With tons of social interactions happening online, be it Zoom calls with your team or a catch-up sesh with your long-distance friends and fam, upping your video game seems to have become the need of the hour. And let's face it - we can all seriously use an upgrade from those built-in laptop cameras and microphones. Keeping this mind, we've put together a list of the best gear you can use for your online meetings and jazz up the whole experience. Check it out.
Here's All The Gear You Need To Ace Those Online Meetings
Webcams
No surprises here. A good webcam will automatically make your video look brighter and sharper. Much better than your laptop's built-in camera anyway. If you mean serious business and are willing to spend a bomb, we highly recommend Logitech's HD PRO Webcam C920. It comes with built-in dual stereo mics, automatic noise reduction and a full HD 1080p video calling experience. If you're looking for something cheap but effective, try the Zebronics Crystal Pro Web Camera. It's got a high-resolution webcam, night vision and does a fairly decent job.
Lights
If you sit by the window, oftentimes your webcam renders you as a silhouette, and that's just not cool. You can fix that and also add more life to your video (especially if you're chatting in the dark) with some extra lighting. We recommend you check out Mobicell 10 inches LED ring light (if you're using your phone) and the ehook 10-inch selfie LED circle light cell (works for phone and laptops both). They are both reasonable and come with options to control the brightness and colour temperature, thus helping you nail your lighting.
Phone Tripod
You don't always have to use your laptop for your Zoom calls. Your phone can, in fact, make the whole process much easier. Think about it. Your phone's more likely to have a better camera, video quality and mic - which means you can free up your laptop to take down notes, present your points or just check out stuff. All you need is an adjustable tripod to keep your phone steady, and you're set.
Headphones & Microphones
While we have our camera and lighting sorted, audio is equally important for online meetings. Background noise and audio cutting in and out is just a pain, and it's probably those mediocre laptop microphones that are to be blamed for this. And even though some webcams have microphones, a good pair of headphones with mic will go a long way to make sure you have a seamless video call. While there are plenty of options, we recommend the Sennheiser PC 8 Over-Ear USB VOIP headphone with mic and the Rhobos Collar Mike. Both offer great audio pickup and are fairly budget.
Laptop Cooling Pad
Now that we're all clocking more hours on our laptops, it's smart to invest in a good cooling pad. While it does not directly affect the quality of your online meeting, having a cooling pad will help keep your laptop's fans from whirring and reducing your multitasking options to zero while you're on call. Not to mention, it also extends the life of your laptop. And you only have to pay a small price for it. We highly recommend Tarkan dual-fan cooling pad and Zebronics ZEB-NC1200.