Tom's Guide Verdict
The Obsbot Meet 4K is a compact webcam with a handy magnetic attachment and near-perfect picture quality. If you’re looking for a super high quality webcam, it’s a great option, and has a useful companion app.
Pros
- +
Head tracking via useful app
- +
Great picture quality
- +
Superb magnet attachment
- +
UNC ¼-20 for tripod attachment
- +
Compatible with OBS, vMix, and video call apps
Cons
- -
‘AI-power’ feature feels gimmicky
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Whether you want to look professional on work calls or you’re an aspiring streamer, you’ll want to use one of the best webcams. The Obsbot Meet 4K is a compact, attractive 4K webcam with “AI-powered” head-tracking, pristine picture quality, and a handy magnet attachment. The Meet 4K has an omnidirectional built-in mic which, while making it a great fit for a quiet room, might mean it also picks up more sound than a beamforming mic that you’d see on other 4K webcams, like Logitech’s MX Brio 4K ($199) — our top webcam pick overall.
One of my favorite things about this webcam is the magnetic attachment clip. You can stick the clip to your monitor and then stick the webcam right on top — no fiddling with latches or balancing on screens. And it comes with a UNC ¼-20 nut connector, making it easy to attach to tripods, should you need.
But is it good enough to be ranked as one of the best webcams? Find out my thoughts in my Obsbot Meet 4K webcam review.
Obsbot Meet 4K Webcam review: Cheat sheet
- What is it? An ‘AI-powered’ 4K webcam with a built-in mic.
- Who is it for? Professionals wanting a high quality picture for calls and beginner streamers looking to add some oomph to their videos.
- What does it cost? $149 at Amazon.
- What do we like? The magnetic attachment, the picture quality, and the realistic coloring.
- What don’t we like? The ‘AI’ aspect feels like a gimmick.
Obsbot Meet 4K Webcam review: Specs
| Price | $149 / £199 |
| Compatibility | USB-C to USB-C and USB-A, Windows 10 or later, macOS 11 or later |
| Digital zoom | 4x |
| Max resolution | 3840 x 2160 |
| Max video resolution | 4K/30fps, 1080p/60fps |
| Diagonal field of view | 86°/78°/65° |
| Focus type | AF/MF |
| Built-in mic | Dual omni-directional microphone |
| Dimensions | 2.2 x 1.7 x 1.3 inches |
| Weight | 2.5 ounces |
| Colors | Black |
Obsbot Meet 4K review: The ups
As a 4K webcam, you won’t be surprised to know that this camera takes super-pristine images. You’ll look uber-professional if you use this for work calls, and this high quality snapper could be a good choice for streamers, too.
Great picture and video quality
The Obsbot Meet shoots in 4K, putting it up against the Logitech MX Brio 4K ($199), Opal Tadpole ($129) and Opal C1 ($299). The Meet 4K’s images are really, really good. As you can see in the picture below, my face is clear and well-lit. The coloring of the camera is spot-on and really flattering.
The Meet 4K has a good omnidirectional mic. However, the MX Brio 4K’s beamforming mic is better at minimizing ambient sound. So if you want a mic that’s great at just focusing on your voice, you might want to check out Logitech’s peripheral. The Elgato Facecam Pro ($299) is a similarly-spec’d 4K webcam, but has no built-in mic at all — and is $150 pricier than the Meet 4K.
In low light conditions, the Meet 4K outperformed my built-in MacBook Air M2 webcam by miles. Here you can see a side-by-side comparison of the picture quality with only my MacBook screen as a light source.
This is the Obsbot Meet 4K.
Below is the built-in MacBook Air webcam.
In use, the webcam gets pretty hot when recording for over 10 minutes, although we had no issues with the camera shutting down or overheating.
As it’s a 4K camera, the Meet 4K has phenomenal picture quality. However, 4K might be overkill for the average person — 1080p will probably do the trick. If you don’t need 4K, you can get 1080p webcams for about $79, such as the Poly Studio P5. But if you’re a streamer looking to give some oomph to your account, you might want to consider this. The Opal Tadpole ($129) is a 4K webcam for $20 cheaper, but can’t be used freestanding.
Useful app
Obsbot Center is the companion app for the Meet 4K series of webcams. Unlike some other webcam apps I’ve used (the Camera Settings app by Logitech, namely), Obsbot Center has a wide array of options and customization settings. I played around with custom backgrounds (you can set up a green screen, great for streamers) and the auto-framing feature. You can select “Group mode”, “Close-up”, or “Upper body” in auto frame, which is quite self explanatory.
You can also launch firmware updates, edit microphone settings, and you can customize the button configuration, too.
Autofocus and head tracking
Although described as "AI-powered" auto-focus, this feature feels more just like… normal auto-focus. In terms of head tracking, the Meet 4K is excellent. Check out this video clip of it following me around.
It’s good, as you can see in the video clip. The Obsbot Meet 4K followed my head and kept me in the center of the picture despite my best efforts to get the camera off my trail. However, I’m not sure about the extent to which it’s “AI-powered”.
Magnet attachement clip
Yes, you heard me right. Gone are the days of fumbling with balancing clips on monitors and having your webcam fall down when you slightly tap the desk.
The Obsbot Meet 4K comes with a magnetic clip attachment, which sticks to your monitor instantly. With just another touch you can attach the webcam itself, and it’s a pretty powerful magnet. I shook my monitor (within reason, of course), and the webcam stayed put. This is a great feature, and completely solves my usual webcam qualm of it not fitting on my monitor perfectly.
Its magnetic attachment and stand allow the Obsbot Meet 4K to be used easily with tripods, desktops or freestanding. This means the Obsbot is a much more versatile webcam than the similarly priced Opal Tadpole ($129), which can only be used on laptops (and thin ones at that).
Obsbot Meet 4K review: The downs
Despite the high picture and video quality, there’s just one thing that I’m not enamored with on the Obsbot Meet 4K.
Unclear AI benefits
Although advertised as an ‘AI-powered’ webcam, this “AI-power” is certainly subtle. Obsbot says that the “AI-power” uses “deep learning neural networks to achieve powerful auto-framing features” — but isn’t that just head tracking? My decidedly non-AI powered iPad 9 (from 2021!) can do that. How does this “AI-powered” webcam track my head better than my elderly iPad?
Here’s a video of the powerful auto-framing features.
The head tracking on the Meet 4K certainly works, and it works well, but I don’t know if this justifies an “AI-powered” buzzword label. It feels like a clickbaity feature from Obsbot, but it works well regardless.
Obsbot Meet 4K review: Verdict
If you need a great quality webcam for streaming or business calls where you need high detail, this is a great option. While it’s undeniably more expensive than HD webcams like the Poly Studio P5, the Meet 4K has such great picture quality that it’s more than worth it.
The only slight negative is the “AI-powered” head-tracking that works just like normal head-tracking, but that’s not a major con. Overall, if you’re after a good-looking webcam with even better-looking picture quality, look no further than the Obsbot Meet 4K.
