ELGATO Premium 4K Webcam Review: Quality Isn't Always A High Cost
Elgato is known for manufacturing quality PC accessories, especially for the avid streamer; however, the company’s products also cater to those working from home.
Whether you’re streaming your favourite games online or taking part in a video meeting, a quality webcam can be a vital accessory. Sure, if you own a laptop, it may have a built-in camera, but let’s face it, it's not always the best quality, especially in a poorly lit room.
Enter the Elgato Facecam 4K, and as the name of the camera quite clearly suggests, it has a quality 4K resolution output, but it does more than just that. It’s a fancy bit of kit with some very handy bells and whistles.
Not only does it have a 4K resolution, but this fantastic little Ultra HD camera can also achieve a very steady 60 frames per second, giving it a professional touch. Best of all, it’s probably the closest you’ll get to having a camera that resembles the quality of a DSLR but costs nowhere near as much as a premium camera.
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I found that the 4K 30pfs setting is more than suited for tasks such as video meetings and interviews, especially for my low-end laptop. The 60fps option is probably best suited if you’re a fidgety streamer on a high-end system or if you want to use the camera to record video footage to be uploaded or edited later.
The 49mm lens has a full 90-degree field of view and can provide a clear picture from up to 1.2 metres away. It also has a Sony Starvis 2 CMOS sensor and a fast processor that drastically reduces noise and helps to bring a quality 4K picture to life.
Setting up the camera to your PC or laptop is super easy, you simply take the 4K webcam out of the box, plug in the USB 3.0 cable provided to the camera and then connect it to your device. I would always recommend connecting it to a tripod or ring light. If you have neither, the monitor clamp provided ensures that it will sit firmly on your PC monitor or laptop. The USB 3.0 also improves the quality of the picture with uncompressed transmission up to 2160p/30fps.
Once the Elgato Facecam 4K is all connected, you will need to download the Elgato Camera Hub desktop app. This is not only vital to make sure the camera receives the latest firmware updates, but it also grants access to all the aforementioned bells and whistles. In the app, you can adjust the resolution, framerate, zoom, field of view, as well as pan and tilt, and various image quality settings.
Depending on the capabilities of your PC or laptop, you can take advantage of AI backgrounds and tracking, as well as Augmented Reality effects. However, my laptop is not good enough to use those options, as it requires graphics cards such as an NVIDIA RTX, something that I do not have, but you might at least be pleased to know that the options are there.
If I were to have one complaint about what is otherwise a fantastic camera, it’s that it does not come with a lens cap, something that the Elgato Facecam MK.2 has built in. Thankfully, I was able to pick up a 49mm lens cap for just £5, so it wasn't the end of the world.
Overall, while the Elgato Facecam 4K is quite pricey with an RRP of £179.99, its DSLR-like picture quality makes it more than a worthy purchase. It may not be the best-suited camera for casual purposes, but if you stream regularly and use a camera for everyday work life, the Elgato Facecam 4K is a fantastic bit of kit that you will not regret adding to your arsenal.
A review sample was provided by Corsair.