Logitech to innovate, like the ability to automatically locate and focus on a given speaker.