What Are the Laptops With the Best Webcam?
The world has been a lot different these past few months, with the COVID-19 pandemic changing the way we do almost everything in our daily lives. Going to school has become social distance education and work meetings take place on Zoom calls instead of in boardrooms. This is why it is good to know about laptops with the best webcam.
Working and learning from home is not going to go away overnight, so having a computer with a webcam is pretty important right now. More specifically, laptops and webcams are important right now too. Laptops are far less restrictive as to where you have to be while using it compared to desktops.
In this article, we give you some suggestions for laptops with great webcams for all at-home, work, school, or personal needs. But before we do that, we need to go over a few things.
What Is a Webcam?
A webcam is a digital camera that allows users to stream video or images in real-time through a camera that can be featured as a component in devices such as smartphones, tablets, laptops, or as standalone devices.
Webcams are useful for an assortment of tasks, with the most common one being video chatting. Webcam users can communicate with people all over the world for work, play, or schooling, and apps like Skype and Zoom are popular for this. Streamers also regularly use webcams or “face cams" as they call it, to connect more with their viewers.
Another use for webcams (though not laptop webcams for the most part), is pseudo security systems. Consumers can use webcams to keep watch of their homes while they are away, which is great for keeping an eye on kids left alone for the first time, pets who have separation anxiety and potential burglars or thieves.
What to Know About Webcams
A webcam designed for the singular purpose of being a webcam is infinitely better than a laptop that comes with a laptop equipped as an added bonus. Think of it like integrated graphics cards versus dedicated graphics cards. The former does a lot of things while the latter specializes in one thing.
Factory webcams found on laptops are fine for the average consumer, but if you want the best of the best, then getting a separate webcam and then linking it to your preferred PC is the way to go. Webcams are a background feature for laptops; you will oftentimes never see them mentioned in laptop reviews. The more expensive laptops will have slightly improved webcams, but they will still be inferior to standalone webcams which can cost you less money. Just keep this in mind. With that being said, let’s get to the laptops!
Dell XPS 15
Dell has been churning out quality desktops and laptops for years and the XPS 15 is no exception.
Depending on the specs that you want, you can spend as “little" as $1,300 or as much as $3,000 (which I definitely do not recommend spending on any laptop). The cheapest XPS 15 comes with a 9-generation Intel Core i5-9300H; several models further down the line come equipped with the i7-9750H and the two most expensive models have the i9-9980HK.
Expect 8 gigabytes to 64 gigabytes of DDR4 RAM and an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 graphics card. You can also get 256 gigabytes to 1 terabyte of Solid-State Drive, depending on the model you select. The webcam is about as good as a laptop webcam can possibly be and you get some nice goodies for free, like a 30-day free trial for Microsoft Office and a 12-month free trial for McAfee LiveSafe Security Software.
The most expensive variants are a little too pricy for my tastes, as a build-it-yourself desktop will always be the most cost-effective and efficient computer you can have, but the models under $2,000 are some of the best general laptops you can buy. We do acknowledge that even the cheapest laptop is expensive, but if you have some money to spare, it is a good investment.
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HP Spectre x360
I will be the first to admit that I am an HP fanboy, so I am happy that HP products sit at the top of the food chain.
The Spectre x360 is the latest and greatest laptop to come out of HP. At $1,200, it is well priced, especially considering its two-in-one design and touch screen capability. It uses an 8-generation intel core i7-8550U, with 8 gigabytes of DDR4 RAM and 256 gigabytes to 2 terabytes of SSD. I really have to give HP credit for that last part, as getting a top tier laptop with 2 terabytes of SSD for less than $1,300 is a pretty great deal.
Along with getting free trials of Microsoft Office and McAfee LiveSafe Security, HP is currently offering special savings on both with the purchase of the Spectre x360, in case you like what you are getting.
If you have a healthy budget to work with, I would say go with the Dell XPS-15, but for the $1,100 to $1,300 range, the HP Spectre x360 is the better option in my opinion. Watch out for the battery life, however, as it is not the best in class. (It’s an issue I’ve had with numerous HP laptops.)
MacBook Pro
If you are not a fan of Apple products, feel free to skip ahead. If you are willing to give an Apple laptop a try, then the MacBook Pro is a great choice.
It has a 16-inch display, which is always nice for laptops, especially since laptops are far more capable than they were back in the day. The keypad is huge, which is great for consumers with bigger hands, and for everyone really. I know that I have had times where I am not able to fully complete an action due to running out of space on the keypad.
You can select between a 9-generation i7 or an i9 intel core processor, as well as 5300M AMB Radeon Pro or 5500M AMD Radeon Pro Graphics with 4 gigabytes of GDDR6 memory.
As far as storage space goes, you can have up to 8 terabytes of SSD storage. That’s probably way more storage than you will ever need in your lifetime, but it is kind of cool just having that much space laying around.
The battery life on the MacBook Pro is excellent, clocking in at a maximum of 11 hours before battery depletion. The six-speaker sound system is great for people who are not fans of headphones, as the audio is loud and clear.
But what is the biggest problem with the MacBook Pro? The same problem that nearly every Apple product has; it is way too expensive. You are getting a lot of good stuff, but with a price range of $2,000 to $2,400. It’s a hard sell to anyone who is not an Apple loyalist.
Acer Swift 3
Our list would not be complete without a budget option. Yes, $700 is towards the high end of budget, but still budget nonetheless, and that slot goes to the Acer Swift 3.
Every once in a while, industries will be blessed with a budget contender that is capable of hitting well above its weight class. For laptops, it is the Acer Swift 3.
The AMD Ryzen 7 4700U CPU packing Swift 3 not only outperforms pretty much every other budget laptop but also laptops priced higher than it. It’s got 10 to 11 hours of battery life, which is pretty crazy for a budget laptop. It also has 8 gigabytes of DDR4 RAM and 512 gigabytes, which are not best in class, but are nice for a budget option.
A 14-inch display is not bad, but the display here is not very bright, which knocks points off the overall score. The audio is also somewhat average, particularly when not using headphones. The webcam is expectedly average, as is the case even with premium laptops.
This is not a gaming laptop or the best choice for entertainment purposes (like binge-watching Netflix), however, when it comes to general performance, you will be hard-pressed to find a better budget laptop.