It’s kind of crazy that, in 2022, webcams do, in the vast majority of cases,
suck. Whether it’s the built-in webcams on new laptops, or even aftermarket add-ons like this
Logitech offering that’s been sat on the top of my Pro Display XDR for the past 2 years,
webcams are in general average at best, and simply awful in most cases. There are reasons for that,
which I’ll talk about later on in the review, but this has created a market where manufacturers of
attachable webcams can make a real impact, if they just make truly great webcams. Problem is, that
hasn’t been happening. Until now at least. This is the Link webcam by Insta360 - yes, THAT insta360,
the same company that make fun action cams, and I can give you the TLDR rundown by telling you that
this is not just a great webcam, it’s the best webcam I’ve ever used. But it also isn’t cheap,
and so I think it’s only fair that we take a look at it in a bit more detail.
Now, full disclosure, Insta360 sent me this webcam - well, actually they sent me another one, I’d
already bought this with my own cash, because I was so impressed by what I’d read about it, and so
I’ve been able to upgrade my wife’s 2017 MacBook Pro by giving her the webcam that I was sent,
but Insta360 are not sponsoring this video, nor do they have any editorial control over the script,
all opinions are entirely my own. OK, let’s get into it.
There are a number of reasons as to why this webcam is so good,
and some of those reasons are visually pretty obvious. It’s bigger than a typical webcam,
meaning Insta360 have been able to fit a much more capable lens system in here,
offering 4K video resolution in HDR, with an f1.8 aperture. It’s also housed on a gimbal, the same
kind that you might recognise from pocket video cameras, and whilst this might sound like a bit
of an unnecessary flex, it actually makes a lot of sense. First of all, it’s going to limit shake and
judder, both of which are entirely possible when a webcam is positioned on the top of a display,
or a laptop where you might be typing on an attached keyboard. It probably goes without
saying, but the video that comes out of this webcam is unbelievably smooth and stable. But
that gimbal also gives the Link the ability to do something really clever with it’s inbuilt AI,
although more on that in just a moment. Within the camera, we’ve got a 1/2 inch sensor,
and this is important, because videography, just like photography, is all about light,
and in general, for something like a webcam, the more light you can get into the camera,
the better. That 1/2 inch sensor, combined with the larger lens here,
makes for not only a better picture, but a better picture in low-light conditions, which is great
when you consider that, for many people, a Zoom call or a family FaceTime might have
to happen in less than ideal light conditions. You get everything that you need in the box to get
you started, including the Link itself, a USB C cable, a USB C to USB A adaptor if you’re running
this on older hardware like my wife’s laptop, 4 recognition markers which are designed for
use with a whiteboard, and some paperwork. Setup here on my Mac was an absolute piece of cake, you
just connect it via the included cable, and find a home for it. I’ve put mine on my Pro Display XDR,
which is a thick with a double-c thick display, and the camera sits really nicely on top,
the rear flap allows it to act as a kind of balancing leg, so when we attached this to
my wife’s laptop for example, it can handle the thin screen there without issue, and sits
perfectly while she’s on calls. You’re going to download some software from the Insta360 website,
you might have to run a firmware upgrade, but other than that, you’re good to go.
You’re going to use either the included software, or gesture recognition,
to enable and disable some of the more advanced features of this webcam,
but for the sake of illustration, let me talk you through the software.
This first tab, gimbal control, is exactly what it sounds like, you can use the little on-screen
joystick to move the gimbal around in real time. You can’t quite do a full 360 degree rotation,
but you can rotate a lot, way more than most people will ever actually need,
including a degree of upwards and downwards rotation, so no matter where you’ve got this,
you should be able to get your webcam setup how you like it. There’s a zoom here also, I believe
it’s a digital zoom rather than optical, but with that high pixel count, you should still be able to
use this to get a nicely cropped image, and below that, you can create your own preset positions.
In the next tab, image settings, you have frankly bonkers levels of control over the image,
with manual control available for things like exposure comp, white balance levels, brightness,
contrast, saturation and sharpness. I’m never going to use these personally, but I appreciate
that they exist, along with the ability to add presets, and then under More Settings,
we’ve got some really interesting features. Gesture Settings allow you to access some of
the most commonly used features, and I find myself using this all the time. For example,
I really like the Auto Tracking feature, where the camera will lock on to your face,
and use a combination of the gimbal and the auto zoom to position you in the centre of the frame,
and stick with you if you move about. It’s a brilliant feature if you’re moving about a lot,
but it can be a bit distracting for other people if you’re sitting still, as it constantly makes
minor adjustments to keep you locked in the frame, and so what I like to do is hold my
palm up to activate it, and get me centred in the picture, then repeat the process to switch it off.
The L symbol works for Zoom, moving the symbol up zooms you in, and down zooms you out,
and the peace symbol activates Whiteboard mode. I don’t have a whiteboard here in the office,
so I couldn’t try this function out, but from other reviews I’ve read it does apparently
work very well, so great if you’re on a conference call and demoing something.
Below that you can enable or disable AI zoom, where the camera will try to fit either your head,
half body or whole body in, and then below that you have some settings for things like focus,
the tracking speed and HDR mode, which caps out at 1080p, but does look very good if you enable it,
and you might find that HDR in 1080p is a better combination for you than non-HDR 4K.
These buttons below the image preview allow you to manually access tracking mode, whiteboard mode,
overhead mode, which is going to make unboxing a whole lot easier for a whole lot of people,
and finally desk mode where the camera will point down and give you a view of your desk. Again my
desk setup isn’t great for this, but credit to the camera for doing what it’s been able to do here,
although I should point out that because the camera has a screw mount in the bottom of it,
you could use a desk mount to position this above you, if an overhead desk shot is that you
require. You can also minimise the controls to a slim app at the bottom of the screen,
which is great if you want access to some of these controls while you’re on a call.
So, how does the camera perform? Well you can see for yourself how the footage looks,
one thing we’ve not talked about is how it sounds, which is of course important, being that half of
the point of a web call is being able to hear the person you’re speaking with, as well as see them.
The Link has noise cancelling microphones built in, and I’m actually recording this part of the
video directly into the Link, to give you an idea of how those noise cancelling microphones perform
and sound, certainly the feedback that I’ve had from people when I’ve been on calls with them,
is that they can hear me nice and clearly, and that the sound quality has been good. Here’s
me recording again using the built in noise cancelling microphones on the Link, but this
time I’ve got a fan running in the background, just over there behind me, so this will give
you some idea of how the microphones perform with constant noise going on in the background.
As for overall performance, I’ll be honest, I’m a pretty no frills kind of guy when it comes to my
webcams. I like that this can do things like desk mode, or streamer mode, even though I’m probably
not going to use them, personally. Streamer mode by the way, allows you to use the camera in
vertical mode, rather than horizontal, so great for recording content to be consumed on mobile
devices. What I want is a really good webcam, that I can rely on when I’m on a FaceTime call
with my parents, or a Zoom call with a client, and the Link is definitely a really good webcam. It’s
bright and vibrant, it can handle focus so much better than my previous Logitech webcam could,
even things like grabbing a product and stuffing it up close to the camera don’t cause it issues,
the focus is snappy at switching between subjects, something I’ve only ever seen
before on an SLR camera. It’s small enough that if you’re a business traveller, this
would easily fit into your work bag, and you can even grab an accessory like this mini 2 in tripod,
so if you’re not wanting to connect the camera to your computer screen, and you want flexibility
to put it near your computer, you can do so. Like I mentioned at the beginning of this video,
I really like this webcam. I even like the fact that, when you shut down your FaceTime or
your Zoom or whatever you’re using, so long as you’ve not got any Link related software open,
the camera pops it’s lens down, entering a privacy mode, where you can visually see for yourself that
it’s not filming you. It’s a brilliant webcam, and if you’re someone who would like a method
of upgrading a desktop or laptop webcam setup without having to invest in a whole new computer,
then the asking price of around £300 or $300 is, in my opinion, a really fair price to pay,
especially considering that even if you do end up upgrading the computer at a later date,
this can come with you. As far as webcams go, there’s nothing I don’t like about this,
because it does everything that I want it to do, and it does it really, really well,
which at the end of the day, is what technology is supposed to be all about. Some people are
going to balk at that price, but good technology costs money, and this is really good technology.
If you’re interested in picking up one for yourself, I’ve included a link in the
description of this video, where you can get your very own Insta360 Link.
So there you go, the Link by Insta360, an absolute game-changer of a webcam,
and honestly one of the best pieces of tech, pound for pound, that I’ve used this year.
What about you, would you consider picking one up? If yes, how would you use yours?
Drop me a comment, and let’s talk about it. And as ever, if you found this video useful,
do please consider leaving me a like, and subscribing to my channel for more content
like this in the future. See you on the next video.