Odds are, your Zoom calls look like crap. It’s not your fault. Hey, don’t feel down in the dumps. You’re a vibrant person with a lovely face. It’s just that most laptops’ built-in webcams tend to apply the Raiders of the Lost Ark filter and make everybody look pale, washed out, and grainy, as if caught in the throes of violent disintegration.

If you spend a lot of time on Zoom, Google Meet, or FaceTime and want to look your best, you should upgrade to a 4K webcam. I’ve put countless hours (seriously, I lost count of ’em) on the Logitech Brio 4K, and for the money, there isn’t another webcam I’ve used that can touch it.

a significant upgrade

The Insta360 Link 2 is a 4K webcam that can zoom in and out via your hand gestures and track you as you move, like a little Star Wars robot, but at $200, it’s a serious investment.

Even for laptops that come with an adequate webcam built into them, such as my MacBook Pro M4’s 1080p webcam, you gain a significant advantage from plugging in the Logitech Brio 4K.

At $130, it’s not cheap, but it’s quite a bit cheaper than the Link 2, and the video quality is almost as good. The Logitech doesn’t have the Link 2’s support for hand gestures or the motor that lets it track you as you move around the room, but if you don’t need those features anyway, you don’t give up much.

It’s not just the 4K resolution you gain with the Logitech. It also has greater low-light performance and beautifully accurate colors. The Brio was one of the reasons I eventually wrote my piece, saying a semi-fond farewell to ring lights and the webcams that included them, such as Razer’s original Kiyo.

The Logitech’s software is good enough to correct for mildly poor lighting. I’ve sat in rooms with only the slightest of indirect sunlight and received compliments from people while I sat on Zooms. When I told them that in real life it felt like I was sitting in a dark coffin, they’d always say they couldn’t tell. That was thanks to the Brio.

It’s not a cheap upgrade, but those who spend a lot of time video conferencing and want to make their strongest impression, especially those who do so for work, should give a serious look at the Logitech Brio 4K.